Elders in the New Testament - Occasional Letters

Last post we began to discuss how the New Testament speaks about elders. This discussion was prompted by a great question during a recent congregational conversation: "What are elders?"

Here in written format I've begun to answer that question with a simple survey detailing the instances that the word "elder" comes up in the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Today, our discussion moves from the mostly narrative driven accounts of the Gospel and Acts, to the letters written by various Apostles to individuals, and churches in the rest of the New Testament. I'll continue with the "survey" format, simply citing a passage and giving a brief statement. 

In 1 Timothy 4:14 the Apostle Paul was writing to his "true son in the faith" (1:2). As Paul gave instructions to Timothy, he presented a reminder about Timothy's own ministry which began with the involvement of elders. From this we see that elders are involved even in the training and launching of others into Christ-honoring ministry:

4:14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 

Later on in this same letter to Timothy, Paul describes the work of Christian elders (5:17), the compensation of Christian elders (5:18), dealing with accusations against elders (5:19-20), and strictly forbids any sort of preferential treatment towards elders (5:21). 

5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” 19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. 

Timothy wasn't the only person the Apostle Paul wrote to regarding Christian elders. Titus was one of Paul's missionary team who was given instructions regarding Christian elders. His task was to carry out the work of appointing Christian elders in the church at Crete. We see included in Paul's initial instructions to Titus a reminder of his mission to appoint Christian elders (1:5), and a description of qualifications accompanied by reasons for these qualifications (1:6-9).

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Christian elders weren't just something the Apostle Paul wrote about in his letters. One of the earliest New Testament letters (if not the very earliest letter) was the letter from James. In this letter a prescription (5:14) comes from James for believers who are ill. In this we see that Christian elders are involved in more than simply a decision making role, they are also vitally important to the health and life of the Christian community: 

5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

The Apostle Peter also wrote regarding Christian Elders in 1 Peter 5. Peter who already referred to himself as an Apostle earlier in the letter (1:1), now also identifies as a "fellow elder" while addressing Christian elders. In this passage we begin to see some more descriptive language of the work of the elder with the term "shepherd" (5:2). Peter draws a point of reference for the Christian elder - shepherd God's flock, remembering that Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd:

5:1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it 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 will never fade away. 

In the very next sentence Peter then gives instructions to those who are not elders in how they are to respond to elders exercising authority. Peter includes a quote from Proverbs 3:34 and a possible reference to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 23:12. According to Peter's reminder, Christian elders are not to be the object of unjust scorn:

5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 

The next time the word "elder" shows up in the New Testament is in 2 John 1:1. Here we see the writer of this letter simply identify himself as "The Elder". We've already seen Peter identify himself with elders in 1 Peter 5:1, now we see the Apostle John also using the term: 

1:1 The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—

This same sort of introduction also is found in 3 John 1:1:

1:1 The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

The word "elder" shows up 12 times in the book of Revelation. While much of the specifics within Revelation are a matter of debate within various Christian interpretive approaches, we can certainly identify that many (if not all) of the elders within the various worship scenes in Revelation refer to Christian elders since they are prostrating themselves in worship before the resurrected Christ Jesus. 

By now I trust you are beginning to see some patterns among the passages in the New Testament which describe overlapping duties, and qualities of the Christian elder. The Christian elder in the first century church had responsibility to serve under Christ's authority, caring for the people of Christ, providing Godly conflict resolution, decision making, teaching, preaching, administrating, praying, serving the sick, and diligently working up a Christ-like sweat while seeking the good of Christ's people. 

In our next post we will see even more about the New Testament Christian elder. We will broaden our study to include not only explicit mentions of the word "elder", but also find it's many other synonyms (such as  overseer and shepherd) and overlapping conceptual roles (such as following Christ's example). I hope you are learning something new and exciting!