I want to pick up on the word "oversee," that appears there in I Timothy, because it indicates a different area of authority for an elder. Here, "rule" means to be over, to preside over, to superintend, or to supervise. The same word is also used in I Thessalonians 5:12 and in I Timothy 3:4-5. There it is used—in context of a man in his qualifications for an elder—as one who "rules well his own house." Again, you see the comparison between a family and the church. That is, that church government and family government are similar. And here, it indicates no more authority is given to the ministry than a husband has in his family.
