On Spiritual Leadership

In mid 2013, after I’d done a year or so of biblical Greek but before I’d studied theology, I was reading A New Eusebius at Hyde Park near Perth (Stevenson, 1957). As I read, there was talk about bishops, and for some reason I decided I needed to get to the bottom of what the Bible said about bishops and other kinds of church leadership. The result was the following essay.

In this essay I essentially presented and commented on the usage of different words relating to leadership in the Bible, for example, the Greek words that are translated as bishop, elder, and shepherd. I haven’t transliterated any of the Greek words to English, but it should still make sense if you can’t read Greek (let me know if it doesn’t).

I’m not really sure why I turned my research into an essay. I hadn’t had to write many essays at all for my undergrad. Perhaps I wanted to share my findings with others and this was the best way I knew how.

In looking back at the essay I’ve found it to be an interesting artefact of my thinking. If I were to research this topic and write about it today, I would approach it quite differently. For example, I would prefer to talk about what different authors wrote about leadership rather than talking about what the Bible says as a monolithic whole. I also don’t think I could write something like this today without at least acknowledging that the patriarchal assumptions of certain texts (e.g. an elder being a man who is the husband of one wife) is a source of considerable debate.

I should also mention that at the time of writing I was attending a church that literally had an eldership and a deaconate, so I didn’t have cause to situate the ‘biblical pattern’ in its historical context or consider more modern approaches to church leadership such as having a board that deals with governance issues (which I have since experienced).

Despite these differences, I’m still publishing this essay on my blog, partly because it shows a different stage of my intellectual/theological development, but also because I think many of the observations I’ve made in it are still valid. So if you’re still interested, read it with these things in mind, but read it nonetheless 🙂

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A Study on Spiritual Leadership

I have recently conducted a study on the form and function of spiritual leadership as seen in the New Testament. In this document I hope to present my findings in a clear and (hopefully) unbiased way, where the reader can see for themselves what the Bible has to say about the subject without having to look up excessive amounts of scripture themselves. Note that I have tried to make this study reasonably comprehensive whilst avoiding tedious and perhaps impractical knowledge on the subject.

The forms of leadership that I have primarily addressed in this study are as follows, ‘Elder’ (Πρεσβυτερος/Πρεσβυς), ‘Bishop’ or ‘Overseer’ (Επισκοπος) and ‘Pastor’ or ‘Shepherd’ (Ποιμην). Before dealing with these words I would like to deal with the difference between spiritual leaders and deacons (διακονος).

Deacons

Acts 6:1-7 is disputably the only example of the appointment of deacons in the new testament.

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. ²So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. ⁶And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. ⁷The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

I think the words of the twelve in verses 2-3 very clearly indicate the role of a deacon, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables”. I believe that this shows the purpose of the diaconate is to look after practical and administrative matters so that the spiritual leadership (including missionaries) can focus on the word of God (amongst other things). Note that the Greek word for ‘to serve’ at the end of verse 3 is διακονειν which is a verbal form of diakonos (deacon). Then, in verse 4, the apostles say “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry (διακονια) of the word.” This shows that it was not service in general that the apostles were leaving to the deacons, but that which did not pertain to the ministry which the apostles had been called to.

There are a handful of arguments against identifying the seven men in Acts 6:1-7 as deacons; instead they could claim that their office was a one off establishment that should be taken as nothing more. The most common thread in these arguments is as follows: there are accounts of Philip (the evangelist) and Stephen (the martyr) doing things other than the ministry of a deacon in Acts 6:8-15 (Stephen) and Acts 8:26-40 and 21:8-9 (Philip). Therefore, they could not possibly be deacons. However, I believe this to be false as I see no reason to assume that the appointment of a person into an office of the church limits them to serving God (and limits God to only working through them) according to their office. Also, I have found no evidence to indicate that being appointed a deacon for a time means that you are confined to this role for life. In fact, it seems as though after the stoning of Stephen a great persecution of the church began, so that the remaining six men could no longer continue in their appointed roles in Jerusalem. Thus I believe that Acts 6:1-7 is an example of the appointment of deacons and shows that the role of deacon is a role of administrative leadership whose purpose is to free those called to spiritual leadership to devote themselves to spiritual matters.

Elders, Overseers and Shepherds

Is There a Difference?

In studying spiritual leadership, I found it necessary to investigate the relationship between the words ‘elder’, ‘overseer’ and ‘shepherd’ (pastor) as used in the Greek New Testament. Upon examination, it seems fairly clear that these three words refer to different aspects of the same office.

Firstly, there are five passages in the Greek New Testament that use the word ‘επισκοπος’ (overseer): Acts 20:28, Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:2, Titus 1:7 and 1 Peter 2:25. 1 Peter refers to Jesus as the shepherd and overseer of our souls; Phil 1:1 addresses the overseers and deacons; and 1 Timothy 3:2-7 details some requirements that an overseer should meet. The remaining two passages speak to the relationship between these 3 words.

In Acts 20:28 Paul, speaking to the Ephesian elders, says to them “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God”. In this verse Paul tells the elders to shepherd the church of God as overseers, thus connecting oversight and shepherding with eldership.

In the other passage, Titus 1:5-9, Paul writes to Titus, “appoint elders… …for the overseer”. Here, ‘for the overseer’, is ‘δει γαρ τον επισκοπον’ in the Greek text. The preposition γαρ is back-referring, ie: I put on gumboots, for it was raining, and when coupled with δει, ‘it is necessary’, this phrase links the office of overseer with that of the elder.

Another example of these roles being mentioned in relation to one another is in 1 Peter 5:1-5, where Peter exhorts the elders amongst his readers to “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight”. Once again, you see Peter tell the elders to exercise oversight as they shepherd the flock of God, another verse that strongly links the three words. So out of 5 verses that refer to the office of overseer, two of them link overseer with both shepherd and elder.

Finally, as an aside, in Eph 4:11 Paul lists what is commonly known as the ‘five-fold ministries’, “and He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers.” In English, we use ‘and’ to separate items at the end of a list. However, in the Greek Paul used ‘και’ which is a connective; that is, it connects the idea of pastors and teachers. Furthermore, the translation only says ‘some as …’ before the first four roles; it does not say ‘some as pastors and some as teachers’. This is because the Greek has ‘τουσ δε’ before each role except teacher, which means that Paul treated ‘pastor and teacher’ as one role. The significance of this observation becomes apparent when one knows that the bible presents teaching as one of the primary responsibilities of the eldership (and we will come to see this further on in the study). So Eph 4:11 links the role of shepherd and teacher. I hope that you can see now that the Bible quite clearly links the role of ‘elder’, ‘overseer’, and ‘shepherd’.

From here on in the study, I may use the words overseer, elder and shepherd, somewhat interchangeably when in reference to the office of spiritual leadership. I might also mention that I don’t mean to say that the different names don’t convey different aspects of the role, nor do I think it would be right to say that all elders are gifted in, and function in, exactly the same way. This section is only to show that ‘elder’, ‘overseer’ (or bishop) and shepherd (or pastor) refer to the same office of spiritual leadership within the church.

How Many Should We Have?

I am now going to present the biblical view in regards to the ideal number of elders; specifically whether you should have just one or multiple. In looking at the Greek word for elder, which is πρεσβυτερος, I have not found any passages that support the idea of having only one elder over the church, in fact they do quite the opposite. Acts 11:30 mentions the elders in Judea; in Titus 1:5, Paul says that he left Titus in Crete so that he might appoint elders in every city and in James 5:14, James says that if anyone is sick then they should call the elders of the church to pray for them. Clearly the Bible indicates that a church should have multiple elders.

When considering the passages on overseers, the question is a little less clear. Given that 1 Peter 2:25 is not relevant to this question, then there are 4 remaining passages that mention overseers. 2 of these passages (Acts 20 and Phil 1:1) use the plural. The other 2, (1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:7) use the singular. The unifying feature for the use of the singular is that, both times, it is used in reference to the selection of an overseer. Daniel B. Wallace, a highly regarded Koine Greek scholar, said in his book ‘Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics’ that the use of the singular in this case is generic and not monadic (1996). That is to say, the Greek text says ‘an overseer must be’, not ‘the overseer’. However, I am no Greek scholar and have not done the research to be able to confirm this claim myself. It is also worth noting that in 1 Timothy 3, when Paul says τον επισκοπον (a singular form of overseer) he also says διακονους (a plural form of deacon) – both in regards to the selection of people for these positions. That said, these observations do not necessarily support the idea of a lone overseer, they simply highlight a linguistic issue that I don’t quite understand and so I must defer judgement to Wallace. Even so, as far as I can tell, it seems that the Bible supports having multiple people in offices of spiritual leadership where possible, especially if elder and overseer refers to the same office.

What Should They Be Like?

The next three sections detail the biblical requirements for the selection of spiritual leaders, the things they should do as leaders, and the manner in which they should do so. In this first section it is important to note that these requirements are things which those selected are expected to already be and do prior to their appointment as leaders. That is, they are not things which they would begin to do, or become able to do, on appointment, but things that they already do and already are out of their obedience to Christ’s calling. The two key passages on selection criteria for elders/overseers are 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. ²An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³not addicted to wine or violent, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. ⁴He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity ⁵(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), ⁶and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. ⁷And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of reckless living or rebellion. ⁷For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not violent, not fond of sordid gain, ⁸but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, ⁹holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. (Titus 1:5-9)

I do not want to add much to what is said by these passages, but I will expand on the meaning of a few of the Greek words.

In 1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:8 the word translated as ‘hospitable’ is φιλοξενον which is a crasis (combination) of the two words φιλος, which means one who you love as a friend, and ξενον, which means stranger. When these two words are combined it carries the idea of having a love for strangers. Thus one who is hospitable in this sense, would be hospitable not only to their friends and family, but specifically to strangers. Bear in mind that in the days of the early church only slow methods of travel were available, so it would not be unusual for people to be in need of hospitality from strangers. Also consider that when Jesus sent out his disciples he told them to bring very little and stay in houses where they were received (Lk 10:1-12).

Secondly, in 1 Tim 3:4 when it says ‘one who manages his own household well’, the word for manage is προϊστημι, which literally means to stand before, thus carrying an idea of leadership. In the Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament by Abbot-Smith they use the words rule, govern, preside, direct and maintain for προϊστημι. These verses speak for themselves and I do not wish to spend any further time discussing them in the context of criteria for the selection of eldership.

What Do They Do?

The New Testament presents a rich and clear picture of the general function of spiritual leadership within the church. In this section I have presented a number of verbs that are used in the New Testament that build a picture of a church leaders’ roles. Below I have listed the passages in which I found these ideas: Acts 20:17-38, Eph 4:11-16, 1 Thes 5:12-13, 1 Tim 3:1-7, 1 Tim 5:17-19, Titus 1:5-9, Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Peter 5:1-5.

Κοπιαω – Working

The first verb that I would like to present is κοπιαω which conveys the idea of hard work, or toil. This verb is used in 1 Thes 5:12 “But we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord” and 1 Tim 5:17 “Let the elders who rule well among you be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching”. These verses show that leading a church is hard work and is something that should be worked hard at. So much so that in 1 Tim 5:17 Paul writes to Timothy that those elders who ‘work hard in word and teaching’ should be considered worthy of ‘double honour’ which seems to refer to financial support. This is made especially clear in the context, for in verse 18 he says, “For the Scripture says, ‘you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing’ and ‘The labourer is worthy of his wages’”. Thus, the Bible shows that spiritual leadership ought to labour amongst the church.

Προσεχω, Γρηγορεω & Αγρυπνεω - Watching

Another important aspect of spiritual leadership’s function is a wakeful, diligent watching. This is conveyed using the three verbs προσεχω, γρηγορεω and αγρυπνεω, as well as the verb επισκοπεω, but as that is the verb for overseeing, I will address that later. Before I show the texts where these verbs are used, I might mention that in Koine Greek the idea of watching has a much deeper meaning than simply looking at something.

Προσεχω literally means to ‘have towards’ and carries the meaning to pay attention to or focus on something. It’s used in Acts 20:28, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit, has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with His own blood”. Here you can see that the translators saw fit to translate προσεχω as guarding because of the context, which is in verse 29 and 30, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them”. Given the context, you can see why Paul is reported to have used προσεχω. Because if ‘savage wolves’ will come from the world, and from among themselves, then they ought to pay close attention to themselves and to the flock in order to keep them safe for Christ.

In verse 31, Paul says “Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears”. In this verse, Paul uses the word γρηγορεω, which means to watch, possibly wakefully. Once again, the context makes the meaning of this word much richer as their ‘alertness’ is contrasted with Paul’s ceaseless tearful admonition.

The final word that I would like to address with regards to watching is αγρυπνεω which has the idea of watching sleeplessly, wakefully and/or vigilantly. This word is used in Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account”. You can see in this verse that the writer of Hebrews understands that church leaders ought to ‘keep watch over’ the souls of those who are under them, furthermore, they ought to do so ‘as those who will give an account’. Thus you can see from these passages and the use of these words, that a function of spiritual leadership within the church is to diligently, attentively and wakefully (if not even sleeplessly) keep watch over the flock of God. For there are many who would lead those, who have been purchased with the blood of Christ, astray.

Διδασκω, Καταρτισμος – Teaching and Equipping

In 1 Timothy 3:2 it says that if someone wishes to be an overseer that they must be able to teach, also in 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders who rule well among you be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in word and teaching”.

As a platform for understanding the Greek word ‘to teach’, (διδασκω), I invite you to consider the difference between teaching and preaching (κηρυσσω). Many people use the words preaching and teaching interchangeably (including myself until recently), some are also under the impression that the Bible does the same. I do not believe this to be the case. In The Essential Nature of New Testament Preaching, Robert Mounce says that ‘Teaching is the expounding of that which is proclaimed (or preached)’ (2005). There is evidence of this distinction in Mat 4:23 and 9:35 where it says Jesus was ‘teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom’. That which Jesus proclaimed was rather specific, but what he taught is presumably more general. Further evidence of this is found in Mat 4:17, ‘From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”’ and Mat 10:7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand”. In fact, the word for preaching, κηρυσσω, comes from, κηρυξ, which means herald, thus conveying the idea of proclaiming a message that was given, such as a kings decree. Thus the word preach (also translated as proclaim) carries the idea of a message which has been given which is declared openly.

On the other hand, the family of words which διδασκω belongs to refers to the relation between a teacher and their student or a master and their disciple. You see this in the Gospels in that Jesus’ disciples call him διδασκαλος; ‘teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ (Mark 4:38). In fact, Jesus provides a great insight into what it means to be under a teacher in John 13:13-16.

‘You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him’.

He also says in Mat 23:8, ‘Do not be called teacher, for one is your teacher’, meaning that Jesus is our one true teacher. So even though men teach us, apart from Jesus who gives revelation through his Holy Spirit, a man’s teaching is worthless. It is also worth noting that in Luke 2:46 it says that Jesus listened to the teachers and asked them questions, there are also many passages in which people ask Jesus, as teacher, questions. And so, where preaching is proclaiming openly, teaching is more personal, explanatory, applied and perhaps even interactive.

So is teaching something only shared by a teacher with his pupils? No. Many people addressed Jesus as rabbi or teacher, and although he taught his disciples in a more intimate way, he also taught in public settings such as the sermon on the mount. Therefore, it seems safe to conclude that teaching is not confined to the relationship of teachers with their own students, but can also be shared with others, although perhaps in a less full way.

It is also important to note the instructive (giving instruction) and informative nature of teaching. The sermon on the mount (Matthew 5) is a perfect example of this, where Jesus explains things and then gives commands. For example,

‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.’ (Mat 5:14-16)

Jesus opens by informing the crowd that they are the light of the world and proceeds to instruct them to let their light shine. So teaching is neither purely informative nor entirely practical but a balance of both.

In regards to one of the expected outcomes of teaching; in Ephesians 4:11-12 the apostle Paul says ‘And he gave some as… …shepherds and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ’. The elders’ teaching ought to equip the saints to serve.

Finally in Titus 1:9, on the topic of elders, Paul writes that they must be ‘holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine (διδασκαλια) and to refute those who contradict’. This verse carries the idea of exhorting someone to live according to the good teaching which they have received. It also shows that the eldership should have a strong grasp of both Jesus’ and the apostles’ teaching so that they might not only teach what is right, but refute that which is not, which brings us to the next task I would like to present.

Ελεγχω & Νουθετεω – Rebuking

Titus 1:9 clearly shows the necessity of a strong eldership that upholds the truth and protects the flock from those who would deceive them, intentionally or unintentionally. The word used there is ελεγχω which Abbott-Smith lists as convict, expose or show him his fault. This also ties in with the idea of watching, for what should an elder who diligently watches do when he sees that his flock are caught in error or are being deceived?

In 1 Thes 5:12-13 it says ‘We ask you brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you’. The word used here is νουθετεω from νους which is ‘mind’, and τιτθημι which is ‘to put or place’, thus literally it means to put in mind. It is typically translated as ‘admonish’ or ‘exhort’ but I have also seen ‘warn’. These verses show that elders must be prepared to deal with error amongst the church.

Προϊστημι & Επιμελεομαι – Leading and Caring

The word προϊστημι literally means to stand before and has the sense of leading. Abbott-Smith lists it as to preside, rule, govern, or to direct and maintain. This verb is used in 1 Tim 5:17 ‘The elders who rule well among you’ and 1 Thes 5:12, ‘But we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord’.

Προϊστημι is also used in 1 Tim 3:4-5 where it says ‘He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity, (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).’ Here προϊστημι is contrasted with the Greek word ‘επιμελεομαι’ which means ‘to care’ and was used in reference to the good Samaritan. It is a gentle, thoughtful, diligent care that goes beyond physical care. These verses show that the elders must be prepared to lead and care for the church of God. The manner in which they lead will be presented in the next major section.

Επισκοπεω – Overseeing

The verb επισκοπεω is made up of επι, meaning over, and σκοπος, a watcher, hence the idea of watching over or overseeing. Abbot-Smith lists it as 1. to look upon, observe, examine or 2. to visit or care for. A related word, επισκεπτομαι, is used in reference to God ‘visiting’ his people. This visitation results in positive outcomes for the good and upright, and judgement against the evil men of the world, and so the idea of sorting good from bad is carried in επισκοπεω. Two passages from the Septuagint where this idea can be seen are Jeremiah 49:8, ‘Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.’ and Genesis 21:1, ‘Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken’ (Sarah conceived). So you can see that επισκοπεω describes a watchful care that addresses both positive and negative circumstances. Hebrews 12:14-17 is a rather instructive passage in regards to oversight;

Pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which no-one will see the Lord, seeing that no one is falling short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness, springing up, causes trouble, and by it many are defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

If a root of bitterness was to spring up, it would defile many, and so must be prevented. One the other hand, if one treats the things of God as Esau did, then it is at their own cost, they risk being denied the fruits of repentance. This passage gives examples of a number of issues that might be prevented or addressed by one who is overseeing for the good of the church.

Ποιμαινω - Shepherding

Sheep and shepherds are not uncommonly mentioned in the Bible. In 1 Sam 17 David recounts,

“Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it”.

As a shepherd, David would protect his father’s sheep from wild beasts. In Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, David describes God as a shepherd who makes him lie down in green pastures and leads him beside still waters, this shows the care of a shepherd. In John 10, Jesus says that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, he says that he has come so that they may have life and life to the full. Jesus also used a parable in Luke 15 which shows that a shepherd will go out to find his lost sheep and rejoice upon its rescue. After his resurrection, Jesus commanded Peter to shepherd and feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). The bible is full of imagery that shows how a shepherd, nurtures and protects his sheep. Saying that shepherding is to simply feed/teach the church and protect them from false shepherds does not do justice to the biblical imagery.

In what manner should the elders lead?

In the previous section I covered what the eldership ought to do. In this section I will detail the manner in which they should do these things. In Matthew 20:25-27 Jesus says, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave’. In 1 Peter 5:1-5 it also says ‘shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory’. These verses clearly state that those who would lead the church ought to serve the church voluntarily, eagerly and leading as examples. Not to say that they have no authority, for how else would they lead the church or uphold the truth within their congregations, but that they would lead with humility and would serve just as Christ did, laying down his life for the world. Finally, in Acts 20, Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders to remember that ‘night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. This, once again, shows the humility and gentleness with which Paul admonished those of the Ephesian church, not rebuking them condescendingly, but with tears. These verses clearly show the manner in which the elders ought to lead the church.

How should the church respond to them?

In 1 Peter 5 after mentioning how the elders should lead, Peter goes on to write, ‘You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble’. In Hebrews 13:7, 17 it says ‘Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.’ and ‘Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you’. Similarly, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 it says ‘But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labour among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another’.

You can see in these passages that the church is called to respect, obey and submit to their leaders, even to imitate their faith. As mentioned before in 1 Timothy 5 it even states that we should give double honour to those elders who work hard in word and teaching. Note that the building up of the church is not only the responsibility of the eldership, but of the whole church. The elders are ‘for the equipping of the saints for the works of service, to the building up of the body of Christ’ (Eph 4:12), thus the church ought to be led, cared for, taught and admonished by the elders and then bear the fruit which that produces and in turn build one another up and engage in works of service. So the church should respect their leaders and submit to their leadership, but they should also engage in works of service and the building up of the body of Christ, following their leaders example.

Summary

In Summary, deacons are not spiritual leaders but ought to deal with administrative and practical issues in order to keep the eldership free to focus on it’s own duties. Elder, Overseer and Shepherd refer to the same office. Where possible a church ought to have multiple elders (also I see no evidence for any sort of hierarchy). In regards to requirements - An elder ought to be above reproach, hospitable, able to teach and rebuke, able to manage his family and faithful to his one wife should he be married (to mention a few). As for what they should do, the eldership ought to work hard, be diligently watchful, teach, lead, care, rebuke, oversee and shepherd the flock of God. They ought to lead by example, voluntarily and with humility. Finally, the church should obey, honour, support and submit to their eldership.

How should they lead?

Thank you for reading this paper on spiritual leadership. I imagine that in each different church, country and culture the specifics of how an eldership might function would differ. Thus the application of this study would vary in each church and so I would strongly encourage you to prayerfully consider and discuss the following questions (and any others you might have) in light of what you have read.

1. Does the spiritual leadership in your church currently conform to the biblical pattern in regards to those areas covered in this study?
2. Is the current format of your church life, eg: church services and other activities, conducive to church leadership performing its full function?
3. (In terms of format or character) what would a church that is conducive to church leadership performing its full function look like?
4. Are there ways in which you need to change how you yourself relate to your church leadership? Or if you are an elder, are they ways that you should change how you relate to your congregation?

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Reference list

Mounce, Robert H. 2005. The Essential Nature of New Testament Preaching. Wipf and Stock.

Stevenson, James. 1987. A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337. SPCK.

Wallace, Daniel B. 1996. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.