Biblical Eldership, by Alexander Strauch, seeks to clarify what it means to be a biblical elder in light of what Strauch believes are widespread distortions and departures from that which is laid out by scripture. Strauch breaks out his book into four parts: Biblical Eldership, Defense of Biblical Eldership, The Exposition of Scripture, and Related Topics. In the first part Strauch defines biblical eldership as including five types of leadership: Pastoral, Shared, Male, Qualified, and Servant Leadership. He argues that all these aspects of leadership are what biblically define an elder. However, what we typically see in the church today is a view of eldership that is quite different. Often elders are considered to be church board members that are distinct in their office and function from a pastor. Strauch writes, “When most Christians hear of church elders, they think of an official church board, lay officials, influential people within the local church, or advisors to the pastor. They think of elders as policymakers, financial officers, fund raisers, or administrators. They don’t expect church elders to teach the Word or be involved pastorally in the lives of people.” But scripture knows nothing of this view of eldership. In 1 Peter 5:2, peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God. This idea of an elder as shepherd brings into view much more about the duties and responsibilities required of an elder than that of mere fundraising or administration. But rather the bible uses the metaphor of a shepherd to describe the fullness of what God intends for the elder/pastor to do and be about. We are called to be shepherd elders that protect, feed, lead, and care for the practical needs of the flock.
In the second part of the book, Strauch begins a defense of biblical eldership. Strauch argues in this Chapter that an elder governed church is not an option but the God-ordained means of organizing and leading his church; and not just one elder but a plurality of elders. He finds his support in Acts and several epistles that reference multiple elders that presumably oversee one church. Furthermore, in the epistles, there are instructions about elders given to the church and instruction and exhortation given directly to elders. These included, calling the elders to pray for the sick, financially supporting the elders, protecting elders from false accusation, choosing qualified elders, overseeing the church, guarding the church from false doctrine, and having a humble spirit and living at peace with one another.
In part 3, Strauch seeks to exegete all the key passages of scripture that deal with eldership to further support his earlier statements on what constitutes biblical eldership. He begins with a brief synopsis of what historical Jewish Elders did and how that institution and structure influenced the early Christian elders. He called out that these early Jewish Christian elders were responsible for things like: receiving and administering money, judging doctrinal issues, and providing counsel and resolving conflict. He then points out how Paul appointed elders in the gentile churches. Strauch goes through what appears to be an exhaustive list of verses in the new testament that deal with examples of functions that elders carried out to three lists of elder qualifications. Overall, I think that he does a commendable job of exegesis of these scriptures. The weight of his argument stems from the vast array of scriptures that support his defense of a church governed by a plural eldership. I will admit, that I came in biased in favor of his viewpoint, and thus am predisposed to finding his arguments more compelling than perhaps one who is committed to a more hierarchical model. Finally in part 4, Strauch concludes with biblical guidance on how we ought to appoint elders and what the relationship between the elders and the church should look like.
Overall, Strauch used well-thought out reasoning with ample scriptural support (complete with the underlying greek words and meanings where necessary) in order to successfully defend a biblical view of eldership that he sees as being plural, male, and with functions and responsibilities that are most clearly seen in the imagery of the shepherd. One of the strongest points of this book is the implicit challenge to men who are or aspire to be elders, to shepherd the flock in way that is true to the full calling that God has given them. By the grace of God and under the ultimate leadership of Christ, elders have an immense responsibility to shepherd and oversee the flock of God. Elders will be held to a higher accountability due to the influential nature of their calling. Elders everywhere need to read this book and ask tough questions about their leadership, their submission to God, their ability to protect and guard the flock, their willingness to serve the flock. If elders do not take responsibility, if elders treat the qualifications as optional, then the flock will suffer dearly and perhaps even be devoured by wolves.
I don’t think this book has many weaknesses. I think at times, Strauch draws out inferences from the text and states them as fact. For instance, when speaking of the apostles’ choice in setting up a church government he writes, “In adopting this familiar form of government, we can be certain that the apostles choice was no arbitrary decision. Prayer and the Spirit’s leading guided the twelve apostles and the first Jewish Christian community to establish leadership by a council of elders.” Really, we can be certain? I’m not so sure about that. Perhaps they selected that form of government over one of many possibly good choices? Maybe the elder-led government was meant to work well for their context but not necessarily for all peoples in all times? Though, in the end I generally agree with all his conclusions, there were some points, where I believe he concluded more strongly than the evidence allowed for. That said, I believe that Strauch has a prophetic voice in the area of biblical eldership and that the broader church would benefit from heeding his call to restore biblical church leadership.