Thank you for this insightful article. I have experienced the church from several different perspectives. First, as a new Christian converted out of the denominational and sinners' prayer movement. Great leadership helped me grow and mature into a gospel sharing man using talents I did not even know I had. Elders, preachers, and many mature men and women took me under their wing and taught me, corrected me, and even rebuked me when I needed it.
Eventually, I served at three different congregations as a personal evangelist, prison and jail minister, serving along with men responsible for preaching from the pulpit. Serving as supported staff helps one understand what Godly leadership is and how important it is. Also, how frustrating it is at times when opinions differ.
In addition to being blessed to serve as a personal evangelist, I served as an elder at two of the congregations. How humbling. To take on the responsibility for my brothers' and sisters' souls in a manner that gains their trust and respect is very intimidating. To rule not by position but through Godly and biblical persuasion can only be accomplished by all of us submitting to the principles you described here. Members should pray for our teachers, evangelists, and elders, who, like everyone else, are fallible people.
We need to get to know our elders, and elders have a huge responsibility to know the members. This is not accomplished in meetings of elders in offices. It happens face to face, in both the homes of members and the homes of elders. If the sheep know the shepherds and trust them, they will be more likely to follow them and even understand when they make mistakes. When the shepherds spend a lot of time with the sheep, they will be able to lead with their moral persuasion more than with positional authority. That is more peaceful than when elders must use their God given authority to discipline when the members need it.
Shepherds need to have enough love for the members that they will confront and discipline them for the sake of their souls and the sake of the church.
Whatever position we serve in, we must behave as sheep to the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ.
We had to leave a church when the eldership made the decision to appoint women elders. We believe scripture is plain in its outline of elder qualifications and we couldn't go along with that decision. The women appointed were current elders wives primarily, so they serve together. Anyway, my dad was a preacher for many years and also served as an elder. It was a duty he took quite seriously and he made decisions based upon his understanding of scripture, even when they weren't popular. I suppose ultimately the problem is that we do not like to be under authority and that leads to rebellion, both in church and in society.
This topic is of extreme importance and it doesn’t take a genius to look around at the present iteration of the Church to see the problems that come from getting it wrong. I am a little hesitant to create a dividing line between the leaders and the laity. My vision of the Church hierarchy has Jesus at the top and the rest of us on an equal level (with different responsibilities) under Christ’s rule. We all are of equal value with different duties.
Some of those duties require a certain exercise of authority. That does not put them higher. It puts them in a position to fulfill their responsibilities. I sort this out using definitions personal to me. (Please forgive me as I apply my constructs of “authority” and “power” in these terms) I see authority as something granted by those under authority. It is the sheep who grant the allowance for the leader to exercise authority, much like we give special consideration to police to fulfill their duties as they serve us.
One great problem is when those in authority cross the line by turning it into power (another personal definition for clarity). Power is the act of controlling others. We know what that looks like when a police officer allows himself or herself to cross over into power. That is when Lord Acton’s adage about the inevitable corruption of power comes into play.
In the Church, the same dynamic occurs. Leaders, thinking of themselves as above the crowd so to speak, begin to make their attempts at controlling the congregation instead of leading them. It makes their job easier, I suppose. This is where being a Sheeple is so devastating to the Church. We don’t challenge the bully pulpit when we must. We allow authority to be turned into power in the name of Jesus and all falls down. There are scriptures to allow such a thing but we are too bowed by the tactics of the bully to respond in such a way. The constant string of failed and morally compromised leaders in the Church we hear of in the media should spur us to action, remaining within the bounds of those scriptures.
My heart goes out to the others who are struggling under their leaders who have crossed the line to gain their self-powered identity away from the eyes of the media. Accountability is our friend. I mean by that something a little less spiritual than Jesus. Leaders, every one of them, desperately need a face-to-face accountability partner to fulfill their responsibilities as an authority.
Thank you for this insightful article. I have experienced the church from several different perspectives. First, as a new Christian converted out of the denominational and sinners' prayer movement. Great leadership helped me grow and mature into a gospel sharing man using talents I did not even know I had. Elders, preachers, and many mature men and women took me under their wing and taught me, corrected me, and even rebuked me when I needed it.
Eventually, I served at three different congregations as a personal evangelist, prison and jail minister, serving along with men responsible for preaching from the pulpit. Serving as supported staff helps one understand what Godly leadership is and how important it is. Also, how frustrating it is at times when opinions differ.
In addition to being blessed to serve as a personal evangelist, I served as an elder at two of the congregations. How humbling. To take on the responsibility for my brothers' and sisters' souls in a manner that gains their trust and respect is very intimidating. To rule not by position but through Godly and biblical persuasion can only be accomplished by all of us submitting to the principles you described here. Members should pray for our teachers, evangelists, and elders, who, like everyone else, are fallible people.
We need to get to know our elders, and elders have a huge responsibility to know the members. This is not accomplished in meetings of elders in offices. It happens face to face, in both the homes of members and the homes of elders. If the sheep know the shepherds and trust them, they will be more likely to follow them and even understand when they make mistakes. When the shepherds spend a lot of time with the sheep, they will be able to lead with their moral persuasion more than with positional authority. That is more peaceful than when elders must use their God given authority to discipline when the members need it.
Shepherds need to have enough love for the members that they will confront and discipline them for the sake of their souls and the sake of the church.
Whatever position we serve in, we must behave as sheep to the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ.
We had to leave a church when the eldership made the decision to appoint women elders. We believe scripture is plain in its outline of elder qualifications and we couldn't go along with that decision. The women appointed were current elders wives primarily, so they serve together. Anyway, my dad was a preacher for many years and also served as an elder. It was a duty he took quite seriously and he made decisions based upon his understanding of scripture, even when they weren't popular. I suppose ultimately the problem is that we do not like to be under authority and that leads to rebellion, both in church and in society.
This topic is of extreme importance and it doesn’t take a genius to look around at the present iteration of the Church to see the problems that come from getting it wrong. I am a little hesitant to create a dividing line between the leaders and the laity. My vision of the Church hierarchy has Jesus at the top and the rest of us on an equal level (with different responsibilities) under Christ’s rule. We all are of equal value with different duties.
Some of those duties require a certain exercise of authority. That does not put them higher. It puts them in a position to fulfill their responsibilities. I sort this out using definitions personal to me. (Please forgive me as I apply my constructs of “authority” and “power” in these terms) I see authority as something granted by those under authority. It is the sheep who grant the allowance for the leader to exercise authority, much like we give special consideration to police to fulfill their duties as they serve us.
One great problem is when those in authority cross the line by turning it into power (another personal definition for clarity). Power is the act of controlling others. We know what that looks like when a police officer allows himself or herself to cross over into power. That is when Lord Acton’s adage about the inevitable corruption of power comes into play.
In the Church, the same dynamic occurs. Leaders, thinking of themselves as above the crowd so to speak, begin to make their attempts at controlling the congregation instead of leading them. It makes their job easier, I suppose. This is where being a Sheeple is so devastating to the Church. We don’t challenge the bully pulpit when we must. We allow authority to be turned into power in the name of Jesus and all falls down. There are scriptures to allow such a thing but we are too bowed by the tactics of the bully to respond in such a way. The constant string of failed and morally compromised leaders in the Church we hear of in the media should spur us to action, remaining within the bounds of those scriptures.
My heart goes out to the others who are struggling under their leaders who have crossed the line to gain their self-powered identity away from the eyes of the media. Accountability is our friend. I mean by that something a little less spiritual than Jesus. Leaders, every one of them, desperately need a face-to-face accountability partner to fulfill their responsibilities as an authority.
"God did not put the shepherding of His fold up to a vote, though."
How does your church determine who becomes an elder?