Three Greek words refer to the office of an elder.  The word for “elder” is presbyteros.  It denotes an older man who has accumulated some wisdom and experience.  Then there is the word for pastor which is poimēn.  This word points to the care elders give to the flock as shepherds.  Finally, there is the word that we are mostly concerned about in this blog.  It is the word for bishop which is episkopos.  The word episkopos points to the work that the man does.

Episkopos appears 4 times in the singular and twice in the plural (Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1,2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25).  The KJV tends to translate the word as bishop, while the more modern translations almost always translate it as overseer.  Episkopos is a compound word consisting of two different Greek words which Vines breaks down for us:

Vine’s Expository Dictionary  
“an overseer” (epi, “over,” skopeō, “to look or watch”)

So, a bishop is one who “watches over” others.  Thayer has this:

Thayer Greek-English Lexicon
“A man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly; any curator, guardian or superintendent.”

The word bishop points to the responsibility of elders and why it is so vital for them to be properly qualified.  If a man cannot oversee or look over the local church, he has no business being a bishop, but if he possesses the proper qualifications, he will be able to do the job.

Now, as we saw in our last blog, it is important to see that authority is an inherent part of being an overseer.  The word “over” denotes being above in rank and authority.  The word “seer” means to look upon or inspect.  When you combine these two words, the idea of superintendence is inescapable.  An overseer has inherent authority, without which he could not do his job.

The duty of elders to watch over the souls of the saints is what makes them so important to the local church and what should endear us to them.  We should try to understand the enormity of this responsibility and the pressure that goes along with it.  It is easy to second-guess the decisions that elders make when you do not have the extra weight of being accountable for the souls of others.  It is like sitting in the passenger seat of a car and constantly criticizing the driver.  That is easy to do when you are not in the driver’s seat.  Before we get into the habit of criticizing elders, we should think about how our own decisions might be different if we had the duty of considering the souls of a whole congregation.

We should also be humble enough to consider the reason the elders are serving in that capacity and we are not.  It is often the case that while they meet the qualifications to be elders and make the kind of decisions that we sometimes disagree with, we do not.  This is not exclusively true.  There are men in many congregations who qualify to be elders but simply have not been asked to serve as such.  It has been my experience, however, that those who criticize the elders the most, do not themselves qualify to be elders.   If this is you, learn to be humble enough to submit to the elders without complaint.

If you attend a local church with elders, appreciate the work they do on your behalf.  Thank God that you have someone who is watching over your soul and appreciate the immense pressure that they live with to do so.  Do not hinder them in any way, but help them do their jobs with joy.  After telling us to obey and submit to the elders, and how they will have to give account for how they serve as elders, the Hebrews writer follows with this exhortation.

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ …Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.