Passages Regarding the Responsibility of the Church to Elders

I am doing a series on the eldership, and here is a breakdown of the  passages related to the role of the church in its relationship to the elders.

1 Thess. 5:12-13

¹² We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

·      “Respect”, οἶδα (oida) - to recognize merit, respect, honor… respect the people who work among you 1 Th 5:12.

·      “Admonish”, νουθετέω (noutheteō) - to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct, admonish, warn, instruct.

·      “Esteem”, ἡγέομαι (hēgeomai) - to engage in an intellectual process, think, consider, regard. In 1 Th 5:13 there emerges…the sense esteem, respect.

1 Tim. 5:17-20

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

·      “Honor”, τιμή (timē) - honor conferred through compensation, honorarium, compensation.

Hebrews 13:17

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

·      “Obey”, πείθω (peithō) - obey, follow.

·      “Submit”, ὑπείκω (hypeikō) - to yield to someone’s authority, yield, give way, submit.

1 Peter 5:5

⁵ Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

·      “Be subject”, ὑποτάσσω  (hypotassō) - to cause to be in a submissive relationship…Of submission involving recognition of an ordered structure.