ILLUSTRATION: Mike Lomas - businessman, elder, and church-planter

Leadership is influence. The lowest form of leadership is leadership by title or position. The next level up is leadership by training or education or credentials. The next level up is leadership by personality and character are the four sources (moving from weakest to strongest) of that influence.

If a clear pattern for Church government emerges from the pages of the NT, we do a disservice to the Church if we ignore it. The New Testament pattern for Church government is elder-rule. Churches suffer in significant ways when they fail to follow this NT prescription for Church government. I want to answer five questions today regarding elders:
1. What are elders, and where did they come from in the Bible?
2. Is an elder the same as a pastor?
3. What are the qualifications of an elder?
4. How are they chosen or appointed?
5. How should they lead?

1. What are elders, and where did they come from in the Bible?
Definition: Simply put, an "elder" means one who is older, but it carries with it the idea of the wisdom, experience, carefulness, and influence that should come with age. Some men learn early and are considered wise beyond their years, and so they may serve early as elders. Elders in Israel were typically between 30 and 60 years old.

The concept of leadership by the oldest male goes back to the first families of the early earth. Elders in ancient cultures were typically the oldest male in the clan - maybe great-grandpa and all of the grandfathers in an extended family or clan. Then the heads of each clan formed the leadership of a tribe. Israel had 12 tribes - 4 or 5 clans in each tribe would add up to about 70 elders.

Elders in Israel: Elders are first mentioned in the Bible when Joseph and his family settled in Egypt in the last chapter of Genesis. Some 400 years later, when the book of Exodus begins, they are mentioned frequently. In fact, God sends Moses from Mount Sinai to the elders first to announce the people's deliverance (Ex. 3:16). The elders were active in every crucial event in Israel's history and are mentioned about 100 times in the Old Testament. As community leaders, the elders were to protect the people (military), enact new laws (legislative), enforce the law of God (executive), and administer justice (judicial).

Elders in the Early Church: Then Jesus came, and 50 days after He ascended, the Spirit came at Pentecost and started the Church. God gave the early Church two kinds of leaders at first - apostles and prophets. They did the foundational work (Eph. 2:20), gave new revelation from God and wrote the NT.

Then about 15 years after the church started, elders appear in local churches without explanation (Acts 11:30). Why? Probably because the early church was almost totally Jewish, and that's the leadership structure they were used to. Look at Acts 14:31-23. When Paul went out on the first missionary journey to plant churches, he showed his approval by appointing elders in each of the new churches. These men were new Christians, but they had already been Jewish believers for some time. As the Church expanded across the Roman Empire, and thousands of little churches were started, the aging apostles disappeared, and leadership fell upon the shoulders of the elders of individual local churches.

2. Is an elder a pastor?
Well, over time, the term "elder" stuck in the early church, but it blended together with two other terms. Turn to Acts 20:17-18, 28. Paul called the elders overseers and shepherds. Elders - presbyteros - presbytery; Overseers - episkopos - bishops. About 5 years later, Paul sent Titus to Crete to set things in order and to "appoint elders in every city." Paul gave him a list of qualifications for eldership. But Paul also wrote to Timothy, and he used a different term for elders - he called them "overseers" (1 Timothy 3:1).

So elder-overseers were given responsibility to shepherd and oversee local churches. I Peter 5:1-4 was written about the same time. Listen for the mix between elder, shepherd, and overseer.

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Although Peter was an apostle, overseeing the whole body of Christ, he refers to himself as an elder, meaning that he was likely serving in a local church somewhere as an elder - like Corinth. No one in Scripture is referred to as a pastor, no one was ordained as a pastor, and there is no office of pastor, per se. Pastoring or shepherding is a verb, and it is also a spiritual gift. Over time in our Western culture, the term "pastor" was attributed to the main teaching elder or elders, but that term is cultural, not biblical. The other thing to note is that elders are virtually always in the plural - churches had plurality of elders.

3. What are the qualifications for an elder?
To qualify for nomination as an elder, a man must already be influencing others toward godliness, be it formally or informally, and possess the character, experience, and knowledge qualifications of an elder-overseer found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 2 Timothy 2:22-26, which are as follows:
1. Above reproach (no accusations brought against him will stick; credible; blameless; good reputation within the church)
2. Husband of one wife (he must be male; he has affections/devotion to his wife and no other)
3. Temperate (self-controlled; disciplined; not quick-tempered)
4. Of sound and sober mind (sensible; prudent; stable, appropriate self-image)
5. Orderly (not rash; respectable; has a structured life)
6. Hospitable (ready to share home and possessions with strangers and friends)
7. Able and willing to teach (educated in doctrine, teachable, a life-long learner, able to communicate truth)
8. Not given to wine (does not misuse alcohol or controlled substances)
9. Gentle (not given to physical violence; forbearing, reasonable, moderate)
10. Not quarrelsome (not argumentative, contentious, or causing discord, doesn't over-stress minor doctrines)
11. Not greedy for money (spends within budget, not covetous, not a seeker of quick gain)
12. Manages his family well (wife is in submission, children obey with proper respect)
13. Not a recent convert (well grounded in the Scriptures and spiritual disciplines)
14. Has a good testimony among unbelievers (good reputation in the community)
15. Loves what is good (participates enthusiastically in good deeds)
16. Just (upright; not prejudiced against genders, races or the poor, impartial, keen sense of right and wrong)
17. Holy (separated from sin unto God)
18. Able to refute false doctrine (knowledgeable of all major doctrines and doctrinal error; faithful to the Scripture)

4. How are they chosen or appointed?
1. The Holy Spirit draws the attention of existing elders to men who are serving, highlighting their qualities and potential for servant-leadership (Acts 13:2, 20:28).
2. Others elders appoint (ordain) them after prayer and consideration by the laying on of hands (I Tim. 4:14 - elder; Acts 13:1-3 - missionary).
3. Should the congregation be involved? The qualifications (blameless, of good reputation) imply the need for congregational input in the process - open communication is essential! Congregational vote is not found in the NT. Logical problem: a man who is a novice is disqualified for eldership (I Timothy 3:6), yet we would ask a novice to decide who will be his leader.

5. How should they lead?
Activities - Building up, knocking away, moving forward
- Training and appointing other leaders (II Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23)
- Equipping believers for ministry (Eph. 4:11-12)
- Teaching the Bible (Titus 1:9; I Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:7)

- Spiritual health, admonishing, spiritual restoration (Heb. 13:17, Gal. 6:1-2)
- Refuting false doctrine (Titus 1:9)
- Guarding the flock (Acts 20:17, 28-31)

- Prayer to know and do God's will; intercession for believers
- Leading, governing, vision for future (I Thess. 5:12; I Tim. 5:17, Heb. 13:17)

Attitude - Servant-leadership
- Remember that leadership is influence; if you have no personal influence, you are not a leader. A leader who has no followers is just a man out for a walk.

- Serve with humility. The greatness of a leader is in his humility before God, not in his eloquence before men. Optimally, we should lead as though we have no tile or office (Matt. 23:5-12)

But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' 8 But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

- Serve willingly (1 Peter 5:2)
- Serve without thinking of money (1 Peter 5:2)
- Serve with spiritual oversight; if someone in this church falls spiritually, it is partly our fault and very much our problem. We are at the bottom of the inverted corporate pyramid.
- Serve remembering that believers in your church are God's sheep, not ours. We are stewards, under-shepherds (1 Peter 5:4)
- Serve and teach with carefulness and love knowing that our judgment will be much larger (1 Peter 5:4, James 3:1). We have to answer to God for each of these people at MountainView.
- Live circumspectly, knowing that we are special targets. Strike the shepherd, and you will scatter the sheep. As God blesses your ministry, you will be known in heaven, but you'll also be known in hell. Stay in the spiritual disciplines; walk with God; finish well.

Ordination of Brent Meyers and Doug Steytler as elder-overseers