04 Church Leadership

Welcome to another episode on This is Church. And tonight we're going to be looking at a really important subject. We're going to be looking at the leadership within the local church—elders and deacons. We've already looked at Apostles and the Ephesians 4 Gifts, and now we'll learn about the local church.

The Role of Elders in Sustaining Church Growth

When we look at the New Testament, the Apostles are breaking things open, but they can't always manage things afterwards. They're not graced to do that. So what they do is raise up a leadership tier who will make sure that the work is sustained and the church is able to become healthy and to grow.

We'll see this in Acts 14:23, where Paul and Barnabas had been preaching the gospel in a number of different regions. Returning to those regions they appointed elders in every church by prayer and fasting. They committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

So here it's Paul and Barnabas that are appointing elders. You'll see the same thing in Titus 1:5. Titus is working in an apostolic role within the area of Crete. Paul says, the reason why I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.

Apostolic Appointment of Elders

Elders will always be appointed by apostles. They're not appointed by Bible schools. They're not appointed by the people. It's really the apostolic that break things open and then the elders come through behind them and manage and care for what is broken open.

When you use the word elder—please notice—that these guys are appointed. Which means that they're not just old guys. You don't get appointed to be an old guy. Hands are laid on them and like in the Old Testament—where you would see kings like David or even a prophet would be appointed and ordained.

So now you find this role within the life of the church. They're appointed—and it really does carry a whole lot of authority, which we'll look at later. The care of the local church has been entrusted to the elders. The Bible has a lot of accountability structures in place because, if a man goes askew, he can do a lot of damage to God's people.

The Plurality and Accountability of Eldership

And so eldership will always be in plurality. Every Biblical letter written is written to the elders, plural. Later we can look at the leader within the team, but there's always plurality. There's an equality within the eldership team. They might be slightly different in terms of the grace and the gifting, but they are all elders, there's not one that's called something else.

Within a local church, you should have elders caring for you. If those elders start to get a bit dodgy or do things that are maybe not wrong, the church always has access to go around the elders and can approach the apostles. Paul wrote about members of Chloe's household that informed him about issues in the Corinthian church.

Then the apostolic comes in—as a high court—and address situations where elders messed up—they help to make sure everything is being done Biblically. There's an authority layer that works to try to help the church be healthy. The concept of the elders comes from the Old Testament.

Old Testament Roots: Moses and the Seventy Elders

Israel, kind of—You'll see this implemented around the time of Moses—in Exodus 18:20, Moses is trying to care for the people of Israel. It's a large task and he's not coping. His father-in-law, Jethro, says this to him, "You're going to die. You are working too hard." He tells Moses to appoint leaders, and Moses appoints 70 elders. And he's told to teach them the decrees and laws and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. In other words—teach them the things that you know and give them charge over the people.

There's too many people, too many situations for you to deal with on your own. In some ways, this is how the apostolic works—They appoint and teach the elders everything that they know. They are then left to care for the local church. You'll see this in 2 Timothy 3:10, for example, Paul uses very similar language as an apostle working with local elders.

And he says, you know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, endurance, etcetera. Moses had to teach them the decrees and laws and show them the way to live, Paul says, "you know my way of life..." It is a beautiful parallel for us.

Handling Difficult Cases and Apostolic Appeal

Now we see how elders work together with apostles, on the ground, to make sure that things are working well. In Exodus 18:22, there's a boundary to how far these elders in Israel are allowed to go. And it says—"have them serve as judges for the people at all times."

This means that when there's an issue between two people, these guys will come in and decide who's right and wrong and who needs to change. "Have them bring every difficult case to you. The simple cases they can decide for themselves that will make your load lighter because they will share it with you."

In the local church, the elders deal with most of the situations, but when it starts to get complicated or it could become something that they could mess up, they need to appeal to the apostles to help them. Situations that are hard to deal with can be brought to the apostles.

And then the apostolic, like Moses, would come in and help the elders to make those decisions. And so these are all things put in place to help the church be safe. There's not one man that's over all. There's this kind of team working together under Jesus to make sure that everything works the way it should.

Elders as Overseers Appointed by the Holy Spirit

Elders are chosen by God. They're recognized by us, but they're chosen by God. The Bible says that before God had even created the world, He had prepared things for us to do. And so in Acts 20:28, Paul says to these elders, "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers."

We'll see that word overseer is one of the words used for elders. So keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So within the church, the Holy Spirit comes upon certain individuals under the direction of Jesus and puts something of His governmental grace upon certain people.

And they are appointed and set aside by God to carry that part of Jesus' life into the church. They are called by God, but they are appointed by apostles. In other words, the apostle comes in and works with the local elders. If there's none, they look to try and find the one or more that Jesus has appointed.

They ask, "Who are those that Jesus has called to this?" Even if the calling is acknowledged, it must be recognized that this is quite a hard responsibility. You have got to understand that if an elder messes up, it does huge damage, because he has a lot of authority in the house of God.

Biblical Qualifications and Character for Elders

There's this long list of qualifications to make sure that the men that are appointed are whole and that they've surrendered enough to Jesus. That they would respond the way Jesus would. We see this list in Titus 1:6-9. Here are the qualifications. So once we recognize that someone could be called by God to be an elder, now you start checking him out.

He must be blameless. So the question is, does anyone know something about him that we don't know? The husband of but one wife—he's a one-woman man. Is he a faithful man? Because if he can't be faithful to his wife, one woman, how would he ever be faithful to the church?

The church is a lot harder to love than one woman. The potential elder's character is tested because God wants men that will care for His bride really well. A man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless, not overbearing. In other words, his personality must not be so strong that he dominates the room. Not quick-tempered—he doesn't get angry quickly—not given to drunkenness, he's got control of himself—not violent, because that would be pretty bad if you're sitting under a violent leader—not pursuing dishonest gain; in other words, he's not in this for the money.

Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good and is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 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.

This team of men are left on the ground and they're godly men. They are men who have allowed Jesus to work out a lot of the issues in their lives and they are faithful, reliable. You can see they walk with Jesus because their lives are in order.

Any area in our lives that is out of order normally reveals there is a crack somewhere. And so we have to then find out what is the personality or character crack so that we make sure that these people are really able to effectively lead without getting in the way themselves.

Notice that all those qualifications are character qualifications. They are godly, holy men. They should be able to teach—but not that he needs to be the best—just that he's able to teach good doctrine. The key to realize is in the local church, Jesus is the leader.

Jesus as the Senior Pastor and Chief Shepherd

No man should ever be the head of the church, only Jesus. We know He's alive, He speaks, and in the book of Revelation, we see pictures of the elders gathering close to the throne. The closest to the throne are the elders, and they literally are responding to His every whim.

And this is how elders actually need to elder. Their first place of eldering is to be found in prayer before God because they need to follow Him as they lead His people. And so they should be able to say, "Follow me as I follow Him."

The elders need to make sure that in all the decisions made, that they together find a consensus and a sense of—this is what Jesus wants us to do. They don't have the right to come up with their own ideas. They've got to be found in prayer and come up with His ideas.

1 Peter 2:25—"For you were all like sheep gone astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd," note the capital S, THE Shepherd, that's Jesus. "The overseer of your souls." If there is a senior pastor—guess who it is? The Shepherd.

Jesus is the senior pastor, the leading elder. The other elders serve under Him. That word shepherd—let's look at that for a moment—I want you to remember it. In Greek it's "*poimēn*." It means shepherd. And overseer is the word "*episkopos*"—"*epi*" in Greek means over, "*skopos*" means to watch, so one who watches over your soul.

So Jesus is actually an elder. He is the great elder. And then He portions out of Himself and He gives some of His own grace and gifts to men. And they begin to represent Him as under-elders of the One who is the true leader of the church.

Defining Elders, Shepherds, and Overseers

We've looked at two already, but the Bible will give us three words to describe elders. You'll see one of these three words interchangeably whenever the Bible speaks of elders. The church has divided them historically, but biblically they're always used together. We must stick to the Bible because this is the manual that we want to build with.

In 1 Peter 5:1-3, Peter's writing as an apostle, and he says, "To the elders among you..." That word elder is "*presbyteros*," and that just means elder. "To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings, and one who will also share in the glory to be revealed."

He says this: "Be shepherds," and that word is "*poimēn*." The same way that Jesus is the Shepherd, now these are going to be shepherds over the house of God. "...of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers..." and that word is "*episkopos*."

And so here they're starting to represent Jesus' care for His own church. "Not because you must, but because you're willing as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

Authority and Servant Leadership in the Kingdom

And so you've got these three words and I want to look at them. They give us a beautiful picture of the job description of what an elder does. Firstly, elder, it comes from Israel, "*presbyteros*." It refers to rank. It's one who's placed over a community.

And I know our modern age doesn't like the concept of rank in the kingdom. But there is rank in the Kingdom of God. Even within the Trinity, there's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each one has a different rank. They're all God, but each one has a different mandate, a different responsibility within the Trinity.

Likewise, let's look at angels, you've got archangels—"*arch*" means "over" the other angels. So even within the angels there is rank. Now within the church, there is rank. But remember Jesus said our rank isn't like the world's ranks. Our leaders do carry authority, but they don't carry the heart of secular leaders.

Secular leaders want the thrones of honor, and they want to be acknowledged and given titles, but you, He said, shouldn't be like them. You who actually are called to lead, I want you to be the servants of all. And so the heart posture of the elders, even though they do carry rank, is not to flaunt it.

They come in as a servant and the slaves of all and the apostles even more so. While there is rank and the people recognize rank, the heart posture behind that rank is really important. It must reflect the King, Jesus, who was the great Shepherd and washed the feet of those that He loved.

*Presbyteros* speaks of governance and administering justice. They administered justice. When there is a crisis within the house, the elders will need to make rules about who's right, who's wrong. They begin to act almost as judges in the community, and the community submits themselves to this.

The other word used for a shepherd is "*poimainō*." This word means literal, agricultural shepherd. These shepherds walk with their sheep. Their sheep knew them and followed them, and now these men will start to be that to the community. The word pastor, which Ephesians 4:11, for example, speaks about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—that word pastor is "*poimēn*."

Here, you've got these men that are postured as shepherds. They walk in front of the sheep. They care for the people. They love the people. They guard the people against wolves. There's no pastor and elders, there's shepherds and elders—they are one and the same thing.

Each word describes the elder a little bit differently. I love the words that show us what shepherds do. They know their sheep. The Bible says they feed their sheep. One of the ways they'll do that is through the scriptures. They make sure that we are fed the word of God.

They care for the sheep. They pull out thorns and thistles and there's wounds that come and heal. They guard their sheep against wolves, and they should be willing to lay down their lives to protect those that God loves—the people of God. The Bible says, "My sheep follow me," so in some way the elders should walk ahead.

They should show the sheep where to go. The community of faith should follow the shepherds that Jesus has entrusted to their care. This picture that we're in is so different from the world we live in today. People believe that by themselves they can be church.

Watching Over the Flock as Episkopos

Thinking like this undermines every single thing that we read about in our Bible. This is God's way. There is accountability, but this is the way that God wants His house to work. The third word for shepherd—episkopos, episkopos—as I already mentioned—one who watches over.

When I first heard that word, episkopos, I thought of a teacher. Imagine a preschool and you've got the kids running wild. The teacher's watching over them. She's making sure that Johnny doesn't bite Janet. She is checking that everything is safe and that someone doesn't eat mud.

In some way this is what the elder does; He watches over the flock. As a team of men they must watch over you and make sure that none of you are going astray. It's a huge responsibility to make sure that you, who Jesus died for and paid for in blood, are cared for, protected, and nurtured.

Managing the Master’s Household

And so their job is quite a difficult one because people can be naughty and rebellious. In Titus 1:7, we see a beautiful picture of how they watch over and care. "Since an overseer," that's episkopos again, "manages God's household." Manages God's household in the Greek is "oikonomos."

It's two Greek words that have been squished together to make one word. "Oikonomos." "Oikos" is a house. "Nomos" is law. So, it's saying the overseer, the episkopos, manages or watches over, cares for, or brings about order and law into God's house. They have authority and responsibility for everything.

Do you remember the parable Jesus once told? Says a master goes away and he leaves his servant in charge of the household. When he comes back, if that servant has looked after the servants well he'll receive a reward. But if he hasn't, there's gonna be an issue with the master.

That is the picture of oikonomos—one who is looking after and caring for the household of a master. In those days it was regarded as a secular word. If a master had a house and he went away, or even if he was there, he would appoint a slave who would become the oikonomos, the one who cared for the house.

And he made sure that everyone in the house did what they were supposed to. He made sure that the pool was just the way it should be, that the table was just the way the master liked it—that the flowers were out every single day.

He managed and stewarded all the servants and made sure that it was just like the master wanted. This is the picture of what an elder is supposed to do. He's to prepare the house for the Master. For the Master is coming back soon, and we need every one of the servants to know what role they play.

Eldership Structure and Leadership Teams

They need to know what to do in the house, because as all of us play our role—the house will be just the way the Master wants when He returns. And it's a lovely picture for me of just how this works. So there's no such thing as a senior pastor; there's no Reverend.

There is no Bishop over the others. There are only elders, plural. In the book of 3 John, John writes as an apostle to a guy that's kind of raised himself up within one of the churches. This guy's name is Diotrephes. You can read it at home.

It's a short book. And Diotrephes, John says, loved to be first. What he was doing is he was starting to take authority over the others. If the apostles sent people to their church, he would put those people out of the church. So John says, when I come down, I'm going to sort this guy out.

We do not have one man over the house of God. But we do see a leader on every team. So you've got God: the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Are They all God? Yes. Do They have different names within God? No, They're all God.

They all have the same value. But they have different capacity within the Trinity and a different role within the Trinity. So an eldership team is exactly the same way. They're all elders, plural. But within a team, you will start to find some that are gifted or graced more than others, and it's for the team and the apostles to recognize.

This one carries a grace more than this one, and so we need to then build around the grace that's on the man. It's not a one size fits all. We build around the individual, around the grace of what Jesus brings to that scenario.

Does that make sense? So there is a leader in the team. Who is the leader of the 12 apostles? Peter. The Bible talks about the church in Jerusalem—the first leader in the church in Jerusalem was James. He was one of the apostles, but he became the leader of the team.

James had no extra title. He was just like the rest, but everyone knew he was the leading elder within that team. And so every team will have a leader. Otherwise, you're going to get stuck in bureaucracy. Right. What are the responsibilities? What are they supposed to do?

The Responsibility to Rule and Teach

We've already seen some of the things they do, but obviously there is rule in the house. They have to make sure that the house is managed and cared for just the way the Master wants it. In 1 Timothy 5:17, we see another word brought in which links into the word "oikonomos".

"Let the elders who rule well...", that word is "proistemi", "...be counted worthy of double honor". In other words, let them get money from the church, "...especially those whose labor is in the word and in doctrine." So here, we read about elders and they are to receive these resources from the church.

"Especially those who labor in the word—who are preachers and teachers..." did you notice, especially those. So you've got the elders and then you've got those elders who labor in the word and in doctrine—not all elders teach. We have to try and find and recognize which of the elders carry a grace to teach.

And you'll know he's got a grace to teach because when he does it, the Bible comes alive and you feel built up. If he doesn't have grace to teach, you'll love it because he's up there and he's a great elder and you love him, but you don't walk away feeling like you've eaten anything.

You kind of walk away thinking, "What was that about?" Teachers and preachers will make you feel like I was enlarged, stretched, and challenged. They have a grace for that. And so we need to pay elders who have grace to teach. And be honest, because every elder thinks he can teach, and his wife thinks he can, but actually in reality, not all elders are able to teach.

There are some that are graced to teach. And they are the ones that we need to give the primary role to carry the teachings within the local churches. But they have rule—"proistemi". And "proistemi" in the Greek means to stand in front or at the head.

Leading with a Father’s Heart

Here you've got the elders who are standing in front of the church or at the head of the church. The same word is used for a father in 1 Timothy 3:4-5, the Bible's talking about a father who must rule his family well.

And that word is proistemi. A father stands at the head of his family, and he rules his family. He loves his wife, he cares for his children, and so he carries proistemi. He carries the authority within the home. He is the rule within that house.

Now the elders carry that into the church. And I love that picture of fathers, because in some ways, every elder should carry a father's heart. And they should care for the people of God, like a father would care for his own children. So they should care for you.

And this is the language of the Bible. Each one of you is precious to Jesus. He died, He paid for you in blood, and then He's entrusted you to these men, and they better carry His heart and love you as though you were their own children.

They should always be thinking of what's best for you, like any father would. They should wake up at night and worry about you if you're going wayward, because this is what a father does. They carry rule, but their heart is father. Does it make sense?

Responding to Authority with Esteem

Then how do we respond to our elders? Because obviously they've been given rule and authority. They've got to care for everyone. They've got to make sure that everyone's doing their thing. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, we read—"we urge you brothers to recognize those who labor among you and who are over you...",—it's "proistemi" again—"who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you."

"And to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake." So the first thing we've got to do according to the scriptures is we must recognize them and esteem them very, very highly. We must understand that God has made them leaders over us.

God has worked on them for years. God has shaped their life, God has worked through the flesh. They've allowed the Holy Spirit to change them and mold them as that as they've repented and as they've grown and matured. Now Jesus has appointed them over us.

And so our response is these are men that God has put over us. We esteem them highly—we think a lot of them—it's not that we want to put them on a platform, but our heart posture is, they probably know more than I do.

They're probably more holy than I am, and so I need to posture myself properly to receive from them and esteem them very highly. I've got to think a lot of them. Remember, if they think a lot of themselves, we've got a problem. Because they must be servants.

But while they think of themselves as servants, we think a lot of them. And that's how the kingdom works. I submit to you that as you work with elders on the ground, these are men that have proved faithful over years. They've been tested, they've been tried, they've faced trials, and people have watched how they've reacted.

The Holy Spirit has made them leaders. So consider that carefully. And when you go against them or you get a bit antsy about them, remember who it is you're going against. Because even when you go against secular government, God says, you're going against what God's appointed.

These are in the church. If you rose up against leaders in the Old Testament, under lesser covenant, the ground would open up and swallow you live into hell. If we're in a better covenant, then the consequences are also worse in a better covenant.

The Biblical Call to Obey and Submit

That's what the Hebrew writer speaks about. So if that was like for them under a weaker covenant, how much more so for us if we don't respect those that God has placed over us. And then the second thing is, obey and submit yourselves to them.

And this is obviously flowing out of the first one. In Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy, not with grief or that to be of no advantage or unprofitable for you."

In other words, don't make their life difficult—it's hard enough—make their life of joy. You should be thinking, how do I make it easy for them? Not difficult for them. He says this, obey and submit. And the two Greek words there, obey is *peithō* and it, and it's actually a really strong word.

Do you know within a family, a husband and a wife? The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. The wife is to submit to her husband in all things, but nowhere is the word "obey" used.

But now in the church, the words "obey" and "submit" are used. There is a higher authority in the elders over you than there is in a husband over his own household. This is a big thing. We mustn't miss that. In the book of James 3:3, we see where the word "obey" or "*peithō*" is used.

"We put bits in the horse's mouths that they may obey us. And with it we turn their whole body." In other words, the bit is used to cause the horse to obey us. So it's not that we need bits to turn you, but you start to see when you pull the rein, the horse turns, and now you start to realize when the church is properly submitted in these areas, when the elders pull the rein.

The church obeys, it goes where the elders are saying the church needs to go. And then also "submit", and the word is *hypeikō*, and it means resist no longer, give way, yield. Stop fighting. Stop wanting to go your way. Yield, stop fighting, just yield.

They're the ones entrusted responsibility of this. If they mess that up, they're going to give an account for it, we've just read that. Realize that they better be doing this carefully and your posture is one of actually submitting. And if you get this right, you actually start to reflect what God is like.

And I know some of us would say, "well, we've been hurt by churches" and that'll happen again. But here we are actually trying to do everything we can to do it the Bible way. And there are so many layers of accountability and correction and care.

It's very hard in our context for a leader to do this for long and get away with it. And so we would put leaders out of ministry if they carried on damaging the house of God, because it's God's house. But your posture should be obey and submit.

Give way, yield, stop fighting, be easily led. When the elders ask you to be somewhere, do you think, "I don't want to be there"? That is not yielding. That is not submitting. And I often say to the elders, be careful how you speak, because our words can actually put something on the church if we're not careful.

So sometimes I can say, I really want you guys there because I'm excited. What did I actually mean when I said that? If I expect them to be there, did I make that clear? So I need to be careful in what I say.

I would love it if you were there, but hey, there's no requirement for you to be there. I just think it'd be a fun night versus I really think we should be there, because we're not fighting anymore. We're a body, and the body yields to different parts, so we all work together that way.

Desiring to Learn the Apostles' Doctrine

Is this making sense? The next point would be, be teachable. Desire to learn from them. In 1 Timothy 5:17, we read that elders... "who direct affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching."

So they have a duty to preach and teach the apostles' doctrine. Then we come working with the elders to make sure that we are trying to stay as true to those things as we can. Their job is to preach and teach you. In some ways, their job is to actually make you a good disciple.

And they are to guard the doctrine within the church, because realize this, if you start to believe the wrong thing, it'll eventually fashion the way you live. Bad belief will always affect living. Most of the problems in the early church that we deal with were churches that had started to drift because of bad teaching.

Let me just say that there was a lot of bad teaching then, there's much, much more of it now. There's more bad teaching than good teaching. I actually struggle to find anyone to listen to nowadays, it's getting that bad. If you find a teacher from 300 years ago, he's probably alright.

Guarding Against False Doctrine and Bad Teaching

In 1 Timothy 1:3 we actually see how they watch over you. It says, "As I urged you, when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer." So Paul understood that people are going to be sprouting false doctrines all over the place.

I'm leaving Timothy in Macedonia, so that he will stop those guys from speaking. In other words, when that guy gets up to speak, Timothy says, "Hey guys, don't listen to this guy, okay? Please, you're not welcome in the pulpit." And he can't speak.

The problem today is this. You go home, click a button, and there's no Timothy to protect you. I know a lot of us think we can just eat the good and spit out the bad. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that bad doctrine is a very dangerous thing and it creeps in and it takes us captive without us realizing it.

We need to ask ourselves, how do I make sure that I stay within the doctrine set by the elders? This is not a law, but I want to submit this... I'm sure we can agree that if there's a father in a house, I think the father wants to make sure that his children are being brought up well.

As good children then, we should come to our leaders and ask, "Should I be listening to this? Should I be reading this? Should I be listening to this guy on the internet?" Normally, in probably less than 30 seconds, I can tell you, don't go near that guy.

Recently, it took me about 10 minutes to find out what this one guy actually believed. Most guys, I can tell you instantly. We look at his worldview and his theology. Sometimes the elders need to say, "We don't think that's a good guy to listen to."

And then I would submit to you, obey your leaders and submit to the authority. Because if you start listening to that guy, you're going to create headaches for everyone. It's not to control. If anyone wants to control the church, may the Lord deal with that person ever so strictly.

Equipping the Saints for Ministry

It is to care for and it is to make sure that everything is working safe. My next point is "give yourselves to be equipped." In Ephesians 4:11-12, we should see apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers—which we know now can be elders, shepherds—are there to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry."

That means our job isn't just to do all the work, our job is to teach you to do the work. The Bible says that we are members of Christ's body and each one of us has a part to play. And so the elders, as good stewards of the household, have to try and find for each of the servants in the house, what is the role the Master has given you?

We have to try and help you come into that place so that you are equipped to do the work of the ministry. In 1 Peter 2:9 it says, "you are a kingdom of priests, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."

You're a priesthood, did you know that? Try to explain that to your grandma. "Mom, Did you know that I'm a priest?" You're a royal priest. And so you have a priesthood. You have something that you are called to do as you minister unto Jesus and minister unto His body.

And each one of us has a different role within these things. The elders are there to make sure that you are equipped. Now, let me say this. We cannot equip. It's not given to us. We can, we can put up training, but you need to come.

We can try and create opportunity, but you need to lift your hand and say, "I'll do that." You'll never walk in your destiny. Many have asked me, "Andrew, how do I walk in my destiny? I don't know what God's called me to do."

My answer is, "well, start doing anything." The Bible speaks about the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. There's the good will—just start loving people, make tea, pack out chairs and pray. Serve the saints. Decide: "I don't know what I'm called to yet, but I'm starting to love."

As you do that, you'll start to find, it feels like there's something of God on something specific. People will say, "whenever you do that thing, it's awesome. We all sense Jesus." Now we start to find the pleasing. And then as you're faithful in that, and as your character grows, depending on what that gifting is, you start to walk into the perfect.

Which means, I'm hitting exactly that place that Jesus has called me to hit. But all of us need to start at the good. A lot of people say, "I'm going to join this church, but I want to go straight to the pleasing." Please, just start like everyone else.

Correction and Church Discipline

Just lay down your life and serve. And if your calling's of God, He's faithful to bring you through into it. Amen. Then number five, allow them to correct you and others. This is a hard one for Western culture. Like, Facebook warriors are the worst.

Every guy and his cat and his dog has got an opinion about everything. In the kingdom of God, we're not to carry that posture. Sure, some are called to be teachers, but the Bible says, don't presume to be a teacher because you'll face a stricter judgment.

Do you know every time you post something on Facebook? As a teacher, you'll give an account for that, for every word. And if you lead one person astray, better than a millstone gets tied around your neck and you get casted into the deepest part of the sea.

I tell you, Judgment Day is going to be shocking when Facebook warriors are judged. And there's a lot of them. So just be careful and allow the elders to correct you. Carry a posture that says, "I'm teachable and I'm correctable" because they actually are entrusted even with church discipline, which we will get to in one of our later sessions.

I'm not going to get into it now too much. One of the ways that the elders must train up the house is through discipline. When there's rebelliousness that carries on, like in a family, there are consequences to being naughty as a child. There are also consequences in God's house when you continue to be naughty.

In fact, the Bible says that if you are not disciplined when you're naughty, you're not a true son. And the Bible's word for discipline literally means God will scourge you. And a scourge is a Roman beating, a whip. So the Father, when you carry on in rebelliousness, God Himself will pull out a whip.

I know that's out of fashion today, but who cares? God will use the whip. And that causes you to respect your Father. It causes you to learn there's consequence to when I do wrong. So it is in the house of God. And so at times, elders will need to discipline—we'll still spend some time on this.

Imitating the Faith and Life of Leaders

We're not going to do that now. The next one is imitate their faith. Imitate them. In Hebrews 13:7, it says, "Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith."

You're actually supposed to watch them and say, "I want to grow up to be like you, because you're closer to Jesus than I am." In some ways you watch how they worship, you watch how they give, and they must set an example of the believers in everything.

So you must know—every time we get up and say, "we're trusting God for money for a building," that means as elders, we've got to be the ones that give the hardest. If we don't give, we don't set the right example. So whenever money's asked for, you must know the elders are the first to give.

You must know the elders tithe, every one of them. We need to be faithful with money. We give generously because we want to be imitated. When we come to worship, as an elder, we worship the way the Bible speaks about worship. And we'll look at that in another session later on.

What does biblical worship look like? Because we must set an example in everything. And you, your job is to imitate us. To look at how we live and say, "I want to be like you. I want to learn to be like you. I want to watch how you love your wife. I want to watch how you treat your kids. I want to watch how you deal with your money. I want to imitate you and I want to imitate your faith." So do that. Watch what they give themselves to and give yourselves to the same thing.

Biblical Mandate for Financial Support

And then financial support. This is interesting. You actually have to pay them. Paul says, if we sow spiritual seed among you, isn't it right that we receive a material harvest back? We will be looking at this subject in depth later on. There's so much junk on tithing and not tithing and you're going to get your head in a knot.

1 Timothy 5:17-18: "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching..." Double honor, meaning they actually should be getting double the average of what everyone else is getting. We don't always get that in real life, but that's what the heart would be here. "For the Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves his wages.'" In other words, here, the language is that the elders are actually working among you. They're caring for you. They're praying for you. They're correcting you. They work. Don't muzzle them. Don't let them try to work and then they have to stop working because they've got to feed themselves. And then, the worker is worth his wage.

I often say to people, imagine working for a month and at the end of the month, you come in for payday and your boss says, "Man, you've done such a great job. Thank you for what you've done. But this month, I think I'm going to give the money that should be yours—it's your wage—but I'm actually going to give it to my uncle who's doing mission work in Ethiopia." What are you going to do? "Hang on a minute. I worked. It's my wage." That's the language you read there. The worker is worth his wage. They've been entrusted by Jesus to work among us and they are due a reward, a remuneration because they have to live. They have to feed their families, feed their kids, take their kids to school.

So don't muzzle the ox. I am going to give you another scripture in 1 Corinthians 9:11-14—these words have been used against people who give money to the church, since forever. Actually Paul is saying this, "When I came to you I preached the gospel to you. I didn't charge you to preach the gospel." And I have to say this, nobody does. He actually says this, "I've sometimes worked among you and financially supported myself," which we've done too, but then he also says this, "I actually robbed other churches to preach the gospel to you." The Philippian churches took up offerings and paid for me so that I could come and preach to you. And then he says this, on the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

So when I preach the gospel to you, I didn't come and say pay me and I'll preach the gospel. I preached the gospel and you got saved. But now that you're saved, don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple? He's now thinking Old Testament. The Levites were a tribe that was set aside. They weren't allowed land like everyone else. They were asked by God to specifically care for the people of God. And so they got their food from tithes and offerings that people brought to the temple. "And those who serve on the altar share what is offered on the altar." When people brought their sacrifice to God, the Levites were allowed to take a portion of that for themselves.

"In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." In the same way. He takes this concept from the Levitical priesthood and how they got their living. He says, "now in the same way that they did," how did they do that? Tithes and offerings. Now those that preach the gospel receive their living that way. They don't have to be Levites. God has brought about a new order. They're those who preach the gospel. Bring your tithes into the storehouse, because without it, the kingdom can't advance and you can't be cared for.

Responding to Accusations Against Elders

They're worth financial support. Don't muzzle the ox while it's treading out the grain. Be faithful in these matters. Believe the best of them. In 1 Timothy 5:19-20, it says this: "Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it's brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly so that others may take warning."

In other words, if you sin, it's between you and us and Jesus. But if we sin, it's public rebuke. Because we're supposed to set the example, so if we fail, because of our role, it's public.

He says the converse of that is be careful of entertaining an accusation against an elder. Make sure that there's at least two witnesses. Why? Because elders are dealing with broken people, and broken people hear brokenly. Broken people respond brokenly. And so the chances are, as the elders are working among the people, somebody's going to misread, misunderstand, and they're going to start gossip and slander and bringing accusations.

Don't even entertain the accusation. The likelihood is that the elder is being godly because it took a lot for him to get there and everyone checked him out. Don't entertain it unless it's brought by two or more witnesses. If two people can say they saw him committing this sin, now it becomes an issue in the church, and now it becomes even a public rebuke.

But our posture is: be careful, you're going to hear horrible things about elders. Because people are horrible, and they're broken, and they read things through broken lenses. Guard your heart in these matters. Then lastly, I'd say be open and honest. They're going to give an account for you one day. They're going to stand in front of Jesus, and by name, they'll give an account for you. Be open with them, be honest with them, share what you're going through. And we'll look at that in a session later when I do accountability.

The Role and Origin of Deacons

I've got 15 minutes and I want to quickly talk about deacons. So now we jump to another role, because elders are busy doing a whole lot of stuff in the church and they do pray and care and pastor and shepherd and rule and make judgments and discipline and teach. But the problem is as the church grows, the responsibilities grow. One of the things that happened in the first church, the church in Jerusalem, was the church exploded. People got saved daily. It was growing and growing—and a problem emerges. Whenever there's growth, new problems are going to happen. A whole group of widows were being left out as they were sharing food with those who needed.

This is a big problem. You're supposed to be loving one another as Christ loved us, and now people are starving in the church, which is not a good reflection on the church. Let's read what they did. Acts 6:2: "So the Twelve,"—that is the apostles. They're leading the church in Jerusalem at this time. Remember Peter even wrote in 1 Peter 5:1, "a fellow elder." So, He's an apostle when He's out, but when He's in—He's an elder. "So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, 'It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.'"

That "wait on tables" is *diakonon*, where you're going to get the word deacon from. It's a verb. It's not right for us to do the basic administration of what's going on in the life of the church. We've got a different calling, we've got a different thing that God wants us to do. Care for the people in terms of spiritual things, but there are some very practical things that have to be done. So they recognize that there's this need to wait on tables, or to care for people, to make sure the people are being cared for and fed.

And so in Acts 6:3, we read, "Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty." Do you see that "appoint"? You know when the word "appoint" is used, they are not people who are merely doing the work; now they are being set apart to do it. They are entrusted, and so this thing moves from a verb to a noun. Now you start to find people whose job it is to serve, and that's where you get the word deacon. Deacon literally means servant.

Qualifications and the Emergence of Women Deacons

Remember, Jesus is the great Servant. He washed the disciples' feet. He cared for needs. In some ways you see another part of Jesus emerging—the very practical hands and feet of Jesus—as deacons start to emerge in the church. So, qualifications. Do you know that there are qualifications? They carry a role of leadership. 1 Timothy 3:8-10, "Deacons likewise must be men worthy of respect, sincere." The qualifications are quite similar to elders, actually. There's a lot of overlap. There's a long list that goes down to verse 12, but I won't read it all now. But now we see something new.

We see women suddenly starting to come into a role within the life of the church. We'll look at that later when I cover women in ministry. The Bible says, "In the same way," talking about deacons, "the woman ought to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in everything," and then it carries on with the qualifications.

So suddenly you start to find this new role in the life of the church, and it's literally deacons, and they are appointed. Hands are laid on them and they are set aside to make sure that the practical needs of the church are cared for.

And in this role you see men and women. For the first time, we start to see women emerging with a recognized role within the life of the church. You'll see a lady called Phoebe, who's called a deacon in Romans 16:1. Paul's writing about this amazing lady that served him so well, and he says, "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae."

Distinguishing Government and Administration

So you start to see these ladies are now emerging. And the difference between elders and deacons is elders carry government. Deacons don't carry government. They're not out to set doctrine, discipline and direction, but they administrate the life of what's happening in the life of the church.

So that can be male and female depending on the grace gift upon them. So you can have a deaconess in her own right. And she serves alongside the elders, or the apostles to make sure that the churches are being cared for, and that things are happening.

And I often think if elders are in some ways a representation of the head—they carry the governance of the church—deacons represent the hands of the church. They're the ones that are actually doing the serving, the caring and a lot of the life of the church, to be honest.

The deacons work very closely with the elders. The deacon's role really is this: what do the elders need me to do? I'll administrate the life and make sure that those things happen. I'm gonna finish this session with a story. If we knew how much Jesus loved us, we'd sit there and cry for days.

Leadership as Spiritual Fatherhood

He loves us incredibly. And He's got this incredible plan of, through the church, revealing His glory to the rulers and the authorities and the heavenly places. Like a child that's brought into a family, by His mercy we are brought into the church, we have fathers and mothers.

Even some of us have bad fathers and mothers, but the principle of a mom and a dad is there to bring up a child, to care for the child, and a good parent will lay down their life for their child. You've got this exact same picture when it comes to leadership within the church.

And so in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 Paul is writing and he's actually an apostle writing to the church. And so in some ways, you realize the apostles, the elders, and the deacons will represent something of this as they, one day present their workmanship to the Lord.

And Paul says, "I am jealous for you, Corinthians, with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may be somehow led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."

And so you see this heart of a father here, and I love this picture. Paul here says, I long to present you a pure virgin to Christ. The Bible tells us that we, once we get saved and are born again, are to be set apart from the world.

We are to be made holy like God is holy. And the elders here, or the leader's job, is in many ways like a father with a daughter, to train her up and shape her so that she's ready for her wedding day. I'm a dad.

I've got a 16 year old girl right now. God bless her, she's turning 17 next week. I remember holding her as a little baby in my arms and there's something about holding your own child, which... until you've done it. I realized, I'm going to be shaping her for the next 18 years.

My whole role in life is to shape her so that she's ready for somebody else. Everything I did, every sleepless night, every school fee, everything I did, even now, we're looking at buying her things to help her with what we think is her future.

And it's, it's expensive, but everything we do is because we want her to be ready and beautiful and whole. And Paul is writing about the church. And he actually says that you were destined for one groom. You and I were destined for Jesus.

Presenting the Church to Christ as a Spotless Bride

As a leader in the church, you are to father her. Everything that a father does with that girl is to shape her, mold her and get her ready and then the wedding day comes. What a beautiful picture of how leadership works. This is what the Bible says is going to happen on that last day.

The wedding feast of the Lamb. All of heaven is there. One by one we give an account, and Paul here writes that he will present, he will present, the Corinthian church to Christ as a pure spotless bride. Here's the picture of a father who's lovingly, painstakingly cared for, nurtured, shaped, molded, trained, discipled, disciplined, all those things to get her ready for this day.

Everyone's waiting and when the song starts, in walks dad with her on his shoulder. Have you watched dads on that day? They are so proud. This has been his life. This is the fruit of his life. As she walks down the aisle—no one ever looks at the dad.

Everyone looks at her. This is what leadership is all about. It's about you. It's not to be a leader. We are leaders to prepare you and to present you on that last day. And so here, Paul will lead the church down to the front.

And I love the picture. Jesus is the Groom. Paul presents as a father, the church to the Groom, and she's beautiful. She's kept herself pure. He's fathered her well. He shakes the hand of the Groom and disappears into the crowd. And then it's all about her and Him.

And this is the picture of what biblical leadership is in the life of God. Our whole role—Apostles, Elders, Deacons, Ephesians 4 gifts, administrators, all of us—our whole role is to prepare you on that day that when the Lord comes, you will be beautiful, spotless, white robes, as the Bible says those are your good works.

Those are the things you've done as you prepare yourself for that day so that you're beautiful for your Lord and Master. The picture of leadership is a beautiful one. We must honor it and respect it. And I pray for each one of us—even those watching this video—that as we understand these things and live them out, that we will reflect this well to the Lord.

That on that last day, that churches all over the world and people all over the world, beautiful, dressed in white, ready, kept pure like a virgin, not led astray by Satan, but beautiful and holy, set apart for their Lord and Master. Amen.