That They All May Be One

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     (NOTE: Our daughter, Sharon Sue, thinks that we ought to tell our new readers that this series of articles relates the story of a congregation planted by an evangelist, and his attempts to bring that congregation to spiritual maturity. At present he is assisting in the development of men qualified to serve as bishops, and as we drop in on their meeting today, he has just finished giving them a preliminary dissertation on the subject of elders, and is now receiving and answering questions of the brethren).

     1. How old should a man be to qualify for the office of bishop?
     I think the term "elder" contemplates more than mere calendar age. While its primary significance has to do with age, we have learned that it came, in an official sense, to apply to those possessed of certain executive abilities. I would not set an arbitrary age limit, but certainly one should be old enough to be sober in his thinking and possessed of sufficient experience to enable him to administer spiritual affairs acceptably. There could hardly be a "young elder" any more than there could be an "old youngster."

     2. Can a man be appointed a bishop against his will?
     No! A man cannot be appointed over his own opposition. The scriptures are very specific in stating that one should take the oversight "not by constraint, but willingly." Every Christian man who can qualify ought to be willing, if chosen to serve as a bishop, for if he can fulfill the responsibility, and refuses to do so, he may have to answer to God for his reluctance and refusal. But if a man feels that because of his temperament he cannot qualify, he should not accept the office, and his brethren should not try to force him into it.

     3. Can a man resign from the office of bishop?
     Certainly so. Any office, the acceptance of which is contingent upon the willingness of the individual, must be retained upon the same basis. It would be just as wrong for one to keep an office unwillingly as to take it that way. If a bishop becomes convinced that he is disqualified, or if he deems it essential to the peace and welfare of the congregation, he should resign. On the same basis, if the community of saints becomes convinced that a mistake was made in selecting a man, and if they conclude that he is disqualified, they should ask him to resign. God has made no arrangement for the perpetuity of a situation intolerable to an individual or the congregation which he serves.

     4. Why is there no scripture for a man resigning?
     None is needed. The word of God specifies that a man must serve "willingly" and "of a ready mind." When he can no longer gain consent of his will, and his mind tells him that he cannot serve the best interests of the congregation, he should return the office to the congregation which entrusted him with it. The office belongs to the congregation and not to the individual, else they could not bestow it. You cannot bestow upon another that which you do not have. If the office belonged to the individual he could give it to another, or will it to one of his heirs. It is a trust held in behalf of the community of saints.

     5. Is it possible for a bishop to get too old to serve?
     There is no calendar age minimum and no maximum. But just as one may be so young that his judgment is not adequate to the task, so he may become so old that his judgment is impaired, and the infirmities of age may render him incapable of tending the flock. A bishop is a shepherd. A shepherd can get too old to go out and endure the rigors of watching a flock. So it is with a shepherd of the Lord's flock. He may become senile and childish and hold back the work of the Lord by his petulance. Under such

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circumstances, he should be asked to relinquish his office. This is no reflection against him, but he may reflect against the congregation if he remains in office. Unfortunately, it is a mark of childishness that a person resolves to hang on when he has served out his usefulness in a given sphere. He considers himself indispensable. This is an admission that he has not done his duty in training successors.

     6. Can a congregation be scriptural without having elders?
     Yes and no! If a congregation does not have men who are qualified, it cannot be counted unscriptural. However, when men are qualified, if the brethren refuse to have them appointed, they are acting in violation of God's will. The divine program is that elders be ordained in every congregation (Acts 14:23). Until such men are qualified the congregation should continue under the guidance of an evangelist whose duty it is to develop men for the office (Titus 1:5). It is not God's will that a congregation continue interminably without bishops, and if there are men who could qualify and will not, they will be judged for failure to meet the full degree of responsibility.

     7. Do you consider that a plurality of elders must be appointed in each congregation?
     I believe the divine plan embraces a plurality of bishops in each congregation. It is not for each place to have a presbyter, but a presbytery, i.e., a body of elders (1 Tim. 4:14). The apostle and his evangelistic companion ordained elders in every congregation (Acts 14:23), and consistent with this we find a plurality of elders in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30), Ephesus (Acts 20:17), Philippi (Phil. 1:1).

     The plurality of overseers appears evident from undesigned and casual statements of apostolic admonition. "Obey them that have the rule over you" (Heb. 13:7). "Know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord" (1 Thess. 5:12). Peter wrote: "The elders which are among you I exhort" (1 Peter 5:1,2). Paul said: "Take heed unto yourselves and the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20: 28). It would have been impossible to obey the injunction "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church" (James 5:14) on any other ground than a plurality of bishops in the local congregation.

     (At this juncture, no more questions of a preliminary nature being asked, the evangelist announced that he would continue his instruction of the congregation on the subject by an analysis of the different terms used in reference to the office. It will be our privilege to visit the congregation again next month and share in the interesting instruction and discussion).