reFocus 08: John Neufeld

The last speaker at this year's conference was the Senior Pastor of Willingdon Church (the host church, of which reFocus Canada is a ministry), John Neufeld. He spoke on Wednesday morning on Elder Authority: God-Given Authority to Lead the Church. His text is 1 Peter 5:1-4.

Introduction

There is a crisis in expository preaching, but if there are going to be struggles in the local church, they are most likely to be in the area of leadership structure. We take models from the corporate or parliamentary world, then try to impose that on the church, and wonder why we are not pleasing God.

We have had great Canadian preachers in the past (T.T. Shields, Oswald Smith, A.B. Simpson, L.E. Maxwell, and Henry Hildebrand, for example) But where are such leaders today? Congregational governance in Canada has often adopted the parliamentary model, with church officers sometimes even seeing themselves as the "loyal opposition." And there is a tendency among Canadians to pull those who emerge as leaders back down to everyone else's level.

The consequences are frequent, messy church meetings; officers put in place according to popularity and not Scripture; and Pastors merited on everything but preaching the word. We see short pastoral tenures, with no investiture in the sheep (alluding to John 10:11-15).

Against this, Scripture is sufficient to direct the life of the congregation. There are Scriptural standards for conducting the life of the church. Within 1 Peter 5:1-4, we see the three words given for leadership in the New Testament*: elder, shepherd, and overseer ("exercising oversight," v. 2). These can also be translated as presbyter, pastor, and bishop. The terms denote not three different offices, but a single office under different names. This session will look at the significance of biblical eldership.

(*Excluding the apostolic office, which is foundational to the church and not to be built over and over again: it was a once-for-all office).

A. Why elders matter

1. God is now purifying His church through suffering

Pastor Neufeld started by reading from 1 Peter 4:12-19, the grammatical antecedent of 5:1-4. Peter tells us that the judgement has already begun, beginning with the "household of God" (v.17) Why has judgement already begun? Because God uses the tool of suffering (1 Peter 4:1-2) for judging and therefore purifying the church (1 Peter 1:6-7). Unlike the final judgement upon the world, this judgement is not for the purpose of condemnation, but for the purpose of purification.

2. Elders will uphold the word and help the church understand God's intent

Some but not all elders are teaching elders. Luther wrote that whoever teaches must ensure that it is well pleasing to God. So a teaching elder—a preacher—should speak the oracles of God, since this is what God wants to be declared. Quoting a local radio personality (a liberal Anglican, who in this case got it right), "It's not your house, and you don't get to pick the topics."

Without this guidance, the church will lurch forward, not knowing what its purpose is, and becoming uncertain or complacent in the hour of suffering.

B. Who elders are

1. They are spiritually mature men: not new believers

Why does Peter use the word "elder" (or rather, the Greek presbyterous)? Throughout the Old and New Testaments, elders play a role in leadership (Numbers 11:16-17; Acts 11:30, 14:23). In Acts 20:28-29, Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders to take care of their flock, since wolves will come in after him, to wage a contest against the church. The elders play a primary and fundamental role during such trials.

And they are men. In the Old Testament, elders appear to have been male. Then see Paul's counsel in 1 Timothy 2:12, which is explained in verse 13 because Adam was formed first, then Eve. The explanation of the command is grounded in creation: there is an order in creation. The man, Adam, is given federal headship over the human race, just as Christ, the second Adam, is also given federal headship over the human race.

2. They are a community of local leaders.

In 1 Peter 5:1, the apostle exhorts "the elders among you." The decisions happen at the local level, in the local church: not made by presbyters in a distant city. And Peter is not only an apostle, but "a fellow elder," giving local church leadership wherever he is.

3. Pastors are elders of the local church and vice-shepherds under Christ.

After the early church planters appointed "elders in every town" (Titus 1:5), how were they to be selected thereafter so as to continue the apostolic succession? At Willingdon Church, nominees for eldership must come from among the Bible study leaders, therefore demonstrating their shepherdship. The elders study 2 Timothy and Titus, weigh the nominee on that basis, say yea or nay, then it proceeds to the membership for a 75% vote.

4. They are men who will not run away in the day of suffering

Peter adds that he was "a witness of the sufferings of Christ" (consider the humility with which he must have written this, knowing what he was doing when Christ suffered). As Christ suffered, we suffer. The number one rule of pastoring is that you've got to know how to suffer. There is an elder in another church that is going through a crisis. He has heart trouble, and his family wants him to step down. His reply is that he will never abandon his post in the day of suffering.

C. What elders do

1. They shepherd

Those who are preaching and teaching elders (that is, pastors) feed the sheep (John 21:17), and defend the sheep from wolves (Acts 20:29). It is not enough to merely feed the sheep. You've got to call out the dogs to fight off the wolves who want to destroy the house of God. This means defending against deception and false teaching.

2. They exercise oversight

An overseer is one who gives oversight (1 Peter 5:2).

3. Some among them are called to preach and teach (1 Tim 5:17)

Hence, there are also non-teaching elders, whom we call upon to provide protection those who preach and teach, and with whom we share the load. This is why elders must pray together, study Scripture together, and be together in the principles of love and unity; otherwise, they will not stand the judgement in suffering that has already begun among us.

Elders will complement each other in spiritual gifts, as in the church as a whole. They too are shepherds: a church ought not to have decision makers who are not shepherds. But there must be officially delineated offices, otherwise there will be power plays.

D. Dangers in elder leadership

1. Compulsion

Eldership should not be undertaken because of pressure: everyone wants you to do it. Also, pastors late in their career may come under a feeling of wanting to leave but being trapped, being under compulsion to do what they do. But we need to thank God every day for our suffering and our calling.

2. Desire for gain

Eldership is a call to suffering for and with Christ. It is not a career.

3. Lust for power

Elders cannot lord it over others. The fundamental thing that we have is the power of our example. Everything we preach, teach, and lead people to do must be done in a powerless [i.e., not power-mongering] fashion, in imitation of the suffering of Christ.

E. Motivation for faithful elder leadership

"When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory" (1 Peter 5:4). Roman generals crowned meritorious soldiers on the battlefield in such a way. We may be of no account in this world, but of great accounting before the Throne of God.

Our calling as elders is a calling to do what the Chief Elder calls us to do (paraphrasing Walter Martin). Referencing Bruce Ware's first session (III-B), Jesus Christ woke up every morning to do the will of His Father, and so too should we wake up every morning to do the will of His Son.

In the day of suffering, when the church suffers and we suffer, Jesus Christ calls us to stay where we are (John 10:11-15), and to be "faithful over a little," so that we may inherit much on the last day (Matthew 25:23).

After the session

Whew! Six electrifying conference sessions in less than 48 hours! We were almost finished, but not quite. Assistant Worship Pastor Andy Frew came to the stage. He told us there's a decibel meter in the room to manage sound levels, but that on Monday evening before Bruce Ware's opening session, we sang Charles H. Gabriel's My Savior's Love (a.k.a. I Stand Amazed in the Presence) with such passion—especially when Pastor Frew stepped away from the mike and stopped playing his guitar, and we sang a capella en masse—that we blew the decibel meter. So it was time for another rousing version of that song, and the energy in the room was palpable. (This is the same room—our chapel—where 24 hours after I gave myself over to Christ, I was so overcome during a worship session that I was down on my knees for 15 minutes crying and repenting for my sins. God is awesome in this place!) And so we came to the chorus and sang:

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!

By His grace, and for His glory!