Elders of the Church

 

I always count it an honor for the listeners to our program to take the time to write to me of their concerns.   I try to respond to all letters, but I cannot always do that on the air. But some letters raise questions that are of such great importance that I feel compelled to respond to them on the International Gospel Hour. In August 2005, I received a letter from a man who identifies himself as a "Hebrew Christian Evangelist." I have no idea what that term means, but that is not my concern in this message today. The man asked some questions about elders of the Lord's church. I am grateful for the man's letter and will answer his questions about "Elders of the Church."

 

My correspondent writes: "Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world.' Jesus did not mandate local kingdoms or churches and Jesus did not mandate elders to oversee Christians' preaching the GOSPEL, according to the Great Commission." There is enough in this brief paragraph to occupy our time for weeks, but I shall strive to be brief in my response. It certainly is true that Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36). When Jesus affirmed that his kingdom was not of this world, does that mean there is no scriptural authority for local churches? That certainly seems to be the implication of the excerpt from the letter.

 

It is true that Jesus did not specifically mandate local churches. There is no verse that says, "Go, establish churches throughout the world." But were the apostles and others operating according to the will of God when they established churches throughout Asia Minor, Europe and other places? Paul was unquestionably the greatest church planter in the early church. He helped to establish churches in Philippi (Acts 16) in Thessalonica (Acts 17) in Corinth (Acts 18), in Ephesus (Acts 19) and in many other places. He wrote letters to all the churches I have listed. If the Lord had not authorized the establishment of these churches, would Paul have acted contrary to the Lord's will? Would he not have informed those churches they had no scriptural right to exist? What did Paul mean when he told the Roman Christians: "The churches of Christ salute you" (Rom. 16:16)?

 

If the Lord had not authorized the establishment of churches throughout the world, why did he not tell the seven churches of Asia Minor that they did not have his permission to exist? As you know from reading the book of Revelation, the Lord himself wrote to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. He criticized the Ephesians for having left their first love. He urged them: "Remember therefore from whence you have fallen, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and remove the candlestick out of his place, except you repent" (Rev. 2:4-5). The Laodiceans made the Lord sick at his stomach because of their lukewarmness. He challenged them: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent" (Rev. 3:16, 19). There is not even the slightest hint that he had not authorized the establishment of those local congregations.

 

My correspondent says Jesus did not mandate elders to oversee Christians' preaching the gospel. It is true that Christ did not say, "Elders of the church are to oversee the preaching of the gospel." I have a question for all of us to consider. Were the apostles following the instructions of their Lord or were they operating on their own wisdom? Incidentally, we do not know when the first elders of a church were appointed. It may have been within fifteen to twenty years of the church's establishment on the day of Pentecost. We know this: By the time James wrote his epistle (maybe as early as 50 A. D.), there were elders of the church. James asked, "Is any sick among you?" He then admonished: "Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (Jas. 5:14). Those elders may not have been the first elders among churches of Christ.

 

Paul and Barnabas revisited the churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, "confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed" (Acts 14:21-23). The word "ordained" would be better translated "appointed." On what basis were the men appointed to the office of an elder? Paul wrote concerning the elders of the church at Ephesus: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). I shall plan to return to this passage before our lesson is completed.

 

In his letter to Titus, Paul reminded his fellow worker: "For this cause I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain (or appoint) elders in every city, as I had directed you" (Tit. 1:5). By divine inspiration, Paul provided the qualifications a man had to possess before he could be appointed an elder of the Lord's church (Tit. 1:6-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7).

 

But were the elders to oversee the preaching of the gospel? Paul listed the qualifications of elders and then said: An elder must hold "fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Tit. 1:9). The word "gainsayer" literally means those who contradict. Does this verse from Titus teach that elders have some responsibility for the teaching that is done in the local church?

 

Let us return to Acts 20 for just a moment. Paul was on a journey back to Jerusalem. He apparently did not have time to go inland to visit the elders of the church at Ephesus. So he must have sent runners to Ephesus to have the elders meet him at the seacoast town of Miletus. When he met with them, he reminded them of the work he had done at Ephesus. He then charged the elders: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). Elders of the church must be men of godly character. They must take heed to themselves. The verb translated "take heed" means to hold your mind on, to regard, to beware. If elders do not live according to God's word, how can they guide and direct other members of the body of Christ?

 

Paul commanded the Ephesian elders to "take heed to the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." Does taking heed to the flock involve overseeing the preaching that is done in that congregation? Did you know that elders are accountable to God for the teaching that is done in the local church? Paul informed the elders at Ephesus: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). If the elders were not to oversee the preaching of the gospel, why did Paul go to the trouble to warn them of false teachers? The elders are to watch for our souls as they who must give an account (Heb. 13:17). If they cannot supervise the preacher, how are they going to watch for our souls?

 

Many preachers and other religious leaders have been involved in ungodly and even illegal activities, at least, to some extent because they were not under anyone's supervision. If Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart had been working under scriptural elderships, they might not have been so blatant in their disregard for the scriptures. They were not really accountable to anyone. What happened to these two men has occurred hundreds of times over the past few years. All of us—preachers included—must be accountable to someone for our behavior.

 

But should not preachers be operating under the Lord's Great Commission? The answer is an unequivocal YES. Jesus commanded his apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15). Who makes sure that preachers teach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is that not the responsibility of elders of the church? If the elders where I labor on a regular basis or where I preach in gospel meetings were to attempt to keep me from preaching the whole counsel of God, I would have to disregard their wishes. I work under a faithful eldership, but nobody has a right to prevent me from preaching the truth.   I would rather die than compromise the gospel of Christ.

 

My correspondent asks, "Why do you harp on Paul's epistles and ignore the actual words of Christ?" In the first place, the charge is false. I do not now ignore and never have ignored the actual words of Jesus. I have preached dozens and dozens of sermons from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the last four lessons on this program, I have quoted the very words of Christ about twenty times. About 40% of my preaching from the pulpit is from the four gospel accounts and about 60% from the rest of the Bible. Is that the right balance? It all depends on the situation. For example, if I am preaching on the new birth, I must discuss what Jesus taught Nicodemus. But if I want to explain how the new birth was practiced in the first century, I must go to the book of Acts.

 

The letter writer asked why I harp on Paul's epistles and ignore the actual words of Jesus? I remember reading an article several years ago that encouraged preachers to focus on Christ and not on Paul. Does that mean that what Christ actually said in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is of greater importance than what the apostles taught? Do you remember what Jesus promised his apostles as he was preparing to return to the Father? "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you...Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:7, 13).

 

When our Lord departed from this world, he promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth. Did the Holy Spirit actually come and guide the apostles into all truth? If he did—and there is no doubt about it—would not the words of Paul, of Peter, of John and of other New Testament writers be just as inspired and just as binding as the words that actually came from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are there degrees of inspiration?

There is no doubt Christ promised to build his church. These are the very words of Christ. "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah: for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 16:17-19). Jesus did not furnish instructions—either in Matthew 16 or elsewhere—regarding the organization and work of the church. But he gave the apostles power to bind and to loose. The tenses of the verbs "shall be bound" and "shall be loosed" are very significant. Please listen to Charles Williams' translation of verse 19. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven." Williams has unquestionably correctly translated the Greek. So what Paul wrote is just as meaningful and applicable as the very words of Jesus.

 

Did you know that the Greek word (ekklesia) translated "church" appears only three times in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (Mt. 16:18; 18:17)? What would we know about the church if we did not have the writings of Paul and other inspired books? We would not know, for example, that elders were appointed in every church (Acts 14:23). We could not know the qualifications of elders, their duties and many other aspects of the church's work and worship if we did not have Luke's writings in the book of Acts, the epistles of Paul, James, John and Jude, and the book of Revelation. We must fashion our individual lives and the work and worship of the church according to the whole New Testament.

 

Both the Old and New Testaments stress the responsibility of God's children to worship him. In his discussion with the Samaritan woman, Jesus said, "The hour comes and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24). Will you listen carefully to what Luke wrote about the church on the birthday of the church: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42)? How could we know that singing is a vital part of our worship to God were it not for the epistles of Paul (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)?

 

Jesus had somewhat to say about marriage, divorce and remarriage (Matthew 19, for example). But he did not discuss the duties of husbands and wives and of parents and children. We have to depend primarily on Paul's epistles and to a lesser extent on Peter's first epistle to learn many of our family duties. Are the words of Paul and Peter the truth Christ wants us to know about the family? If I cannot harp on Paul's epistles—to quote from my correspondent—where do I get information about family relationships?

 

Christ was the greatest preacher who ever lived, but he was much more than a preacher. If men want to know what to preach and how to preach it, we can learn much from our Lord. I am not for one moment discounting our Lord's great work as a preacher, but if we want to know what Christ expects of us as preachers, we must go to 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. These books were written specifically although not exclusively to preachers. We must take into account what Jesus actually said, but we must give the same attention to what the Holy Spirit inspired Paul, Peter and others to write.

 

My correspondent says I need to be out in the field, one-on-one, for the best results. I certainly believe in teaching one-on-one. But who is he to decide that would be the most effective use of my time and efforts? I am privileged to speak on the International Gospel Hour every week to hundreds of thousands of people. And that includes thousands of people who listen on the Internet or who download our messages. If I lived to be as old as Methuselah, I could never reach as many people one-on-one as I reach every week on our radio programs. I certainly am not downplaying the importance of personal work, but should we not use every means at our disposal to reach the lost and to strengthen the saved? In addition to one-on-one teaching, we must utilize radio, television, the Internet, books and magazines in order to preach the word.

 

My correspondent must not have much respect for elders. He writes: "I imagine your ELDERS like the earthly kingdom, having people bow and scrape to curry favor with them, using money in the collection plate to pay their individual taxes to the IRS, and for their kingdom TO PAY NO TAXES TO EITHER THE IRS, STATE OR TO THE COUNTY OR TO THE CITY. AND of course, the ELDERS probably say there is separation of church and state. YET JESUS NEVER said there was a separation of church and state." There is more in this paragraph than I shall have time to discuss today, but I shall conclude with a few remarks.

 

Our elders do not seek and do not endorse having people bow and scrape to curry favor. They know these words from Peter's first epistle. Peter commanded the elders: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but as being examples to the flock" (1 Pet. 5:2-3). They are servants who lead the congregation—not dictators who manipulate the members. They are not like Diotrophes who loved to have the preeminence among men (3 John 9).

 

And where did he learn that elders use money from the collection plate to pay their taxes to the IRS? Our elders do not even count the money, do not deposit it in the bank and do not pay he bills. The deacons in our congregation handle the money. And there are strict controls in place to account for all the money that members contribute.

 

It is true that our elders believe in the separation of church and state. And I believe Jesus did speak to that topic. Did he not say, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars'; and unto God the things that are God's" (Mt. 22:21)?