Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Bible-Based Leadership Structure

When speaking of the organizational structure of the local church, I have employed, for lack of better terminology, the traditional term church government. For many people, the term government may com municate bureaucratic and judicial concepts. However, the structure of government the New Testament envisions for the local church is primarily pastoral and familial and involves the spiritual care of all members of the congregation.

THE BIBLICAL BASE FOR GOVERNIVIENT BY THE PLURALITY OF ELDERS

Christians who profess the Bible to be God’s infallible Word agree that they must establish their church practices and doctrines on the teachings of the Bible. Many contemporary scholars say, however, that the New Testament is ambiguous or silent regarding the topic of church government and conclude that no one can insist upon a biblical model of church government for all churches because the Bible doesn’t. George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982), author of A Theology of the New Testament and a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, ex presses this view most concisely: “It appears likely that there was no normative pattern of church government in the apostolic age, and that the organizational structure of the church is no essential element in the theology of the church.”2 Although this is a widely held view among scholars today, it must be challenged because it simply does not fit the biblical evidence. In its major features, eldership is plainly and amply set forth by the New Testament writers. J . Alec Motyer, former principal of Trinity College in Bristol, England, captures the true spirit of the New Testa ment when he writes, “it is not as much as hinted in the New Testa ment that the church would ever need—or indeed should ever want or tolerate—any other local leadership than that of the eldership group.”3 Not only does the New Testament record the existence of elders in numerous churches, it also gives instruction about elders and to el ders. In fact, the New Testament offers more instruction regarding el ders than on other important church subjects such as the Lord’s Sup per, the Lord’s Day, baptism, or spiritual gifts. When you consider the New Testament’s characteristic avoidance of detailed regulation and

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