Ligon Duncan- What are Elders For?

On Mondays we want to try and look at issues around the church. Today we feature an extract from an article by Ligon Duncan entitled 'What are Elders For?' You can read the entire article here.

I. What are elders for? Elders are for discipleship.
First of all, what are elders for? They’re for discipleship. Look at verse 5.
“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....”
Paul is saying to Titus, ‘Now go back to each of those cities in Crete where we went and preached and gathered a congregation, and make sure that elders are appointed or ordained in each of those churches in each of those cities, because, you see, elders are necessary for the display of God’s glory in the church.’ Paul sees them as necessary for the spiritual well being of the church. They’re there for the welfare of the church. Paul had evangelized; people had embraced Christ, they had responded to the gospel, but there’s no discipleship structure.

Now what had Jesus said the discipleship structure of the church was going to be? Well, do you remember His Great Commission? “Go, make disciples...baptizing them....” In other words, the local church where baptism and the means of grace are administered was to be the locus, the place, the context for Christian discipleship. Jesus wasn’t interested in His disciples going out and making ‘Lone Ranger’ Christians, He wanted them to be involved in local communities where they would be mutually accountable, where they would hold one another accountable, where they would sharpen iron with iron, where they would motivate one another to love and good deeds, where they would hear the word of God proclaimed, where they would live out that word, where they would show practical expressions of love to one another.

And so, the local church was Jesus’ design for the place for discipleship. Paul’s talked about that in I Timothy, chapter three, and he’s at it again, because as he tells Titus to appoint elders, the obvious reason for this, in the context of a church surrounded by an immoral culture, is that this is going to be the way that discipleship is structured and fostered in the life of this local congregation.

Christian discipleship happens in the local church, and it involves the careful ministry not simply of a pastor, not simply one elder or shepherd, but elders. Notice what it says: “Appoint elders in every city....” Every city where there was a gathering of Christians who had responded to Paul’s preaching, they were to have elders plural, not just one shepherd, not just one pastor, not just one elder, but elders, a plurality of godly leaders living and ministering in their midst promoting the discipleship of Christians. And Paul is just emphasizing again the wisdom of God’s way of discipleship: that He has appointed shepherds over His flock.

In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that one of the ways that Jesus manifests His rule over the church is when He gives His church officers, pastors, teachers, shepherds. It’s one of the ways that He manifests His rule and His care for the church, and Paul is saying to Titus, ‘Titus, here’s the first thing we need to do. We want to promote godliness in these churches, we want to grow people in grace, want to see people mature, see people discipled. Well, appoint elders, because elders are for discipleship.

II. What are elders for? Elders are for an example.
Secondly, if you look at verses 6-8 it’s also clear that elders are for an example. These are Christians that are tempted to be like the world around them. The are tempted to engage in all the kinds of common vices in their own culture, and you’ll see some of those vices listed in verse eleven: lying, evil, laziness...all those things are common in the Cretan culture...various types of dissipation as well, so what are we going to do? Well, Paul says appoint elders. And this is what those elders are to be like: they are to be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. So, they are to be an example. In this case, in verse 6 they are to be examples in the home. They are to be fostering godliness in their home. Remember? These elders are here for the purpose of fostering godliness in the church, and Paul is saying if these elders are going to do a good job of fostering godliness in the church, the best way to see that they will be able to foster godliness in the church is to look at how they foster godliness in the home. And so, he goes right to the marital relationship and to the parenting responsibility of these elders.

First, (verse 6) they are to be faithful husbands, the husband of one wife. In other words, these men are to be men characterized by marital and sexual fidelity.

Secondly, they’re to be good parents whose children are well behaved. Look at these words: “They have children who believe....” By the way, that word believe could be translated who are faithful. It’s the same word; it’s translated in different ways. Many of the older commentators translate the passage “children who believe.” Many of the more recent translators translate the passage “children who are faithful.” Whatever the case is, it’s clear what is being gotten at in the very next phrase; they are children who are “not accused of dissipation or rebellion.” These children are not partaking of the drunkenness and the vices and the various other kinds of immorality as their peers around them. These elders have obedient, faithful children. This obviously assumes that the children are still under their roof, they’re still under their authority, and these children are faithful. They are obedient; they are responsive to the direction of the elder.

You see, if God wants homes in this congregation to be characterized by godliness and not by dissipation, it makes sense that the elders’ homes should be characterized by faithfulness and obedience, and not by dissipation and vice and drunkenness. And so God says here, those elders who are to promote godliness in the congregation, they should be promoting godliness in their own homes.

Furthermore, if you look at verses 7 and 8, he goes on to speak about the example of their character. Elders by their own character are to foster godliness in the church, and so a list of five vices and six virtues are mentioned.

In verse 7, five vices that are not to be gripping the life of the elder are mentioned, and then there is a list of six virtues that are to be present in the life of the elder listed in verse 8. This elder, notice again, is above reproach as God’s steward. That’s the second time that that phrase has been used. What in the world does it mean to be “above reproach”? It certainly doesn’t mean to be sinlessly perfected, or there would be no elders. So what does it mean to be above reproach? It means to be not open to a justified attack or criticism in terms of the Christian life, and particularly in these areas that Paul lists. This is a man who has not been gripped and controlled by these various sins of self. Look at verse 7. He’s not been gripped and controlled by pride and anger, or by the desire for drink, or the desire for dominance, or the desire for wealth.
And, he is above reproach in these positive virtues. He’s hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout and self-controlled. In other words, he’s a friend to strangers, to those in need. He shows them hospitality. He’s a virtuous man. He loves the good, he aims for what is good and right. He is a sane, or discreet, man of sound mind. He’s sensible. He’s a fair man in his dealings. He’s just. He’s a holy, or godly, or pious man. He’s a devout man. He’s self-controlled. He’s a man who evidences some degree of self-mastery, and these are the virtues or the characteristics of one who is a shepherd.

You see, God is giving this local congregation and every local congregation real-life examples of His truth lived out in the elders’ lives, in order to encourage and move us as a congregation to grow in grace.

Now, this reality does two things for us, at least. First of all, it presses us, doesn’t it, to pray for our elders. And you’ve got to know how every elder feels when you read a passage like I Timothy 3 or Titus 1. It’s one of the most humbling things in the world to be an elder in a congregation when these passages are read out. Nothing will shrink you to the size of Atom Ant more quickly than having this passage read out in front of people who know you. It’s a very humbling thing, and that presses us to pray for them: to pray that they would long to emulate these standards and that they would really emulate them to every possible degree in the life of their homes and in their own personal character.

But it also reminds us that the character qualities that Paul speaks of as being required in elders and the kind of family life that Paul says is required for elders is, in fact, what he is shooting for everybody in the congregation. The reason that these are required of the elders is because this is what Paul wants to see the whole congregation looking like! So before you start to point the finger, remember Paul wants to see this in your home.

It is interesting, and I want to pause and say this. It would be inappropriate for me not to say this. It is interesting to me to see how concerned Paul is that young people not emulate the world; that young people in the Christian church look like Christians. There are many young people in this congregation who have made a profession of faith. They’ve come before the congregation and said, yes, I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to ask you: The measure, the value of that profession of faith...how does it show on Friday nights? And on Saturday nights? And when you’re away from church? And when you’re in school, or when you’re in your extra-curricular activities? Or when you’re alone with your friends? What is the value of that profession when you’re in Starkville or Oxford or Hattiesburg, or away on a road trip, or out with your friends on Friday night?

Paul is deeply concerned that our profession is adorned by our life, and he’s so concerned that he’s willing to say that elders can lose their jobs if that reality is not reflected in their families. We have an elder who told his own children, “You can have my job if you want it.” In other words, your behavior will directly impinge upon my continuation as an elder. That is a heady thing to think about, young people. And yet it is Paul’s desire that the families, every family, in the congregation will represent these kinds of standards in an immoral culture. I cannot imagine something more relevant for us today. It doesn’t even need to be articulated or translated from the first century. We are facing just this kind of thing today. The world is in the church and the church is like the world, and Paul is saying, ‘No, young people, be in the world, but do not be like it.’

III. What are Elders for? Elders are for conveying the truth and confronting error.
One last thing: these elders are for doctrine. They’re not only for discipleship and for a good example; they’re for doctrine. What are elders for? Well, he tells you in verse 9 they’re for conveying the truth, and they’re for confronting elders. Elders are to be orthodox. They are to be able to teach and to defend the faith. They are to be sound teachers.

Listen to what he says: “...holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict.” This elder is zealous for the truth. He doesn’t simply assent to the truth, his heart is wrapped up in the truth. He holds fast to the faithful word of biblical teaching, and he teaches in accordance with that word. He’s able to exhort in sound doctrine. He has an ability to incline faithful Christians to belief and obedience, and he’s able to refute those who contradict the gospel. He’s able to defend the faith.

Notice the big picture here when you pull back? Paul says elders want to see people grow. And elders demonstrate fidelity and spiritual leadership in their family and in their character. They’re for an example.

And elders are zealous. They’re devoted to sound doctrine. They’re for discipleship, for an example, and for doctrine. They love people. They love people, and so they want to see them grow. They’re hospitable, and so they’re kind to people. They display virtue. They love what is good, and what is good is displayed in the way that they live, and they love truth. They love people, they love virtue, they love truth.

And Paul says, ‘Timothy, by placing godly shepherds, leaders like this in the congregation, it is my desire to see the whole congregation cultivated in Christian growth, in a love for one another, in expression of Christian morality, Christ-likeness, and in a love for the truth of God’s word. That’s what elders are for.’

Now, if that’s what elders are for, we’ve got a new thing to pray for regularly. To pray for our elders to be what God has called them to be, to realize how vital they are to the health of our spiritual experience in this congregation. This congregation will not rise above the spiritual attainments of the elders of this church, and that is an awesome thought. But it is within the very designs of Christ’s own appointment of shepherds over His church to serve as His undershepherds, His caretakers while He is away, to foster growth in grace in His people.

May God continue to raise up men in our own congregation with these spiritual qualifications. May He continue to help those who already are elders in our congregation to live this particular truth and calling, and may He grow us all in grace.'