Lesson 4

Class Notes

LESSON 4 The Role of the Elders

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n the previous lesson we learned about the responsibilities of the pastor, as described in Scripture. Though there is confusion in the minds of some people about the role of the pastor and the role of the elders, Scripture points out very clearly that Christ has called and gifted some people to a special ministry of leadership, divided into five categories: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These people in New Testament times, and even today, often had a mobile ministry, moving from place to place as the Holy Spirit led them. But we also see in Scripture that there was leadership in the local church that was more or less permanent.

The book of Acts tells us how the ministry of deacons arose from a need in the church. However, Acts does not tell us how elders in the church came about. The first mention of elders in the New Testament church is in Acts 11:30. The elders are in place in the church in Jerusalem, without any explanation how this aspect of church government came about. The probable explanation is that the concept of elders had a long-standing tradition among the Jewish people. In other words, the church adopted a system that was already in place in the Jewish culture.

In this lesson we will study the development of the role of elder beginning in the Old Testament and then tracing it to the New Testament.

The goals of this lesson are: •

To understand the different roles that elders have played down through history and how the position of elder was introduced in the church.

•

To understand the general role of the elders in today’s church.

•

To evaluate the role of the elders in your church.

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Preparing to Lead God’s People

Class Notes

History of Eldership God began to give the Israelites a national identity during the time they were in the wilderness. Moses was their God-appointed leader. But only a few weeks or months after they had left Egypt and had crossed the Red Sea, an administrative problem arose.

Read Exodus 18:13-26 1. What problem did Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, point out?

2. What was Jethro’s advice about sharing leadership?

3. Did this idea work?

Why?

4. What were the qualifications for these leaders?

5. What were their responsibilities?

6. Moses delegated authority to the elders. Why is authority not lost when it is delegated?

7. What does delegating authority involve?

8. What is involved in receiving authority?

Read Numbers 11:24-30. In this passage Moses is facing one of many crises in leadership.

9. What happened when Moses and the elders met in the Lord’s presence?

10. Was Moses jealous of them?

Why or why not?

Let’s draw a conclusion here. The leaders of God’s people need to be filled with God’s Spirit in order to do what He has commissioned them to do. Even today, the pastor and the elders of the church need to meet in the Lord’s presence to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Lesson 4 – The Role of the Elders

11. To review, name the qualities and qualifications that these two Old Testament passages give for people in leadership.

Class Notes

Down through the history of Israel, they had various forms of government: a military style leadership under Joshua, the unstable rule of the Judges, and a series of monarchies, some strong, but many weak ones. Although there were various forms of government, throughout the Old Testament we read about the role of the elders. The elders were to be representatives of the people. Read Leviticus 4:13-15.

12. What were the elders instructed to do?

13. What was the significance of their doing this?

The elders were also to teach God’s way to His people. Read Deuteronomy 31:9-13.

14. What were the priests and elders instructed to do so that God’s people would know about His ways?

The elders in Israel also shared responsibility in the civil government.

Read 2 Samuel 5:1-3.

15. What did the elders do in this passage?

16. What was the role of the elders in 2 Kings 20:7-8?

We conclude that eldership was important in Israel as representatives of the people, as spiritual leaders who taught God’s ways to the people, and even sharing the power with kings by serving as their advisors. They were chosen for their maturity, wisdom, and spiritual character.

After the Exile, when the Israelites had no government of their own, the elders stepped up to take a stronger leadership role.

17. In what project did the elders give leadership in Ezra 5:5?

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Preparing to Lead God’s People

By Jesus’ life time, when the Roman Empire ruled the world, the highest Jewish authority was the Sanhedrin, the council of elders. The Sanhedrin made decisions affecting the lives of the Jewish people. Jesus, Stephen, Peter, John and the other apostles, and Paul were all brought before the Sanhedrin to be judged.

The position of elder in the Sanhedrin was one of great respect and honor. It was not conferred simply as a matter of age, as the name might suggest, but rather the person’s leadership ability, knowledge of Scripture, social standing, personal piety, and other matters seemed to be taken into consideration before choosing an elder to sit on the Sanhedrin.

During the Exile, the synagogue became the religious and social center of every Jewish community. The synagogues were directed, not by priests, but by rulers or elders. They were in charge of the services in the synagogue each Sabbath day. They carried on the functions of the elders in the Old Testament times. These were local elders of the community, and did not have the social standing or political authority as the elders of the Sanhedrin did. Nevertheless, the concept of elder authority was the same.

18. What was the role of the elders in the Jewish culture in Jesus’ day?

We observe that there were several different levels of eldership, from elders of a local synagogue, to elders of a town, to the members of the Sanhedrin, who were the highest ruling body of the Jewish people.

Elders in the Early Church The first Christian churches were formed by Jewish people, who already had a tradition of elders leading in the local synagogue. It was logical to carry over this institution into the Early Church, which, at first, was mostly of Jewish. Read to Acts 15:1-29.

19. To whom did Paul and Barnabas report when they arrived in Jerusalem?

20. Who considered the controversial matter that had brought Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem?

21. Who made the decision to inform the Gentile churches of their decision?

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Class Notes

Lesson 4 – The Role of the Elders

We also notice here, that though the apostles and elders worked together, they are mentioned each time as being separate. The apostles would be what we would call “ministers” and the elders were the leaders selected from among the people to give leadership to the local church.

Class Notes

As the church began to be established among the Gentiles, this same structure of leadership by elders was carried over. We read of the first missionary journey by Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13 and 14. These church-planting ministers established churches in many cities: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia.

22. What did Paul and Barnabas do to help the churches they had planted, as is recorded in Acts 14:23?

23. What did Paul want Titus to do when he left him in Crete, according to Titus 1:5?

The New Testament uses two words for elders. Though they are translated differently, they seem to be used interchangeably. The most common word is the word presbyteros, which is usually translated “elder.” As you would surmise, it is from this word that we get our term Presbyterian. The other term used in the New Testament is the word episkopos which some versions translate as “overseer” and others translate it as “bishop.” From this word comes our word Episcopalian.

Although in today’s ecclesiastical hierarchy elder and bishop are two very different positions, the New Testament seems to use the two words interchangeably. Look at Acts 20:17-38.

24. Whom did Paul call for when he arrived in Miletus?

25. What did Paul say that the Holy Spirit had made them, in v. 28?

26. What did Paul instruct them to do with the church in Ephesus?

Since Paul uses the two words to refer to the same group of leaders from the Ephesian church, we can conclude that the word presbyteros refers to the position of spiritual maturity, and episkopos is used more to refer to the nature of their work.

27. What is an elder supposed to be?

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Preparing to Lead God’s People

28. What is an elder supposed to do?

We conclude that the general role of the elders is to oversee the spiritual ministry of the local church in cooperation with the pastor and under his supervision. This includes “shepherding” the congregation, and protecting it from those who would distort the truth.

Application: 1. Read the description of the Elders in the Constitution for Accredited Churches in the C&MA Manual (p. A5-5). Does this description fit with the role that the elders play in your church?

2. Do your church by-laws clearly define the role of the elders?

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Class Notes