Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Biblical Eldership

(1794-1872), a noted Reformation historian, states the problem with remarkable precision: “As we advance through the centuries, light and life begin to decrease in the Church. Why? Because the torch of the Scripture begins to grow dim and because the deceitful light of human authorities begins to replace it.”2 Due to the “deceitful light of human authorities,” which replaced the New Testament’s teaching on eldership, the Christian doctrine of eldership was lost for nearly fourteen centuries. The doctrine was ig nored until the time of the Reformation when John Calvin (1509-1564), the influential French Reformer, decried the loss of the church elder ship and promoted its restoration.3 The sixteenth-century efforts, how ever, were only partially successful because the Reformers could not break free from the hardened soil of long-standing, clerical traditions.4 In the nineteenth century, George Muller, the famous orphanage di rector and man of faith, and other participants in the Brethren Move ment in England restored the eldership to its rightful place in the church.5 At the same time, the Restoration Movement in America made noble attempts to restore church eldership.6 But because of insuffi cient systematic exposition and teaching, these efforts were short-lived and limited to a small body of churches. Thus the New Testament model of church eldership remains largely unknown to most Christians. The burden God has placed upon my heart is twofold: first, to help clarify the biblical doctrine of eldership and second, to help church elderships function effectively. This book is intended to fulfill the first purpose, so it is primarily doctrinal and exegetical in nature. To fulfill the second purpose, I have developed additional written and audio materials that will promote effective leadership and help train future elders. It is not enough merely to have an eldership; the eldership must be actively functioning, competent, and spiritually alive. Part One of this book (chapters 1 to 5) presents the five major fea tures of biblical eldership: pastoral leadership, shared leadership, male leadership, qualified leadership, and servant leadership. These five principles are absolutely essential to biblical church leadership. Un fortunately, these principles are being attacked both by secular society and from within the Christian community. There are horrendous pres sures on churches today to conform to the world-wide, feminist spirit and its ruthless eradication of all male-female distinctions in the church. Part of the church growth movement, in its obsession with bigness and numbers, preaches giving as much power and authority as possible to

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