In a previous article we considered the biblical evidence for a plurality of elders overseeing the local church. We made the point that it is not only disobedient to maintain a model of church government where the bulk of authority is vested in one man, but it is also exceedingly unwise and even hazardous to the spiritual health of the solitary leader and the congregation he oversees to remain in a state of one-man eldership. We can see the folly in rejecting God’s design when we contrast it with the many benefits that accrue to the leaders and the congregation when the church is led by a plurality of elder-pastors.
(1) A Plurality of Elders Share Burdens of Corporate Leadership
When you have a group of men leading the church and making important decisions, the difficulties of these decisions are not experienced or borne by just one person. Rather, the team as a whole equally shares the weight of difficult decisions.
When the burdens of leadership are the portion of just one man, burnout is often inevitable. Bearing the weight of leadership without shared authority almost crushed Moses. Moses came to the breaking point when he found himself shepherding Israel without a team of fellow leaders. Moses was experiencing “pastoral burnout” long before the phrase existed.
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness” (Num 11:10-14).
Moses was ready to die because the burdens of corporate leadership were simply too much for one man. What was God’s answer? Establish a group of leaders.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone (Num 11:16-17).
The chance of burnout increases when a pastor must bear the challenges of ministry on his own. But when a group of men share these burdens, each man is guarded from burnout and enabled to persevere in his ministry.
(2) A Plurality of Elders Share the Responsibilities of Ministry
Similar to the previous observation, a group of elders can share the many responsibilities of ministry. Not only is it impossible to bear all the weight of church leadership by oneself; it is impossible to fulfill all the needs of church ministry by oneself. The tasks of teaching, preaching, discipleship, counseling, administration, management, and discipline cannot be completed by just one man. This truth is not only due to the sheer amount of work that is required but also the eternal seriousness that attends each of these responsibilities.
A pastor does not merely discharge natural duties—his work is spiritual. He is caring for the souls of men and thus bearing the weight of greater accountability (James 3:1; Heb 13:17). To have only one man fulfilling these tasks is a formula for disaster. But when these responsibilities are shared among a plurality of qualified men, each man is protected from burnout.
(3) A Plurality of Elders Provides Access to Greater Amounts of Wisdom
The Proverbs teach us that wisdom is found in a plurality of counselors. When faced with challenging decisions and circumstances, multiple elders provide a larger pool of insight from which to draw. A group of men with differing gifts, perspectives, ideas, and experiences supply a richer source of wisdom than what just one man can provide. Indeed, poor decisions are often made by someone who acts alone and doesn’t glean wisdom from the counsel of others (Prov 10:8; 11:4; 24:6).
A group of men with differing gifts, perspectives, ideas, and experiences supply a richer source of wisdom than what just one man can provide.
Why do we think it is feasible, then, for churches to be led by so-called “Senior Pastors” or solitary leaders who have no access to the collective wisdom of other godly, elder-qualified men? It seems that such a structure is, by its very design, uniquely conducive to poor decision-making, as Solomon reminds us: “He who isolates himself seeks his own desire and breaks out against all sound wisdom” (Prov 18:1). Granted, a solitary pastor may not be purposefully isolating himself, but the position he is in detaches him from an important source of wisdom—a group of godly counselors—and therefore is not an environment that is advantageous to good decision-making.
(4) A Plurality of Elders Helps Each Elder Grow as a Man
Serving alongside a group of fellow qualified leaders can be an effective means of spiritual growth for the men in the group (see Prov 27:17). Elders need to learn to speak the truth in love with one another (Eph 4:15), disagree graciously with one another (2 Tim 2:24), and exercise courage by speaking their minds, maintaining their convictions, and challenging what they perceive to be wrong-headed ideas or assertions from other elders (Prov 29:25; Gal 1:10). When elder teams cultivate mutual respect and brotherly affection between each other, this creates an environment in which each of the elders can grow in these vital qualities of mature manhood.
(5) A Plurality of Elders Provides Greater Accountability for Each Elder
In the aftermath of pastoral scandals it is not uncommon to hear that the offending pastor lacked accountability. In such cases, either no one had real access to the pastor, or, if they did, they couldn’t critique him due to his status as the “senior pastor.” Slowly, without the protection of this regular accountability, sinful habits begin to creep into a pastor’s life until it is overrun with flesh and his transgressions become public.
But when authority is not vested in one man, and a team of equally qualified men work together to lead the church, these elders hold each other accountable for their character and pastoral qualifications and thus serve as an important safety mechanism of checks and balances for each other. While a plurality of elders does not guarantee that all the men on the team will avoid disqualifying sin, it certainly helps, and a church that assigns all the authority to a single man is almost certainly setting itself up for calamity.
(6) A Plurality of Elders Helps Cultivate Genuine Friendship Among the Elders
Many men are lonely in the ministry and are struggling because of it. The authors of the recent book, Pastoral Friendship, write, “Every modern pastor needs the presence and friendship of other pastors to thrive and persevere throughout the unique challenges of pastoral ministry” (17). This is certainly true. And, while it is wise for a man to seek friendship with pastors outside his local congregation (as the book recommends), we can’t overlook the immense benefit that a plurality of elders offers in terms of friendship. Indeed, what better place to forge deep and enduring relationships than the furnace of shared pastoral ministry? Elders are brothers-in-arms who are laboring together for the spiritual growth and protection of Christ’s church, who are not afraid to speak honestly and forthrightly with each other, and who are spending much time together in the context of corporate worship and fellowship. These are the ingredients of deep and abiding friendship.
Conclusion
These are just some of the many benefits that a plurality of elders provides the church. God’s wisdom is on display in his design of church leadership where a plurality of elders work together to shepherd God’s flock, and we resist his instruction to our ministerial peril. May all churches follow God’s Word on this important topic and establish multiple qualified elders to lead their local congregation.
