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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:2, 9; 1 Pet. 5:1-3
We usually make a clear distinction between the apostles and the elders. The apostles are for all the localities, but the elders are for one locality. The apostles are universal, but the elders are local. On one hand, it is appropriate to make a clear distinction between the apostles and the elders, but on the other hand, we need to guard against an inaccurate and distorted understanding. Both the apostles and the elders shepherd the flock of God and build up the church. These two groups of people do the same thing. The elders should be able to do what the apostles do. The elders carry out what the apostles do and continue what the apostles have done.
We need a clear explanation of the office of the apostles and the office of the elders. In an attempt to understand these two offices, most people tend to make them distinct and separate, but this is not the proper understanding of the truth. My head and body are distinct, but they cannot be separated, for if they were separated, my life would be over. In understanding the truth, we should keep in mind that the different aspects and points of the truth must not be separated. However, it is wrong if no distinction is made between the different aspects and points of the truth. This can be compared to saying that there is no distinction between the head and the body or between the eyebrows and the eyes. Nevertheless, the truth should not be cut apart, just as the head and the body should not be separated.
On the one hand, there is a distinction between what the apostles do and what the elders do. On the other hand, however, according to my experience and observation over the years, these two groups of people do the same thing. If the apostles have time, they should do what the elders do. If the apostles do not have time, the elders are needed to carry out and complete what the apostles do not have the time to do. For this reason, a person can be both an elder and an apostle. Peter was such a person; he was both an apostle and an elder (1 Pet. 1:1; 5:1), because the apostles and the elders do the same thing.
The human mind is very troublesome. Sometimes it does not know how to discern the truth, but at other times it is too exact in defining the truth. People think that the apostles are superior and have more authority and that the elders are subject to the authority of the apostles. The common thought is that the apostles are superior and that the elders are inferior. However, according to the words of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, no believer is superior or inferior. Whoever wants to be first shall be the slave of all (10:44). Nevertheless, in Christianity — and even among us — apostles are exalted to a lofty status. Therefore, no one dares to say that he is an apostle, because the apostles are too high.
Contrarily, people regard the elders as being inferior to the apostles but superior to other believers. As a result, a brother who becomes an elder in a local church is regarded as a high-ranking official who is second only to the emperor. We need to knock down this wrong concept so that we can have a clear understanding of the truth. Every believer can be an apostle. For example, even though students do not teach, they can become teachers when they graduate. In the same principle, every believer in the church can become an apostle.
Apostles travel to different places in order to perfect the saints to do what the apostles do, just as teachers perfect students to become teachers. A math teacher should perfect his students to understand math and to be able to teach math in the future. If forty students graduate from a class, there should be forty math teachers in the future. Likewise, after an apostle works in a place for a few years, many believers should be perfected as apostles. Hence, whether a person is an apostle does not depend on a title or a position but on his being and function. A believer who is able to perfect the saints is an apostle, and a believer who is not able to perfect the saints is not an apostle.
Similarly, every brother can be an elder, and every brother must be an elder. If there are only three elders in a church and the rest of the brothers are considered to be “small potatoes,” that church is in a pitiful condition. I hope that one day there will be many brothers as elders in one church. However, not everyone needs to be an elder, because if everyone were mature and could be an elder, it would mean that there are no new believers. If a school has only teachers but no students, the school is not doing well, because it implies that the students do not want to be there. A successful school will have many teachers and many students. No matter where the co-workers go, they should expect that the brothers will become apostles. This is what it means to perfect the saints. If the apostles and the elders cannot produce “graduates,” the church will have no future.
The apostles, the elders, and the believers are the same. The apostles travel to places in order to help the believers become apostles, just as teachers help students to become teachers. The word apostle does not bear a lofty connotation. In Greek the word for apostle means a “sent one.” Apostles are sent by God. However, we have developed the thought of organization and hierarchy because we have been poisoned by the wrong concept in Christianity, and we consider the apostles to be high-ranking officials. The Catholic Church exalted the apostle Peter to the status of the pope. However, both the apostles and the elders should be slaves. The Lord Jesus said, “It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 20:26), and Peter says that the elders should not lord it over their allotments but should be patterns of the flock (1 Pet. 5:3).
The Bible reveals that the work of the elders is to shepherd the flock of God and to teach the children of God (v. 2; 1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17; Titus 1:9). In order to shepherd and teach the children of God, the elders must be right in their person. When the New Testament speaks of the elders, its focus is on the person being right and unreprovable (1 Tim. 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9). Being unreprovable does not mean that they do not make mistakes but that they do not need to be reproved. Paul says that the deacons must hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience (1 Tim. 3:8-9). A pure conscience is an inward matter, but being unreprovable is an outward matter. The elders should be unreprovable in the eyes of men, and the elders should have a pure conscience that is free of offense.
In addition, the elders must hold the mystery of the faith. Our faith has a twofold mystery: Christ is the embodiment of God, and the church is the expression of Christ. The mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church (Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4-6). This is the mystery of our faith. Every believer among us must know and hold this mystery. The elders and the deacons and deaconesses must have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the mystery of the faith. They should hold it and be able to share it with others.
The shepherding of the flock of God by the elders includes caring and feeding, just as a shepherd takes care of the sheep and feeds them so that they dwell securely and are satisfied. The elders also need to teach the saints. Not only should the elders give a message on a weekly basis, but they should also teach the saints on a daily basis. Do the elders in the localities shepherd and teach the saints? Or do they merely make arrangements, reach decisions, give announcements, and sign papers? If the elders are involved with the latter, they are not serving as elders but are acting as officials. The function of the elders is to perfect the saints so that the saints can eventually do what the apostles do. If the elders shepherd the saints in their locality, take care of them, feed them, and teach them, the condition of the saints will change year after year, and the church will be appreciated in that locality. Those who have a heart for the Lord will be drawn to the church and desire the church. However, the churches are nearly empty because many elders are not functioning as elders. People neither respect nor desire the church, and many promising young people leave the church for something else. The young people who are discouraged by the function of the elders have little appreciation for the church and feel that the church is not attractive and may eventually love the world.
If we do not have a fundamental change, our running will be in vain, our work will be to no avail, and the church will have no future. Our situation will be like a stream of water with sulfur in it. If the source of sulfur is not cut off, the water will inevitably have sulfur. We need to repent. This word is to the co-workers and the elders as well as to myself. Even though we have the right ground, the right way, and the riches of the divine life, if our person is wrong, what we do will also be wrong. As a result, the saints will have no regard for us, and we will not deserve their respect. Hence, I am entreating us to consecrate ourselves to the Lord in a fresh way and to give everything for the church of God.
