Foundations of Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG07

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F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

our Lord Jesus himself being our one true rabbi (Matt. 23.8), and his holy Apostles deemed to be our elders (1 Pet. 5.1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1). In a fashion very reminiscent of the Jewish dispersal of information, the disciples of Jesus transmit his teaching to others as his official representatives and agents (cf. 2 Thess. 2.15; 2 Tim. 2.2). In a fine scholarly article, Beckwith and Warden help us understand the connection between the Christian vision and the OT understanding of eldership. Referring to the statement above about the passing on of teaching from one generation to another, they suggest: Those to whom it is committed are likewise called elders (Acts 14.23; Titus 1.5). They are apparently appointed by the laying on of hands (Acts 6.6; cf. 11.30; 1 Tim. 4.14; 5.22; 2 Tim. 1.6). They must be ready to earn their own living if necessary (Acts 20.17, 33–35). They have the tasks of teaching (1 Tim. 5.17; Titus 1.5, 9) and of acting as judges (Acts 15.2, 6, 22–29; 16.4). It is an open question whether a parallel is to be seen between the Jerusalem council or appeal court, consisting of apostles and elders, presided over by James the Lord’s brother, and the Sanhedrin, consisting of chief priests and elders, presided over by the high priest. In addition to the tasks of teaching and judging, the task of ruling is re-emphasized in the Christian eldership, and given a pastoral rather than a political character (Acts 20.17, 28; 1 Tim. 5.17; James 5.14; 1 Pet. 5.1–4; cf. Matt. 9.36–38; Eph. 4.11); hence the elder’s other title of bishop, and hence the disappearance of the separate office of “synagogue-ruler” in Christianity, his task being partly absorbed by the elder, and partly, no doubt, by the owner of the house-church. The “attendant,” on the other hand, survives as the Christian deacon, though his office is still local to the extent that deacons appear in the NT only occasionally. The Christian eldership is thus primarily an office of teaching, of adjudicating questions of right and wrong, and of providing pastoral oversight. Though elders are specially ordained, their office is not a priestly or a ceremonial one. The sacraments are under the supervision of the ordained ministry, but are not their personal prerogative. When the office of bishop becomes separated from that of elder in the 2nd century, the tasks of teaching, pastoral oversight and supervision of the sacraments are shared between the two offices; the task of acting as judge, in matters of excommunication and reconciliation, adheres primarily to the bishop; so too, for a