I've been having discussions with friends on church polity and talking about what should be done in the church, like preaching (2 Tim. 4:2) and ordination by laying on of hands (1 Tim. 4:14) etc.. However, they noted that we can't use what Timothy was commanded to do or happened to him at all because he wasn't an elder but a special person who went around with Paul and wrote some of the letters. This would seem to dissolve much of 1-2 Timothy's instruction on how to do church, since their argument goes he wasn't an elder and thus we can't apply it to elders in the church today (or at the very least it's not binding, but you can take vague principles and suggestions from it and do what you want).
How do we understand how to apply 1-2 Timothy given he's not explicitly called an elder of the church?
How do we understand how to apply 1-2 Timothy given he's not explicitly called an elder of the church?