WHEN THERE ARE NO ELDERS (1)

Victor M. Eskew

 

          God is a God of order.  In 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul sets forth this divine attribute negatively.  “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”  The word “confusion” is defined as “instability” and “disorder” by Strong.  Thayer adds the word “disturbance” to the meaning.  Vine embellishes the definition with the word “tumult.”  In the context of this verse, Paul was addressing the tumult and disorder that had surfaced in the church at Corinth over spiritual gifts.  Paul wanted the church to know that their state of disorder was not of God.  God is not the God of disorder.  He is a God of order.

          Evidence of God’s orderliness can be found in many aspects of the Creation.  Too, He has established order in every institution He established on earth.  In the home, the husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23).  Rulers are in charge of nations, and the citizens have been exhorted to “be subject unto the higher powers” (Rom. 13:1).  In the church, Jesus is the Head.  “And he is the head of the body, the church…” (Col. 1:18).  Within local congregations, God has delegated authority to a group of men called “elders.”  When Paul spoke to the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17), he noted they had oversight 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 his own blood” (Acts 20:28).  These men rule the local congregation (1 Tim. 5:17) and will give account to the chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4).

          In the local congregation, however, there are times when there are no elders.  We see this situation several times in the New Testament.  On Pentecost day, thousands of individuals obeyed the gospel.  “And they that gladly received his word were baptized:  and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).  These saved individuals were added by the Lord to the church (Acts 2:47).  At the moment the church was established in Jerusalem, there were no elders overseeing the church.  It would take some time for shepherds to be appointed in this congregation.  We know that elders were installed because we read about them in Acts 11:30.  The fact that the church in Jerusalem did not have elders for a period of time was not a significant problem.  At the time, all of the apostles of Jesus were still in the city.  If a problem arose, the apostles took care of it.  We see evidence of this in Acts 6.  “…there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration” (Act 6:1).  Verse two opens with these words:  “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said…”  The office of an apostle is the highest office a human can hold in the body of Christ.  These men definitely had the authority to deal with situations that arose in the church at Jerusalem prior to elders overseeing that flock.

          A second illustration found in the Bible of churches having no elders is found in Acts 13 and 14.  Paul was on his first missionary journey with Barnabas.  After leaving the isle Cyprus, they came to Perga of Pamphylia, then journeyed to Antioch of Pisidia (See Acts 13:13-14).  In this chapter and the next, we read of churches being established in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.  When those churches were established, no elders were immediately put in place.  As Paul went back through those towns on his way home, he ordained elders therein.  “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we though much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:21-23).  How much time passed between the establishment of these churches and the installation of elders, we are not told.  It may not have been long, a few weeks or months.  The fact remains that these churches were without elders for a period of time.

          A third example of churches having no elders is revealed in Titus 1:5.  In this verse, Paul reminds Titus why he had left him on the island of Crete.  “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”  Elders had not been ordained in these cities prior to the arrival of Titus.  Churches were there, but they did not have elders.  How long these church had been in existence, we do not know.  On the day of Pentecost, there were Jews present from Crete who heard Peter and the other apostles preach (Acts 2:11).  Paul stopped at Fair Havens on the island of Crete while making his voyage to Rome (Acts 27:8).  But, he had been to Crete before this time.  It was during a previous visit to the island that he left Titus to ordain elders in the churches. 

          We find churches that exist today that do not have elders.  Ther are several reasons for this.  A church might be newly formed like the church in Jerusalem was.  A church may have had elders, but the eldership dissolved due to a number of reasons. Perhaps there are men who are able to be appointed, but they have yet to be installed.  It could be that a church just does not have men who are qualified for the work of an elder.

          Yes, churches existed for a period of time without elders in the first century, and churches in the twenty-first century exist without elders.  Some refer to this as being “scripturally unorganized.”  That term is somewhat lacking.  We have seen that God is a God of order.  However, this designation states the church is unorganized.  The question one might ask is:  “How is that scriptural?”  Churches without elders are “wanting” (Tit. 1:5).  They are imperfect, that is, uncomplete.  They are immature and need to become full-grown.