Dirty Words: Elder

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: 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; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. -- 1 Peter 5:1-4 NIV

As I will do all week, I draw upon my upbringing in a small, traditional church as a background for why the word 'elder' might seem like a dirty word. My stance has softened greatly on different denominations of the faith, admittedly, but the picture I get from 'elder' is of some old guys making decisions on my behalf who aren't really in touch with my world. But as you can see from Peter's writing above that isn't how it is supposed to be at all.

If you've ever seen an old western movie you probably remember in many of them where the cowboys or homesteaders would wind up being caught by the Indians (not the ones with the dots and Bollywood). The good guys would be brought into the Indians' camp and presented to...you guessed it...the tribal elder! An elder is a term used to refer to a leader, someone wise with the best interests of the people they lead in mind at all times. An elder needs to be completely trustworthy and respected by the whole community. The same holds true for elders in the church, and this is where you and I have to not allow the failures of some who have held that moniker to ruin our view of any elder or make it an uncomfortable term for us.

Paul, in doing the work of building the early church, saw the need to have members of each community actively involved in their local church and he knew what type of person he needed to hold the positions of elders to make those local churches what God called them to be. I believe the same holds true today.

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer (elder) desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. -- 1 Timothy 3:1-7 NIV

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. 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. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 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. -- Titus 1:5-9 NIV

We can't let the fear or possibility of a church elder falling short of their calling force us away from church altogether. If anything it should cause us to seek out a church where we can experience God and then pray for it's leadership that they would handle the church's business and direction with divine guidance and sound behavior.