The Elder List
September 1st, 2007
(By Nathan Williams)
Chances are, your life is run by lists. Think about it. You have things to do and so you create a task list in the morning to make sure you get everything done that day. You have to go to the grocery store and you jot down a shopping list to make sure you get everything you need to make a dinner that will please the family.
You might also bookmark a list of blogs to check everyday so you don’t miss what is happening on the blogosphere. Even as college football starts this weekend, many people are making lists of the best quarterbacks, the best coaches and the most important list – the top 25 teams in the country. Lists are certainly useful and sometimes fun ways to organize and categorize life.
Lists are valuable, but we all know how it is to pull a to-do list out and get that instantly overwhelmed feeling. It’s never a good thing when there are more tasks on one’s list than there are hours left in the day. Long to-do lists are intimidating in everyday life, but among the many lists Scripture gives us, one to-be list is particularly daunting to read through and evaluate one’s life against. For those who aspire to be elders, are elders, or have the privilege of sitting under the leadership of elders, God gives us a list of what those who serve as spiritual overseers should be. I don’t know if you have ever sat down with a piece of paper and created a list of all the characteristics that are demanded of someone before they can serve as an elder, but the list is nothing less than humbling and challenging.
The list of qualifications for an elder is found in two places in Scripture, 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Some of the characteristics overlap and some are only found in one location, but when combined these two lists make one list which gives us what God requires to be present in the life of an elder in His church. It is interesting to note that in both lists Paul says that these qualifications “must be” present in the life of a man before he can serve as an elder. These are not suggestions or optional. By providing these lists, Paul is giving an objective standard by which to judge whether a man is qualified to serve in that role.
The first qualification given in 1 Timothy is that the man must be “above reproach”. This characteristic serves as the foundation of all the others. You could say that all the rest of the qualifications given simply elaborate on what it means to be blameless. For a man to be blameless he must be free from any grounds on which someone could bring reproach on him or bring a valid accusation against him. There are no sins that are consistent and observable enough for one to find fault with him. If you can fulfill this requirement, you will have fulfilled all the rest given in these two lists.
People divide these requirements up in many different ways, but I want to divide them up based on a discussion I recently had with one of our elders here at Grace Church. He finds it helpful to put each of the characteristics into one of three categories. There is some overlap, and some could be put into more than one category, but the three categories are 1) family qualifications, 2) Bible qualifications, and 3) character qualifications. By “Bible qualifications” he means those qualifications that deal with how one relates to the Word of God.
Family
Husband of one wife
Hospitable
Manages his house well
Children who believe/are faithful
Bible
Able to teach
Holds fast the Word
Able to exhort in sound doctrine
Able to refute those who contradict
Character
Above reproach
Temperate
Prudent
Respectable
Not addicted to wine
Not pugnacious
Gentle
Peaceable
Free from the love of money
Not a new convert
Good reputation with unbelievers
Not self-willed
Not quick-tempered
Loves what is good
Sensible
Just
Devout
Self-controlled
It is extremely challenging to see all of these characteristics written out in one massive list of elder qualifications. The most challenging part is realizing that well more than half of these characteristics have to do with personal holiness. As noted earlier, this is not a to-do list, it is a to-be list.
God is very concerned that the elders serving in His church are walking closely with Him and looking like Christ. It is important for those who are elders, or who aspire to be elders to take a hard look at this list and ask honestly if these qualifications are easily seen in their lives. It is not enough just to know these qualifications; elders must both understand them and live them out everyday. For all the lists that dominate our daily lives, those who are elders and aspiring elders should give this list their utmost attention.
I once did a devotional with a group of men on these passages and realized how easy it is for we who don’t aspire to be elders to think this list doesn’t apply to us.
Our pastor just finished up a series on church leadership including the qualifications for elders. Over the course of the couple weeks that the series was taught 2 elders disqualified themselves because of various character and life deficiencies. Good men, strong leaders by the worlds standard, but not by God’s standard. We are praying that they will, with God’s help, be able to once again be elder qualified.
God takes His Church’s leadership seriously, so should we.
I’ve been in a blog discussion in recent days regarding the extent of influence parents have over their children’s spiritual lives. My conviction is that while we can teach, discipline, and exemplify the gospel, we cannot guarantee that our children will come to Christ. That is God’s doing.
The question arose as to how that understanding affects the qualification from Titus 1 that an elder’s children must be believing/faithful (pista). The difference between “believing” and “faithful” is significant, I think, and both uses are frequent in the NT. Do you think Scripture is requiring that an elders’ children be born again? If so, how can it?
Thanks for any insight you can give.
Hi Chris,
Here’s a study I did on Titus 1:6 some time ago. It lists the different views and the supporting arguments for each.
Hope it helps,
NB
Nate
Do the pastoral elders and the elders from the membership have the same qualification? Would a man who is unable to come to the Sunday Morning service because of his work be able to be an elder at Grace?
How do the elders oversee the ministries of the church?
Charles
Thanks, Nate. Very helpful.
“Our pastor just finished up a series on church leadership including the qualifications for elders. Over the course of the couple weeks that the series was taught 2 elders disqualified themselves because of various character and life deficiencies.”
It’s tremendous to see when men do such things. Even when one grieves the downturn, you can rejoice at the opportunity God now has to rebuild. It sounds like these men are serious about being in obedience to God!