One Shepherd—Many Elders

Under the Old Covenant, a single man was charged with leading the church; however, the enormity of the task required responsibilities to be delegated to the Levitical priesthood (Numbers 3) and the rulers of the people (Exodus 18). The church often fell into disarray once a strong leader died. From Moses to present day, these churches generally struggle to keep the unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3).

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:8-12)

Under the New Covenant, we of the faith are all brothers and sisters (one fold); there is no church position equivalent to the head or the high priest. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). Only in families is a man designated the head: "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). Jesus Christ is our Lord, our master, our head, our high priest, and our shepherd; thus, negating the need for any single man to fill those positions. There is no man on earth that the Word of God designates as the head of any church. "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it" (Ezekiel 34:23-24). The universal headquarters of the church is not on earth but in heaven: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus, unlike Moses who handed the reigns over to a single man, handed the reigns over to twelve men. And of these twelve, selected three men to be the "chief" leaders of the new church. "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision" (Galatians 2:9). After all, the top hierarchy of the church—the Board of Directors—has three persons: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (1 John 5:7).

MANY ELDERS

Under the Old Covenant, Moses was the head of the church, Aaron was the high priest, Aaron's four sons were priests under him, and the remaining Levites were under Aaron and his sons. This structure is set forth in the book of Numbers:

And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death ... And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. (Numbers 3: 2-10, 17)

The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. (Numbers 3: 29-32)

And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof ... This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest ... This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. (Numbers 4:16, 28, 33)

Therefore, we see that the high priest had two to four priests reporting to him and then the remaining Levitical priests reporting to them. Today, Jesus Christ fills the offices of Head and of High Priest of the church permanently; therefore, the next level calls for two or more sons, called of God, to lead the church: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). These sons of God are those "that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). Under the New Testament, these leaders of the church are called elders not pastors; and elders have the combined responsibility of Old Testament priests and Old Testament elders.

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. (Exodus 18:21-22)

And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. (Numbers 11:16-17)

So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. (Deuteronomy 1:15)

Like the Old Testament elders, New Testament elders help the head of the church—the Lord Jesus Christ—guide, oversee, and rule over the congregation. This similar structure is replicated in heaven: "And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold" (Revelation 4:4). We see the partnering of two or three time and time again:

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7)

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (Acts 13:1-2)

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. (Galatians 2:9)

Note in the verse above from the book of Galatians that three men lead the church at Jerusalem and two men lead the church at Antioch. "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people" (Exodus 13:21-22).

Elders, not a solitary man, are charged with the care and oversight of a church. After all, a solitary man—witness—is not sufficient: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1). This can be seen throughout New Testament scripture; a singular church has a plurality of leaders. Elders, not the elder or the pastor, are the leaders of the church. The apostles "ordained them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23) not an elder in every church. "For there are indications that in some churches—Rome among them—there were not at first 'bishops' in the sense of a single head of the local church, but rather a collegiate group of officers who sometimes were called 'bishops' and sometimes 'elders.'"¹⁸⁰ A minimum of two men, ideally three, should work together to fulfill the vision of God for a people, for a region and/or for a church. "Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot."¹⁸¹ "Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established" (Proverbs 15:22); and "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14). We know that the power of God grows exponentially when Christians work together in one accord (Leviticus 26:8):

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Elders are a subset of the ministers of Jesus Christ, which are called and ordained of God to minister unto our Lord Jesus Christ in a local church. Not all ministers of Jesus Christ have positions in a local church as elders since some ministers have global or regional responsibility. Said another way, all elders are ministers of Jesus Christ but all ministers of Jesus Christ are not elders. In Titus 1, the word elder (Greek: presbuteros) is equated with the word bishop (Greek: episkopos). They both are synonymous with the word overseer (Greek: episkopos); they are different words that mean the same thing. Similarly the word shepherd is synonymous with the word pastor; they both come from the same Greek word poimen. In scripture we see that God charges those that have rule (kings, judges, priests, prophets, pastors, etc.) over his people to feed his people or his flock. The English word feed is translated from the Greek word poimaino, which means to supply the requisites for the soul's need. "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Jeremiah 3:15). Scripture charges all elders to "rule" (oversee), to feed (shepherd), and to teach. "The overall emphasis in scripture is not so much on the sheep being in subjection to the shepherd—that is taken for granted. The real emphasis is on the shepherds not lording it over the sheep or taking their authority to excess."¹⁸²

A shepherd in the Near East was responsible for watching out for enemies trying to attack the sheep, defending the sheep from attackers, healing the wounded and sick sheep, finding and saving lost or trapped sheep, loving them, and sharing their lives and to earn their trust.¹⁸³

Moreover, the apostles, which represent all the ministries, were commanded by Jesus to teach all nations: "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). Therefore, through scripture, we can see that all ministers of Jesus Christ, not just pastors, are charged with shepherding and overseeing their flock; thus, "We can summarize it in this way: The qualification for leadership is to be an elder; the spiritual ministry is that of a shepherd; and the work that has to be done is overseeing. We have one person viewed from three different perspectives."¹⁸⁴ Finally, elders must be able to teach others: "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). Let us move away from this modern tradition of desiring elders to be "pulpit personalities"; rather, let us focus on preaching and teaching in a systematic way so as to edify the body of Christ, not entertain. "How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying" (1 Corinthians 14:26). Elders "watch for your souls, as they that must give account" (Hebrews 13:17); they, like Jesus, are "Shepherd[s] and Bishop[s] of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25).

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them ... Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:17-18, 28)

Elders are shepherds and elders are overseers; moreover, elders are bishops, and bishops are elders. Notice, both Paul and Peter address the elders when communicating to the leadership of the local church. There was no one above these elders in their local congregation. These men collectively were the "executive level" leadership of their respective local churches.

Apostles, Prophets, and Evangelists are by calling mobile ministries. Apostles, however, were generally assigned to a group of people (Galatians 2:9), and prophets are generally assigned to a geographic area (Acts 13:1). Therefore, apostles and prophets may travel less than evangelists—evangelists are assigned to the world (Matthew 24:14; Mark 16:15). Due to this highly mobile nature of evangelists, elders should, more often than not, embody those with a more stationary (resident) ministry like pastors and teachers. If evangelists do serve as elders, they should be responsible for training others called to be evangelists. The other mobile ministries of apostle and prophet should also participate as elders in the church in which they are resident. Peter, the apostle, served as an elder: "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:1-3). Let us now examine each office of ministers of Jesus Christ, starting first with apostles.

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