Are elders called by God?

Answer:

Does God call men to accomplish various duties for the church? Yes (I Corinthians 12:28-29). But where the controversy arises is how God calls. "Called" is another way to say "invited" or "encouraged to come." "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do" (I Timothy 3:1).

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Christ established the positions, but this passage doesn't tell us how they are filled. Far too many people assume that Christ selects individual people directly, but this assumption is not based on the Scriptures.

The Bible tells us that elders are needed. We see their work described, and we find examples of elders being appointed (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23). However, we notice that preachers were told to appoint elders. Men did not appoint themselves. Instead, preachers were given qualifications to look for in men before they were appointed to the duty (I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Using the example in Acts 6, the church selects men for the task (Acts 6:3), and then they are appointed (Acts 6:6). Where is God's hand in this? He is the one who gave the qualifications for elders and encouraged men to seek the duty because it is fine work to be done.