{"id":27459,"date":"2011-05-17T21:12:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T02:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=27459"},"modified":"2020-11-12T21:14:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T03:14:55","slug":"do-you-have-to-submit-to-an-unqualified-elder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-have-to-submit-to-an-unqualified-elder\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you have to submit to an unqualified elder?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Should members of the church be submissive to the elders even though the elders do not meet the qualifications? There are five elders and four of them are not qualified due to the following: widower, children not faithful, etc.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>When someone says they don&#8217;t want to be submissive, the implication is that they plan to be rebellious. I see the lack of qualification as a separate issue because Paul said, &#8220;<em>submitting to one another in the fear of God<\/em>&#8221; (Ephesians 5:21) without limiting to whom we are to submit within the church. Along with that, we must consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 12:10).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself<\/em>&#8221; (Philippians 2:3).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, this does not mean that we follow people into error or that we can&#8217;t take a stand against error, but just because a person isn&#8217;t qualified to be an elder, it doesn&#8217;t mean we can reject or ignore what he states or asks of us.<\/p>\n<p>As I said, the lack of qualifications for an elder is a separate issue. While I believe that a widower is no longer qualified to be an elder, that isn&#8217;t the only view taken among the brethren. And an unfaithful child brings up questions of when the child became unfaithful and whether it was because of the elder or despite his efforts. The questions you have ought to be asked of the elders and the congregation. Depending on their answers you might have to decide whether you can continue to work with the congregation or not.<\/p>\n<p>One concern I have is that I&#8217;ve seen far too many cases where one person decides he can determine whether a man is qualified or not to be an elder. That puts the authority in the individual and not in the church. In these cases, the problem isn&#8217;t really whether a man is qualified or not. Somehow people can always find reasons not to accept an elder because they think the position demands absolute perfection. I&#8217;m not saying this is the case with you, but do be careful that you are mistaking your own willfulness as being the standard of truth.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Should members of the church be submissive to the elders even though the elders do not meet the qualifications? There are five elders and four of them are not qualified due to the following: widower, children not faithful, etc. Answer: When someone says they don&#8217;t want to be submissive, the implication is that they&hellip;<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[123,416],"class_list":["post-27459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders","tag-submission"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-hebrews-1317\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":0},"title":"Could you explain Hebrews 13:17?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hebrews 13:17 states \"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.\" There are two schools of thought that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-husbands-faith-grow-if-his-wife-does-not-submit-to-his-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":1},"title":"How can a husband&#8217;s faith grow if his wife does not submit to his authority?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to express my appreciation for those behind this website. You are doing great work for the Lord. Now my questions: The problem of submissiveness: How can the husband grow in faith when his wife does not submit to his authority? Divorce: Does forgiveness means that we must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/murmurers-and-complainers\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":2},"title":"Murmurers and Complainers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Michael R. Baggett The word \"murmur\" is not often used in our vocabulary. The King James Version uses this word to describe complainers who mutter, grumble, or express displeasure privately or publicly. Murmurers or complainers may complain against God (see Vine's, Murmurer, Jude 15-16). Moses experienced murmuring throughout the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14950,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-christian-have-the-right-to-privately-criticize-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":3},"title":"Does a Christian have the right to privately criticize an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does a church member have the right to privately confront or send a message to an elder, for the purpose of disagreement or criticism? If this not acceptable, what consequences should follow a disagreement? Answer: \"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-person-leave-a-church-that-doesnt-have-elders-or-deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":4},"title":"Should a person leave a church that doesn&#8217;t have elders or deacons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How long should a person attend a church that does not have any elders or deacons?\u00a0 What are some of the problems associated with a church not having any\u00a0elders or deacons? Answer: The follow-on question is: Are there no elders because none one currently attending is qualified, or are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18943,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-elders-have-the-consent-of-the-congregation-in-order-to-serve\/","url_meta":{"origin":27459,"position":5},"title":"Must elders have the consent of the congregation in order to serve?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","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\/27459","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=27459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}