What's an Elder to Do?

An old friend and I were enjoying dinner and talking about the church where he’s served as an elder for several years. I asked him, What do the elders do at your church? He gave me the most confused look and finally said, Well, I really don’t know. We just do a lot of different stuff.

Well, that’s a problem . . . elders who just do a lot of different stuff. Those are elders who mostly putter around with no focus, no mission, no sense of definite purpose. They certainly don't appreciate the core assignment the Lord has charged to them.

According to the Scriptures, here’s what elders are to do: Elders are to honor the Lord by protecting and nurturing His church. Elders care for the entire church, but focus primarily on doctrine, discipline and direction.

Let’s break that down:

• Elders are to honor the Lord. Well, yes, everybody is supposed to honor the Lord. But elders are to do more than simply honor the Lord by being godly men who serve in the church. They’re supposed to be more and do more. They have a bigger assignment. The Lord will hold each elder accountable for the quality of his job performance (Hebrews 13:17). Elders are responsible to oversee the entire church as undershepherds to Jesus Christ (1 Peter 5:4). They must be strong enough to ensure that the honor of the Lord is the foundation commitment of the church.

• Elders are to protect the church. From what? From anything that would weaken, sicken or hurt her, or cause her to lose effectiveness (John 10:11-15; Acts 20:28-31). Among the most common attacks on the church: personality cults, divisions over music styles, heresies, legalism, license, syncretism, Gnosticism and its forms, Judaizing and its forms. For more about these attacks, see my blog post of April 11, 2010.

• Elders are to nurture the church. How do they do that? They look after her, build her, strengthen her, sacrifice for her (John 10:3-5; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Peter 5:2-3).

• Elders are to focus on doctrine. The teaching of the church, ensuring that the teaching is biblically sound and faithful. An elder must refute false doctrine that would hurt the church (Acts 6:4; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 4:6; Titus 1:9; Titus 2:1).

• Elders are to focus on discipline. Pursuing those of the church who have fallen away from the way of Jesus Christ (Ezekiel 34:6-8; Galatians 6:1); refuting those who would lead the church astray by espousing false doctrine (1 Timothy 1:6-7; Titus 1:9-11).

• Elders are to focus on direction. Discerning the direction the church should move regarding her culture, financial commitments, property purchases, location, worship service style and similarly vital issues (Acts 6:4; Acts 15:1-2; Acts 15:6; Acts 16:6-10).

• Elders are to focus on discipleship. They must ensure that the Church prioritizes the practice of individual and group teaching and training in order to strengthen the church by biblically and intentionally building followers of Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:2).

Charisma is Not so Great

Charismatic leadership by itself certainly is greatly overstated. Look, one of the most effective American presidents of the last 100 years was Harry Truman. He didn't have an ounce of charisma. Truman was as bland as a dead mackerel. Everybody who worked for him worshiped him because he was absolutely trustworthy. – Peter Drucker

Wow, what an astute observation from the fine mind of Peter Drucker. He knew a lot about society and business, but some of his most excellent observations focused on leadership. I don’t know if Peter Drucker was a Christian, but he understood Jesus’ teaching about leadership.

It’s a bad day in the church when a leader’s power frightens other leaders from speaking the truth or, maybe worse, blinds them to major problems in a leader's character. And it’s a sad day in the church when a delusional leader thinks that people are following because he’s God's man. Maybe they’re following because of the perks of following, such as high pay, high visibility, job security, protection or enjoying the shine that comes from hanging out with him. Very sad when a person on the pastoral staff of a local church shows symptoms of the Stockholm syndrome, in which he warps himself into sympathizing and caring for the abuser in order to survive. Amazing.

It seems that the world’s ways of leadership have infiltrated the church. It’s the sin in the leader who says, People believe what they’re told. That’s how leadership works. It’s Ephesians 2:2 . . . the spirit of the age, the manipulation by spin, the truth is not the truth, the truth is what I say it is.

How is it that a man as ordinary as Harry Truman could gather so many people behind him who loved him so much? If Drucker's assessment is correct, then Truman’s brilliance was rooted in his character, in the ordinary days of life when people trusted him to do what he said he would do and to shoot straight with them. He had integrity that proved his authenticity, which led to trust and then to leadership. In a genuinely Christian way, whether he knew it or not, Truman served people.

That's character-driven leadership rather than personality-driven leadership. It shouldn't be surprising that the ways of Jesus are proven as the best practice even in the secular world of Harry Truman. And the leadership ways of Jesus should be the obviously best practice in church world.

Character-driven leadership must be the benchmark standard in the local church. Not charisma, although charisma's a fine quality. Not preaching, although preaching's a wonderful gift. Not personality, although a big personality doesn't need to be a problem. 

There's more to the think about in the differences between godly leadership and man-centered leadership. Click on the link to a document titled The Ways of Leadership. It details the differences between the two in motivation, relational style and responses to various leadership challenges.

The Scriptures of Church Discipline

I’m guessing that if you asked 20 church elders about church discipline, maybe all but one would immediately latch on to Matthew 18 . . . and stay there. It seems that Matthew 18:15-19 is the only Scripture many think about for handling church discipline. That text deals with the process of discipline, but it’s only one of many sections the Lord provides for dealing with sin in His church.

I was talking with a pastor about a sin problem in the church. He was completely glued to Matthew 18. When I said, Well, you know there are many passages in the Scriptures that deal with church discipline, he became quiet. Then he blurted, Oh yeah? Like what?

Like Titus 3:10-11. If a person’s causing divisions or factions in the church, warn him once, warn him a second time, and then remove him from the church. That’s it. Very clean. But be careful to discern that he’s really a divisive person. What does a divisive person repeatedly do that warrants removal from the church?

Several examples:

• Personality Cults –  pitting one personality in the church against another, as in I am of Paul, I am of Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:3-4), or denigrating one personality in order to lift another (Numbers 16:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:6-8; 2 Corinthians 10:10-12);

• Music Style – dividing the church according to music preferences; insisting on the falsehood that music style is a matter of doctrinal purity rather than personal preference, insisting that any new music form is inferior to older music forms. (Psalm 33:3; Psalm 40:3; Psalm 144:9; Revelation 5:9);

•  Heresy – leading others to depart from the fundamental truths of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 Peter 2:1);

• Legalism – dividing the church and judging others according to a non-biblical set of rules and restrictions (Galatians 2:15-21; Galatians 3);

• License – dividing the church and judging others according to a non-biblical set of freedoms; encouraging the abandonment of spiritual discernment that leads the church to stray from self-control and personal holiness (1 Corinthians 6:12; 1 Corinthians 9:25-27; 1 Peter 2:11-12);

• Syncretism – leading others to blend Christianity with other religions or cults (2 Peter 2:1; 2 John 10);

• Gnosticism and its forms – twisting the meaning of the Scriptures to claim a special enlightenment that is not available to all (1 Corinthians 2:2-5; Colossians 2:18; 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 6:20-21);

• Judaizing and its forms – forcing Jewish practices and customs on non-Jews. (Acts 10:10-35; Acts 15; Galatians 2:15-21);

• Docetism and its forms – denying Christ's real combination of humanity and divinity; denying that the humanity and sufferings of Jesus were real and inherent to His life and work; proposing that if Christ suffered then He was not divine and if He was God He could not suffer. Romans 1:3-4, as one example, affirms His humanity and divinity. Examples of attack on Christ's identity in 1 John 4:1-3 and 2 John 7.

The Lord expects His leaders to deal with sin in His church. He expects the congregation to cooperate with the leaders. Discipline is to cleanse the church of sin, keep the church from future sin and bring sinning saints back into fellowship with the church.

I see at least 14 additional sections in the New Testament that discuss or are connected to the principle of church discipline:

Romans 16:17-19 – removing those who cause dissentions and hindrances;

1 Corinthians 5:1-11 – disciplining sexual sin in the church;

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 and Galatians 6:1-2 –forgiveness and restoration of those disciplined;

2 Corinthians 13:10-11 – severity is not desired, but may be required in church discipline;

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 – how the congregation is to respond to those under discipline;

1 Timothy 1:3-7 – the importance of sound doctrine and handling those who teach strange doctrines;

1 Timothy 5:3-8 – helping widows and handling those who refuse to provide for their families;

1 Timothy 5:17-25 – disciplining a sinning elder;

Titus 1:9-14 – how to handle the rebellious as well as empty talkers and deceivers;

Hebrews 12:11-13 – the work and fruit of rightly placed discipline;

Hebrews 13:17 – the elders’ responsibility to discipline;

James 5:19-20 – the fruit of rightly placed discipline;

Revelation 3:19 – the Lord’s heart for discipline.

Clearly, the Lord has left us multiple layers of instruction for the conduct of church discipline. There’s no room for elders’ cowardice in their application of discipline. The Lord instructs His leaders to move with confidence and certainty against the divisive person.

What should be the basis of their confidence and certainty? That’s rooted in the elders’ primary responsibility to honor the Lord by protecting His church (Acts 20:28). There are times when that protection requires confronting and removing factious people. Rely on the words in Titus 3:11 . . . Such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. And that person would hurt the church.

Elders Bad, Elders Good

The Lord had a problem with elders, the shepherds of His people. He tells us about it in Ezekiel 34. His gives a withering evaluation. These shepherds serve themselves first. They fail to notice the many among His people who are weak, sick or injured. And perhaps the worst charge of all, "The strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them." (Ezekiel 34:4).

Wow, the Lord is scary angry at the shepherds. And He promises to remove the shepherds and their tyrannical control over His people. He will replace them . . . with Himself. He will serve as the shepherd of His people (Ezekiel 34:22-24). And, of course, the Lord kept His promise.

If you want a sample of good eldering, check out the work of Jesus in John 9. The text describes Jesus healing a man born blind and the resulting uproar. He easily could have passed by the man, who probably was begging at the roadside as Jesus and His disciples walked past. Jesus was busy, of course, and maybe tired. He just finished a fight with the despicable Pharisees and constantly was teaching multitudes, His disciples and unattached individuals. It would have been easy for Jesus to pass the man by and avoid another problem, another controversy. Even so, Jesus reached out to a weak sheep of Israel on the side of the road. There’s much to think about in John 9, but take a look at some of the shepherding ways of Jesus.

Jesus sees the man, and immediately the disciples suggest that he’s blind because he or his parents sinned. Jesus corrects their wrong thinking, heals the man and goes on His way. He leaves the suddenly seeing man to fend for himself against the doubts of his neighbors and the attacks of the Pharisees. Ultimately, they kick him out of the synagogue for professing Christ. And Jesus, being a good shepherd, sought the man. That is so very excellent. He heard that the Pharisees cast the man out and then looked for the man so He could properly care for him. Jesus identified Himself to him . . . and the man becomes a disciple.

Jesus perfectly contrasts the selfish, forceful and harsh shepherds decried in Ezekiel 34. And He perfectly demonstrates the Lord’s heart for His people. The Lord’s work described in John 9 is an awesome fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to shepherd His people. The Lord is patient yet firm to teach in words and actions. Any still wondering at His meaning need only listen to the picture of the good shepherd He paints in John 10.

The ways of Jesus reveal a complexity of strength demonstrated in flinty toughness and gentle tenderness. He is the picture of meekness . . . power under control.

A few weeks ago, I was talking about leadership with a group of men, and I mentioned the importance of "reading a room" as they shepherd. Church leaders must be disciplined to read a room. They must discern and decide how much power and what kind of strength is required in any given circumstance. They cannot succeed in the Lord’s eyes without the mind of Christ and without the example of His good shepherding.

It takes a worldly and pharisaic skill—but not godliness—to play power and control games that abuse people into submission. There should be no pleasure in such so-called victories. It takes reading and heeding the ways of Jesus to properly shepherd the Lord’s people. And if elders refuse to properly care for the Lord’s people, He will remove them and find others for the work. He’ll find those who have watched and learned from Jesus. He’ll select men willing and able to take on the hard and privileged work of good shepherding.

Manifest Presence

The question rings in my mind: “What difference would it make if I saw the manifest presence of the Lord?” If I’m thinking rightly, the answer is obvious. All of my man-pleasing motivations and all of my self-focused pleasures would vaporize. The fear of certain men—whose faces have danced in my head over the years—would melt. Filling my heart and soul would be goodness, kindness, innocence, joy, winsomeness, devotion, endurance, courage, perseverance. All of that, flourishing in this life, would be the precise manifestation of the filling of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. And yet, I am stuck in this physical body in the world of men. Even the best of them, when compared to Christ, are pathetically sinful at their core. The difference between individual men is that their sinful core is in various gradations of large and small.

I’ve heard it said that if Christ came to the Earth today to live as a man, we would kill him, just as we did 2,000 years ago. And I’m convinced it would be so. He would be insufferably, annoyingly good and honest and true. And men would hate Him for it. The labels good and honest and true are not terribly troubling. It’s what those labels look like when they’re demonstrated in daily life.

That life looks like this: There’s an unspoken understanding that this man cannot be manipulated. He cannot be bought, sold, frightened, beguiled or seduced. He has nothing to hide, and men have nothing that he must have. He’s just too good for us. Everything he does is motivated by his relationship with his Father, and he does what the Father desires. He knows that men are furious that he is not in the game. But that does not move him. The game is about my power, my accomplishments, my position, my house, my money, my stuff . . . my display of me so that you will know that I am better than you. I win, you lose. Look at me . . . pretty bird in the tiny mirror.

And so they gnash their teeth at him because he’s not in the game. They hunt for a weakness to exploit or a fact to distort. They look for a statement to twist. But he is maddeningly free of the petty traits of men. And so they would kill him. And where would I be on that day? Would I be as the rich, young ruler who turned away from the challenge of Jesus, or would I be as the cowardly Pharisee who believed in Jesus but did not speak? Or maybe Pilate, the political hack of Rome who knew Jesus was innocent yet killed him anyway. Or maybe I’d join the fickle mob, who adored Jesus one day and demanded his blood on the next. Or maybe I’d be paralyzed by fear like Peter or scattered like sheep as were the other disciples.

Do I really want the Lord to shape me into the likeness of Jesus so that my heart is always about pleasing him? Do I want that, even in the face of the fury of men?    Well . . . no . . . not unless I’ve seen the manifest presence of the Lord.

I need more of Revelation 1:12-18. I need the awesome picture of the Logos of the Triune God. That picture is not often seen in today’s churches. Jesus is often portrayed as soft and mild, a very nice guy. He’s the one who rarely raises his voice. Even when he cleared the temple of money-changers, a Bible teacher once told my Sunday School class, Jesus certainly didn’t hit anyone. In my naiveté, I said, “How do you know that? The text doesn’t say that. Seems like he could have have hit someone with that whip he was swinging.” (Things did not go well for me that day.)

The Scriptures tell us that the Lord’s gentleness is a large part of his nature. But, at his core, he is dangerously holy. And his forbearance toward each of us is simply irresistible. I need more of the fear that the apostle John knew in Revelation 1:17. And I need his touch in verses 17 and 18: Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

With that touch, I will fear no man. And then I will move in the Lord’s ways.