Peter issues a comprehensive challenge to the elders when he charges “So I exhort the elders among you,…shepherd the flock of God that is among you.” (1 Peter 5:2) The weightiness of this responsibility remains for all who strive to obey God’s Word, lead His mission and faithfully shepherd the local church. Many address this challenge by jumping directly to the “what” of leadership in tasks and responsibility. In contrast, the Bible addresses faithful church leadership by identifying “who”. This Biblical order remains critical for the local church today.
Choosing elders poses a great challenge for leading the local church. Paul instructs Titus “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you”. (Titus 1:5) Order in the local church depends on the appointment of elders who will faithfully shepherd God’s flock. Biblical instruction for eldership leaves room for contextual implementation, but there is no doubt the kind of person that should be appointed to this office in the local church. I offer four “Essentials” for effectively choosing elders in the local church.
CALLED
First, a man must hold a sense of call from God to the office of elder. Paul instructs Timothy “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer”. (1 Timothy 3:1) “Aspire” denotes a strong sense of desire that strives toward or stretches out for its object. There is a sense of full life engagement. Call may begin in a simple moment of desire, but demands an individual engage their life to discern and cultivate for confirmation. The Biblical call involves two components. Every man must be able to articulate a clear sense of call from God. As well, call demands an affirmation of God’s work from within the congregation on an individual’s life. Articulating and cultivating a sense of call among the congregation is vital for effectively and faithfully choosing elders.
QUALIFIED
Second, a man must be Biblically qualified. Paul lists the qualifications in 1 Timothy and Titus. Qualifications should be clear for the entire congregation. They need to know because they are an important part of this discernment. Qualified must not be confused with called. One may be called, but not qualified. As well, one can be qualified but not called. Care to distinguish the two is important. An intentional pathway to eldership must provide essential opportunity to discern qualification. Installing a man as an elder is ALWAYS an acknowledgement of what is already evident as the pattern of his life and NEVER a desire for what he wants to attain.
The qualification process holds a two-key discernment; to discern the character of a man and to engage the congregation. Qualification cannot be fully discerned absent of the congregation. The goal is to form a relationship between the man and the congregation as a shepherd, so he can lead in a Biblical manner. If this relationship cannot be sufficiently established through this process, the answer becomes obvious. The candidate desires his Christ-like character to be demonstrated among the congregation so they know that they are following an under-shepherd of Jesus. The congregation desires to affirm in love, grace and submission their desire to follow this man as an elder. Qualification demands character be demonstrated by the man and observed for affirmation by the congregation.
Seasoned character serves as the first discernment key. Character takes time to demonstrate in a variety of situations and seasons. If the Elder Council or potential candidate doesn’t know where his strengths and weaknesses lies, this will be detrimental among the Elder Table. Candidates who rush or hurry do not yet understand the value of demonstrating character among the body. This is a warning sign of immaturity of character for leadership. If there is any hesitation about a man’s character, do not install him as an elder. Wait, watch and pray for spiritual discernment. Time and continued service will either confirm or deny that he should be an elder. God’s people are too valuable and the office too significant to forsake a reservation about a person’s character.
Congregational affirmation serves as the second discernment key. This does not mean that every person will necessarily be able to acknowledge a man’s qualification with equal discernment. This does mean that there will be sufficient evidence among the congregation to represent the whole for discernment. This requires faith, patience and can become difficult in certain situations, especially if a church is searching for a Lead Pastor. Qualification for eldership demands the demonstration of personhood by an individual and observation of the same among the congregation. A recommendation from another congregation or leaders may serve as a strong indicator, but it cannot replace demonstration and observation among the congregation. If you desire the congregation to say “yes, we will follow this man”, then you must allow ample time for them to know and trust him. In my experience, presenting a man to the congregation for elder candidacy should be more a corporate sense of what feels most normal and natural to people, rather than a sense of shock or surprise.
COMPETENT
Third, a man must prove competent to lead God’s people in God’s mission. Competency is too often reduced to a natural ability to perform tasks. I would argue that competency for an elder is much more than the ability to perform tasks.
Competency demands the application of personhood to accomplish tasks for the distinct purpose of missional advancement. This is much more than simple ability to accomplish tasks. I say it this way because competency utilizes character in service and leadership to approach and accomplish tasks in order to remain focused on missional priority, and not opt for personal preference or convenience. Every task the elder performs in his duties must be distinctly done for the purpose of the advancement of the mission of the local church.
A lack of competency can be difficult to discern because tasks may still get completed, but they do not serve to move the mission forward. This will ultimately lead to what is known as “maintenance mode” in the church, which is a symptom of an anti-missional, inward-focus. If you assign people tasks that have not yet been qualified, this becomes an almost inevitable foregone conclusion. Service in the church that does not move the mission forward serves another mission. Competency uses tasks to serve the mission instead of seeing them as the mission. A competent elder will always serve to move the mission forward at all times, even at personal sacrifice.
CHEMISTRY
Fourth, chemistry among the Elder Table must build and guard unity, not oppose or threaten it. Chemistry among the elders means one mixes well with the people and his presence solidifies and strengthens the mission. I determine chemistry as agreement in these three strategic areas; personal relationship, philosophy of ministry, and organizational unity. Spiritual unity is included, but arises much earlier in the process of choosing elders and leads to balanced chemistry.
Be careful not to diminish the importance of Table chemistry. You can have a great, godly man who is great elder material, and it not be a right fit for the church. Unity at the Elder Table is essential not only to Christ’s Lordship, but in the ongoing ministries of the local church as well. Sacrificing the importance of Table chemistry will distract mission. Humility to submit to one another and to submit to the “leader among leaders” (Alexander Strauch’s term for Table leader) is a must. A man who doesn’t want to follow the Lead Pastor should not be given leadership responsibility or authority in the church because they have no intention of following leadership.
A few final words of counsel
Work constantly and continually to develop and strengthen the system through which you choose elders, but move slow to appoint any individual as an elder. The single greatest mistake I have witnessed by leaders is to become convinced too early and move too fast to install elders. Eagerness to install elders motivated by all the right desire for strong, plural leadership in the church is an enemy of a strong elder council. Moving fast will create mistakes that are very hard, divisive and painful to undo or correct. You will not be able to observe a man in every imaginable situation prior to installing him. You should see how life challenges his weaknesses and sinful propensities, how he repents and turns to Christ to live in obedience.
Be careful not to allow ministry tasks and responsibilities to determine leaders. If you do this, you will likely choose people that can do stuff but are not qualified to lead the church. No task or responsibility is of greater importance than Biblical qualifications for elders. Tasks of ministry need to be done and can be done by a number of people. Elders must give priority to shepherding the body by oversight of the ministry. This allows one to empower people to do tasks while not forsaking the distinctive for qualified elders. Most can count dollars and people but few are able to maintain a Kingdom-minded perspective of those numbers. A faithful stewardship that resources mission is more important than a strong Profit and Loss statement. These are not opposed to one another but it must remain clear which is first priority at all times. Elders must lean on the strength of character, not the pressure of personal preference or comfort and convenience, to bear the weight of shepherding the flock so Kingdom-minded, missional focus remains first priority.
Finally, the responsibility for choosing elders in the local church is so important that it must be one of the top priorities of the Lead Pastor. Elder leadership is not one more aspect of local church ministry, but the means by which ministry is led. Raising up leaders is not just an event, but must remain an ongoing process by which men are cultivated for growth and maturity so the mission of the church can be multiplied by Biblical leadership. This will be the focus for the next article, Training Elders.
Recommended Resources: Biblical Eldership, by Alexander Strauch
I believe this remains the single most helpful resource as an introduction to eldership. The author gives a helpful overview of the office of elder in the first half of the book. The second half is an exegesis of principle passages for a biblical foundation. You likely will find that you do not agree with everything it contains, but it will not fail to provide a helpful beginning.