Highly Esteem Them

Through the faithful proclamation of the Word of God, the voice of Christ is heard. Through the faithful shepherding of God’s people, the sheep know the eternal care of the Great Shepherd. Through the faithful leadership of men who order their steps rightly and are above reproach, the people have set before them a Christ-like example, worthy of imitation.

Faithful elders and deacons operate under much greater responsibility than laity and are worthy of greater honour and charity. Specifically, Paul instructs Timothy that elders are worthy of double honour.

As under-shepherds, elders serve the Church as Christ’s agents, His on-going physical representation in this world. These presbyters fulfill, in a subordinate manner, the roles of prophet, priest, and king in the covenant community. We generally find it easy to relate these roles within the home to the husband/father, but we need also to reflect on the truth that our elders fulfill these roles on a greater scale and bear more responsibility in the community. There is a real sense in which being God’s ordained minister, an under-shepherd should be viewed with reverence, hence the common term “reverend.” (I have no hesitation acknowledging that this reverence is but a shadow of the reverence due to our holy God.)

Therefore, we should find it an acceptable saying, that elders are worthy of double honour, and in anything else which we owe our brethren generally, we owe it in double measure to our overseers. In prayer, patience, mercy, encouragement, meekness, forgiveness, honour, and especially love, let us fulfill the Scripture’s “one another” exhortations within the Church, and grant double measure to our elders.
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It is no burden or tool of undue intimidation when a Christian is advised to exercise extreme caution before delivering accusations to the feet of an ordained pastor. There is a biblical pattern provided for addressing sin in a brother, and one apparent purpose in such a pattern is the prevention of false accusations and public slanders. If, in a wrongful levy of some charge, a pastor’s reputation is irreversibly damaged, then the judgment upon the accuser’s head ought to be great. It is nearly inevitable that when an accuser lays a reproach at the feet of a pastor, he automatically calls into question the pastor’s qualification for the ministry. God’s lovingkindness and holiness are not imaged forth to the world when we choose to disregard His Word and withhold the honour due to His under-shepherds.
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I am indebted to two quotes on the nature of preaching which caused me to contemplate these things and compose my thoughts for general consumption: Pastor Steve Wilkins: “When the Word is faithfully proclaimed, men do not merely hear about Christ, they hear Christ Himself.” And John Calvin: “This ought to add no small reverence to the Gospel, since we ought not so much to consider men as speaking to us, as Christ by His own mouth…”