WHERE ARE THE ELDERS WHO GUARD THE FLOCK?

Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock?

By Bob DeWaay

This past weekend I received a call not unlike many dozens of previous communications from Christians concerned about unbiblical practices being introduced into their local churches. This particular one expressed a committed Christian's concern that their large evangelical church was introducing mysticism and eastern practices under the guise of youth ministry. This church had even created a shrine of sorts in the church basement for young people to practice this mysticism.

            The caller had researched this subject for several months, documented her church's new practices and described why the practices were dangerous and unbiblical. Confident that her findings would help correct the church's direction, she brought her research to the church leadership, only to be mollified and warned about having a bad attitude. In response she asked the leaders to compare these practices to Scripture, but to no avail. The story is all too common; why does it continue to happen?

            Most evangelical churches have elders; these elders are responsible for the Lord's flock. My interviews with people who have witnessed their churches being infiltrated by unbiblical teachings and practices have opened my eyes to a serious problem in our evangelical movement: elders who do not think that what is being taught and practiced in their church is important enough to judge biblically. This is serious. In many cases, these elders consider their primary job to be-support the senior pastor and his reputation at all costs. Their secondary job-watch over the financial well being of the church as a corporation. Their tertiary job-make sure no one rocks the boat. Thus, in these elders' interpretation of their job description, the problem in the church becomes those concerned members who care about the integrity of the gospel message.

             Most evangelical churches take seriously most of the qualifications of elders as listed in passages like 1Timothy 3. This means that they look for good family men who are faithful to their wives, have a good reputation, and are not guilty of scandalous behavior. And they do well to follow these guidelines. But these qualifications are not the end of the story. As a matter of fact, many unconverted people meet most of these guidelines. But a more important matter has been pushed aside: the requirement that elders guard the Lord's flock from the wolves.

            Let us consider Acts 20 where Paul gathered the elders in Ephesus and gave them instructions. Here is what Paul said:

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30)

Paul is telling us that elders MUST guard the flock against wolves who bring false teaching. In this most important role, many are failing.

            For example, someone recently told me of his frustrations with the elders of his church. The church, traditionally very conservative and solid biblically, began promoting Theophostic ministry-a ministry that involves teachings and processes that are not Biblical.[i] So he appealed to the elders, giving them evidence of serious error in this movement's teachings and of the harmful consequences of allowing it. Rather than searching the Scripture and comparing the teachings of Theophostics with the Bible and making a decision, they referred the member to the counseling pastor who was promoting the ministry. The elders had no desire to concern themselves with this matter. If the reports I have received from dozens of people are true, this is too common.

            Many elders are successful businessmen, but being a successful businessman neither qualifies nor disqualifies a man from being an elder. Churches seem to lean toward selecting such people because churches want to be successful businesses. But did Paul tell Titus to select businessmen-elders when he said: "holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict" (Titus 1:9)? No.  If a man has no willingness to study and learn sound doctrine, is content to have only a superficial knowledge of the Bible, and is unwilling to correct false doctrine-that person is NOT QUALIFIED to be an elder. So a remedy for many of our church ills would be for our churches to select biblically qualified elders who are truly 'apt to teach' (1Timothy 3:2; 2Timothy 2:24 KJV). If we required this of all elders, we would not have all the false doctrine coming into the church that we see today. We would have elders with backbone who would even stand against the senior pastor if necessary should that pastor depart from the truth. A pastor who loves the truth and desires integrity in the church would earnestly desire to have elders like that around him, not merely people who are committed to whatever program he wants to promote.

            Paul's warning to the elders in Ephesus came true. Studying 1 and 2 Timothy, we find that false teachers did arise "from their own midst." So Paul instructed Timothy about how to deal with the situation. He wrote: "As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines" (1Timothy 1:3).

            The Greek word translated "doctrine" or "teaching" is found 15 times in Timothy and Titus out of 21 total references in the New Testament. The so-called "pastoral epistles" emphasize the importance of doctrine. Paul said that elders who "work hard in word and doctrine" should be given special honor. Elders must be "apt to teach." Those who go astray in doctrine are to be corrected and if they refuse to repent they are to be rejected (Titus 3:10).

            Combining what we know about elders from Acts 20, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus, it is clear that guarding the flock from false doctrine and teaching true doctrine is the elders' most important role. Churches endanger the flock when they choose elders based on their business acumen, that they seem to be moral men and "nice guys," or are likely to support the senior pastor at any cost while ignoring the importance of doctrine. Pastors who do not teach sound doctrine from the pulpit exacerbate the problem by making it unlikely that a pool of men qualified to teach the truth and correct error will ever arise in that church.

            The answer is simple: we need to teach sound doctrine from the pulpit and as God raises up men trained in sound doctrine who love the truth and are willing to defend the truth against the wolves (and who meet the other qualifications) should be appointed elders. Paul's words emphatically summarize this:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; (2Timothy 3:16 – 4:3)

Pray that God will raise up people in our evangelical churches who will do what Paul instructs and that local churches would have godly elders who will guard the well being of the Lord's flock.

By Bob DeWaay Click here for bio and archived articles

Where are the elders that guard the flock? Posted On: 03/14/08 03:19:33 PM Age 64, TX I attend a small church and we have four deacons in our church.At a recent business meeting our Pastor ask us to rent the now empty parsonage to a couple who attended our church,this was the pastors relatives.We as a church wanted to help them out so we voted to rent the house to them.At our next business meeting the pastor informed us that this couple would be getting married in a few weeks.The couple had been living there for about 4 months right next to the church without any of the church members knowing that they were not married.Only one deacon spoke up to say that he thought it was wrong and wouldnt have voted to let them have the house if he had of known they were not married.I think the other deacons should have spoke out againist this happening on the church property. But none would except for this one man.After all this parsonage sets on the church property and should be considered Holy Ground. What do you think about this issue? Carol A Sad Story, Often Repeated Posted On: 02/01/08 09:40:33 AM Age 51, IL Thank you Pastor Bob for tackling this difficult but essential topic. We have been attending a large evangelical church which if I gave the name most people would recognize it. A year ago the senior pastor who preached faithfully for 26 years retired. We were stunned and appalled to see that within just a few months, sermons from the pastoral staff began to become utterly unbiblical We brought this to the attention of the elders with gentleness and respect and were essentially ignored. The preaching has gotten thinner and thinner until it is now a textbook example of what Dr. Michael Horton recently called, "Christless Christianity." There is no credible preaching of sin, atonement, the wrath of God, and of course what is left is mainly therapeutic moral deism. What is so amazing and distressing is that the elders of this church -- many of whom, to make a long story short and to avoid identifying them, ought to know better, have completely ignored the repeated pleas of several of us and have abdicated their Biblical job of protecting the flock. They seem only to be interested in "keeping the business going" until the next senior pastor is chosen. We pray that the Lord will raise up elders who are willing to lead in truth and in doctrine and who will stand up to weak and unbiblical preaching and teaching. I'm an elder Posted On: 01/21/08 07:59:16 PM Age 56, NE I am one of three elders in a small church. Our pastor is one of the elders as well, first among equals. The main difference between us is that he has more formal training and is our full time staff. We all believe that it is our main job to protect the flock. We have had to discipline two men in the last few years and expel them from the membership. Sadly, they were welcomed with open arms at another “evangelical” church in town. One of them has a teaching ministry! No questions were ever asked of us concerning these men. We also had several families come into church who believed and were planning on introducing open theism. We didn’t force them to leave. We simply let them know that this heresy wouldn’t be tolerated and they needed to listen to the true teaching of God’s Word. They left of their own accord since they couldn’t gain any converts. We continually have visitors come who say they are looking for a Bible teaching church. The only problem is that they are more interested in a children’s ministry, choir, youth group or something else ahead of the teaching of the Word. I can state without fear of contradiction that in a town of 15,000 plus, with at least 40 churches, we are the only one teaching the Bible expositionally, without apology or any gimmicks. I know many of the people attending other churches that no longer hold fast to the Truth. They don’t want to make waves, offend or leave their friends, leave the comfort of what they’ve grown accustomed to, or have to actually confront the errors they know to be taking control of their church. Of course the leadership in these churches are pathetic. There is simply no excuse for allowing false and misleading teaching into their churches. They have disqualified themselves and it shows in many other areas. To give you an idea of why this sort of thing happens and to prove your point about businessmen being seen as qualified simply because they are businessmen, consider this. My pastor was at the business of an elder from another church and they got to talking about church doctrine. My pastor asked him what their church thought about election. After some thought he told my pastor that they were for it and thought that people should get out and vote. Gives some insight into why his church welcomed our disciplined members, is into Rick Warren, Promise Keepers, a woman pastor (called an Education Director but a pastor nonetheless) and whatever else is popular doesn’t it? Amen Linda! Posted On: 01/12/08 10:32:19 PM Age 42, FL Amen...amen. Re: Re: Re: Re: Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock? Posted On: 03/12/07 12:48:26 PM Age 54, IN Check out Revelation 1:12-20 Re: Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock? Posted On: 03/01/07 07:01:51 PM Age 38, PA Great, great article - just what we are going through now with our church of six months. We believed they were biblical, sound, and mature. Then they hired a man to be in charge of all Chirstian Education who is currently getting his doctorate in Spiritual Formation - D.Min at Gordon-Conwell, which is completely Contemplative. After much research, we went through all the proper channnels but the pastors and elders simply say he is a "solid guy". I am having a hard time avoiding judgments -Did the leadership know what Spiritual Formation is and choose this guy on purpose, or were they unaware of this movement (this is how we approached them) but are now unwilling to believe this guy would actually apply his contemplative practices which he is now perfecting to the education of our youth? Is it possible that a professional pastor, who must be getting all the magazines and e-newsletters, is unaware of this stuff? And what should members of a church do if it is hijacked by an unbiblical movement (I recommend holding back the tithe checks and getting a copy of the bylaws)? Should a person inform other members who have no idea what's going on in the (vain) hope that they will understand the problem and care enough even to ask the leadership about it? Anyway, we really appreciate Pastor DeWaay's work! Apostles and Prophets Posted On: 03/01/07 12:41:31 AM Age 38, CO While I have no problem understanding the idea that there may be modern Apostles and Prophets, I do have a problem with Doug Sheets and Chuck Pierce claiming to be prophets while pandering a theology that is not checked against the new covenant of Jesus Christ and all He accomplished on the Cross. The fact is, most of what they preach is Old Testament, Old Covenant theology. They prey on those seeking to be affirmed in their misery instead of lifted in their joy. Shame on them and all of those who support their self-proclaimed prophetic wisdom. The wisdom of man is folly compared to the Wisdom of the Lord. Re: Re: Re: Re: Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock? Posted On: 02/23/07 01:22:40 AM Age 45, FL Brother, you are right on. Through a series of events and Bible study, God is leading a group of us to start a true elder lead church in our area. Elders were not deacons nor elected as such. They were the "pastors" of the early New Testament churches! When my dad, who has been a pastor for over 40 years began to objectively study the Scriptures, this was so plainly understood by him, as well as myself. I encourage the book "Biblical Eldership" subtitled "An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadship". It was written by Alexander Strauch who examines the Scriptures thoroughly in this matter. Or just study the Bible objectively. As to the relevance to the above initial article, the true elders should actually be the spiritual leaders and primary teachers/preachers of the church. They should hold fast the Word of God, and should hold one another accountable. They should meet all of the qualifications of I Tim. 3 and Titus 1, including "Apt to teach". Note: Paul instructed to ordain "elders" in every city. The council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 involved the Apostles and elders from the church at Jerusalem. Also Acts 11:30 & 21: 18 denote elders at this church. Acts 20:17 mentions elders at the Ephesian church. In Titus 1:5 Paul instructs Titus to ordain elders in every city, then gives the qualifications for this office transitioning to the word "Bishop" (overseer) obviously refering to the same office. In I Peter 5:1-4, Peter refers to himself as an elder, then adminishes the church elders to feed the flock and take oversight. Nowhere is it even hinted that a group of elders answered to a "pastor" at any of these local churches. We could go on and on. But I can't find any definitive Scripture stating that any one church was "pastored" by one man. I know this seems "weird" to many of us because of what we've always known. It is awesome to simply study the Scriptures to see what God says! May God bless. Re: Re: Re: Re: Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock? Posted On: 02/23/07 01:00:44 AM Age 61, TX Your church sounds like it's in complete submission the the leadership of the Lord! How blessed you are, if that's the case. I think the worst thing that has happened to the church is putting the pastor on the pedistal instead of God, and this sickening tolerance that lets unbiblical things leak into the church. But I suppose even worse is the whole idea that church is supposed to be an organized religion/corporation, with business expenses, property costs, etc. After our church was destroyed by the last young overbearing pastor who created a list -literally- of older members to be chased off, we had no church, and we quit tithing. Years earlier, we had been convicted that it was an OT law for the Jews, and we are not under the law, we're under Grace!--but we kept tithing because it was EXPECTED of us. Where was the blessing in that? Our hearts were less than cheerful. For health reasons, I can't attend church, so we very carefully chose ministries that are consistently spending their money on spreading the gospel. It has been extremely gratifying to see what that giving has accomplished. Re: Where Are the Elders Who Guard the Flock? Posted On: 02/19/07 01:26:00 PM Age 29, AE I absolutely could not agree more. Two years ago, we had to move and joined a local church based solely on the name of the church, as we love and agree with the denominations beliefs (doctrines) and standards. However, we have been shocked to see a complete lack of adherence to the standards of holiness set forth in Gods Word, and to the qualifications set forth in the Bible for all overseers (elders, pastors, and so on). The church we have attended, unfortunately, does not even resemble the denomination which it claims to be affiliated with. It pains me to have been told by the elders of this church that it is okay to use foul language, that we cant be spiritual all the time, to find out that they were drinking and smoking (living a complete double-life) when out of town, and to see that they harbor pride in an almost unimaginable quantity. But what pains me even more is that, though all of these things have been brought to the attention to the pastor, nothing has been done to correct the situations aside from making the guilty parties apologize to a few select people that were involved by circumstance. I believe the Lord brought these situations to light to be corrected, but we, unfortunately, have an Eli spirit in many leadership positions in the church. Instead of correcting the wrongs, our pastor actually suggested that we take the denominations sign off the door so that we (who are concerned) could no longer expect him to live up to the standard that is set forth by our denomination! One of the biggest problems that contribute to this kind of lukewarm living and failure to lead as God intended is a wrong understanding of the grace of God. 1 Peter 2:16 tells us, Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Yet that is exactly what is happening in the church not just our denomination, but in the worldwide church of the Living God. Isaiah 26:10 says, Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord. We have been shown grace, but very few learn righteousness. A right heart will lead to right living (not legalism, but holy living before God). A most important remedy for these elders that are failing to guard the flock (and the rest of the apostate church) is a second look at the original meaning and purpose of grace in the Word of God. Author John Bevere hits the nail on the head in his DVD teaching, Empowered by Grace, which can be found at: http://www.messengerintl.org/product.asp?id=DVDJ031. If you think yourself a Biblically educated person, I challenge you to get this video and evaluate it for yourself. As Mr. Bevere led us through Matthew Chapter 5, he points out something that was startling to me, because I could not believe I never recognized it before. I have heard so many Christians misuse the term grace simply to justify their lukewarm lifestyle and half-hearted commitment. But look at the Scriptures! Moses brought the Law, and Jesus brought Grace, right? But Jesus points out in Matthew 5 that under the law, murder and adultery are wrong; however under grace, even LOOKING at a woman in lust was the same as adultery, and just BEING ANGRY against your brother is equal to murder! Which are more strict? Clearly Jesus raised the standard, though He was bringing grace!! What a contradiction to what we have been taught! But thats because grace is not just a cover-up for evil. Grace is the force that empowers us to fulfill the command to be holy. I cannot urge you enough to get this video. It will change your world, and hopefully the world of the people around you who have been misled to believe that grace is just a cover-up for evil. Our elders would be fulfilling their role successfully if they had the relationship with God that they claimed to have. I pray you will all search this matter out for yourselves and be empowered by the knowledge of the full purpose of Gods grace.