Listen or read the following transcript as D. A. Carson speaks on the topic of Eldership in this address from The Gospel Coalition Sermon Library
What do you expect of Mark Dever? Someone to hold your hand? Someone with scintillating oratory? Someone to take you through those passages of life … marriage, funerals? A brilliant committee man? Someone who will give at least 35 hours per week to personal counseling? What does Mark expect of himself?
Sometimes the relationship between a church and a pastor breaks down simply because the two sides have mutually exclusive, or at least highly conflicting, expectations. It is essential for any church and for any pastor to review expectations in the light of God’s word. What does Scripture set out the pastor’s role and qualifications to be?
I shall begin this morning with the passage that was read in 1 Timothy 3, although I shall extend a little beyond it. I begin with a simple set of definitions. In the New Testament, the elder is the pastor is the bishop. These are three different titles for one office. The term elder springs from Jewish background, first of all, village life.
The seniors in the village came to form a kind of oligarchy and the village was thereby ruled. Eventually, that kind of leadership also appeared in the synagogue. The difference in the New Testament is that it is not simply seniority that is at stake, but a kind of spiritual seniority. The question is not how many birthdays on this earth a person has but whether or not there is spiritual maturity that all acknowledge to be plentifully abundant.
The term pastor is simply the Latin expression for shepherd. It springs from an agrarian background. The shepherd in the Near East was not some mass-producing farmer but the one who fed, nurtured, guided, protected, healed, and sometimes disciplined his flock. The bishop, or perhaps overseer, is not primarily an administrator but in the New Testament is someone who has primary oversight for the people of God in the local place.
Now what then does the New Testament say the pastor, the overseer, the elder should be like? I shall list six things. The primary thing to observe in the list of qualifications set out in 1 Timothy 3, is the unexceptional nature of most of the entries. The list is remarkable for being unremarkable. There is nothing here about the prospective candidate’s IQ. There is nothing that stipulates a certain kind of personality type. “This person must be an extrovert.”
There is nothing even about the standard of education. Not for a moment am I suggesting that this means that the qualifications listed here are low or common, but they are unexceptional in this sense: that with only two exceptions in the list, every single item is mandated somewhere in Scripture of all Christians.
In other words, this is not a list of characteristics that sets Mark or any other pastor qualitatively apart from everybody else, with only two exceptions to which we’ll turn in due course. Thus, for example, if we’re told, “He must be the husband of but one wife,” whatever that means, does that mean that the rest of us can have the whole lot of them? “He must not be given to much wine.” Does that mean that the rest of us are allowed to get drunk?
“He must be hospitable.” Does that mean that the rest of us can be selfish with our time and with our homes? No, in every case, somewhere in Scripture that kind of characteristic is supposed to be characteristic of the whole church. Thus, with respect to hospitality, it is specifically laid on all Christians in Hebrews, chapter 13. The list is remarkable for being unremarkable.
The stinger in the tail, of course, is that this means that the very things you expect from Mark, you must expect from yourselves. It is essential to understand that all the people of God are to grow in godliness, conformity to Christ, holiness, generosity. There is not some fundamental cleavage by which the pastor becomes a kind of spiritual super saint, whereas all my sins are nicely excused because I’m not the pastor.
The second thing to observe is that the prime characteristic of the pastor, of the Christian leader, is that his life constantly reflects biblical values, Christian values. That’s the entailment of this list. I do not intend to utter a cheap truism by this; rather I’m convinced that a close study of this passage and others like it that give lists of characteristics reveals this to be a profound principle. Whatever else the Christian preacher, teacher, pastor must be like, he must reflect Christian values in his own life. So let’s go through this list rather quickly.
Verse 2: “He must be above reproach.” That is, in a certain sense, blameless. There is not to be some profound inconsistency or flaw that everyone agrees is there and reproaches the man for. “He must be the husband of but one wife.” Doubtless you are aware that people debate over what this means. Some think that this means that he must be married. He must be the husband of but one wife.
Of course, that would exclude Paul himself. Certainly elsewhere Paul insists that there may be advantages in the ministry to being single. Certainly, the first two churches I pastored I was single and there were advantages. There were some disadvantages, but there were some advantages, including 90-hour weeks with no one to report to and no children with diapers to change and the like.
Thus in 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, Paul explicitly spells out potential advantages to being single. In fact, he calls singleness a charisma, a charismatic gift. He calls marriage a charismatic gift. No one has both gifts simultaneously, but both are charismatic gifts, gracious gifts from God. That is an unlikely interpretation, therefore.
Some think it means that he is forbidden to remarry should his first wife die. However, Jesus insists that in the consummated kingdom there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage and elsewhere he allows remarriage provided it is in the Lord, to a spouse who is a believer. I’m not persuaded that that is what is at stake, either. Read Romans 7:1–4.
Some think it means that he is not a polygamist, a person who is married to more than one wife. Others object that this cannot be because polygamy was never practiced by the church, so why should this be singled out? That is the point. It never was allowed in the church for those who were entering the church. Those who became Christians were allowed to marry only one wife, but supposing someone entered the church who was already a polygamist.
Someone became a Christian, confessed his sin, but already had two or three wives even at the very moment of confessing Christ as Lord. What then? Polygamy was not all that common in the ancient world, but it was more common in the upper circles of society. Thus, Herod the Great had 10 wives. He didn’t manage 10 all at once; he managed seven or eight at once. That’s because he bumped off one or two before he got to the full quota.
In many societies, the higher you are up in society, the more likely it is that you have more than one wife. It is almost a mark of your capacity to support them and, therefore, of your leadership potential. Just because you have leadership potential in the world does not mean that you have leadership potential in the church.
This may not have direct bearing on us here in America. It does have direct bearing on the church in Africa, where sometimes people are converted already with three or four wives. Then, if this text is understood correctly, it means they cannot be pastors in the church. Now why? What is the point behind this restriction?
One of the major reasons behind this restriction is theological. Marriage itself is to be a model of the relationship between God and Israel under the old covenant and between Christ and the church under the new. It recurs again and again. Thus, spiritual failure is called adultery, spiritual adultery. That is what the whole book of Hosea is about.
Does not Paul then say to the church, “I betrothed you to Christ as a pure virgin?” Then the book of Revelation pictures the consummation as the bride entering a consummated relationship with the groom, the exalted Lord Christ. Why? Because the deepest intimacy that human beings can know is the love between a man and a woman. Intellectually, emotionally, and physically coming into the closest union that we can know this side of the consummation.
It becomes then a model for the ultimate joy, ecstasy, intimacy that will be ours as we are in the presence of our bridegroom forever. Thus the very institution of marriage becomes a kind of perpetual model and reminder of the direction in which we’re heading. We are the people of God betrothed to Christ.
Shall then the marriages of the leaders of the church betray something different? Shall they be full of hatred and squabbles? Shall they represent a picture of one husband and several brides? The Lord Christ has but one bride! That bride is the church. Thus even in family life there is to be a kind of modeling of the relationship between God and his people.
Then we’re told three characteristics that reflect an orderly life: temperate (which has nothing to do with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union; it means, rather, clearheaded, self-possessed, not an extremist, sensible). Self-controlled. “After all, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self control,” Paul writes elsewhere.
Respectable. This word has slightly negative overtones today. It reflects something of a bourgeois mentality. “Dignified” sounds a bit pompous. “Well-behaved” perhaps might catch it. The next two are particularly important for the propagation of the gospel. Hospitable. The pastor must not be a hermit or a recluse … someone who loves ideas, but can’t stand people.
No, he must be hospitable and able to teach. That is the first of the two characteristics on the list that are not elsewhere imposed on all Christians. We’ll come back to that one in a moment. It is sufficient at the moment to say that this presupposes two things: knowledge of God and his Word and the ability to communicate it, but we’ll return to those two in a moment.
Verse 3: “Not given to much wine.” Not only free from drunkenness but free from addiction. The servant of Jesus Christ must not be a slave to anything else. “Not violent, but gentle.” That is, patient, kindly, forbearing. In Philippians 4, Paul says, “Be known for forbearance, be known for selflessness.” It’s almost an oxymoron. Be known for a kind of self-denying lifestyle, which is exactly opposite of everything the world expects in its endless pursuit of fame, of being known.
“Not quarrelsome,” we’re told. Not contentious. Some of us have come from a background where we have not only tried to contend for the faith but be contentious about the faith. Not only to defend the truth but also to shoot those who might disagree. They develop a certain kind of confrontational mentality, “Destroy much and call it faithfulness.”
The alternative is certainly not a wishy-washy sentimentality. What scripture says in this regard is of blistering importance in our day. It demands a holy boldness with respect to the truth, but it also demands compassion and gentleness. Consider, for example, 2 Timothy 2:23–26.
“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
Then we’re told, “Not a lover of money.” Jesus Christ has promised all his disciples enough for their needs and no more. He frequently gives more. He does not promise more. Christian leaders, therefore, must reflect contentment. Otherwise, what they are really signaling to people is that they love things other than Jesus Christ more than Jesus Christ.
It is important at the same time to say that some congregations develop a terrible attitude in this regard. They project an image, “Lord, you keep him humble and we’ll keep him poor.” Or they treat the pastor as if he’s a hireling. “We give him so much money and we expect so much service.” Money for services rendered.
In the New Testament it doesn’t work like that. In the New Testament, the churches free up the pastors to serve them. They are not paid as if then their services can be evaluated by some number with a number of zeros after it. There are some things ministers are called to do that you could never pay them enough for! No, no, no. The church is to be generous and the pastor should not care too much. That’s ideal. Where the church, in fact, is niggardly and the pastor is in fact greedy, it is the worst of all possible worlds. No, no, no. The pastor is not to be a lover of money.
If I may venture a word of testimony in this regard, my father was a pastor in lean years in French Canada. I did not understand how poor they were in those lean years until I left home and went to university. The first day I arrived there I was wearing a suit that I had bought, my first suit, secondhand, from the marketplace, and people laughed at it.
It suddenly dawned on me I had come from a poor family. I had never thought about that before. The reason I had never thought about it, of course, was because my parents had never complained. They simply abolished complaint. It was not allowed. There was so much to be grateful for, and I bear testimony to God for the kind of impact that makes on the next generation.
Then, verses 4–5. “The pastor must manage his own family well.” The text explicitly makes appeal to the principle referenced in the parable of the talents. Faithfulness in a smaller area qualifies a person for faithfulness in a larger area. Note that this principle also gives an impressive dignity to the Christian home. Not all are eligible to be elders in the church, but most of us are elders in the home, as it were.
“His children,” we’re told, “must obey him with proper respect.” King James Version, “… with all gravity.” The particular expression may modify either the father or the children. I am not quite sure. Either children obey with a certain dignity, with a certain respect, or the father by his dignity calls forth their respect. In either case, the ruler of the church, the pastor of the church, the overseer of the church does not have the right to let his family go.
Now some say, “Does this mean that his children must be Christians?” The text to which people refer is Titus 1:6, where in the NIV we read, “An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.”
It is an unusual expression and it does not mean that they must be believers. What it means is they must be faithful. They must be responsible. As long as they are under his jurisdiction, in his home, under his authority, they must be restrained, responsible, faithful people. If, in fact, he loses control of them utterly, then he does not have the right to serve as pastor in the church of Jesus Christ.
That means from the church’s point of view that you must not expect him so to serve the church that he sacrifices his family. He must shelter his family and you must enable him to do so. In fact, insist that he do so. Verse 6. Here is the second qualification that is not mandated everywhere of all believers.
“He must not be a recent convert.” Obviously, that can’t be applied to everyone. The idea, we are told, “is that if he is promoted too quickly he may be puffed up with pride making his fall all the greater.” Too rapid promotion regularly spells disaster. “Then one falls into the same judgment as the Devil.”
As he was lifted up with pride and wanted, as it were, to be in God’s place, so the pastor who thinks of himself as only one step below God and certainly with an inside track to the deity suddenly is so pompous and so arrogant that his fall is certain. It is only a question of time. Therefore, converts must be tested, given time and space to mature, to be humbled, to trip and fall before being promoted to high office in the church.
Then we’re told, “He must have a good reputation with outsiders.” In this context, amongst both Jews and pagans, non-Christians all. This does not mean he should be “one of the boys,” but he must rather be known as a person of integrity regardless of whether or not he is liked for it. Let me mention two or three other qualifications that are listed elsewhere.
In chapter 5:21: “At all costs he is to avoid favoritism, partiality.” Friends, he may have. Favorites, he must not have. It is essential that no one can charge him with partiality. In 1 Timothy 6:11–12: “He must pursue all godly virtues.” In several passages in 2 Timothy, not least chapter 2, verses 3 and following, “He must expect serious difficulties and be persistent in the face of them, a good soldier.”
This is not going to be a smooth relationship with never a rocky road. Let me tell you that right now. Somewhere along the line, there’s going to be trouble. If you think this is going to be a smooth relationship, you will be bitterly disappointed. If in fact you expect difficulty in the church this side of the paradeiso, then you won’t be disappointed. Expect difficulty and then pursue all godly virtues in the handling of them.
Now what is the point of all of this? The point of all of this is that the indices of spirituality here offered, the indices of godliness, have to do with demonstrated maturity in Christian life. That’s what they have to deal with. They are all mandated of all believers everywhere, with the exception now of these two.
This brings me to my third point. The distinctive characteristic of the elder/pastor/overseer is that he be able to preach, to teach the word of God. That is distinctive. That qualification is not laid on deacons. It is laid on the pastor, the elder, the overseer. Let me mention several passages, and as I read them, look for two pairs.
The first pair shows that teaching ought to be both authoritative and exemplary. The teaching ministry of the church of Jesus Christ ought to have an authoritative note to it, but everything that is taught also ought to be modeled in the in preacher/teacher. The preacher/teacher, therefore, must be authoritative and exemplary. That’s the first pair.
The second pair is this. His content must be both doctrinal and concerned with how to live, with lifestyle. It must reflect both truth and conduct. Now listen to the passages at stake. 1 Timothy 4:11–15. “Command and teach these things.” Do you notice the authority? “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” And Mark is younger than most of the people in this congregation. How then is he to avoid being looked down upon? By insisting upon his office? No, it doesn’t say that.
It says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers [the exemplary tone] in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Do you hear that? The emphasis on conduct, how to live. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” There is the truth content, the doctrinal content. “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message. Be diligent in these matters.”
Chapter 6, verses 17 and following: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good.” Do you hear that, the note of authority? “To be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” How to live. Not simply doctrinal content, but how to live. “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
Or again, 2 Timothy 2:24: “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” The kind of teaching that he offers, however authoritative it must be, is nevertheless exemplary in his own lifestyle. Or chapter 4, verses 1 and 2: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
You might read all of Titus 2:1–15 in this regard. This is extremely important. There are so many demands on contemporary ministry. In many ways our culture is breaking down. We have a rising number of broken homes, hurting people, loneliness. Partly because of this, there is a rising expectation that ministers will give themselves to counseling.
In some measure, they must. But it is wrong.… I repeat, it is biblically wrong … for any pastor so to give himself to counseling that he robs the entire people of God because he does not give himself to the ministry of the Word and prayer. If Mark devotes 30 hours a week to counseling and as a result does not diligently study the word of God and this culture and pray so that when he comes into that pulpit he is not only prepared, but he is stamped with unction, the anointing of the Spirit of God, he is robbing you.
If he is wise, he will devote only so many hours a week to counseling. After that, apart from emergencies, he will say, “I’m sorry. My time is already committed.” Do not berate him for this. His first calling is to teach the whole counsel of God in preaching, in small groups, one-on-one discipleship.
His first calling, his distinctive characteristic, is to teach the whole counsel of God. Some of that is done in counseling, but it must not so order his life that he ministers for many hours each week to half a dozen people and starves the rest of the flock. One does not become a powerful preacher of the word of God simply by standing up and having the gift of the gab.
It takes study, prayer, reading, thought, time. It is hard work. Moreover, it means increasingly that as biblical illiteracy rises in our generation, he must not become a dilettante, explaining esoteric matters. He must learn to preach the entire structure of God’s thought as it is reflected in scripture. That is not popular today. The basics need to be laid down again.
It will not do so to redefine the gospel that it meets our current agenda of perceived needs. We’re lonely. “Jesus is the one who loves you and is a wonderful comforter.” Our marriages are busting. “Jesus is the one who holds your marriages together. A family that prays together stays together.” Isn’t that nice? In each case there’s just enough truth to it that one wants to say, “Yes!”
But the truth of the matter is that the things that break our society apart have a deeper alienation to them. Rebellion against God, our Maker. The only solution to that kind of alienation, to that sin, to that rebellion is the full-orbed gospel of Jesus Christ. One remembers the amusing poetry of Phyllis McGinley in her book Times Three where she describes her creation, the Reverend Dr. Harcourt.
In the pulpit he eloquently speaks on diverse matters with both wit and clarity: art, education, God, the early Greeks, psychiatry, Saint Paul, true Christian charity, vestry repairs that must shortly begin. All things but sin, He seldom mentions sin. That is not the way the Bible storyline hangs together.
The Bible insists that we human beings, image-bearers of God himself, have shaken our puny fists in his face and have gone our own way. God has pursued us in covenantal relationships with people across the ages of history and now supremely under the terms of the new covenant ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The church is interested in bringing people into a living relationship with a sovereign God who made us, who providentially rules, and who will one day judge us. That is by a faith relationship with Christ who died for sinners like you and me. That is what Mark must preach, with all that it means for social transformation, for Christian living, for charity, for care, for serving as salt and light in a decaying society. That is what he must preach, the whole counsel of God.
In the next place, there is a stress in the Pastoral Epistles on observable spiritual growth in the leaders. I will not dwell on this point, but please look at 1 Timothy 4:14–16. There Paul writes to Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
Do you hear that? Christians, by definition, persevere. They persevere. If they do, then they save themselves and their hearers. This text says in both the area of life and the area of doctrine, which are both to be watched closely, others should see our progress. If Mark serves this church for 10 years and some of you are still here in 10 years, I pray to God you will be able to say,
“You know, when Mark came, he was a good preacher, but he’s better now. You know when Mark came, he already reflected many of the glories of Christ, but he’s more mature now. When Mark came his grasp of doctrine was excellent and I was taught and fed, but he still teaches me, he still feeds me and he understands more now.” Mark, watch your life and your doctrine. Let others see your progress.
It is intriguing that two other themes are sometimes interwoven with passages about elders about spiritual leadership in the New Testament. Those two themes are doxology, praise to God, and eschatology, things to do with Christ’s return and the end of the age. Let me read two passages and hear both themes interwoven in them.
First, 1 Timothy 6:11–16. Doxology, praise to God, and eschatology, living in the light of the end. “But you, man of God, flee from all this [the list of sins in the previous verses], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time …” That’s eschatology. “… God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” That’s doxology.
Consider another passage, 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 7–12 and 15–17. There we read these words. “But we have this treasure …” Paul says of himself and other apostles and those who teach the word. “… in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
Verse 15: “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” Doxology “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Eschatology.
Do you see, it is possible in the church to treat what goes on here as belonging only to the immediate. It is possible for ministers in the church of Jesus Christ to assess what they are doing in terms of how well they are respected or how many compliments they receive or how well the finances are coming or whether or not the building is filling up again.
But surely the church of Jesus Christ, the pastors of the church of Jesus Christ must live with this single goal in view: to receive the “well done” from the Master on the last day. Living with eternity’s values in view. They must live with this aim, that Jesus Christ be praised. Outwardly, we may waste away. We may burn up in some ways.
It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day whether all of Washington thinks that Mark is a terrific chap. What really matters is whether they come to think that Jesus Christ is terrific. It doesn’t really matter whether or not the numbers here reflect overwhelming growth rates, as desirable as that may be, if no one who comes lives with eternity’s values in view.
Everything must be shaped by the end. Everything must be shaped by the concern that Christ Jesus be glorified. All of our ministry, therefore, must be characterized by doxology and eschatology.
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things,
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
to serve the King of Kings.
Amen.
