David Paul Smith penned an article under this title in the October 18, 1984, Gospel Advocate. I have modified and adapted his material in the article below.
God’s will for every congregation is to mature to the point where qualified men can be appointed to oversee the work of that congregation (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23). The qualifications for such an office are found in Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 3:1, and 1 Peter 5:1-5. Their role is one of authority (Heb. 13:17) with the protection, feeding and leading of that congregation in mind. (Acts 20:17, 28, 32.) “Every” congregation should be working toward an eldership. Where an eldership is not present, a determined effort must be consistently made toward raising up men that are biblically qualified to be elders and a congregation mature to submit their oversight.
Instilling within a congregation a desire to have shepherds over them is sometimes quite difficult. This is especially true of congregations that have gone for years, perhaps even decades, without an eldership. Often it is the case that a congregation is “satisfied” with the way things are (without elders) and have little or no desire to work toward the establishment of an eldership. It is with the problems that commonly arise in a situation such as this with which this article is concerned.
One of the most common barriers encountered in a congregation when discussion of appointment of men as elders takes place is that of apathy. It is not uncommon, rather to be expected, for some members to have absolutely no interest or concern about the appointment of elders. Those who are indifferent to this matter often look at the need for an eldership in the congregation as a purely “optional” or “secondary” command of Scripture. That this is hardly a scriptural position is readily recognized when passages such as Titus 1:5 and Acts 14:23 are consulted. A congregation with an attitude such as this is a congregation that may have the knowledge of scripture but with a lack of zeal. A zeal to obey the Lord as well as a correct knowledge of what the scripture teaches is what is needed by those who desire to please God (Romans 10:2). How true it is that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Commonly this viewpoint is expressed by statements such as “things are fine the way they are now,” or “I don’t see what would be gained by having elders.” It would do us well to remember that God has knowledge of all things, and His wisdom is unlimited (Psalm 147:5). Man must not rely only on reasoning as to what is “just fine” for man must rely on revelation and not mere reason alone (Jer. 10:23).
Another common obstacle that may be encountered is fear. Some will be fearful of appointing an unqualified man while others will fear the possibility of breeding problems that are known to exist in neighboring congregations that happen to have elderships.
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