Part 8 of 9 of the theme 'Leadership of elders ' by Gijs van den Brink
In previous contributions, we saw how elders functioned in the book of Acts and in the pastoral letters Timothy and Titus.
In the remaining books of the New Testament, the elders still appear, though less prominently, in the letters of James, Peter and John. We will briefly discuss the places and see if they fit the picture we have been given so far.
In James 5:14 we read that the sick are encouraged to call the elders of the congregation and have them pray for them. Since James says nothing about church structure, we do not know whether by "congregation" he means the home church or the city church. Both is possible. In the first case, James is speaking of older, wise, respected brethren (cf. 1Tim. 5:1). In the second case, about leaders of the congregation at the city or regional level.
Peter also speaks of "elders" in his letter, calling himself "fellow elder" (1Pet.5:1,5). In line with Jewish custom, an "elder" is, as evidenced by the contrast with "youth" (vs. 5), about an older wise believer, whose leadership is to be respected and followed. But even in the Peter letter, the church structure is not clearly described, and we therefore do not know exactly how an "elder" functions here.
Then we have the apostle John's use of "elder. He uses the term in the salutation of two of his letters to designate himself: the elder to ... (2Jn.1; 3Jn.1). The fact that he does this in two letters to a different group of believers shows that by "elder" he indicates a dignity not limited to one (house) congregation. He is the (known) elder, the apostle, who enjoyed great respect and authority in several congregations. This is consistent with the use of the term in the Jewish community and also with what we have seen so far, that the term elder starts to be used only where there is talk of the congregation at the city and regional level. Again, there is no indication that we should think of a function.
In the next and final contribution on elders in the NT, we will come up with a concluding conclusion.
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 8 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!
