Quick Summary
- The Bible outlines specific leadership offices: elders and deacons
- Elders shepherd, teach, and provide spiritual oversight
- Deacons serve practical needs and support church ministry
- Leadership requires character qualifications, not just skills
- All leaders are servant-leaders following Christ's example
Biblical Leadership Offices
Elders (Pastors/Overseers)
Primary Role: Shepherd, teach, provide spiritual oversight
Qualifications: 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9
Responsibilities: Prayer, preaching, protecting from false teaching, caring for souls
Deacons
Primary Role: Serve practical needs, support ministry
Qualifications: 1 Timothy 3:8-13
Responsibilities: Meeting physical needs, freeing elders for prayer/teaching, serving tables
Elder Qualifications (1 Timothy 3)
- Above reproach—blameless reputation
- Husband of one wife—faithful in marriage
- Temperate, self-controlled, respectable
- Hospitable—welcomes others
- Able to teach—can explain Scripture
- Not given to drunkenness
- Gentle, not quarrelsome or violent
- Not a lover of money
- Manages family well—children obedient
- Not a recent convert
- Good reputation with outsiders
How to Honor Church Leaders
- Pray for them: Leadership is demanding and spiritual warfare is real
- Respect their authority: Obey and submit to godly leadership (Hebrews 13:17)
- Support them financially: "The worker deserves his wages" (1 Timothy 5:17-18)
- Speak well of them: Don't gossip or undermine authority
- Encourage them: Ministry is often thankless—appreciate them
- Hold them accountable: Lovingly address sin when necessary
Remember:
- Church leaders are servants, not CEOs
- Character matters more than charisma or skill
- Leadership is a calling, not a career
- Leaders are accountable to God and the congregation