There were plenty of verses in the New Testament about elders, and I realized for the first time that at least some of them were referring to a specific office in the church—not just to “older people.” And when they had ordained them elders in every church, they commended them to the Lord. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour. But unlike in that passage, we hadn’t ordained these elders; they had ordained themselves—a fact that would have been easier to accept if I hadn’t felt conflicted about nearly every decision they issued.
