To be regarded as an elder calls for integrity
An elder, according to the Old Testament in the Bible, was one vested with authority on grounds of seniority in age or experience (Exodus 3:16, Numbers 22:4). These Israelite elders were influential both locally (Ruth 4:2) and nationally (1st Samuel 8:4, 2nd Samuel 5:3 NIV Bible index).
In the New Testament, an elder is an officer in the local church charged primarily with spiritual oversight (Acts 14:23 and 1st Timothy 3:1-7).
Therefore, an elder is a leader of leaders or future leaders. He is an educator preparing future leaders for their offices. To lead is to show someone the way.
LEAD stands for, Letting Everybody Apply Directives. Leaders must give their followers clear directives to show them the right way. The right person to do this is, therefore, an elder because of his vast experience in a variety of things. ELDER stands for Educating Leaders Directly Exudes Responsibility.
It is a great responsibility to lead someone because this calls for commitment on the part of the leader.
According to 1st Timothy 3:1-7, a church elder is supposed to be a person whose life is above reproach. He must be a husband of one wife. He must exercise self control, live wisely and have a good reputation.
An elder must enjoy having guests in his home and he must be able to teach. He must not be a drunkard or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome and not love money. Money is a good thing, but if it takes control of someone, then it becomes bad.
It is important to use money to serve God, but very bad to serve money and use God. In Mathew 6:24, Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
To serve means to meet the needs of and subject one’s will to that of another. To serve money means to meet the needs of money and subject your will to that of money, meaning that money becomes the commanding voice over you.
To serve God means to meet the needs of God and subject your will to that of God meaning that God takes direct control over you. So when Jesus says you cannot serve two masters, he literally means you cannot owe your allegiance to both money and God. In 1st Timothy 6:10, Apostle Paul also teaches that the love of money is the root of all evils.
Another quality of a church elder is that he must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. The Bible asks: “For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s Church?” (1st Timothy 3:5).
There is need for effective leadership at the family level before gravitating towards a bigger responsibility. An elder must not be a new believer, who might become proud and fall into the trap of the devil. He must be spoken well of by outsiders.
Wives of church leaders must be respectable, and must not slander others, must exercise self control and be faithful in everything they do.
John Owor,
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