Accusation Against an Elder
I Timothy is a letter in which the Apostle Paul writes the evangelist Timothy covering many topics. As Paul rounds into the portion of the letter identified as chapter 5, he provides a number of instructions regarding both the male and female Christian. The focus of this article comes in verse 19: “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.” This verse has been frequently abused and sadly by elders who do not want to be questioned or disagreed with by others. What does the verse mean? Can a Christian disagree with an elder? Can a Christian tell an elder he is in sin? Finally, can a Christian say anything in opposition to what a preacher or elder has said or done publicly?
Over the years, I know of two different elderships who have utilized this verse to state that someone had made an accusation against them. In both circumstances, an individual approached an elder privately. With the first case, the individual informed the elder that he knew that he had told a lie and had done so before the entire congregation. In the second case, two elders were individually and privately informed that the Christian disagreed with a decision that had been made regarding the congregation. In neither instance did the individual desire to take the actions further out of concern for the disruption of peace in the congregation and fear of potential division that might arise. As mentioned, however, the elders declared this was making an accusation against them without witnesses and therefore was sinful. Is this what Paul meant when he wrote Timothy?
The apostle Paul was a Hebrew Christian, an Israelite, a Pharisee. His nation operated under the Law of Moses and though Christ freed Israel from the Law, their knowledge (and Paul’s specifically) of how to deal with “legal” issues was strong. From their time spent in the wilderness forward, this is what they were taught: “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.“ (Deuteronomy 19:15) What Paul shares with Timothy is not the Law of Moses, but the reality that the principle is the same. If you are going to tell others a man has done something wrong and are seeking to publicly make a stand against him, then you need to have other witnesses. Those with the power to punish the man (the congregation) cannot do this by one witness alone. They need to be certain and if they take the word of only one man, not only may he be wrong, but the accused may see their reputation ruined. Note: this is not a private issue Paul and Timothy are discussing. The issue is a public one where a public remedy is being sought out. Therefore, in neither of our two cases mentioned where an individual approached individual elders to express his concern privately would the situations appropriately apply to I Timothy 5:19. That the elderships did not know this should be of great concern seeing that the qualifications to be an elder include the fact that they should not be novices with the scriptures (I Timothy 3:6) and they should be strong enough to rebuke those contradicting the scriptures (Titus 1:9).
Can a Christian disagree with an elder or tell Him he is in sin? Yes. They can certainly do so in regard to opinion issues such as discussed in Romans 14. What about scriptural interpretation? Let me answer this with some questions. Do elders ever disagree with one another? Yes. Are they inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore infallible with doctrinal teaching? No. We know Christians can make accusations against elders or Paul would not have given Timothy a process for doing so. I greatly appreciate the Berean Jews checking to see if the things the apostle Paul said were the truth (Acts 17:11), certainly, we can do so for elders today. Elders are not “special” case Christians. Matthew 18:15-18 covers dealing with their sins as it does everyone else’s. Additional scriptures in regard to this include 2 Timothy 4:2, Titus 2:15, James 5:20 and Jude 1:23.
Finally, can a Christian say anything in opposition to what a preacher or elder has said or done publicly? Yes. When a preacher or elder does anything, people watch and listen. These are men who are very visible before a congregation and hopefully in the community. I Corinthians 12 does a great job of breaking down the importance of everyone in the Body of Christ. “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” We all have the responsibility to care for one another. We have a greater responsibility than the Berean Jews to validate what has been taught and discuss it. Again, today, no one is inspired. We can look at scripture and say, I don’t think that man’s interpretation is correct. And if it is important enough and he will listen, we can approach him like Aquila and Priscilla and teach him the way more perfectly. When we do so, we rely upon the authority of the scriptures and what they say. We rely upon the authority of the gospel, not fallible man.
Elders are men who are to provide proper leadership to the Church in both behavior and scriptural knowledge. Sometimes, they are mistaken. Sometimes, they behave poorly. They require the same care and compassion that you would give any other brother. Paul tells Timothy in regard to the older (elder), “encourage him as a father”. Follow the pattern God has given in regard to dealing with brothers and sisters and their opinions or error. However, do not fear disagreement. Do not fear correcting privately or publicly when necessary. If approaching an elder privately, you can do so as you would any other Christian. If you are indeed going to make an accusation in a public manner seeking possible discipline against an elder as Paul instructs Timothy about, then bring your witnesses and make the accusation.
