Leadership Words

Introduction

Twenty years ago, Park Avenue went through a challenging but uniquely faith-growing time. Because of illness, the elders serving at that time resigned, and for the next five years Park Avenue functioned without elders. During those five years several things happened. The men’s class studied books on biblical leadership. Dwight and I taught a class on elders, deacons, and leaders. Small groups discussed a biblical model for leadership. The elders who resigned in 1995—Harry Summer and Jack Kiss—had been godly men who served the congregation well for many years. But as often is the case, decades of practice had ingrained a particular dynamic into the congregation. The congregation believed in a business model of leadership, where leaders were those who made decisions about how the congregation functioned. They were in essence the “board” for the congregation.

It was this idea that had to be dealt with, and persuasion had to be used to define a biblical model of leadership based upon serving rather than ruling. This model is largely seen in Jesus’ words in Mark 10, but it is also embedded in the very words used in scripture to describe leaders. Words matter. Part of the issue twenty years ago was that congregationally we infused meaning in words that reflected a twentieth-century understanding rather than a first-century understanding. While we still have work to do in reaffirming the biblical leadership model, this congregation’s leaders try to follow a biblical model rather than a business model for leadership. Today we are going to look at the biblical words for leaders and reaffirm that the first-century meaning of those words matters in the twenty-first century.

Words

I like words. In my counseling it is important for me to know precisely what people are thinking and feeling. Folks have to be able to tell me exactly what they are feeling or what happened. Telling me that they are upset is not enough. The more precise the word, the more apt I am to understand feelings and actions. If we did not understand words alike, then communication would be very difficult. Words have meaning, and if we alter those meanings even slightly, then communication is difficult.

What does the word “baptize” mean? How do you know that? The word is not defined in scripture, although Acts 8 speaks of Philip and the Eunuch going down into the water. The meaning of the word is “to immerse or dip.” The meaning of the word tells us the form of baptism. Any other form of baptism besides immersion is not viable, for the word inherently means to immerse. There are some who have infused another meaning with baptism—“sprinkle or pour water over.” These meanings have been added by practice rather than by the original meaning of the word itself.

The New Testament was written in Greek, the common tongue of folks who lived during the first century. The language spoken in modern Greece is not the same as was spoken in the first century. This is no surprise. Go back and look at some of our historical documents and you will notice language changes within two hundred years of our history, so we should expect language changes in two thousand years. Just as we have English dictionaries to help us define words, so there are Greek dictionaries to help define words used in the first century. These dictionaries are compiled by people who have spent lots of time pouring over ancient documents trying to see how words are used. Amazingly, we have thousands of ancient documents which help these compilers understand their work better.

There are three words used to describe elders and one word used to describe deacons in the New Testament. The word “elder” is found sixty times in the New Testament. Most of those occurrences refer to Jewish leaders. The passages that we are most concerned about—in which the word is used to refer to leaders in the early church—are found in just a few passages (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 20:17, 18; 1 Timothy 5:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1).

The word “overseer” is found in only a few passages (Acts 1:20; 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1, 2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25). The word “shepherd” is found often in the New Testament, but the passages which interest us are John 21:16; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11; and 1 Peter 5:2. We do not have time to go through each text, although I have listed them for you. I want us to focus on just a few in order to make sure that we understand the meanings of certain words.

What does the word “elder” mean? If you go to the passages we mentioned, you will not get a specific definition, but you will get a sense that the word is used to designate a particular group of individuals. For instance, in Acts 20:17, Paul sends for the Ephesian “elders” to come to Miletus. Or Titus is told in 1:5 to appoint “elders” in every city. Or the sick are told to call for the “elders” in James 5:14. Or Peter writes to the “elders,” calling himself a fellow “elder” in 1 Peter 5:1.

From this brief overview we can know that the word “elder” is used to describe a specific group of leaders associated with the early church. But while this designation is seen, the meaning of the word is not explicitly given. In the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the meaning is given as: a man who is older and who is to be respected, a man full of wisdom, experience, sound judgment, and a healthy fear of God. It is used by Paul to designate a specific group who are leaders of a congregation. When we speak of elders, we are making a designation of a specific group who are leaders of a congregation. Inherent within this word is the idea of older and wiser men—men of experience who can provide wise counsel.

The next word is “overseer.” What image comes to mind when you hear the word “overseer?” Generally we think of someone who is a manager. Is this a proper image which should come from the Greek word “overseer?” In 1 Peter 2:25, Jesus is called an “Overseer.” How do we reconcile the manager image with what Jesus said in Matthew 20:25–28, in which he says that his model for leadership is servant-oriented?

When we look in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, we find that this word for “overseer” is actually broken down a bit more to give a clearer definition. The word means one who “watches over, protects, serves as a patron for another, or cares for another.” This should bring images of one who is not watching over to give orders but watching over to protect and to care for.

So when we come to Acts 20:28, in which Paul meets with the Ephesian elders and tells them to “keep watch over the flock because the Holy Spirit has made them ‘overseers, patrons, protectors, ones who are to care for others,’” we see a very different image. Or in 1 Peter 5:2, the “overseers” are told to serve the church. Or when we come to 1 Timothy 3:1–2 or Titus 1:7, the word “overseer” is used to designate a special group of leaders within the church. Used in the context in which “elders” is used, we could say that they designate the same group. Both are titles, but one word speaks to their wisdom and experience in providing counsel for the church, while the other speaks about their desire to care for and protect the church.

The final word is “shepherd” or “pastor.” This word is found in only four texts which interest us in this discussion. In Ephesians 4:11, it is used to designate a specific gift which God has appointed in his church—a teacher. The other uses are found in Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2. While in Ephesians 4:11 the word “shepherd” is a title, in Acts and 1 Peter it is a verb designating not a title but something to be done. The NIV translates it in both places as “be shepherds,” as if it were a title, but this is not the case. Paul is giving an imperative. These elders or overseers are to shepherd the church. This is what they are to do. What does it mean to shepherd? What does shepherding look like?

Does a shepherd drive sheep like cattle, or does he lead them? According to the Bible, the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He protects, guides, feeds, guards, seeks, and serves the sheep. The shepherd shows mercy and liberates from those things which may entangle.

When we go to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, these meanings are confirmed. In John 21:16, Jesus is confronting Peter again on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus asks three times if Peter loves him. Three times Peter answers that he does. Three times Jesus tells Peter to feed his flock. The second of those three times uses the same word in verb form as this word “shepherd.” It is translated “feed” in the NIV. Whatever you may understand about “feed,” it does not include an image of pinning a sheep to the ground and forcing them to eat.

Finally, the word for deacon is found in a variety of places. However, for our purposes we are interested in two texts. In Mark 10:45, Jesus uses this word to describe himself and, along with that, all who belong to his kingdom. The word that is translated “deacon” actually means “minister” and is found dozens of times in scripture to describe an attitude, a work, or a person. The other text is 1 Timothy 3:8, in which Paul describes a specific group of men who serve in a special capacity. Again in Philippians 1:1, the same word is used as Paul addresses his letter to the Overseers and Deacons or Ministers at Philippi. In some sense, all are deacons or servants according to Mark 10:45, but in another sense, there is a designation of a group of special servants who are to serve the congregation as well.

So What Are We to Do with These Words?

First, we need to discard any image that does not coincide with the meaning of these words. Elders are not a board who sit behind closed doors making decisions. Overseers are not managers in our modern sense of the word. We need to recapture an image of a group of spiritually wise men who guard, care for, serve, protect, touch, and encourage God’s people. If we allow just the basic definition of the words to form our image, then for many of us a different image must come.

Second, we must allow elders to do their function in the full and complete biblical sense. Anything less cheapens their service. When we demand that our elders figure out how to control people and do not let them fulfill their real function of serving people, then we tie their hands and degrade their real work of service. They are to walk among us, touching us and reminding us that we are called to follow the Chief Shepherd. They are to show us where the kingdom is and what it looks like when we are a part of it. They are to demonstrate what it means to walk hand in hand with Jesus (1 Peter 5:3). To ask them to do anything less or other degrades their service.

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