Note 10 at 1 Tim. 5:20: In the case of an elder who has sinned, Paul told Timothy, the senior pastor, to rebuke the elder before all. This demonstrates that people in leadership are held to the same standards as the church body. It causes others to recognize that if the elder who sinned is rebuked openly, then they also will be held accountable for their actions.

However, these instructions certainly don't contradict what the Lord said in Matthew 18:15-17. Here He spoke of only bringing the matter before the church if the person being dealt with didn't repent. Paul may have thought it obvious that only unrepentant elders were to be exposed publicly, but that's not clearly stated.

In this passage, it also doesn't speak of removing an elder who has sinned. Someone could take this verse literally to mean that elders can only be rebuked, but never removed. Jesus spoke in Matthew 18:17 about treating the unrepentant sinner as a heathen. Most everyone would agree that there are times when an elder needs to be removed, at least temporarily, until he can get his life straightened out. He doesn't need to be instructing others while he is in sin. It could however, be argued that removal from leadership is the rebuke that was administered.

Therefore, this passage needs the support of the other scriptures on church discipline (see note 5 at Mt. 18:17, p. 277), and dealing with leaders in sin, to complete it.

Note 11 at 1 Tim. 5:20: Paul's instructios to Timothy concerning how to treat the elders who served under him were like a two-edged sword. There was the positive side for the elders who ruled well, but there was a negative side for the elders who sinned. A minister's triumphs are public and so are his failures.