They are teachers, counselors, mentors, comforters, watchmen, defenders, and encouragers. They devote countless hours in Bible study, consultation, instruction, visitation, and in prayer. They serve in one of the most thankless positions that you could possibly imagine. They make decisions that nobody will like because they know it is the right thing to do. They have conversations they know will make people mad/uncomfortable because it has to be done. They listen to limitless gripes from the know-it-alls and the busy-bodies who do nothing themselves but know how everything should be done. They weep over souls that are lost. They typically don’t receive a dime for their work (though they would be perfectly justified if they did). They do it because they feel a burning passion for the need that is evident in their church home.
I have heard people say that preaching is the hardest and most important job in the world. I appreciate the sentiment. As a preacher when someone tells me that it means they respect what I do and that means a lot. But respectfully I have to disagree. Preaching is hard and it is important, but there is at least one job that far surpasses it in difficulty and importance. That is the work of elders.
I believe there is a reason the New Testament reveals more than one extensive list of qualifications for elders (1 Tim. 3; Tit. 1). God wanted to emphasize that only certain men meeting certain criteria would have the tools to do the kind of work He had in mind for them. That work is of such nature that God said if they do it well they are worthy of double honor (1 Tim. 5:17). Preachers preach. Deacons serve. Elders, though, have a whole host of responsibilities that I believe proves the point I’m trying to make. Being an elder is the hardest and most important job in the world.
1. Elders are tasked with overseeing the overall work of the church. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with is own blood” (Acts 20:28).
2. Elders are tasked with feeding the church. “The elders, which are among you I exhort…feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind…” (1 Peter 5:1-2).
3. Elders are tasked with being an example of faithfulness to the church. “…neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
4. Elders are tasked with guarding the church. “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9).
5. Elders are tasked with watching over the souls of the church. “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).
6. Elders are tasked with ministering to the sick. “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord…” (James 5:14).
Elders are or at least should be both the first and last lines of defense in every congregation. Even more so than any preacher they should visibly care for the souls of every single member. They should know them, care for them, pray with/for them, encourage them, and counsel them. It is not a specialized responsibility. It is comprehensive. It’s takes several of the most difficult things that must be done and combine them into a single job description. It is often confrontational and can be heart breaking. For all of these reasons and many, many more that the hardest and most important job in the world doesn’t rest on my shoulders as a preacher. That job belongs to elders and we should be far more thankful for them than we often show.
-Andy