QUESTION:

I was brought up as a Christian. However, I have begun to study on my own and have realized that a lot of the things the church has been teaching me are wrong. I presented many of my findings about keeping Yahweh’s commandments to the leaders of that church, and they said I was getting involved in a movement that "judaizes" the Messiah and His commands. When I refused to back down from the truth, they said that they could no longer be my elders because they could not be responsible for my soul, because they have to give an account of all the assembly. They were offended that I studied on my own and did not include them in the process. I believe I am well within my right to study Scripture and to look into things to make sure that what I am believing is true. I believe I am responsible for my own soul and should work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. But then, what is the role of an elder? Are they intended to be our overseers? When Scripture speaks of "elders", what exactly does it mean?

ANSWER:

First of all, each one of us is certainly accountable for our own soul. As Shaul (Paul) exhorted the assembly at Philippi, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling. For IT IS ELOHIM which worketh in you, both to will, and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13) A trend that is seen over and over again in the Scriptures is that Israel would serve Yahweh (at least outwardly) whenever they had a righteous leader, but as soon as that righteous one was succeeded by a wicked ruler, they would all fall into sin. Obviously, it is the human nature to follow after the crowd and do whatever is socially and nationally accepted. But this ought not to be! If our faith is truly genuine, we will be true to Yahweh regardless of what others are doing. We need to be the kind of people such as Joshua and Caleb were, and Abraham, and Moses, and Eliyah, and other stalwart heros of our faith, who stood up for what was right even when the whole nation was going astray. We are responsible for our own salvation, and we must never let that up to another man, church, etc. The purpose of the assembly is to build one another up in the faith, not to tear people down and lead them astray. We are instructed to try the spirits, and if we find them to be not of Yahweh, there comes a time when we must move on.

Each individual is certainly well within their right to study the Scriptures on their own. As far as elders, overseers, and deacons go, we believe that first of all, each man is the head / overseer / priest of his own home. (See Genesis 3:16; Genesis 18:19; Ephesians 5:22-23; Ephesians 6:4; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 3:2-5, 12) The authority and righteous leadership of a man over his own family far outweighs the "authority" of the "local assembly". See 1Corinthians 14:34-35, in which it is evident that a woman is to look to her husband (or father, in the case of an unmarried woman) for leadership rather than going and seeking advice and counseling from the pastor, etc. The husband and father is the shepherd of his own family, and as such, he is certainly entitled to study the Scriptures on his own. This is what the Bereans did. When Shaul (Paul) brought to them the glad news message, they searched the Scriptures on their own to see whether or not the things he told them were true. (Acts 17:10-11) We are commanded to "prove all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to "try the spirits, whether they are of Elohim" (1 John 4:1). This is something we can only do if we take the time to study the Scriptures on our own. If we depend solely on the teachings of others, it is incredibly easy for us to be led astray.

Seeing that the fathers are the leaders of their families, it is logical then, to assume that the assembly as a whole is composed of many "elders", "deacons", and "overseers", these being the fathers in the assembly, who, as they each watch over their own respective families, jointly watch over the assembly as a whole. Does this mean that a leader has the authority to override another's leadership over his own family? Certainly not. Leaders in the assembly are designed for the purpose of spiritual edification and growth, not for the disintegration of the family or violation of another's convictions. Leaders are just men like everyone else. They are not preeminent or to be automatically obeyed in everything. Shaul (Paul) understood this. He said in Philippians 3:15 ~ "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and IF IN ANY THING YE BE OTHERWISE MINDED, ELOHIM SHALL REVEAL EVEN THIS UNTO YOU." Understanding that the assembly would not agree on every single point, Shaul pointed out that Elohim reveals things to us individually, and that, when we do not see things eye to eye, we must understand that Yahweh is leading each one of us, and that perhaps he has revealed something to another brother which we have not yet seen. In other words, as an example, if an elder sees a brother in the faith discovering that the Sabbath, Law, Names, etc. are important, this elder should take the time to study the issue out, realizing that perhaps Yahweh is speaking to this individual, and in this way, the elder may be able to find the truth himself, rather than just feeling threatened.

A problem all down through history has been the human inclination to exalt earthly leaders over Yahweh. When Israel felt that they needed a king so that they could be like the nations around them, Yahweh was very displeased, and He said, "They have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them." (1 Samuel 8:7) Anytime that a human leader gets in the way of obedience to Yahweh, there is serious danger. Yahshua, too, warned us of this: "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Messiyah, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your father which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Messiyah. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whomsoever shall exalt himself shall be abased: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:8-12) Of course Yahshua never meant that we could not call anyone "father" in the pure sense, but He warned against exalting a human leadership figure above Yahweh. "Rabbi" literally means "my great one". Should any human be "our great one", or our "ultimate" father and master? Absolutely not. When this transpires, we see a detrimental happening, which is described in Matthew 23:13 ~ "But woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites; for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." Placing all our trust in human authorities can result in the damnation of our very own souls, for if the blind lead the blind, BOTH will fall into a ditch.

Some feel that as long as one has the title of "pastor" or something similar, he is worthy of great respect. Scripture makes it very clear that many shepherds / pastors are not genuine, and are leading the flock astray and destroying it. (See Jeremiah 23:1; Matthew 23:13-15, 23-28; Matthew 7:15-23; Ezekiel 22:23-28) Yahweh promises that, in stead of these false shepherds, He raises up the true Shepherd of our souls (Jeremiah 23:5-6), He who has been anointed with the Spirit of Yahweh to come and bring deliverance to the captives (Isaiah 61:1-3; Hebrews 2:14-17). This is the divine Shepherd to whom we all ought to submit. If, in the assembly, we see those who are not submitting to Him, then we certainly cannot submit to them either. For those who truly do honor and love Him, though, we are instructed to all be subject one to another (1 Peter 5:5), exhorting one another (Hebrews 10:24-25), and building each other up in the faith once delivered.

There is one last thing we wish to share, and that is in regards to the accusation of "judaizing" the Messiyah. Interestingly, Messiyah was a Jew by birth, and was called the King of the Jews. However, His religion was not Jewish. He was certainly very Hebrew, but He condemned strongly the corruption of the Jewish religion. The faith that Yahweh gave to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, and all of Israel, and the faith which Messiyah Yahshua came to proclaim, was and is not Jewish. A trap that many have fallen into is thinking that Torah-keeping means "being Jewish", and we have been very saddened to see a popular trend of people coming out of Christianity, discovering their Hebrew roots, thinking that the Jews "have it down" and placing undue trust in the Jewish rabbis, and then rushing right in Judaism, denying the Messiyah and the Apostolic writings. It is certainly Scriptural for us to belong to the Israelite faith defined in the Scriptures, searching out our Hebrew roots, and keeping, loving, and following the Torah; but this does not mean we are to be Jewish or to look to the Jews for our instruction, for their religion is based primarily, not on the Torah, but on their own writings which in many cases directly contradict the Torah.

Once again, our highest authority is YAHWEH and His Son YAHSHUA, and all of us must be in subjection to Him. If together we strive for His ways, submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of Yahweh and serving each other, we will edify each other and build each other up, sharpening each other's faith and conviction, and growing ever more steadfast in His marvelous ways. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17) May He bless us all in His ways, and may we stand firmly rooted in His Word. Halleluyah!