Why do local churches need elders?
Jesus warned that in the last days, the church would face two particular dangers: 1
Deception (Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 24)
Persecution (Matthew 24:9)
This would lead to some within the church giving up following Jesus (Matt 24:10).
From the descriptions of the early church we find in the New Testament, it is clear that the last days have begun (1 John 4:1-3; Rev 2:10, 14-15). It is because the last days have begun that the church needs elders.
In Acts 14, we see Paul and Barnabas appoint elders for the local churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. These churches needed elders to strengthen the members of the church and encourage them to remain faithful to Christ when they faced hardships (Acts 14:21-22).
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul gives Timothy instruction about who should be appointed as elders (overseers) in the church in Ephesus.
"This saying is trustworthy: "If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work." (1 Timothy 3:1)
But in the next chapter, we get a hint about why it was so important that the right men were appointed.
"Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)
The church in Ephesus needed elders to protect the members of the church from the false teaching present, which had already led some astray (1 Timothy 1:19-20).
One of the key reasons that Paul wrote to Titus was to tell him that he needed to appoint elders for every local church in Crete (Titus 1:5).
Like in 1 Timothy, we see that the reason elders needed to be appointed was because of the presence of false teachers in the churches (Titus 1:10-11), Elders were needed because some of the members of the churches in Crete were being deceived.
Elders are needed because we are in the last days
Elders are needed to stop members being deceived in the face of false teaching. Elders are needed to stop members from giving up in the face of persecution.
How?
The church needs elders to teach sound doctrine. The elders of the church have a very similar function to the elders of Israel. They have the responsibility of ensuring that sound doctrine was taught (Acts 4:5-7; 15:5-6).
It is no surprise that in the list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, both "able to teach" and "encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" are present.
The church needs elders to teach sound doctrine so that members are not deceived by false teaching or give up when they are persecuted
The way members will not be deceived by false teaching is if they have been taught the truth. The way members will not give up when they are persecuted is if they have been taught the truth that reminds them that “he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Field Notes
A reminder that every Saturday I send out a Substack with 10 links from around the web worth checking out and the latest resources I’ve produced at Blog of Dan (my online Notion page).
Adapted from a talk by Greg Beale which can be found here: wordmp3.com/details.aspx?id=17427, and a paper saying much the same here: biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/midwestern-journal-theology/10-1_032.pdf