It was about seven years ago when
the knocking of a hand against my front door got my attention. Upon opening the door, I was faced with two
Mormon
boys who could not have been older than 19.
I asked the customary question, “Can I help you?” Instead of answering the question, they
proceeded to introduce themselves. “My
name is Elder Bob, and this is Elder Joe.”
Knowing that these boys had no idea what the word
“elder” meant, I asked
them a simple question. “How are your
wife and kids?” The look of confusion
across their face told me they also didn’t know what the Bible teaches
about
elders. Upon explaining that an elder was
the husband of one wife and had believing children, I asked them the
question again. They said “thank you” and
shortly thereafter
were on their way to the next house.
The
word “elder” signifies, by
its very definition, someone who is older.
How old? Let us let the
Bible
speak on this matter. The first place to
look is in the qualifications for elders which were laid out by the
apostle
Paul in I Timothy 3. The one desiring
the office of bishop (elder) must be blameless, the husband of one wife. Literally, the wording is “a one-woman
man.” This man must have proven himself
to be faithful to his wife, a dedicated husband. Obviously
this is not something a 19-year old
can prove. This is something that is
proven over a period of time. According
to some sources, most men during the first century did not marry until
they
were in their 30’s. Imagine, then, the
age at which these people would have been known as dedicated husbands
by the
rest of the congregation.
Also,
the elder must have
faithful children (Titus 1:6). Does this
mean faithful to him or faithful to God?
Skipping this question for a moment, let us look at
the simple point
that the man must have children who are old enough to show they are
faithful. The children must be old
enough to make decisions and show that they have been raised to make
the right
ones. They obey their father because
they are in subjection to him (I Timothy 3:4).
This does not describe children under the teenage
years. If this means children who are
faithful to
God, it means that the children must be faithful Christians. If it means faithful to their father, this
age of accountability would be about the same, wouldn’t you think? This man’s children must be known to be
obedient. This again is something that
takes time to prove, especially if it is referring to being a faithful
Christian.
Looking
at the likely age of
marriage (say 30-35), adding the time it would take for their children
to get
to be teenagers (add another 15 or more years), as well as tacking on
the time
it would take for the children to prove themselves “faithful” once they
reach
the age of accountability, and you get someone who meets these first
two
qualifications for being an elder probably around age 50.
Let
us also consider one last
point. The apostle Peter, approximately
61-63 AD, said he was an elder of the Lord’s church (I Peter 5:1). If we accept that he was about Jesus’ age
when he became a disciple of the Lord, then Peter would be about 65
years old
when he wrote this. He commanded the
elders to whom he wrote, using the fact that he was an elder as back-up
for his
commands (I Peter 5:1-4). This is not
something that a newly-appointed elder would likely do, so Peter had
likely
been an elder at the church in Jerusalem for some time, perhaps a
decade?
From a Biblical
perspective,
there is no way that a 19-year old could be an elder. It would be
pushing it to say someone in
their 40s would qualify as “older,” as the word “elder”
necessitates. Though the Bible gives no specific age, it
does give certain milestones (faithful husband and faithful children)
which
would be very difficult to reach before their late 40s/early 50s.
- Bradley Cobb
Gravel Hill church of Christ webmaster