What Do Elders Do?

Mark Dunagan
08/08/10 - Sunday Morning

 

What Do Elders Do?

Elders Watch Themselves

• “Proving to be examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
• “Considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith”(Hebrews 13:7).
• “Be on guard for yourselves” (Acts 20:28).

What is Involved in Watching Themselves?

• While spending a lot of their time helping others, they still must find the time to maintain their own relationship with God.
• Elders spend a lot of time in prayer.
• Elders spend a lot of time in reading and Bible Study, researching issues, and pondering points of doctrine or the best way to
• implement a command.
• They realize that they cannot expect a congregation to magically become spiritual – if they are not that spiritual.

Clearly, elders are men willing to lead the way in prayer, willingly accepting responsibility, being good Bible students, are obedient to the will of God, maintain a godly attitude, evangelize, and love even those who are hard to love.

They Watch for Souls

• “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account” (Hebrews 13:17).
• “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock” (Acts 20:28).

This watching isn’t useless, rather there is a definite reason why every congregation needs alert watchmen. Error will attempt to enter every local church (Acts 20:29; Romans 16:18; 2 Corinthians 11:13; 2 Peter 2:1-3).

 

What is Involved in Watching for Souls?

• They will need to correct or admonish members who start to stray.
• They need to be willing to take people aside and privately address spiritual concerns.
• They have to be willing to express what no one else wants to say.
• They must know the Scriptures well enough that they avoid overreacting and under-reacting. 
• They need to be encouragers (Titus 1:9) and exhort members to live up to what God requires.
• They have a responsibility to see to it that the congregation is not loosing God’s acceptable level of spirituality.

They Refute False Teachers

• “Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” Titus 1:9

What is Involved in Refuting?

• They must be knowledgeable of errors that are on the horizon and make sure there is preventative teaching and preaching in the congregation before the error arrives.
• They are not allowed to speculate.
• They are not allowed to ignore or side-step doctrinal matters.
• They cannot sit back while a popular error runs through the congregation.
• They must be willing to confront specific individuals who are spreading error secretly or privately in the congregation (Jude 4).
• They need to be very diligent with new members and those desiring to place membership. They are the ones who ask the hard questions to new members concerning where they have been attending, why they left, and if they been married before.

They Shepherd

• “To shepherd the church of God” (Acts 20:28).
• “Shepherd the flock of God among you” (1 Peter 5:2).

What is Involved in Shepherding?

• They need to know the members of the flock. This demands staying around after services, being available, having people over, and spending time with the members.
• They need to be great listeners, have time for people, be willing to stay after services and meet with members.
• They need to be aware of everyone who is coming or going in the flock, who is visiting, and what the influences are.
• Shepherds “sacrifice”: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). 
• Elders give up a lot of their free time, time after or before services, evenings and mornings.
• Shepherds equally expend a lot of energy seeking the lost (Luke 15:4). Elders spend a lot of their time trying to bring back the fallen, this means phone calls, meeting with people personally, being flexible in one’s schedule, listening to the complaints or woes of the fallen, deflecting their arguments, bringing them back to Scripture and urging them to make things right with God.

Elders Oversee

• “Exercising oversight” (1 Peter 5:2).
• Elders are men involved in the life of the congregation and are willing to accept the responsibility of knowing what is going on. 
• They are men who are willing to deal with issues whether they be problems in a member’s marriage or children, or problems between brethren.
• Many of us have the liberty to saying, “I don’t want to know about that situation”, elders often do not have this freedom.
• Their eyes must be open to the successes and growth in the congregation as well as what needs improving.

Elders “Feed the Flock”: 1 Peter 5:2

This means that elders must be aware of not only what is being preached, but equally, what is not being preached. They help remind us of familiar truths. They make sure that the teaching program is balanced and that the whole counsel of God is being presented (Acts 20:27).

They Rule

• “Let the elders who rule well...” (1 Timothy 5:17).
• “But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” (1 Timothy 3:5).
• “Obey your leaders, and submit to them” (Hebrews 13:17).

Clearly, God has put elders in a position of authority and we are to recognize that they have been given the authority to rule. To argue that they only rule by “example” would: (1) Destroy the parallel stated in 1 Timothy 3:5. Fathers manage or rule a physical family, in like manner, elders manage or rule spiritual family, the church. If fathers have authority, but elders do not, then Paul’s argument here is empty. (2) It would make the terms “obey” and “submit” meaningless in Hebrews 13:17. In the Bible elders have been given authority to the point that our obedience and submission is required. I have found that those who argue that elders can only rule by example are in effect saying, “I don’t need to obey anything they say.”

What is Involved In Ruling?

Elders do not amend Scripture, rather they are under it (1 Peter 5:2 “Shepherd the flock... according to the will of God”). Yet hundred of wise decisions must be made in the realm of judgment calls and seeing that a congregation is in line with Scripture. Some of the common decisions center around worship times, the order of services, what course of study will be pursued, who will teach, who will preach, or who will we have for a meeting. Then there is the whole realm of financial decisions – to whom and how much will the congregation financially support outside preachers, when to administer benevolence, and how much to help a brother.

Some of these decisions will be unpopular, a number of them have no easy answer or answer that will suit all the members, even still a decision must be made. Thus being an elder means accepting the responsibility of making these difficult decisions (1 Samuel 30:22). Considering all the difficult sacrifices an elder willingly makes, it’s no wonder God calls those under their watchful care to honor them and to do our part to be easy to shepherd.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net