Consider the following passages.
1. 1 Peter 5:5 reads,
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.
In the same vein, Paul tells wives to submit to their husbands in Ephesians 5 but then adds in verse 21 that they were to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. The mutual submission reflects the individual responsibilities to one another that God has assigned. Essentially, it is the work of service.
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 admonishes saints “to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.
The elders have been given the responsibility to shepherd the flock. The Holy Spirit has so decreed it (Acts 20:28). Consequently, the flock should respect them and esteem them highly for the work they are doing. “To know” suggests a close relationship with them.
3. Hebrews 13:17 reads, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls.”
4. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his reward” (1 Tim. 5:17-18).
The “rule” is one of leadership given by the Lord and the saints were to respect that arrangement of oversight. Their “submission” and “obedience” is because these men are teaching and warning them in the right ways of God and His word. There is no flaw in it any more than there would be an error in the teaching of the apostles, prophets, or evangelists. The guidance in truth had been revealed so that the majority of their teaching could be readily verified by the gifted men and women of the Holy Spirit and by the inspired letters of the apostles, themselves. The emphasis of their work appears to be on their example, i.e., to illustrate how saints should conduct themselves. It was crucial to providing a pattern for saints to imitate.
Their oversight, however, was not the oversight of a local church where they expected the members to submit to their decisions. There is no evidence that these men were decision-makers for the work of saints. The only place this makes any sense is in a church organization. In that arrangement, someone has to call the shots. But, in God’s arrangement, there are no approved men selected to make decisions for the disciples living in the same town.
Conversely, their labor in the Lord involved their presence to oversee the conduct and lives of the saints in his city. The word chosen for “labor” that describes their work is intensive and rigorous. It was demanding and had to be emotionally draining upon them because they were overseeing souls. If they were overseeing souls, they had to be among the souls. This is not the same as checking off the list of an attendance chart on Sunday morning. The knowledge of the other was due to the amount of time spent with one another. Using the illustration of animal care with which we began in the introduction of this book, the institutional mindset imagines a shepherd who calls his sheep into the coral every three to four days to make sure they get some sweet meal, collect their wool and send them out to pasture after about hour or two. This does not represent the care of God’s shepherds. Once again, the idea that this book supports the lack of fellowship because there is no local church to attend is the same idea that is assumed among the overseers. One may ask, “If you don’t go to church, how are they going to oversee you?” Friends, shepherds lived among the first-century sheep. They were in their homes and shared their meals. They were “worthy of double honor” because of their labor. This is the context for Paul’s admonition, “Submit to them.” We would expect the shepherds of the cities to have men with this work of going into the homes of every saint that they could visit. Many needs of various kinds would exist, but these men would be the ones called upon when sick or in any other trial. They would be respected and obeyed when their counsel was given, even if it was difficult to apply.