Word of Salvation – Vol. 30 No. 15 – April 1985
Ministers, Elders And Deacons
Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde on 1Timothy 3:1 (Belg. Conf. Art.31)
Scriptures: Acts 14:21-25; Titus 1:5-9; 1Tim. 3:1-13
Suggested Hymns 165; 280; 468; 484; BoW 504.
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
[The Rev. Steven Voorwinde begins this sermon as follows:]
One of the most interesting phone calls I ever received was in Sydney back in 1975. It was a call from the Prime Minister’s office in Canberra, and you will remember that the Prime Minister at that time was none other than Gough Whitlam. Of course he didn’t ring personally, but when I picked up the phone it was a member of his staff who asked me the question: “Are you the official head of the Reformed Churches of Australia?”
Well, I had only been in the ministry for about a year and I was flattered out of my mind. It took me quite a while to regain my humility. But while I was still feeling quite flattered I rang my neighbouring colleague, the Rev. Peter Pellicaan, who at that time was one of our most senior ministers in active service. Quite excitedly I told him about the phone call and that the Prime Minister’s office had asked me whether I was the official head of the Reformed Churches of Australia. He said: “Well, what did you say?” “I told them you were!”
Well, of course the Prime Minister’s office was wrong. The Confession gives the answer very simply when it says that Christ is “the only universal Bishop and the only Head of the Church.” But of course, Christ does not rule His church in a vacuum. He has delegated His authority. He has His representatives in the church. In the Gospels He compares Himself to a landowner who has gone on a journey and entrusted his property to stewards. They manage his property on his behalf. They are servants, yes, but they are servants whom their master has clothed with dignity and authority. They have been given the responsibility of managing his estate.
And who does the Bible describe as God’s steward? In whose hands has Christ left the church? Is it the pope or the cardinals, the archbishops and primates? The Bible mentions none of these. The only person who is described as a steward is the elder. As it says quite literally in Titus 1:7 in the New American Standard Bible: “The elder must be above reproach as God’s steward.” Christ has left His church in the care of elders.
So that’s where I’d like to begin this sermon. It’s about ministers, elders and deacons, but I’d like to begin with the elders and then talk about the ministers and deacons; and as we go along it should be even clearer why I have chosen this particular order.
As we look at the work of the elder, I’d like us to consider three things:
(i) a definition of the work,
(ii) qualifications for the work,
(iii) pictures of the work.
We begin then with a definition of who the elder is, Very simply he is a bishop which is the same as an overseer.
So elder = bishop = overseer = presbyter.
Hence a Presbyterian Church is a church that is ruled by elders. In the New Testament the words “elder” and “bishop” are used interchangeably. For example in Acts 20 Paul calls together the elders of Ephesus and then addresses them as bishops. The elders are bishops. So if you include the minister you will find that here in the Reformed Church of Kingston e.g. we have no less than 14 bishops.
At one of our Synods a few years ago we were addressed by the man who is now the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Rev. Don Robinson. At that time he was the bishop of Parramatta and the chairman of our Synod welcomed him in our meeting as “a bishop among bishops”.
So an elder is a bishop or an overseer. What does this overseeing consist of? In the case of ruling elders it means that they rule. In the case of teaching elders or ministers it means that they rule and teach. You know, in Revelation 4, we have that majestic scene in heaven. In the centre there is the blazing throne of Almighty God and before the throne there are four living creatures and then immediately around that throne there are 24 other thrones. Do you know who are seated on them? Apostles? Cardinals? Prophets? No, elders! They rule – and let us never underestimate the dignity of their office.
Now let’s quickly take a look at their qualifications. They are mentioned in 1Timothy and Titus. These qualities we need to look for whenever we need to nominate elders. They can be divided into three general areas:
(i) Home Life:
Paul has something to say about this at the beginning, in the middle and at the end:-
“He is to be the husband of but one wife.”
In other words, if he is married he must be a loyal and faithful husband. In Paul’s days some Christians still had more wives than one. Before their conversion they had married more than once. But they could not be elders.
“He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.” (verse 4).
Obviously the most natural way to prove a man’s gift for ruling is to observe how he handles himself in his own home and among his own family members. How do a man’s children behave toward him at home? Is there a proper balance of firmness, fairness and affection?
But then too, let’s not push this qualification too far. Lawrence Eyres in his booklet on “The Elders of the Church” has this to say:
“…we must guard against adding to God’s requirements as much as taking away from them. It is sadly true that the children of some very godly men grow to an adulthood of unbelief and rebellion against God. Is a man to be disqualified because his children have not been born again? I think not. God, not man, holds the key to the hearts of all who were born in sin. All that Paul requires is that these children, while in the home, are to be in submission to their father, and that they do not behave in the community so as to be a scandal to the name of Christ.”
Then Paul also says that he must practise hospitality. This is an important part of his ministry. So no wonder his home life must be in order.
It’s at this point that we really feel the paradox of the eldership. The duties of office often take elders away from their families and yet they must manage them well. I’m sure we can all appreciate the strain that this puts on every elder who is also a family man. I would therefore urge the congregation to pray for wisdom for these men in this regard,
(ii) Paul then also mentions quite a list of personal qualities. These are summarized by the phrase “above reproach”. He must be a man of integrity and morally dependable. He must lead a sober, balanced Christian life. Temper, money and drink are some of the areas touched on. Both inside and outside the church he must have a good reputation. In short he must be a godly man. These standards are not impossible ideals, but here we simply have a description of any mature Christian. This is what we should all be striving for. It’s the kind of person each one of us should be.
(iii) Finally, there is the area of practical ability; and here there is but one requirement: “able to teach.” But you may say: “Didn’t you just tell us that there are ruling elders and teaching elders? Why should a ruling elder be able to teach?’
The answer is that the ruling elder primarily rules, but this does not exclude teaching altogether. An elder need not be a gifted public speaker or an able teacher of the Bible to large groups. Of course, that would be nice and highly desirable. But at the very least, an elder must be able to deal with people on a one-to-one basis, applying the Word of God to the needs of the individual. Paul tells Titus what some of this will involve in 1:9; “He 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.”
In summary, the qualifications for an elder are basically threefold: an ordered home life, basic Christian personal qualities and the ability to teach.
This leads us to the next point which has to do with pictures of the work:
(i) The elder is a watchman. The watchman who guards the city is on the lookout for enemies who endanger its safety. Thus the elders must refute those who oppose sound teaching. They must guard against heresy. If you like, this is the negative aspect of their work.
(ii) On the positive side they are shepherds. This describes their relation to those in the fold. The New Testament often depicts the work of the elder in these terms; as Peter writes: “I exhort the elders… to shepherd the flock of God among you.” (1Peter 5:1,2).
And Paul said to the Ephesian elders: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:28).
The elders are to be shepherds. They are to be good pastors. It is a fallacy to think that only ministers are pastors. This is a task that is also laid fairly and squarely at the feet of the elders. They are to follow the example of the Good Shepherd.
He knows His sheep by name.
He leaves the 99 to look for the one.
He lays down his life for the sheep.
So elders are shepherds. It is their duty to feed and to lead. They are stewards of the Good Shepherd who has left His flock in their care. Theirs is a sacrificial task.
But what about the ministers?
Let me begin here with a rather matter-of-fact quotation from the book by R.B. Kuiper:
“Usually church members regard ruling elders less highly than ministers. In so doing they are not altogether mistaken, for it is true that a special dignity attaches to the ministerial office in virtue of the fact that the minister, being both a teaching and a ruling elder, holds two offices in one, and these offices take up, or ought to take up, all his time.”
Now this is quite clearly a Biblical distinction. There are elders who rule and teach and these are commonly known as the ministers. The difference comes out most clearly in a verse like 1Timothy 5:17:
“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well, are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”
Surely that’s the minister – his work is preaching and teaching. But we may go further; and perhaps this is a controversial point a minister is more than “just a teaching elder.”
This matter is being discussed in our churches. When a minister is installed in a church we often preach Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “preach the Word” (2Tim.4:2). We usually regard Timothy and Titus as young ministers. Their authority stood somewhere between the apostles and the elders. Indeed they were elders. Even the apostles were elders, but they were more than that. Titus and Timothy ruled and taught, but they also had authority over more than one church. It’s hard to define, but they had more authority than the elders of a local church. In the Reformed Church we have retained something of that difference.
In any case one thing is clear. Whether we regard the minister simply as a teaching elder or something more than that (like Timothy or Titus), there is no mistaking what he is meant to do. His foremost task is to preach the Word. That has top priority. And, brothers and sisters, that is one colossal job. They are to teach the Word of God to the children and the young people as well as to the adult members of the church. They are to teach the Word not only to those who are inside the church, but to those who are outside as well, so that they can be brought in. They must bring the Word not only publicly in the pulpit but also privately in pastoral counselling. They must preach the Word not just abstractly, but also apply it to personal difficulties and community problems. In short, they must declare the whole counsel of God.
Let us say it again – the preaching of the Word is the minister’s business, and therefore it follows that his task is identical with the supreme task of the church. If the preaching of the Word suffers the whole life of the church suffers. Preaching is absolutely central to the life of the church. As someone has said about the minister: “It is no exaggeration to assert that his office represents the very reason for the church’s existence.” (R.B. Kuiper). Yes, he is an elder. He does everything an elder does, and more: he preaches the Word. And nothing can be more important or more useful than that in the life of the whole church.
You may think that we are speaking very highly of the ministry – too highly in fact. That we are putting ministers up on a pedestal. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Again let us quote Kuiper who puts it in such a healthy perspective. “The minister must always remember that the dignity of his office adheres not in his person, but in his office itself. He is not at all important, but his office is extremely important. Therefore he should take his work most seriously, without taking himself seriously.” (p.141).
And now finally we need to spend some moments thinking about the deacons. If the elders are overseers, watchmen and shepherds, then what are the deacons? What’s their function?
The word “deacon” comes from a Greek word meaning “servant”.
Jesus said: “Let him who desires to be greatest among you, be the servant (deacon) of all.” This servant was usually a household servant, such as the men whom Jesus sent to fill the pitchers of water at the wedding reception in Cana. This servant was mainly a waiter. He would literally wait on his master hand and foot.
But now the question arises as to when this general term came to be applied to a specific office in the church. As Christians we are obviously all meant to be servants, but can’t all be deacons. The question is answered in Acts 6. There were some rumblings going on in the church in Jerusalem. The Greek speaking widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve apostles got everybody together. At that meeting seven men were chosen to wait at the tables, while the apostles continued in the ministry of the Word. As a result there developed two streams of ministry:
– There was the ministry of the Twelve which was the preaching of the Word to meet people’s spiritual needs.
– There was the ministry of the Seven which involved serving at the tables and this met people’s material and physical needs.
The practice in the Mother Church then set the pattern for the daughter churches. The elders were to meet the spiritual needs and the deacons were to meet the material needs of the congregation. This is clear also from the list of qualifications. The deacons, like the elders, were to have ordered home lives and be respectable Christians. But it does not say that they are to “be able to teach.” That was not their job.
What then was their job? In Jerusalem they waited at the tables. In Philippi they supported Paul’s ministry with material gifts. But beyond this, we are told nothing. Yet isn’t this sufficient for us to catch the tone of their work? The early Christians were aware of the needs of others and had a healthy sense of social concern. They held collections for the poor.
They cared for the hungry.
This social concern of the early church is being recaptured again today. The diaconal ministry is becoming very active. A living diaconate is the key to the church’s social involvement in the world. We may not know everything that the deacons do; some of their work is confidential; but we may be sure that they have plenty to do. They must always be ready to give a helping hand when the need arises. Many in the Christian Church can testify to the practical help they have received from the deacons when they needed it the most. And if you need help – financially or materially – please don’t hesitate to let them know. But if you don’t need help please give generously to the special offerings for the deacons.
Remember that Christ is not only our Chief Shepherd, but our Head Deacon as well. He not only laid down his life for the sheep, He also washed His disciples’ feet. He literally waited on them hand and foot. The diaconate is above all the office of love. Love is its beginning and love is its end. We may have only a few deacons in the technical sense but we are all each other’s servants. So, let us serve one another with the humility of Christ who took a towel and washed His disciples’ feet.
And so, brothers and sisters, in our church we have ministers, elders and deacons, and we need them all. In closing we may again quote the concluding words of article 31 of the Confession which we read earlier. That applies particularly to the ministers and to the elders, and not just the ones you happen to like or to agree with. And remember this is an admonition taken directly from Scripture:
“We say that everyone ought to esteem the ministers of God’s Word and the elders of the church very highly for their work’s sake, and be at peace with them without murmuring, strife or contention, as much as possible.”
That is the teaching of the Confession and it is also the teaching of Scripture. And if you’re going to forget the rest of the sermon then at least remember this!
Amen.