Questions abound about elders in the life of the church.
Who are they? What do they do? What is the difference between elders and deacons? What is the difference between elders and pastors?
These questions are good and important. I sat next to a swimming pool, eating a hamburger, with some friends last week while we had a wonderful about elders. This series of blogs is a result of that conversation. I pray that it will be helpful to you.
So What Are Elders Anyway?
In order to answer this question we have to understand the terms used for Elders in the Bible. There are three terms that we must understand, and I believe that these three terms all refer to elders. Those three terms are elder, shepherd, and overseer.
Let’s look at each of these terms and what they imply, then we will see why I believe they all refer to the same office in the church.
Elder
The word that occurs in the Greek text is presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος), you can hear this word in the English word Presbyterian. It is not the same word that would be used to refer to someone who is old, that would be presbutes (πρεσβύτης). There isn’t really much to say about this word in terms of the differences between greek and English. It simply means elder.
It does however matter in that it refers to the honor of the position. We have probably all heard the saying that you should respect your elders. This is precisely why the term elder gets used in Scripture. Of course, in English, this is primarily a reference to someone of older age. When the Bible speaks of elders in the church it does not mean that someone must be old in order to be an elder, it does however mean that the person and the office should be respected.
We can be sure that age is not a require meant because in 1 Tim. 4:8 Paul tells Timothy, and elder in Ephesus, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers and example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” You can see that though Timothy was young, Paul expected him to conduct himself in a way that was honorable.
It is a great honor to be an elder in the church that Jesus has purchased with his own blood. Thus the elder is to live honorably and the church is to treat them with honor.
Shepherd (pastor)
There are two words in the Greek that used here. In reality they are the same word but occur in different places as either a verb or a noun. The noun for “shepherd” is poimen (ποιμήν); the verb is “to shepherd” is poimaino (ποιμαίνω).
Interestingly, this word get’s translated in some versions as “pastor” in Ephesians 4. So the word that we tend to use most for church leaders is the word that the Bible uses the least, namely pastor. And what pastor means is really shepherd.
This term refers to work of the role of an elder. Shepherds led the flock, fed the flock, and protected the flock. These are the main roles that shepherds are given in Scripture. Elders are to preach the Word, protect the church from false doctrine, and lead people to God through his Word. (Rather than siting several passages here I would simply encourage you to read the pastoral epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus)
Overseer
The third and final term for the elder is “overseer” and comes from the word episcopos (ἐπίσκοπος). It means exactly what it sounds like; the Greek prefix epi means “over” while scopos means “look” or “sight.” You can hear the English word “scope” in this word. It simply means to look over.
The elder is charged to look over the flock. This is a term that refers to the authority of the position. When the church appoints elders it gives them the authority needed to do the work of the ministry. I believe this authority rests in the group of elders and not in the individual elders themselves, but we will deal with that more in another blog.
Putting It All Together
Let me see if I can help you put all of this together. We see all of these terms come together in Acts chapter 20. The context of that chapter is that Paul is trying to get to Jerusalem. On his way, so as not to delay him any longer, he calls the elders in Ephesus to come and see him at Miletus.
“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.”
Note first that who he calls to himself are the elders of this church that he cares so much about. Then he gives them some instructions…
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
You can see the confluence of all of these terms in this passage where Paul is speaking to these men. Let me give you these verse again but I will add the Greek words in parentheses so that you can see what is going on in the text.
“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders (presbuteros/πρεσβύτερος) of the church to come to him...Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock(poimnion/ποίμνιον), in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episcopos/ἐπίσκοπος), to care (poimaino/ποιμαίνω) for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (poimnion/ποίμνιον); 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
Here is the bottom line… elder=pastor=shepherd=overseer.
What is the difference between these? Nothing.
In coming posts we will look more at the character and work of the elder. We will look at why we pay some and not others. And we will look at deacons and their role in the church.
Stay tuned.