In this third article of the series, I address the question: what is the work of elders? This question builds on the previous article, where I established that the Bible requires elders to lead God’s flock or church. If it is essential to God that elders lead his flock, then how they lead God’s flock is essential to him. God cares about his flock, and thus, elders should too. Unfortunately, church leaders don’t always shepherd their flock as God desires. In God’s word, the work of elders is essentially that of providing oversight.
Elders’ Work Is to Provide Oversight
Peter likens the work of elders to that of ordinary shepherds.
This is well captured in the instructions Peter gave in 1 Peter 5:1-2. Here is the rest of the quotation: “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:2-4). In using the word “shepherd,” Peter is likening the work of elders to that of ordinary shepherds who look after sheep.
Elders Are Shepherds Who Feed God’s Flock
This was a common scenario. David used it about God when he wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1). Often in the Old Testament, God used the term to refer to his people as sheep and to the elders of Israel as shepherds (e.g., Ezekiel 34). It is crucial that those who function as elders see their work in this light. The best shepherds fed the sheep on good pasture, gave them water to drink, protected them from wild animals, accounted for them individually, nursed them back to health when they were sick, and ensured they were safely in their sheep pen at the end of the day. They went after straying sheep and worked hard to find them and bring them back to safety. All those responsibilities are the work of elders in a spiritual sense.
Elders lead the work with an eye on what Christ wants them to do.
Elders are Christ’s undershepherds. They lead the work with an eye on what Christ, the head of the church, wants them to do. What he wants them to do is written clearly in the Scriptures. In the quote above, Peter emphasized that elders are to do their work willingly and not because of some earthly payment. Jesus himself, the chief shepherd, will reward them when he returns to earth.
The Work of Elders is to Serve God’s Flock
This work must be carried out in the form of servant leadership. Even in the Old Testament, the elders were to implement the mind of God among the people of God for their spiritual good in a spiritually hostile world. They did not possess absolute power to do whatever they wanted to do. Where the latter was the case, God expressed displeasure with what he was seeing.
Elders did not possess absolute power to do whatever they wanted to do.
For example, we read in Jeremiah 23:1-4,
“‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: ‘You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.'”
The elders in Israel were not caring for God’s people, and God was planning to replace them with those who would care for them.
Elders are to use authority with meekness and in a spirit of tender loving care for the flock.
It is the same in the New Testament church. Elders are leaders with God-given authority, but they are to use this authority with meekness and in a spirit of tender loving care for the flock—”not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). Their persuasiveness as elders should largely come from the spiritual magnetism of their godly character, domestic management, and teaching competence.
This article was adapted from God’s Design for the Church: A Guide for African Pastors and Ministry Leaders, by Conrad Mbewe, Copyright © 2020, pp. 101-102. It is used with the permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, based in Wheaton, IL. Purchase a copy at Christian Book Discounters. You can read a review of it here, as well two series of articles adapted from the book dealing with: (1) The Church and Money; and (2) Church Discipline.