We’ve come to the end of our journey through the qualifications for elders. We want to extend our thanks to Nate Bibens and the Christian’s Expositor Journal for providing this content and allowing us to make audio versions of it. We also are thankful for the preachers and elders who wrote the articles, giving such time, dedication, and care to the subject material. Our last article coms from Roger Boone and it deals with the elder’s ability to teach the word of God.
Elders will consistently be in the middle of challenging, emotionally-charged situations which will test their ability to keep their cool. For this reason, men must poses a calm, non-violent, peaceable demeanor as modeled by Christ Himself if they would serve as the Lord’s undershepherds.
Many people have the attitude that says, “I don’t care what anybody thinks of me.” This attitude often presents itself in a life that pays little attention to the feelings and well-being of others. Dale Wellman, a man who has served as an elder for many years, informs us that disregard of other people’s opinions is not an option for Christians, especially for those who desire to be an elder.
There are three synonymous qualifications for elders discussed by Randy Ballard in today’s article: temperate, sober-minded, and self-controlled. While these words share similar meanings, the slight nuanced differences between them reveal why Paul used all three as part of his standard for what an elder must be.
Today’s article goes hand in hand with last week when Greg Gay discussed the first domestic qualification that an elder must be the husband of one wife. The focus in this second article from Greg is on the elder’s children. As Greg himself will note in the article, the question of interpreting “faithful children” has been a historic and current controversy and Greg offers what he believes is a safe position.
