The Closed Door
Gateway to Spiritual Fullness
Gateway to Spiritual Fullness
Re-Thinking Eldership
It came to our attention recently that there is a need to reconsider eldership
and how it should be practiced in the post “early church” era.
The word "elder" points to a spiritually mature person much more than a title
or an office. Customarily, Paul appointed elders on his return journeys, as
in the case in Acts 14:23, “And when they had appointed elders for them in
every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord
in whom they had believed.”
Some times he would ask his co-workers, Titus or Timothy, to "appoint
elders" in the cities that Paul had preached before such as the case in Titus
1:5, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what
remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” The key is that
Paul allowed a period of time to lapse before elders were appointed; and the
purpose of it is to give the believers time to grow and develop in the life of
Christ.
The element of time is vital in every believer's spiritual growth. It gives the
Lord a way to exercise His merciful dealings in a believer's daily
circumstances in order to chasten, train, equip and mature His children. No
amount of gifting can ever leap-frog the crucial element of time in terms of
developing and maturing a believer. This is the reason why Paul only
appointed elders either on his return journeys or asked his co-workers to
ordain elders in the cities where he's been before. Their main duty in
appointing elders was merely witnessing and confirming what the Holy Spirit
has been doing in growing the life of Christ and transforming some of the
maturing believers in each assembly.
In other words, the elders were simply believers who have submitted to the
Lord's dealings and grown in their spirit and arrived at a greater “measure of
the stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13) even before they were "appointed" or
"ordained" as elders. It is simply a matter of growth and maturity in the life
of Christ. Paul and his co-workers were merely observing and confirming
what the Holy Spirit has been doing in transforming and maturing the saints
when they selected elders in every city.
The important thing to remember is the maturity in the life of Christ that
comes from yielding and surrendering to the Lord in our daily circumstances
and situations. The appointment or title only serves as a confirmation.
It is not too farfetched to consider that the mature brothers have already
been functioning as elders in their respective assemblies before Paul and co-
workers came around to bear witness of the fact. The life which we received
from the Lord is a loving, caring and serving one. The more we grow in
spiritual stature, the more we love, care for and serve the flock. Appointment
or not, these mature brothers would continue to function as elders anyway.
This is simply the life of Christ at work.
As far as our gathering is concerned, this is how we view the matter of
eldership, i.e. by yielding to the Lord's delicate work of dealings in our inner-
man thereby allowing the Lord to apprehend us and increase His lowly
character and conform us to His image, so that we might have the
wherewithal to function as elders. To us, spiritual reality comes first;
function flows from spiritual reality naturally.
Without spiritual reality, function and office is arbitrary and hollow. In the
spiritual realm, a Christian with title, office and function, but without reality
will suffer certain defeat before a crafty enemy. The “seven sons of Scevas,”
holding on to priestly titles and mimicking apostle's functions, suffered
horrendous defeat, to say nothing of shameful humiliation.
Balaam’s prophetic office and title also serves as a stark reminder of how
much more vital it is to seek spiritual reality before assuming a title.
Secondly, as the Church passes through its initial stage into a time of
turmoil and declension, as has been prophesied in the Word, there seems to
have been a shift in the outward practice of appointing elders. The so-called
Plymouth Brethren, noted for their careful study of the Scriptures, pointed
out that the "house of God, which is the church of the living God" recorded
in I Tim 3:15 has become the "large house" in II Tim 2:20. The implication is
that toward the end of the apostolic era, the church has started to decline so
that "there are not only gold and silver vessels [in the church], but also
vessels of wood and earthenware, and some unto honor and some unto
dishonor."
It is commonly believed that II Tim was Paul's last epistle written just before
his martyrdom. It was a time of apostasy as Paul wrote, "You are aware of the
fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me..." (II Tim 1:15). In the time
of abnormality of the church, spiritual reality is the first thing to fall away.
Most Christians are aware that the Church has been in declension and has
been in a long period of great abnormality. Her biggest problem is not the
lack of outward forms, deeds and adherence to scriptural commands, it is
rather the absence of spiritual reality.
In almost every one of the "seven churches in Asia," the rebuke of the Lord
was not on their lack of deeds and toils or outward correctness, but on their
absence of inward spiritual reality.
In Paul's very last epistle, eldership is no longer emphasized, rather it is
"faithful men" that are prominently in view. Likewise in the book of
Revelation, the seven epistles were directed by the Holy Spirit not to the
elders, but to the office-less "messengers" of the seven churches. There is a
de-emphasizing of proper scriptural office holders, and an increasing
emphasis of spiritual reality. Again, we notice that Revelation is a book
about the awful degradation and abnormality that was about to take place in
the Church.
Another thing to consider in the post “early church” era is the heart-
breaking division that took place in the Church and the resulting
institutions (yes, and the house church institutions). During the apostolic
era it was certainly a time of relative normalcy when there was but one
church in any given city. The believers came together to break bread,
worship and fellowship. The eldership was observed by all the believers in
any given city. When discipline was meted out, it was meant to humble the
offending one into repentance.
Today, the offender needs only drive down a block or two and be welcomed
into another flock with their own set of elders – no repentance needed. So,
which are the elders that represent the church whose spiritual authority
must be heeded? And, which church has the jurisdiction over the city which
she represents? Remember, there can be but one church in any given city,
if we want to get technical about it. O yes, there is also the question of
spiritual reality of many so-called elders. Some are merely keepers of status
quo whose faithfulness is to a leader, a teaching, a tradition, or an
institution….
These are but a few of the questions and issues in times of abnormality that
demand our careful re-thinking regarding practice of post "early church"
gatherings.
As the Church loses her spiritual reality, her most urgent need is not the
recovery of outward forms, offices or even functions, it is the recovery of
spiritual reality - Christ. The Holy Spirit's call, then as it is now, is for
overcomers to return, not to outward forms, offices or deeds, but to the Lord
who is the spiritual reality.
Allow me to submit that even the "house church movement" has only paid
attention to outward forms of doing church correctly, but neglected the
single most important and urgent need to return to focusing on Christ who
is the spiritual reality of the church.
We firmly believe that by holding fast the headship of Christ and focusing
our gaze upon Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, eldership, among
other things, is a spiritual reality that can be practiced without any
consternation. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are, and we are
quite at peace about it.
Oliver Peng, with the brethren
5/30/2009
It came to our attention recently that there is a need to reconsider eldership
and how it should be practiced in the post “early church” era.
The word "elder" points to a spiritually mature person much more than a title
or an office. Customarily, Paul appointed elders on his return journeys, as
in the case in Acts 14:23, “And when they had appointed elders for them in
every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord
in whom they had believed.”
Some times he would ask his co-workers, Titus or Timothy, to "appoint
elders" in the cities that Paul had preached before such as the case in Titus
1:5, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what
remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” The key is that
Paul allowed a period of time to lapse before elders were appointed; and the
purpose of it is to give the believers time to grow and develop in the life of
Christ.
The element of time is vital in every believer's spiritual growth. It gives the
Lord a way to exercise His merciful dealings in a believer's daily
circumstances in order to chasten, train, equip and mature His children. No
amount of gifting can ever leap-frog the crucial element of time in terms of
developing and maturing a believer. This is the reason why Paul only
appointed elders either on his return journeys or asked his co-workers to
ordain elders in the cities where he's been before. Their main duty in
appointing elders was merely witnessing and confirming what the Holy Spirit
has been doing in growing the life of Christ and transforming some of the
maturing believers in each assembly.
In other words, the elders were simply believers who have submitted to the
Lord's dealings and grown in their spirit and arrived at a greater “measure of
the stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13) even before they were "appointed" or
"ordained" as elders. It is simply a matter of growth and maturity in the life
of Christ. Paul and his co-workers were merely observing and confirming
what the Holy Spirit has been doing in transforming and maturing the saints
when they selected elders in every city.
The important thing to remember is the maturity in the life of Christ that
comes from yielding and surrendering to the Lord in our daily circumstances
and situations. The appointment or title only serves as a confirmation.
It is not too farfetched to consider that the mature brothers have already
been functioning as elders in their respective assemblies before Paul and co-
workers came around to bear witness of the fact. The life which we received
from the Lord is a loving, caring and serving one. The more we grow in
spiritual stature, the more we love, care for and serve the flock. Appointment
or not, these mature brothers would continue to function as elders anyway.
This is simply the life of Christ at work.
As far as our gathering is concerned, this is how we view the matter of
eldership, i.e. by yielding to the Lord's delicate work of dealings in our inner-
man thereby allowing the Lord to apprehend us and increase His lowly
character and conform us to His image, so that we might have the
wherewithal to function as elders. To us, spiritual reality comes first;
function flows from spiritual reality naturally.
Without spiritual reality, function and office is arbitrary and hollow. In the
spiritual realm, a Christian with title, office and function, but without reality
will suffer certain defeat before a crafty enemy. The “seven sons of Scevas,”
holding on to priestly titles and mimicking apostle's functions, suffered
horrendous defeat, to say nothing of shameful humiliation.
Balaam’s prophetic office and title also serves as a stark reminder of how
much more vital it is to seek spiritual reality before assuming a title.
Secondly, as the Church passes through its initial stage into a time of
turmoil and declension, as has been prophesied in the Word, there seems to
have been a shift in the outward practice of appointing elders. The so-called
Plymouth Brethren, noted for their careful study of the Scriptures, pointed
out that the "house of God, which is the church of the living God" recorded
in I Tim 3:15 has become the "large house" in II Tim 2:20. The implication is
that toward the end of the apostolic era, the church has started to decline so
that "there are not only gold and silver vessels [in the church], but also
vessels of wood and earthenware, and some unto honor and some unto
dishonor."
It is commonly believed that II Tim was Paul's last epistle written just before
his martyrdom. It was a time of apostasy as Paul wrote, "You are aware of the
fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me..." (II Tim 1:15). In the time
of abnormality of the church, spiritual reality is the first thing to fall away.
Most Christians are aware that the Church has been in declension and has
been in a long period of great abnormality. Her biggest problem is not the
lack of outward forms, deeds and adherence to scriptural commands, it is
rather the absence of spiritual reality.
In almost every one of the "seven churches in Asia," the rebuke of the Lord
was not on their lack of deeds and toils or outward correctness, but on their
absence of inward spiritual reality.
In Paul's very last epistle, eldership is no longer emphasized, rather it is
"faithful men" that are prominently in view. Likewise in the book of
Revelation, the seven epistles were directed by the Holy Spirit not to the
elders, but to the office-less "messengers" of the seven churches. There is a
de-emphasizing of proper scriptural office holders, and an increasing
emphasis of spiritual reality. Again, we notice that Revelation is a book
about the awful degradation and abnormality that was about to take place in
the Church.
Another thing to consider in the post “early church” era is the heart-
breaking division that took place in the Church and the resulting
institutions (yes, and the house church institutions). During the apostolic
era it was certainly a time of relative normalcy when there was but one
church in any given city. The believers came together to break bread,
worship and fellowship. The eldership was observed by all the believers in
any given city. When discipline was meted out, it was meant to humble the
offending one into repentance.
Today, the offender needs only drive down a block or two and be welcomed
into another flock with their own set of elders – no repentance needed. So,
which are the elders that represent the church whose spiritual authority
must be heeded? And, which church has the jurisdiction over the city which
she represents? Remember, there can be but one church in any given city,
if we want to get technical about it. O yes, there is also the question of
spiritual reality of many so-called elders. Some are merely keepers of status
quo whose faithfulness is to a leader, a teaching, a tradition, or an
institution….
These are but a few of the questions and issues in times of abnormality that
demand our careful re-thinking regarding practice of post "early church"
gatherings.
As the Church loses her spiritual reality, her most urgent need is not the
recovery of outward forms, offices or even functions, it is the recovery of
spiritual reality - Christ. The Holy Spirit's call, then as it is now, is for
overcomers to return, not to outward forms, offices or deeds, but to the Lord
who is the spiritual reality.
Allow me to submit that even the "house church movement" has only paid
attention to outward forms of doing church correctly, but neglected the
single most important and urgent need to return to focusing on Christ who
is the spiritual reality of the church.
We firmly believe that by holding fast the headship of Christ and focusing
our gaze upon Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, eldership, among
other things, is a spiritual reality that can be practiced without any
consternation. It is by the grace of God that we are what we are, and we are
quite at peace about it.
Oliver Peng, with the brethren
5/30/2009
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