Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Paul ’s Instruction to Titus

way, as biblical commentator R.J. Knowling says, “The verb implies at all events an exercise of authority.”l The verb kathistémi, however, conveys no special religious or cleri cal connotations. It is the common word used for appointing judges, governors, or anyone to an official position. Thus to translate the verb as “ordained,” which some scholars do, communicates wrong concepts. Titus was instructed to designate qualified brothers from within the local churches as elders, not to ordain sacred priests or clerics. Elders are not priests. They have no sacred ordination status, such as that of the Old Testament priests (see chapter 14). Moreover, kathiste'mi sug gests nothing about the actual procedures leading up to the installation of elders. The appointment by Titus was the final act in the process and thus summarizes the whole process. The phrase “in every city” is another way of saying “in every church.” As the New Testament writers consistently record, the local church embraced all believers within a particular city (see Acts 20:17). The New Testament never speaks of churches within a city, only the church. Thus, in each city, that is, each church, Titus was to designate a plural ity of elders. “Thus Titus,” wn'tes F.J.A. Hort, “was in this respect to do what Paul and Barnabas had done in the cities of Southern Asia Minor on their return from the first missionary joumey.”2 A key point of emphasis is that Titus is to make his appointments according to Paul’s guidelines: “as I directed you.” The “I” is em phatic in the original language, so it is an authoritative directive from the apostle himself. The verb “directed” (diatasso) means “command,” “ordered,” or “charged.” Paul gave specific, apostolic directives on this vital matter so that neither Titus nor the local Christians could do as they pleased. These apostolic directives remain universally binding for local churches today.

THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELDERS

What exactly were Paul’s directives for appointing elders? Our trans lation reads: “Namely, if any man be above reproach.” In order to bet ter grasp what Paul is saying, we need to expand his words a bit: “Ap- ' point elders as I had directed you, that is, consider only the kind of man who is above reproach in moral character for appointment to eldership.” F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase conveys Paul’s meaning quite well:

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