One aspect to consider with regard to elders and the life of the church is to understand how elders should be selected. The second is to understand where authority rests: the eldership or the congregation. In other words, who rules who? It’s these two matters that this article addresses.
Selection of Elders
In Acts 14:23 it says, “And when [Paul and Barnabas] had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” How did Paul and Barnabas appoint elders in the young churches in Galatia that they just planted?
Paul gave Titus the same instructions for the churches in Crete when he said, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Titus 1:5).
At first glance these two passage would indicate that other church leaders, or elders, selected elders in these young churches without congregational involvement. However, as commentator Simon Kistemaker notes, “the term to appoint actually means to approve by a show of hands in a congregational meeting” (Acts, New Testament Commentary, 1990, p. 525). The Didache (an ancient Christian document dated to 80–150 ad) referred to bishops and deacons appointed by the congregation with a show of hands (15.1). The historic London Baptist Confession also included a congregational vote for these offices.
From this we see that congregations were involved in selecting their own leaders. This is certainly what we see in Acts 6. When the early church encountered an issue, rather than the apostles dealing with the issue directly, they appointed deacons. Acts 6:3 says, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.” This text is clear in its example. The apostles asked the congregation to select seven godly men and then the apostles would appoint them to this duty. We see here that the leaders of the early church are appointing officers but this does not mean the congregation is not involved. This is the biblical pattern we seek to maintain.
Elder Led vs Elder Rule1
The second issue we must investigate is with whom does authority rest? God has given elders to lead the church, to exercise oversight, to manage the household of God, to preach and teach sound doctrine, and to refute false teaching. Certainly, these elders’ functions carry with them authority. This is why in Hebrews 13:17 it says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” That is, elders are called to lead the church, exercising authority.
We also have text in which the congregation is invested by God with authority. Final disciplinary action to remove a member is given to the congregation of believers (Matt 18:15–17; 1 Cor 5:1–13). So is receiving a member in love (2 Cor 2:6–8). We’ve seen already how the congregation is involved in selecting its own leaders and servants. Not only these items but the church, as a whole, is called to advance the Great Commission (Matt 28:19–20), and is called to do the work of ministry (Eph 4:12). From these texts we can conclude that the congregation has the final responsibility with regard to the church. This is what we mean by congregationalism.
So how do the elders relate to the congregation? Mark Dever says, “The final responsibility of the congregation does not contradict or undermine the elders’ general leadership, but it provides an opportunity to confirm it when it is right and to constrain it when it is in error. This position is called elder led” (The Church: The Gospel Made Visible). Elder led means that while the final authority rests in the congregation, the congregation recognizes and submits to the elders.
Dever continues and says, “On matters that are important and clear, the elders and congregation should normally agree; and when they do not, the authority of the congregation is final. On matters that are less clear, the congregation should trust the elders and go along with them, trusting God’s providential work through them. Churches always benefit from clearly delineating and agreeing upon everyone’s responsibilities and obligations.”