Curious what you would have to comment on related to this topic of elderships and having the consent of the Lord’s body to serve as elders.\u00a0\u00a0 Flavil Yeakley in his book Church Leadership and Organization<\/em>\u00a0makes this assertion:<\/p>\n “One thing that has confused some people about the authoritarian style of leadership is that Acts 20:28 says that the Holy Spirit makes men bishops.\u00a0 Some have assumed from this that there is s direct delegation of divine authority from the Holy Spirit to the bishops.\u00a0 That has led some to believe that these overseers do not need the consent of the congregation. Such an assumption is not warranted. Elders do not receive a direct delegation of divine authority when they are ordained.\u00a0 The delegation of authority is indirect. A congregation that does not yet have elders has the authority it needs to do everything that God ever told His church to do. No new authority is created whan a congregation selects elders.\u00a0 What happens, therefore, is that the authority of the congregation as a whole is delegated to those men the congregation selects to serve as elders.\u00a0 The delegation of authority is from the Holy Spirit to the congregation and then from the congregation to the elders.\u00a0 It is absolutely essential that we understand two important principles concerning the nature of delegation.\u00a0 First, you cannot delegate accountability; all you can delegate is decision-making authority.\u00a0 Second, any authorization that is delegated can be withdrawn by those who delegated it in the first place. … Members of of the congregation cannot stand before God in judgement and say, “Don’t blame us for failing to reach the lost. We delegated our authority to the elders and they did not get the job done.\u00a0 They are the one’s to blame”. That will not do either. If elders are not doing the work God intended them to do, the congregation that put them in the eldership should remove them from the eldership. Any time a majority of the members of the congregation no longer consent for a man to serve as as one of their elders he is not longer an elder! Elders cannot serve without the consent of the congregation.\u00a0 To do so is to Lord it over the church and violation of Matt 20:25-28 and I Peter 5:1-4.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Do you agree that the eldership must have the consent of the congregation in order to serve in this God-ordained office?<\/p>\n\t “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble”<\/em>” (I Peter 5:1-5).<\/p>\n “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The type of rule elders have is not one of a dictator or authoritarian. Peter’s statement forbids such: “nor as being lords over those entrusted to you.” The phrase “lording over” means “to domineer, to exercise complete control” [A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament<\/em>, Reineker]. “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many<\/em>” (Matthew 20:25-28).<\/p>\n The “rule” mentioned in Hebrews 13:17 is the Greek word for a leader or guide. Elders serve the congregation by leading the members in the way they ought to go. It is not a rule of force, but where those being lead willingly follow, which is why we read so many times that the congregation is to submit.<\/p>\n We do this in many of our relationships. I go to my doctor for checkups and when something is wrong. He tells me what I ought to do to improve my help. Now I could choose to ignore him, but I don’t because I know that has my best interests in mind. I allow him to direct certain aspects of my life, yet he is not forcing me to comply with his wishes.<\/p>\n Elders are in a similar position. They are there to make sure concerning the spiritual health of a congregation. They direct and guide, but they cannot force a following. Members willingly follow because they know the elders have their best interests in mind. A man trying to be an elder where no one consents to follow him is unable to function as an elder.<\/p>\n Men don’t make themselves elders. They are appointed to the task. “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you<\/em>” (Titus 1:5). This is why I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 contain a list of qualifications that must be found in men before they are appointed to the duties of an elder. Since that list came to us through the apostles via the Holy Spirit, these are not some man-made rules, but guidelines established by the Holy Spirit. And the qualities set forth by the Spirit demonstrate men who are living lives of Christ-likeness taught by the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). Thus when Paul stated to the Ephesians that the Spirit made them overseers in Acts 20:28 he is stating that Spirit changed their lives when they followed the Bible such that they arrived at this point in time when they were charged with watching over the Lord’s people.<\/p>\n Men don’t become elders because of some vague claim of being appointed directly by the Spirit. Nor do other men make men elders by giving up their authority to whomever they choose. The Spirit laid out the qualities a man must strive for in his life in order to be an elder. The congregation recognizes that men in their midst have those qualities and ask them to take on the burden of leading them. Preachers then appoint them to the office and they begin serving. It is a cooperation between all who are involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Curious what you would have to comment on related to this topic of elderships and having the consent of the Lord’s body to serve as elders.\u00a0\u00a0 Flavil Yeakley in his book Church Leadership and Organization\u00a0makes this assertion: “One thing that has confused some people about the authoritarian style of leadership is that Acts 20:28…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-18943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20762,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/majorities-and-manners\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":0},"title":"Majorities and Manners","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by James R. Cope via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 4, February 1952. All civilized countries recognize the necessity of government. Different forms of government hold sway in various lands but all admit the necessity of some final tribunal and ultimate authority. Chaos and confusion prevail where no rule obtains.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-wisdom-in-church-leadership\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":1},"title":"God’s Wisdom in Church Leadership","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson God always does it right the first time. Take, for example, church leadership. What church leaders are called in the New Testament What many people do not realize is that in the New Testament, there are at least three terms used synonymously: 1) pastors, 2) overseers (also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rule-of-elders-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":2},"title":"The Rule of Elders (Smelser)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"On the Relation of Elders and Congregations Revised and Expanded by Dale Smelser Preface The following pages examine a subject of growing interest -- the work of elders. I am confident the continuing discussion and study will help us focus ever more accurately upon the New Testament teaching about this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28918,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-in-charge-the-preacher-or-the-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":3},"title":"Who is in charge, the preacher or the elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I'm forced to ask this question: between the ministers and the elders, who is in charge of a local congregation? Where that I am, there is a serious power tussle between the two. The ministers say, since they teach the men to become elders and also ordain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62667,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-elders-missing-in-so-many-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":4},"title":"Why Are Elders Missing in So Many Churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger D. Campbell We read about \"the elders of the church\" in the New Testament (James 5:14). In the Bible, \"the elders of the church\" refers to those brothers who serve as the overseers of a local flock of God (Acts 20:17, 28). They also are identified as shepherds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-elders-only-needed-for-a-limited-time-and-in-limited-places\/","url_meta":{"origin":18943,"position":5},"title":"Were elders only needed for a limited time and in limited places?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, greetings in Christ, and may His peace be with you.\u00a0 I'm a brother and find your site very useful! I do have an issue on this page:\u00a0Can a church be scriptural without elders? At the beginning of the commentary, there's a sentence that goes: \"Obviously there can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n