An Introduction to Elder Leadership #1

Now, today is an introduction to elder leadership, and I'm only going to answer two questions. First of all, I want to answer the very simple question, what are elders? What are elders? And the second question we're going to answer is, what do elders do? When you were new to the faith and first went to church, you probably encountered elders. What is an elder, you wondered, and what is their function?

Maybe even now you've not gotten a fully satisfactory answer. But scripture tells us all about them, as you'll be reminded on this edition of The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hello, I'm Bill Wright, and today Don presents more of a series in the book of Titus titled God's Glorious Plan of Grace. And Don, the position of elder is no small responsibility, is it? My friend, elders have a great responsibility before Christ and before men.

That's why the scriptures place such high qualifications of character and ability upon a man of God before he would lead the people of God in the church of God. It's important for us to know what these principles are so that you would know who to follow and that the men who are qualified for leadership would do so with effectiveness on behalf of Christ. Turn to Titus chapter 1 as we join our teacher now in The Truth Pulpit. This message today is an introduction to elder leadership in the church, and we're going to be studying Titus chapter 1 verses 5 through 9.

We'll just focus on verse 5. And I'd like to read that passage to set it in your minds as we begin here. Titus chapter 1 verses 5 through 9 as the Lord we trust will bless the reading and teaching of his word here. Paul writes to Titus and says, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.

Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. So Paul is writing, and the introduction is important for setting the stage of what we are about to study. You'll remember, those of you that have been with us, that Paul set the foundation as he established his authority to write and to instruct churches how they should operate and how they should be established.

He wrote as a bondservant of God in verse 1, an apostle of Jesus Christ, one sent with authority, commissioned to establish the work of the Gospel during that first century time. And Paul made it clear what the point of his apostleship was in verse 1. It was to establish the faith of those who are chosen of God. It was to establish the knowledge of the truth.

It was to proclaim the hope of eternal life, that God who had promised, even before time began, God had planned all of this out before time even began. And so Paul is writing to establish and to further the apostolic commission that he had from our Lord Jesus Christ. And you can see in verse 3 that he felt a sense of stewardship as he did so. He said, I was entrusted with this proclamation according to the commandment of God our Savior. And so as Paul writes, he writes as one conscious of having authority, but he also writes as one being under authority, one who has been commanded by God to carry out and to establish what Christ came to accomplish in his incarnation, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Christ was purchasing a people for himself that would serve him throughout all the days of eternity. And so whatever Paul has to say in the rest of the epistle of Titus is designed to further that purpose that we've been studying for the past few weeks. This isn't a sudden change of direction in one sense as we enter into verse 5, but what Paul did in those introductory four verses was lay a foundation for everything else that comes.

And so we remember those things, even though we can't review them all, we remember those things as we enter into verse 5. And we see as Paul writes to Titus, he's explaining what he wants Titus to do. Now apparently, Paul and Titus had ministered together on this island of Crete. Crete is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It's southeast of Greece.

It's a large island, easy to find if you check on a map. And Paul had left Titus in Crete as his representative. He said, Titus, I'm going to leave you here. I have things that you must do in my absence.

There are things that you must carry out. And he tells him in verse 5, he kind of gives an overview of what it is that Titus is to do there on the island of Crete. Look at verse 5 with me again. He says, for this reason I left you in Crete. What reason, Paul? Well, I'll tell you.

It's this reason, this reason that I'm about to explain. I left you in Crete because you have to set in order what remains and you have to appoint elders in every city as I directed you. And so Paul had spoken with Titus.

They had ministered together on the island of Crete. And Paul had evidently left him behind as Paul went on to other ministry. And now what Paul is doing as he writes this letter is he's giving Titus instructions on what he wants to do.

And this is very important to what I'm about to say. It's not just that Titus would read this letter, but this was going to be a blueprint for the rest of the church to understand and obey as well. Look at the end of Titus. This is important for you to see that this wasn't merely a private letter from Paul to Titus. This was meant to impact the entire congregation, the entire body of believers that were there on that island. In chapter 3, verse 15, Paul ends with these words, Grace be with you all.

You would almost think that Paul was from Kentucky in the southern part of the United States, right? Grace be with you all. And so the point of that is that it's a plural reference. The entire congregations were expected to read this. This was something that was going to fall onto the ears of everyone, not just Titus. And as Paul wrote this letter, he is authorizing Titus to act. He is instructing Titus on what to do and giving him authority. And as we see that the rest of the believers were going to see this also, that authority is extended to them as well. Not the authority to act, but the authority that is over this letter extends not only to Titus, but it's over the congregations that were there as well. And so Paul is writing with authority, instructing Titus in particular, but it extends to the rest of the church as well. And what is it that he wants him to do? I want you to set things in order, which says that there's a degree of disorder that's going on there.

There were problems that needed to be corrected. God is a God who wants things to be done decently and in order. We learn elsewhere in Scripture. And so he's generally supposed to set things in order, and specifically he's supposed to appoint elders. Appointing elders for Titus was one of the chief ways, one of the chief points in setting things in order. When you're setting things in order in an organization and in a spiritual realm of God's kingdom and the realm of the church, you need to get the right men in authority so that leadership can lead this where it needs to go. And so Paul was appointing Titus, instructing Titus to set the right men into positions of authority.

In some ways, everything else is secondary to that. And so that's what's on Paul's mind as he writes to Titus. He says, Titus, we've got a work started here. If you want to think about it in terms of there's a garden that's started here, there's some seeds that are planted, but oh Titus, there's weeding that needs to be done. There are things that need to be established so that this garden can flourish. And Titus, if we don't do this, weeds are going to run over the place and it's going to be infected and nothing good is going to come out of this initial work that has begun. And so he says, Titus, here's what we need to do in order to get things right and so that this work can take root.

What we want to do is we want to be able to take root and the way that we do that is to honor what scripture says and to establish things according to scriptural priorities. Now today is an introduction to elder leadership and I'm only going to answer two questions. First of all, I want to answer the very simple question, what are elders? What are elders? And the second question we're going to answer is what do elders do? What are elders and what do elders do? We'll leave some of the other questions for future times of teaching, but today it's very simple what we want to do. And the first thing that we want to do is answer the question, what are elders?

Now, the people that are represented are in this room. I realize that we come from a lot of different spiritual backgrounds. Some of us have come from churches where the word elder wasn't even used to describe someone in leadership. Others of us have come from elder churches, but we've found that the elders sometimes left things to be desired with perhaps their wisdom or their leadership. And what I want to do today is to put your mind at rest and to give you a sense of what elders are according to the scripture and what it is that we're looking to establish here. Let me just tell you a little personal story, a little bit of background that I'll start now and then finish at the end of the ministry.

When I became a Christian some 30 years ago or so, and I started to get involved in a church in the Bloomington, Indiana area. I walked into that church and on their bulletin they had a list of their elders. I had never heard the word elder in a church context before. And I want to tell you, it intimidated me. It made me uncomfortable. It was unfamiliar to me. I didn't know what these elders were supposed to be and it was rather imposing. And I found at the time that I was hesitant to embrace that because I didn't know what it involved. I had no idea what an elder was.

So if you're here today and you're not used to the term elder, if it's something kind of new to you, I want you to know that I thoroughly sympathize with where you're coming from because that's where I was not all that long ago. And so the important thing for us to do as we're answering the question, what are elders, we need to ask a simple question. We ask a very simple question, what does the Bible say? We don't need to be driven entirely by our past traditions. We want to conform to scripture and we want to establish things according to scripture. We want to be a biblical church. Look at Titus chapter 2 verse 14. As I once again remind you of this crucial verse in the book of Titus, you see, if you're a Christian, then Christ has bought you for himself.

And he's bought you for a purpose that he would use you according to his will. Well, multiply that by the many dozens of people that associate with truth community and you have a sense of what our collective purpose is supposed to be as well. We are to be a people that belong to Christ and that are zealous for what he wants us to do. So Titus 2 verse 14 says that Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. Well, part of being a people of Christ's own possession is to honor what he wants leadership in the church that he died for to be. So we're not trying to do anything other than be biblical in what we want to do and we even use biblical terms to describe our future leaders. So let me define the term elder for you and then we'll get into it.

We'll get into their responsibilities here in just a moment. The term elder, the original word elder, was originally used simply to refer to an older man. He's an elder statesman. He's somebody that's been around for a while and therefore there's an idea of age and experience that's communicated in the term elder, generally speaking, when it's used that way. But elder is also used as a technical term in the Bible for a church leader and that's the way that Paul is using it here in chapter 1 verse 5.

Look at it again with me. Titus chapter 1 verse 5. He said, I left you in Crete so that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. They're going to be appointed. There's a formal installation of them into the office that will give them the authority and the responsibility to act in the church. And so when we ask the question, what are biblical elders?

Let me give you a real simple answer. It's very, very simple to understand in general terms what a biblical elder is. The elders are the men who are responsible to lead a local church.

That's it. The elders are the recognized leaders of the local church. They have authority and responsibility to make the decisions that shape the life and the direction of a local church. In one sense, it's like any other organization. You have men who have authority to make decisions that determine the direction that an organization goes.

That's just the very nature of leadership. Well biblical leadership in the Bible is referred to by the term elders. And that's what elders are.

They're simply the men responsible to lead a local church. That's the simple answer to our question. That's what elders are. Now that brings us to our second question here.

And this is going to be quite encouraging to you, I trust. Secondly, what do elders do? What do elders do? All that we want to see today is what is it that elders do so that we have a common understanding, a shared understanding amongst ourselves about what it is that elders are supposed to do. We wanted to take the time for all of us to be able to see this and to study it together so that we're coming at it from a common understanding. So that we know that we're on the same page as it were when we talk about elders and what it is that they do and what their qualifications are and what their responsibilities are. And so we've postponed that to take our time to lay a good foundation and then be able to step into this. Well now in the providence of God, here we are. This is the passage that the Lord has brought us to. What do elders do?

I'm going to give you a three part answer to that question. First of all, what do elders do? First of all, they oversee the church. Elders oversee the church. And we see that in verse 5.

Titus needed to establish leaders who could oversee the work. Look at verse 5 with me again. This is also clear and evident right on the surface of Scripture. Paul said, I left you in Crete so that you would set in order what remains. That means that there are some things that are out of order, right? If some things need to be set in order, there are some things that are out of order.

That's okay. But the question is, how do you go about addressing that in a spiritual enterprise like the church? And Paul says, I want you to appoint elders in every city as I directed you.

Now watch this. First of all, notice that it's plural. That Paul says there need to be elders in every city as I directed you. And so the idea of a local church is not one man with absolute authority acting as a dictator determining everything that happens. Elders are meant to be, there's meant to be a plurality of elders where there is a shared responsibility and accountability in leadership. And that's to be the mark of it. The pastor is not a sole single man in charge of everything that happens. He shares the leadership with a group of elders. Plural. And you can see that it's in every city.

Crete was an island with multiple cities. And so there were evidently local congregations in every city, each one of which needed plural elders involved. You have to understand that one man can't do the entire work of the ministry in a single place. That's why you need elders, plural, who share in the ministry together.

There's too much to do. There's too many things to oversee for one man to do it all by himself. And so God's pattern is for elders to share that load together with equal authority and with equal responsibility for the oversight of the church. Elders, plural. And it's a recognition that the church is not supposed to be a one man show. Each elder, just like the entire body, brings a different diversity of giftedness together to serve the entire thing. It's the same idea in the leadership with the elders that each man who is an elder would contribute something to the overall plurality of the group of leadership.

And so that's the idea. There's elders that are there in every city. And what do they do? Look at verse 7. We said that they oversee the church.

Here you see it in verse 7. Paul equates elders with what they do. They're overseers, he says in verse 7. Some of your translations may say bishops. The bishop is to be above reproach. And that's not a bishop like we're used to thinking in the Catholic or Episcopal churches.

There was none of that hierarchy in the first century. The term is properly translated the overseer. So they oversee the work.

How are things to be said in order? You put qualified men in positions of authority and responsibility so that they can oversee what's happening and make it what God wants it to be. They're meant to be stewards of the work. Elders oversee the church in the sense that they direct it. They provide direction to what is done. They are concerned and they're involved and are shepherding the souls of those who come and providing spiritual direction according to biblical principles so that individual Christians like you can flourish in your Christian life.

That's the idea. They oversee the work and provide direction to it. It's more than administrative responsibility. Elders have pastoral responsibility to care for the souls of those in the local church. When people are struggling with sin, elders come alongside and help them. When they're grieving, they come alongside and comfort them.

When they're feeling weakness, they come alongside and pray. There's a spiritual aspect to this work that elders are called to do and they oversee that in the flock that God has given in a local place. Now with that in mind, just by way of cross reference, turn over to 1 Timothy 3 for just a short cross reference here. Paul uses a different phrase that helps us get a sense of the term of an elder, an overseer. Look at chapter 3 verse 2. Paul says an overseer must be above reproach. So he's talking about the same thing that Titus was in Titus chapter 1. And as he speaks about the overseer, he says in verse 4, chapter 3 verse 4, this overseer, this elder, must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. And then note this little parenthetical comment that he makes. If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he ever take care of the church of God?

I added the word ever, but that's the point, that's the emphasis that Paul is making. He says elders prove themselves in the more limited realm of their home life and then once you see that a man knows how to lead his own household, provide direction and care and organize his household in a constructive way so that it's going the right direction, then you might have a Christian man who is in a position to expand that and do the same thing on a broader scale in the church of God. You prove yourself in the household, you manage your household well, and then if you've done that, then an elder is established in that way, then he expands and he takes care of the church of God. He oversees the church of God, that's what an elder does. He provides that pastoral care, he has the responsibility, the elders collectively have the authority to set the direction of the church.

All of this, mind you, all of this is so important to understand. All of this under, watch this, oh you've got to watch this, all of this under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose authority was the cornerstone of the opening section of Titus, right? Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. And so Paul, under the authority of Christ as an apostle, says here's how the local church is to be established, Titus I want you to appoint elders. But all of this, all of this is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ who owns the church, he bought it with his own blood, and he is revealed in his word what he wants the church to be like. Elders are not independent agents. They are not acting for their own sake, acting for their own authority. They are acting under the authority of Christ, the one who laid down his life for the church in a similar like pattern, elders lay down their lives for the church as well.

Because they're under the authority of Christ who gave himself as a ransom for those who would be saved. And so that spirit of self-sacrifice that animated Christ in dying for the church and buying it for himself is the same spirit of self-sacrifice that animates elders as they operate and oversee the church of Christ under the authority of Christ. Today, Pastor Don Green has defined what an elder is, a recognized leader of a local church who oversees it. On our next program, Don will look at the teaching and modeling aspects of an elder as he concludes his message and introduction to elder leadership here on the Truth Pulpit.

Don't miss a moment. Right now, Don's here with a special invitation. Well friend, if you are anywhere near the Cincinnati area and you don't have a good church home, I invite you to visit us at Truth Community Church. I'm in the pulpit almost every Sunday and we have a loving congregation that would simply be thrilled to meet you and welcome you to our body.

We are striving to manifest the principles that you heard taught today. Why not come and see us? Bill will help you find us on our website. Just visit thetruthpulpit.com for directions and service times. There you'll also find out how to get free CDs of Don's messages. Once more, that's thetruthpulpit.com. And by the way, thanks for your support of this ministry. Now for Don Green, I'm Bill Wright, inviting you back next time when Don presents more from the Truth Pulpit.