Book of the Week: Biblical Eldership

beldershipThis week’s book of the week is Alexander Strauch’s Biblical Eldership.  Our elders at North Side have gone through this book as a study.  The book is a biblical exposition of the New Testament model of elders within a local church.

While we studied it in groups going over different sections, I took this week to reread it and really grasp the entire volume.  What I love about this book is his foundation is not personal opinion but the biblical text.  Some great stuff!

Top 5 Lines:

  1. “According to the New Testament concept of eldership, elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick and pray, and judge doctrinal issues” (16).
  2. “Although elders act jointly as a council and share equal authority and responsibility for the leadership of the church, all are not equal in their gifted ness, biblical knowledge, leadership ability, experience or dedication” (45).
  3. “Some of the worst havoc wrought to the Christian faith has been a direct result of unscriptural forms of church structure” (101).
  4. “Church leaders who fail to admonish God’s people because they are afraid that people will leave the church or stop giving financially dishonor God, disobey His Word, and fail miserably at spiritual care” (169).
  5. “To God, the Church is the most precious thing on earth.  In the face of many problems and labors, the greatest encouragement and incentive an elder can have is to know that he performs an exceedingly excellent work — one that is worthy of the sacrifice of one’s life” (187).