Are elders held to a higher standard than other Christians?

What a silly question! Of course they are!

Hang on.

It is common to hear that pastors/elders are held to a higher standard because they are to lead and be examples to “their flock”. I read something this morning that made that very point regarding a certain famous pastor who claims to get visions while in the pulpit and how such behavior is unbecoming a man who is a pastor. Our cultural understanding tells us that elders have a higher standard of behavior than others Christians. I don’t think most Christians would object to that notion if the question were put to them. Is that really true? I am not asking if elders are called to lives of holiness. Obviously they are. The question is whether “regular” Christians are held to a different, presumably lower, standard. I don’t think so.

“Au contraire!” you may say, Scripture is replete with calls for Christians to emulate and imitate the lifestyles of leaders in the church, including elders (see: Hebrews 13:7, 2 Thess 3:7, 9; 1 Tim 4:12, 1 Peter 5:3). Very true.

The key is found in Paul’s letters to Timothy ( 1 Tim 3: 1-7 ) and Titus (Titus 1: 5-9). Paul is saying that for someone to be an elder, they need to exhibit certain qualities. So Paul is not telling Timothy to recognize and appoint as elders men who have the potential, with the proper training and ordination, to become men of character that we should emulate but rather to appoint as elders those men among the local body who already were exhibiting those traits.

Is lying acceptable for an elder? What about murder or adultery or stealing or blasphemy? Well of course the answer is no. Is lying, murdering, adultery, stealing or blasphemy acceptable for any Christian? I should think the answer is also a firm no. What about false teaching? Of course elders should not hold to or expound false teaching. Should a “regular” Christian not be held to that same standard?

We need to be very careful about the religious stuff we declare. When we see a two-tiered set of standards for elders/pastors and everybody else we have crossed a dangerous line. I really dislike it when we apply Scripture differently to some Christians versus others or when someone says things like “thinking about this issue pastorally”. There is no such thing as a follower of Christ that is not called to a life of obedience and service and no Christian is left unequipped or unqualified as all Christians have a new heart and are a new creation. It is not so much an issue of expecting too much of elders but rather expecting too little from the rest of us. We need to stop expecting less of “regular” Christians and start expecting, equipping and encouraging every Christian, regardless of title, to live lives worthy of the Gospel by which we were saved (Phil 1:27), a Gospel that is the same for the man in the pulpit or the guy in the last pew.