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
 |
| |
 |