Part 7 of 9 of the theme 'Leadership of elders ' by Gijs van den Brink

Since the pastoral letters form a unity for several reasons, we discuss the place of 'elders' in these letters together. Again, we limit ourselves to the question, what the position of the 'elder' looks like when we read the texts against the background of the place of 'elders' in the Jewish community. The term 'elder' (presbuteros) occurs three times (1Tim.5:17,19 and Tit.1:5) and "council of elders" (presbuterion) once (1Tim.4:14).

We begin with the most obvious place, namely Tit.1:5 where Paul says to Titus, "I have left you in Crete to take care, according to my directives, of the remaining business and for each city (kata polin) to appoint elders. The "per city" indicates that in the pastoral letters we are dealing with the congregation in the sense of city or regional congregation (1Tim.3:5,15; 5:16). Here we have an indication of the level at which elders operate. It is not plausible that there were congregations but no leaders. It is understandable, however, if here the leadership was at the city level (kata polin) will be taken care of. These leaders will henceforth bear the responsibility previously taken by the apostle and his associates.

These elders are now given the job of "overseer" (Tit.1:7), because they not only have authority because of their age, but have been given a position and do the labor that goes with it. No doubt at the same time other "elders" were appointed servants or helpers.

The other text place where "elders" are discussed is 1Tim.5:17 and 19. "The elders who show themselves to be good leaders deserve double honor/reward, especially if they have taken care of preaching and teaching" (vs. 17). This is not referring to an elder in general, but to that elder who leads well. In other words, it refers to an elder with an executive role.

There are only two positions in the pastoral letters: the overseer (episkopos) and the servant/helper (diakonos). As in the Jewish community, the "elders" are highly respected older members of the Christian community.

In conclusion, in pastoral letters, administrative elders provide leadership for the entire Christian community in a city or region, which consists of multiple house churches.

Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine

This is part 7 of 9 concise blog on the topic "Leadership of elders" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!