An Introduction to Elder Qualifications #2

When an elder steps up and says this can't be tolerated here in this body, he's doing what he's supposed to do.

He's protecting the sheep. What are the qualifications for church elders? Is it just to be old?

Hardly. An elder must be beyond reproach. We learned that last time on The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello again, I'm Bill Wright. We're continuing our series, Titus, God's Glorious Plan of Grace. Today, Don presents part two of a message titled, An Introduction to Elder Qualifications. In part one, he said a church needs to be sure an elder candidate is beyond reproach in his family life.

In this program, personal and doctrinal life will be in view. We'll again be in the first chapter of Titus, so turn there in your Bible as we join Pastor Don Green now in The Truth Pulpit. Secondly, you look at the man's personal life.

Turn back to Titus. Titus chapter 1 verse 7. You look at a man's personal life, by which we mean you look at his character.

You look at his character. Verse 7, 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. I want you to make a simple observation about the passage right here. Is that Paul, in verse 7, he lists out a series of negative characteristics. And then in verse 8, he lists out positive things. And so there are things that should not mark a man and there are things that positively should mark a man. And he starts by defining what should not mark an elder's character.

Verse 7, look at it with me again. 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.

Theoretically, you could make a sermon about every single one of those attributes. We're not going to do that. We're just going to say simply that an elder is a man who is not arrogant. An arrogant man is disqualified from leadership. An elder is a man who's not inclined to anger. He's not quick-tempered. He doesn't have a short fuse. He doesn't burst out in angry words when someone contradicts him. He's not reliant on alcohol. He's not argumentative. He's not greedy.

These are the marks that you look for in a man. They lead by example, not by force, one writer said. Think about it this way. An elder desires the office so that he can give to Christ's sheep, not get from them. Part of what he gives is a life of an example. And he feels the weight, a prospective elder feels the weight of living a holy life in part because he knows that others look to his example and he doesn't want to let them down. He wants to uphold a high example for the sake of being a vessel of encouraging others to holiness and godliness in their own lives. You could say this, he's earnest about the pursuit of holiness.

He's not indifferent to it. You know what one of the things is? As we're talking about this thing, there should be something rising up in your understanding. The office of elder is not for men who want prominence. The office of elder is not a reward for someone's earthly success. It's not given to the most vocal, outspoken, administratively skilled guy who knows how to run over people to get things done.

The office of elder is not a chief executive officer of a corporation. He's a shepherd. He loves the sheep. He cares for them.

He knows that his life has an influence and an impact on them. It's not that he wants to control people and exercise authority over them and lord it over them. He wants to serve them. He loves the sheep of God and he wants to serve them. He wants to see them grow in godliness.

Not just so that he could be a man of influence. That's really not even important to him. A true elder doesn't care about his influence in that sense that he'd be recognized as a man of influence. Rather, what he cares about is the fact that these people belong to Christ and it will please Christ and it will honor Christ if their lives are honoring to him.

It will go well for these sheep in the day of judgment if they're obedient, holy, godly people. That's what an elder cares about. It's not about having control and authority. It's about being in a position to lead by example, to teach a word not of his own, to oversee so that the sheep are protected. This isn't an office of power.

If you want an office of power, run for political office. The elder is a place of service, of example, of loving oversight. So much so, so much so that an elder is willing to have his life appropriately examined. We're entitled as a congregation to say, Is this man self-willed? Is he quick-tempered? Is he a fighter? Is he someone who argues?

Is he greedy? You're entitled to know those things about a man who would be an elder. And it shows you that church leaders, pastors who insulate themselves from relationships, who you can only find on a Sunday morning in the pulpit and then they're gone, you don't know where to find them, that's not the pattern of biblical leadership. Because Scripture here obviously shows that this man's life is an open book for people to read. You can have enough of a relationship and you see him in enough different contexts, you say there's a pattern here and it's a good one. And so you look at these disqualifying factors in verse 7.

What are the positive qualifications? Look at verse 8 with me. Verse 8, this man is hospitable, he loves what is good, he's sensible, just, devout, he's self-controlled. We could say this is that this man bears the mark of evident sanctification in his life over a considerable period of time so that we know that it's not a flash in the pan, it's not a sudden urge, a sudden impulse that fades with time, but there has been the mark of this man over time, over years, that shows that he has an enduring commitment to godliness that isn't with absolute perfection but there is a pattern, a reliable pattern. You know when you see that man that what he was like yesterday is what he's going to be like tomorrow.

You just know that. What elder leadership looks like should be a man who's approachable. His life should show proper affections. He's a man of sober judgment. He obviously pursues a godly life that is marked by discipline and self-control. A man who's wildly in debt is a man who's not ready to be an elder, for example, because there's not the element of self-control there. You can really sum it up with this statement if you want to put it in a theological term.

A prospective elder must manifest consistent sanctification over time. That's what we look for in men who would be in church leadership. Can't look at a man's earthly success? Every one of you knows men who are successful who shouldn't be anywhere near influencing people spiritually, right? It can't be about earthly success.

It can't be about that at all. We're looking at character, not a bank account. We're looking at sanctification, not earthly power. We're looking at the things that god cares about and we don't measure those things by earthly standards. An elder's qualification is independent of whether he's wealthy. It's independent of whether he's a man of earthly influence. Look, a man could be wealthy and be elder qualified. He could be a man of great earthly influence and be elder qualified.

The only point is that the earthly standard isn't what you measure it by. His earthly influence is secondary to whether his character is real or not. If he happens to be a man of earthly influence, so much the better. That's not what drives his life and it's evident that that's not what drives his life.

And so we just have to evaluate these things by what scripture says. You don't consider a man for the office of elder based on what he has done. You consider him for the office of elder based on, watch this, who he is. It's who he is because we're looking at character shown in his family life and in his personal life, by which we mean his personal character.

One more for today. Is he above reproach in his family life? Is he above reproach in his personal life?

In his personal character, in other words. Finally, is he above reproach in his doctrinal life, we could say. Look at verse 9 with me here. Verse 9, is he above reproach in his doctrinal life?

Because this is essential. Verse 9, this man who must be above reproach before he's appointed as an elder must be shown to be a man like this. He must be, verse 9, one who is holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching. He understands Christian doctrine and he holds to it. He doesn't vacillate. He doesn't go back and forth one day following this teacher, another day following another teacher, and always talking about all kinds of different teachers, obviously just being tossed from wave to wave, from shore to shore with no rock of consistency in his theological and biblical convictions. You look for a man as an elder as a man who has established his theological pattern just like he's established his family pattern, his character pattern, his teaching, and the beliefs and the convictions that he holds have stood the test of time. He holds it fast.

He holds it fast. The faithful word, the word of God, the core doctrines of Christianity. He's not a man who questions justification or questions the resurrection or gets infatuated with the latest marketing fad book. I'm going to say something that's going to offend a lot of you.

I don't care if what I'm about to say offends somebody. An elder can't be someone who's running in every two years with the latest fad book and saying, this is the book that we're going to follow now. And he's just coming in and just chasing after whatever the most successful Christian marketing publishing has done to make the most prominent thing. That is not the mark of an elder who just chases the tale of whoever has the ear of Christian publishers and says, this is what we're doing in the church today. That's not an elder. That's not an elder. That's not what we're going to do at Truth Community.

An elder is one who holds fast the faithful word, who's not ashamed of the gospel, who's not ashamed of the simplicity of clear Bible exposition, understanding that that's what feeds the sheep and makes them strong. We're not trying to keep up with the fads here. We want to hold fast the faithful word and let the Word of God set our agenda, not the latest director of marketing from some Christian publisher who's simultaneously publishing heretical works by unworthy men. You know what? Let's just be real and let's be faithful.

That's what we want. And those are the kind of men we want to attract to leadership, not men who love the fads, men who love the Word, men who hold it fast and can be a rock of Gibraltar against the pounding waves of shifting opinion in theological circles. That's what an elder is.

That's what an elder does. He holds fast the faithful word. His teaching is consistent with apostolic doctrine. And it's not just what he holds inside in his heart of hearts.

We're almost done here. Look at verse 9 with me. Holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching. An elder isn't trying to go out and establish his own realm of theology and make a mark for his name.

You know what? If I came to the end of my life and people said he never had an original thought, he never said anything new and original, the only thing you could say about him is that he was consistent with prior generations of pastors who taught the Word of God, that you can trace the themes of his teaching through generations of godly men who taught the Word and were faithful. If you could say that about my life at the end, I'd be a happy man. And I would be content for someone to say that he never had an original thought in his life.

You know, I don't care about that. Just let me be found at the end having been faithful to what was handed down to us through the generations of those who shed their blood for the sake of the gospel. I don't want to be original. I don't want to be new. I want to be faithful.

That's not just me, beloved. That's what motivates every elder. I want to be faithful to the Word that's in accordance with the teaching that's been passed down to me.

And why is he that way? Verse 9, So that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. You see, in terms of giftedness, this is the one distinguishing mark of an elder. Everything that we've set up to this point, if you trace it through Scripture, could really be said to be necessary for every believer in Christ. Every believer in Christ should be faithful to his or her marriage. Every believer in Christ should be developing the character of godliness. But Scripture tells us that not everyone is called to teach. This is a distinguishing mark of an elder, is his ability to handle the Word of God. An elder should be able to give positive instruction out of the Word of God that causes teachable Christians to grow in their knowledge and understanding of the grace and knowledge of Christ. That's a requirement of an elder, that he's able to do that. The saints, those who are truly born again, hear his teaching and affirm it and say, that's true, that's consistent, that edified me, I grow, I understand things better when that man teaches.

The saints are able to say that. The elder is able to exhort in sound doctrine and explain biblical truth in a way that people can appropriate it and understand it. If a man can't do that, that doesn't mean he's a bad Christian, it just means that he's not called to be an elder. You know, he serves in other ways that are equally important in some ways. And so he gives positive instruction so that teachable people can grow under his ministry.

And look at this at the end here, verse 9. He's able to refute those who contradict. An elder has to have the ability to recognize false teaching and show why it's wrong from the Bible.

He has to be able to contradict it, refute it in that sense. And so he gives positive instruction. He's not just always haranguing about somebody else's bad teaching. He goes to the Bible and he teaches it. He explains it. He helps people understand. And then when error comes, when it comes up on the radar in the life of a body, an elder is there to say, no, that's not right and here's why it's wrong and here's what the truth is. That's what an elder does.

See, and we've come full circle with what we said. An elder, what's he do? Oversight, teaching, example.

What do you have in the qualifications? You have exactly that which would let you sense that he is able to do that. Oversight, his family life is in order. Teaching, he's able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. Example, his character is what it should be from verses 7 and 8. One expositor said this, talking about the teaching function.

I like this quote. He said this, and this goes back several hundred years. Quote, the pastor, by which he means the elders, we're defining it here. The pastor ought to have two voices. One for gathering the sheep and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The scripture supplies him with the means of doing both. For he who is deeply skilled in it will be able both to govern those who are teachable and to refute the enemies of the truth.

End quote. Two voices. Elder has two voices. Speaking to the sheep, they recognize the affectionate, tender voice of their Lord in that man's voice and in his instruction. And the sheep come and they find rest and protection.

And they say, ah, this is what it is. And the elder loves them and affirms them and encourages them and strengthens them. Over time, throughout the mountains and valleys of life, it's what an elder does. But understand that the elder that loves the sheep, there are going to be times where you will see a biblical elder step up and speak with a different kind of voice in his actions, in the leadership that he provides, in the teaching. An elder's going to recognize a wolf, and he's not going to love and embrace the wolf.

The wolf's a threat. Get out of here, so to speak. No, no, we don't teach that here. No, you can't pray on vulnerable people in this place. You need to leave.

You're not welcome here. When you see elders acting like that, it's not that they're violating their standards of being compassionate leaders of the Church of Christ. When an elder steps up and says, this can't be tolerated here in this body, he's doing what he's supposed to do.

He's protecting the sheep. You know, Paul said to the people in Ephesus in Acts chapter 20, he said, I know that wolves are going to rise up from your own midst. Even from among you, there will be wolves that rise up. You see, an elder recognizes that, understands that, and says, God willing, God be gracious to me, not on my watch. Not on my watch will there be wolves that are running loose among the sheep. That's part of being an elder. It's sobering.

It catches your breath, but an elder embraces that, embraces a willingness. I have to refute those who contradict. I have to protect the flock of God from those who would harm it.

Think about it this way. This is a very homespun illustration. Sheep attract wolves.

The light attracts bugs. It's inevitable that there will be people who shouldn't be here. Part of an elder's leadership responsibility that's entrusted to him is to recognize that, refute it, to maintain a protection over the flock. As we wrap this up, as we talk about it, I'm really grateful that there are men who aspire after leadership and show the kind of character in our midst right now that could one day be elders in our flock. What I want us all to understand collectively is that the office of elders is a high and lofty and noble position and that what your elders need... I'm almost about to get emotional.

Almost, not quite. I keep my emotions under check, probably more than I should sometimes. But see, what Scripture calls people in the church to follow their elders, not to rule over them, what your elders need are your prayers. When we establish elders here, what we as a congregation want to be, we want to be people who have loving, affirming elders and that the congregation, in response to their elders, loving, affirming, prayerful, recognizing that the great task to which elders are called, to which they're going to be held to a stricter judgment, it's a responsibility that they gladly carry, but it's a heavy responsibility. Elders need you to pray, to love them, to affirm them, to encourage them, to support them, to use the broadest verb possible, to support your elders, not to view them with suspicion, but to love them and support them. When we think about elder qualifications and looking at the lives of men who would be elders, Scripture teaches us that he who has been faithful in a little will be faithful in much. And so you look for a pattern of faithfulness from a man, and Scripture teaches us the import of what we say here is that as we establish leadership here at Truth Community in the future, we're not going to take chances on unproven men. We're going to follow these principles so that we can honor Christ in the Scripture. You know what's going to happen as we do that? As we honor the principles of spiritual leadership that Christ has set forth in his Word, you know what's going to happen? Christ is going to bless us, and I can't wait to see how that works out.

Can you? A church elder must be beyond reproach in family life, in personal life, and in doctrinal life. The standard is high, but so are the stakes for the local church. Pastor Don Green will continue our series, Titus, God's Glorious Plan of Grace, next time on The Truth Pulpit.

Plan now to join us. Right now, though, Don's back here in studio with some closing words. You know, as you listen to these radio broadcasts, they have to fit into a 25-minute format, and we're very grateful for the opportunity the Lord's given us to do just that. But the radio messages are born out of a longer sermon message that contains more information, more background, a fuller explanation of the passage than what we're able to do on radio. So I encourage you to go to our website and find the link that says, Follow Don's Pulpit. That'll lead you to a podcast that gives you the full-length sermons from every Sunday and every Tuesday from my pulpit. I really think that it'll minister to you over time to hear the full-length messages. So we make that available for free, and we would love you to join us in that way as well. Just visit us at thetruthpulpit.com. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. Now, for Don Green, I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time for more from The Truth Pulpit.