¹⁹Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. ²⁰Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.

The subject of leadership in the local church is not complete without dealing with failure in leadership. Ideally, elders are godly men, and the congregation should at all times hold them respectfully in high regard. However, that is not always the case, since the church is composed of individuals who have not yet reached spiritual maturity. The apostle Paul, therefore, lays out the foundational principles for dealing with a failure of and false accusations against elders.

Any accusation against an elder must come by the witness of two or three individuals. This is standard protocol in the OT for such charges of idolatry (Deut. 17:6) or tampering with land boundary markers (Deut. 19:15). To be sure, a single witness can come forward, but the investigating judge must look for corroborating evidence. In the NT, Jesus affirms this process in Matthew 18:15–16 by quoting from Deuteronomy when He speaks of confronting someone over their sin: “[I]f he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”

So Paul simply asserts that elders who are accused of wrongdoing deserve the same treatment as anyone else. This is important, because elders are particularly vulnerable to criticism, being more in the public eye than most. They are easy targets, as is true for anyone in a leadership role. Elders are to be protected from the unjust whims of immature people who can easily fling out derogatory comments, and thus destroy an elder’s reputation.

Being still on the road toward spiritual maturity and Christlikeness, elders are sinners like the rest of us. They will slip up from time to time. They need to deal with sin like everyone else, with confession and forgiveness privately (as Jesus instructs in Matthew 18:15). However, elders who “continue in sin” need to be called out publicly. Paul doesn’t devolve into specifying what degree of sin requires this treatment but is dealing with the general principle. Public rebuke of elders is necessary when there is no repentance or effort to change behavior. This will serve as a deterrent to others continuing in sin. Thus, just as elders are to be a model of those pursuing spiritual maturity, so also they are to be a model of the consequences of not dealing with sin.

Lord, help me to model a life of authenticity, including repentance of sin.