Elders - examples of cooperation

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.....Since an overseer manages God’s household, (Titus 1:5, 7a)

We've been studying how the leadership of the early church was organized. We've talked about some of the tasks of the elders in the New Testament churches, and we'll look at a couple more today.

Let's zero in on "an overseer manages God's household." What does that mean? 

Think for a moment about a nurse or nurse practitioner, taking the pulse of a patient. The medical professional is not casually counting heartbeats -- not if they are doing a thorough job! Placing their hands on the wrist or the throat of a patient, they pay attention not just to the rate of the pulse, but also the strength and the rhythm. A medical team can tell a lot from a patient's pulse: they can assess the regularity of the heart's contractions, and whether or not the strength of the heart's beating is sufficient to move the blood effectively, insuring the health of the patient in their care. 

The elders, in their roles as overseers, keep their fingers on the pulse of the church. They make sure the church is spiritually healthy. There are many things included in a "health assessment" of the church: the elders guard the flock from error by preaching the Word carefully to them. 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15)

Oversight also includes determining church policies, and making decisions about the needs and direction of the church ministries. Elders have a role in overseeing church finances, too. 

Elders should come alongside ministry leaders and see if they need help or guidance, and often they will need to help resolve conflicts between members. Now, they don't necessarily do all the work that needs to be done! Many times they need to rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance in order to delegate the work to qualified, godly helpers who will get things done:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

Lastly, it's important for elders to be examples to the congregation of how to cooperate and work together to further the kingdom of God.

It's called teamwork!

It's easy to see that the leadership of any local church should be plural. Not just one person. Check out these verses about the New Testament churches:

This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:30)

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. (Acts 14:23)

 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.  (Acts 15:22)

There are other references, too, if you want to do your own study, using the concordance in your Bible. It doesn't look like there were any one-pastor churches in the New Testament! This is different from the individual home churches, where people met to pray and sing praises, and hear scriptures and letters read. Those may have had a single elder over them, but they were part of the church as a whole. It seems that the organization was accepted as natural, to have responsibility placed in the hands of several godly men, instead of in one individual. In this way, the elders need to be united and depending upon one another as parts of the body of Christ, always remembering that He is the head.

Now, some of you might be thinking that there were leaders who emerged in the early church: not everyone was on the same footing. After all, you don't get as much done when everyone is a committee member and no one is the chairman! 

You're right! 

Usually one person does end up as the "leader of the leaders." Everyone has different spiritual gifts, personalities, training, and maturity. If we look at the twelve apostles, we know that they were all considered apostles - no level I or II apostles, or any such designation! But Peter clearly was the leader and he was the most frequent spokesman for the group. When we read about the early church in Jerusalem, James was clearly the leader. But when we look at Acts chapter 15, the leaders worked together in what we now call the "Jerusalem Council," in order to make a decision about an important matter.

In order to serve the local church, elders must work together in mutual respect, and cooperate in order to shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ.