Elders in Every Church (Acts 14:23)

And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.  Acts 14:23

Since we are considering the possibility of bringing DF on as an associate pastor in this church, and since we are planning to have a member’s meeting to answer questions that folks might have, I think it is appropriate this Sunday and the next (when we are having this conference) to preach on the topic of the pastorate.  Frankly, I have to admit that it feels a bit odd since I am a pastor myself, and so it sort of feels like I’m preaching about myself here, but nevertheless it needs to be done, doesn’t it?  So I’m hoping this will be helpful and will encourage good questions and maybe even answer some along the way.

Today, I want to talk about the NT pattern of a plurality of elders.  Now, I’ve made a case for this at least a couple of times in the past year or so.  We will start out developing the argument for that, but I also want to spend some time today on the why question: why is this a good thing for the church?  Why should we want our church to follow this pattern?  What are some of the dangers of not following this pattern?  Those are the questions we want to focus on, and we want to do so from a Biblical perspective.

Much could be said about history, and what it has to say on this issue, especially Baptist history.  But that is not going to be my focus today.  Today, I want us to think about what the Bible has to say and to limit ourselves to that.  Not that history is unimportant.  Not that we should ignore tradition.  We shouldn’t.  Not all tradition is bad, although sometimes we treat it as if it were!  The history of the church has lessons to teach us.  But we must begin with what the Scriptures have to say, and we must always hold Scripture as our highest authority and do more than just give lip service to that while we act in ways that are directly contradictory to its teaching.

There are basically two points to my message today.  The first is the Biblical reality of multiple elders in the church, and the second is the Biblical reasons for multiple elders in the church.

The Biblical Reality of Multiple Elders in the Church

I chose Acts 14:23 as our starting point today because it is so clear on this point.  The historical context of this is Paul’s first missionary journey in Asia minor.  Along with Barnabas, he planted churches in Antioch, Iconium, and at Lystra and Derbe.  After passing through these cities to preach the gospel and make disciples, they returned back through them again, “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God [Paul had just been stoned almost to death, 19-20).  And when they had ordained elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believe” (Acts 14:22-23).  

Here we have apostolic practice from the very beginning; namely, that they made it a practice to ordain elders in every church.  It doesn’t say, “an elder for each church,” or even “elders for the churches,” but rather “elders in every church.”  There is simply no other way to read this than to read it as establishing the fact that each church had multiple elders.  And they didn’t do this for one or two churches, but for every church.  Every NT church from the beginning had multiple elders.

Now here we need to point out that in the NT, an elder is a pastor and a pastor is an elder.  I realize that titles and names carry freight and baggage today that they didn’t necessarily have in the beginning.  Bishop is a good example of this.  A bishop, in the NT, is the same office as an elder.  Elder-bishop-pastor are just different ways a describing the same thing.  Again, I’ve demonstrated this in the past, and I won’t pause here to do it again, but if you don’t know this, I would encourage you to read and compare Acts 20 with 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  They are called elders because they are meant to be men of spiritual maturity whose lives are exemplary.  This has to do with the dignity of the office and with their character.  They are called bishops, meaning “overseers,” because their function is to be spiritual leaders in the church.  They are called pastors, or shepherds, because the church is likened to a flock, and they are called to feed the flock of God with the word of God and to defend the church from wolf-like false prophets with the word of God.

So when we say, “plurality of elders” we could just as easily say “plurality of pastors” or “plurality of bishops.”  Although I realize that these phrases don’t always mean the same things now, we need to understand that in the NT they were all describing the same thing.  That is the way I am using these words in this message.  And if we are going to be a church which values the Biblical pattern for the church, we need to use these words in the way the NT does.

Plurality of this office is seen not just in Acts 14:23, but everywhere in the NT.  When Paul writes to Titus the “put in order the things that are wanting” in the churches, the very first thing he says and emphasizes is to “ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee” (Tit. 1:5).  Now the way the apostles think of the local church is in terms of the city it was situated in.  You see this in Revelation 2-3, for example.  And Paul writes to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:1), and to the church of the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).  So when Paul tells Titus to “ordain elders in every city” it is the same thing as telling them to “ordain elders in every church,” just as we see him doing from the beginning.  But the pastoral epistles help us to see that this was an ongoing practice, and not just a one-off.

You also see this in terms of the daily life of the NT church.  James exhorts the sick believer to “call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (Jam. 5:14).  This of course might be pretty hard to do if there is only one pastor per church!  But James expects it as a matter of course that each believer will have multiple pastor/elders to call on in the event of sickness.  The author of Hebrews tells the believers to whom he is writing, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17).  These are spiritual leaders, the elders of the church, to whom they are to submit.  And notice, once again, that it is not to a single person but to body of leaders they are to submit.  This again points to a plurality of elders model in the church. 

In Acts 20:17, we are told that Paul sent to have the elders (plural) of the church (singular) in Ephesus to come to him at Miletus.  When the love offering from the church of Antioch was sent to the church of Jerusalem, it was sent to the elders (plural) of the church there (Acts 11:30).  The decision of the church of Jerusalem about the issue of Gentile observance of the law in Acts 15 was decided by the apostles and the elders of the church (15:2,4,6,22,23).  In fact, the word “elder” is used in the singular with reference to the church office of elder only one time in Scripture, in 1 Tim. 5:19, when Paul is giving Timothy advice on how to deal with a sinning elder.  This should not surprise us, by the way, when we consider the OT background of the title of elder.  The tribes of Israel were led by elders, and the people of Israel continued to operate that way even after the captivity and when they were ruled over by other nations.  It appears that by God’s ordination, the New Covenant people of God, the church, was to be led in the same way.

I realize that if a church cannot have a plurality of elders, that doesn’t mean it is not a church.  We would admit that there are churches that presently don’t have a pastor at all, but that doesn’t mean they are not a church.  They are perhaps looking for one, but in the meantime they don’t give up their title to be a genuine church.  Nevertheless, I hope we would also recognize that this is not an ideal situation!  Even so, churches with only one pastor are true churches.  But the NT should lead us to acknowledge that this is not the Biblical norm or ideal, and we should try to rectify that situation as quickly as possible should we find ourselves to be a church with one pastor or no pastor.

Now, I also believe in the model that our church practices, which is a senior pastor model.  This model recognizes that there are multiple elders/pastors but one elder is a senior pastor who bears the primary responsibility in leading and teaching the church.  Often, this elder is intended to be a vocational pastor whereas the other pastors can be bi-vocational.  

Does the NT teach this?  I mean, after all, I’ve been making a big deal about being Biblical here!  Well, yes, I think this is Biblical.  A moment ago, I mentioned the council of the Jerusalem church in Acts 15, which was attended and decided by the apostles and elders.  However, as you see the events in the council play out, it becomes obvious that James held (whether officially or unofficially it’s hard to know) a position equivalent to that of a senior pastor.  For after the apostle Peter, followed by Paul, and Barnabas, had spoken, James makes a decision (Acts 15:19-21, “Wherefore my sentence is…”) that is then carried out with the agreement of the entire church (Acts 15:22).  James is also singled out among the elders in Acts 21:18 when Paul later returned to Jerusalem: “And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.”  He then gives Paul advice which he follows.  As Elder Zack Guess, in his helpful book on pastors and deacons, points out, “it is very plain from a look at Acts that James was the spokesman and principal leader of this church” in Jerusalem.   That’s what a senior pastor is.  

I would also argue that this is what the “angel of the church” in Revelation 1-3 is.  This interpretation is probably in the minority among students of the NT though, so I wouldn’t hang my entire case for it just on these verses.  Nevertheless, it makes the most sense to me to interpret “angel” in the first few chapters of Revelation in terms of a senior pastor.  “Angel” just means “messenger” and certainly the pastor ought to be God’s messenger to the church as he preaches God’s word to God’s people.  John Gill argues that the pastors of the churches were called an angels “because of their office, being sent of God, and employed by him in carrying messages of grace to the churches, and publishing the good tidings of salvation.”   But in the letters to the churches of Asia,  the angel is in the singular in every instance, and so if he is a pastor, this would seem to make him something like a senior pastor among the total number of pastors in the church.  He is the spokesman and principal leader of the church, just as James was in Jerusalem.

Actually, the fact of the matter is that a sort of primus inter pares (a first among equals) is almost certainly going to play out even in models where there is no differentiation made among the pastors.  I am reminded of a Q&A that I was told was held at Grace Community Church in LA where John MacArthur has long been the pastor.  This is a church with multiple elders (a lot of them!).  During this Q&A, as I understand it, all the elders were lined up and were taking questions from the audience.  One person asked them if they were all equal.  One of the elders responded, “Yes, we’re all equal; it’s just that John is more equal that the rest of us.”  MacArthur, like James and like the angels of the churches of Asia, is the spokesman and primary leader of the church.  He is a first among equals.

A senior pastor is a pastor.  And the other pastors, I think it’s most helpful to call them associate pastors, are also pastors.  Pastors, both senior and associate, work together to shepherd the flock, taking the oversight thereof (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2).  They pray together, plan together, and share in the teaching and leading of the church.  They benefit from mutual encouragement, counsel, and companionship in the ministry.  Together they care for the church (2 Cor. 11:28).  They share in visitation and counseling.  It should be the expectation that all the pastors are working together, pulling in the same direction, sharing the same vision.  It should be the expectation that the pastors listen to each other well, that the council of elders encourages dialogue rather than monologue among them, and that all are benefited and built up by the accumulation of shared wisdom.  The pastors are all pastors, and on that basis they share a common identity and task.  They are all equal in that respect. 

But although there is much to be said about the common tasks and identity of all the pastors, there is also distinction.  In terms of teaching, it means that the senior pastor as the spokesman of the church is the primary preacher and teacher in the church, in the sense of the number of times each pastor preaches or teaches, and that it should be the expectation of the church to hear the senior pastor each Sunday morning.  

In terms of leading, it means that that the senior pastor is the primary vision-caster for the church.  It means that the overall direction of the church in terms of the ministry of the church should align with the senior pastor’s vision for the church.  Now that doesn’t mean that the associate pastors are merely passive observers; it means that they are giving real input and advice to the senior pastor so that he is able to take the lead with Biblical wisdom, prudence, and judgment.  Nevertheless, I would argue that since the senior pastor is specifically granted in our church constitution the role of taking the lead in pastoral matters means that the associate pastors will generally defer to him in such matters when there are disagreements about such things (although it can’t mean that any pastor has to agree to something if it violates their conscience).  

Overall, however, it should be expected that the senior pastor and associate pastors work together well so that there is unity and mutual respect for each other, so that burdens are lightened and responsibilities shouldered together, laboring out of a deep concern for the glory of God and love for the church.  The outcome should be the safety and growth of the church and the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth.

That leads us, I think, naturally to the question: why is it that God has ordained it to be this way?  What are the Biblical reasons why it is best for a church to have a church leadership structure with multiple elders rather than just a single pastor?

The Biblical Reasons for Multiple Elders in the Church

We’ve seen that the pattern of the NT is multiple elders.  The church is not our church; it is the church of Jesus Christ which he is building.  The NT is his word and the pattern of the early church, especially one so uniform and universal as this, ought to guide us in the way we do church.  In other words, this is the way the Lord intended a church to function.  And therefore we should expect God’s blessing upon us when we conform ourselves to the pattern which he has given us, especially when we recognize it to be the pattern he has given.  So the bottom line is that we should do this, and follow this pattern, if for no other reason than that this is the pattern God has given us.  Even if we don’t understand why, we know that the only wise God will not prescribe a course of action for the church that will be ultimately harmful or bad for us.

Now the fact of the matter is that there is no verse or verses that tell us explicitly why we should operate in this way other than this is God’s prescribed order for the church.  Nevertheless, I don’t think we are left without reasons.  As we look at what the Scriptures have to say, we will see principles emerge that show us why the pattern God has given to us in the wise and good and right way.

First of all, we have a principle which we find in the Proverbs, repeated multiple times there.  “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Prov. 11:18). “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established” (15:22).  “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety” (24:6).  There is safety in a multitude of counselors; that is the principle.  When you have a multiplicity of elders in a church, this is what you have.  

We need this because no pastor is the repository of all wisdom.  No pastor is without blind spots.  No pastor is without besetting sins.  Every man, no matter how spiritually mature or holy or experienced or successful he is, needs accountability and counsel.  One of the reasons pastors leave the ministry in disgrace is because they were doing what they were doing without men around them to hold them accountable and to help them see things they couldn’t see.  Every man needs this; pastors are no exception.  Recently, I heard a story of a pastor that for several decades labored in a church with God’s blessing.  But he got to a point where he needed to be corrected.  The problem was that he would not listen to correction, and as a result the church blew up and disintegrated.  So we not only need pastors who have counselors, but we need pastors who are willing to listen to counselors.

The best way to do this is to surround the pastor with other pastors.  This is true for the senior pastor; but it is also true of other pastors as well.  When there is a company of pastors, there is safety in the counsel of others.  It is safe for the pastor when he is willing to listen to men who can speak into his life and call him to repentance at times and at points where that is needed.  It is safe for the church for it means that the pastors are more likely to be in good spiritual shape to shepherd the flock.  

Listen, pastors need to be pastored.  Have you ever considered that?  Now if you have a single pastor model, he is going to have to look for that outside his own church.  But if you have a Biblical model, that is to say, a multiple pastor model, he doesn’t have to do that.  It’s there for him right in the church where he is laboring.  Again, there is safety for the church in that.

This doesn’t only provide safety in terms of the spiritual health of the pastor.  It also means there are more eyes on the flock, looking for needs.  It means that there are more eyes looking for wolves, too.  I think of the picture of a destroyer in WW2, escorting cargo ships laden with much-needed supplies for the troops overseas.  On every destroyer, you would have multiple men perched on the lookout at all times with binoculars looking for enemy ships or submarines.  Looking for a torpedo in the water that could sink the ship!  You need that for a church too.  There are many threats to the church.  There are wolf-packs of false teaching and teachers, and sometimes a single pastor can be blind to a potential threat.  That threat is minimized when you have multiple men who are overseers, who are watching for your souls.

Second, there is strength in a multiplicity of elders.  Again, we have the Wisdom Literature of the OT to give us insight here.  In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:9-12).  

Here I would say that one of the best things of a multiple elder model is the mutual encouragement and strengthening that comes from that.  Mark Dever, who is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C., writes, “Probably the single most useful thing for me in my pastoral ministry has been the recognition of a group of men in our church as elders.”  The single most useful thing for him in the pastoral ministry.  That’s saying a lot!  Then he goes on to unpack why it’s this way for him: “Knowing that these are men that the congregation has recognized as gifted and godly has helped me immensely in my pastoral work.  We meet and pray and talk over matters and, by so doing, they greatly supplement my wisdom.  So my own experience attests to the usefulness of following the New Testament practice of having, where possible, more elders in a local church than simply a lone pastor – and of their being people rooted in the congregation, not simply church staff hired from outside.”  

The pastorate can be a lonely thing.  Loneliness is not a thing easily dealt with for long periods of time.  By God’s grace, some men have been able to persevere all alone for many years.  Sometimes that is an inescapable reality.  But it is not something to be desired.  If it can be avoided, it should be.  Pastors don’t just burn out because of sin; they also burn out because the ministry is hard and if they are the one shouldering all the burden they often burn out and their ministry dies.  

Listen, even the apostle Paul experienced this.  Have you ever noticed that in all his apostolic travels Paul never traveled alone?  That he never ministered alone?  There is this moving testimony of the apostle in the Corinthian correspondence where he describes a time when he desperately wanted the encouragement of his fellow-laborer Titus but didn’t find him where he thought he would be.  Paul relates that “when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia” (2 Cor. 2:12-13).  That’s remarkable!  God opened a door of ministry for the apostle at Troas, and yet he was so desperate for the company of Titus, that he left it all behind and went looking for him!  God has not called any of us to be Lone Rangers (and even the Lone Ranger had Tonto), and this is true for pastors too.

Ministers can strengthen each other.  They can encourage each other.  They can share in the triumphs and tragedies of the ministry together and there is something very strengthening in that.  J. C. Ryle said, “Friendship is that gift from God that doubles our joys and halves our sorrows.”  Pastors who minister together in the same church can cultivate deep friendships which do just that: double the joy and halve the sorrow.  It’s necessary, I’d say.

Third, multiplying ministers means multiplying ministry.  This ought to be obvious, but sometimes it’s helpful to state the obvious.  More hands make light work, yes, but it also accomplishes more work.  It means more can get done.  It means things can get done that might not be possible otherwise.  The church that limits itself to one pastor limits itself in more ways than that, and it’s often not even necessary. 

Now what are we to make of all this?  I think the bottom line is this: Christ cares for the church, and it is a measure of his love to the church and to the ministers of the church that he has appointed a multiple elder model for church leadership.  He wants his sheep to be well cared for; he wants them to be well-looked after.  And when you have multiple men who are devoted to the life of the church in a pastoral way, who are on the same page and who are working together in a Biblical direction, that can be a real blessing.  I think of Paul’s words to the elders of the church at Ephesus: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).  Why are they to take heed to the flock?  Why are they to shepherd the flock?  They are to do so because the Holy Spirit himself placed them there to do just that.  You have pastors because the Holy Spirit cares about you.  That’s the way you should read that.  But Paul doesn’t stop there; he goes on to tell them to “feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”  Jesus died for the church; that’s how much he loves the church.  But Paul is connecting that to the responsibility that pastors have to care for the church. They are shepherds, but Jesus is the Great Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4).  They are following in his footsteps and leading where he has already led.  They love the church because Christ has filled their hearts with love for the church.

My friend, if you are a believer, I hope you are committed to the church, because Jesus is committed to it!  Jesus didn’t die for any other institution on the planet.  He died for the church.  He appoints pastors over church to care for his sheep.  That means whether or not you are in the pastoral ministry is not the main question: if you own Christ as your Lord you too should care for the church.  You should give your life for the church.  You should serve in the church and seek to bless others and bear burdens.  

On the other hand, if you’re not a believer, and stand outside the church, I would point you first, not to the church, nor to its pastors, but to Christ.  We are all sinners.  There is a reason why churches, no matter how Biblical their structure may be, can still have problems.  The problem is not necessarily with the structure; the problem is with us, isn’t it?  We can be selfish and wayward and unloving, and I don’t care how orthodox your church is, it isn’t immune to the outbreaking of sin.  But however imperfect the church is, Christ is perfect.  There is no sin in him, no sinful selfishness, no ugliness, no weakness, no foolishness.  He is “such an high priest . . . who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26).  As such, he was able to give his life for our sins so that we might be made whole again and be cleansed from our sins: “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (27).  May you look to him!  For the Bible says that all who look to him will never be ashamed (Rom. 10:11).