What does biblical church leadership look like and how does it function? This is probably the number one question I get asked. Biblical Church Leadership by Beresford Job is one of the best books I can recommend concerning this topic. Below is a short excerpt concerning eldership.
We must make an extremely important point now by way of a vital qualification. Although we are seeing that permanent, local church leadership (eldership, as scripture terms it) carries no executive or positional authority, we are not saying that it is therefore merely “a token affair.” As already established, the major default of biblical church leadership, in contrast with leadership as found in most unbiblical churches, is that of invisibility, as opposed to being high profile, and visitors to such a church would not, under normal circumstances, know if there were any elders or not, let alone who they might be. Remember, there are no services led from the front in a biblical church because, as we have seen, all present are free to take part as the Spirit leads them. Indeed, being also home-based, there isn’t even a front for anyone to be up at anyhow, and people are just sitting around in a circle in someone’s sitting room. Furthermore, any elders present just think of themselves as being “one of the lads” and would not for one moment be sitting there thinking in terms of them being a leader. However, this is not to say than any elder present would shrink from taking a lead if any developing situation required it, and as publicly as necessary too.
The fact that church government is consensual does not in the slightest mean that elders do not know when to step forward, or when they must be somewhat more definitive than usual about something, or when it is appropriate for them to give a strong lead concerning anything that is pressing. They would also, in any such circumstances, expect the church to give serious consideration indeed to anything they were saying as a result. As I have already noted, there may be times when there is no consensus over an issue that just cannot be shelved and, in such cases, if the eldership has a clear idea of the necessary way forward, then the church would be strongly advised to go that way. Being also guardians of the church, as we have also already clearly seen, elders have the serious duty of protecting it from attack, from both outside and from within, however the attack might manifest itself. We earlier saw what Paul wrote to Titus concerning elders, that an elder “…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 1:9) The Greek word Paul uses means “to refute in such a way as to put the person to shame.” Indeed, it is appropriate to think of elders, and church leaders more widely, by making a parallel comparison with Jesus being designated both as the Lamb of God and as the Lion of Judah. Wise and godly church leaders fully realise that there is a time to roar, just as there is a time for gentleness. This is the type of wisdom and discretion that (even more-so than the other leadership qualifications) primarily defines them, and stems from exceptional character and sound, godly living.
It is not, therefore, the case that biblical church leadership, such as I am advocating for, is in any way token, or merely some kind of toothless rubber stamp. Elders may not have executive or positional authority, but they have still been recognised by their church as having been fitted by God for the task because of their exemplary Christian walk. They have therefore been recognised precisely because they have proved themselves over the years, by personal example, to those they lead, and that, as I have already stated, gives them something arguably even more powerful than executive authority; and that is moral authority. It is the moral authority of being able to freely and effectively carry people along with them because of the profound trust engendered between all those concerned over the many months and years of close, personal fellowship.
Beresford Job can be reached at…
Website: www.housechurch.co.uk
Blog: beresfordjob.wordpress.com
Email: talk2ccf@hotmail.com
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