What Are Elders?

Interesting - 10 Things You Should Know About Church Elders by Jeramie Rinne. I think I can agree with the whole list.

1. Elders are shepherds.

Both the Old and New Testaments repeatedly employ the metaphor of “shepherding” to describe the spiritual leadership of God’s people. Not surprisingly, the New Testament views elders as shepherds as well (e.g. Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4). The elders’ mission is to lead, teach, protect and love their church members the way shepherds care for the sheep in a flock, so that the church members will grow up into spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:11-13).

2. Elders are pastors.

This second point restates the first, but it bears repeating. The word “pastor” means “shepherd.” We often call paid preachers “pastors” and lay leaders “elders.” This distinction can subtly shape our thinking so that we view pastors as the professional ministers and elders as the church’s board of directors who support the ministers. But a pastor is an elder, and an elder is a pastor. Elders should do those things in a local church that they assume a pastor would do, even if they spend fewer hours per week than the paid pastor.

3. Elders are plural.

We always find elders (plural) in New Testament churches (e.g. Acts 15:4; 20:17; Titus 1:5). Each congregation should have a team of shepherds.

4. Elders must be godly.

The New Testament job descriptions for elders focus largely on character qualities (e.g. 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Elders must be self-controlled, sensible, holy, and hospitable. They can’t be drunkards or bullies or money-grubbers. Elders must be “above reproach.”

5. Elders should model godliness.

The elders’ character matters because the elders model Christian maturity for the church (1 Peter 5:3; Hebrews 13:7). Church members should be able to see in their elders inspiring, albeit imperfect, examples of the character of Jesus.

6. Elders should teach.

Elders must be able to teach (1 Timothy 3:2) so that they can build up the church in sound doctrine and refute false teachers (Titus 1:9; cf. Acts 20:30-31). Elder teaching can take lots of shapes: one-to-one instruction, small groups, classes, or preaching. An elder doesn’t need a PhD in biblical studies, but he does need to be able to faithfully explain biblical truth.

7. Elders must lead.

Elders have a measure of authority over the local church. That’s why the New Testament also calls them “overseers.” The elders’ authority is not absolute or unquestionable, nor should it be exercised in a domineering manner. Yet God calls his shepherds to provide leadership for the flock, and, in general, God expects the church to submit to that leadership (Hebrews 13:17).

8. Elder leadership starts at home.

If married, an elder should be “a one-woman man” (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6), which at the very least means that he is a faithful husband. If he has children, he must parent them well so they’re not out of control (1 Timothy 3:4). You should demonstrate able leadership of your own household before you presume to lead God’s household.

9. Elders must be men.

Male-only eldership is a hotly contested issue. And yet the Bible seems extremely straight-forward: an elder must be a “one-woman man.” Just as God calls men to be the heads of their households, so he calls faithful men to lead his church.

10. Elders are not Jesus.

Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, and elders are merely his temporary helpers (1 Peter 5:4). At their best, elders model Jesus’ character, teach Jesus’ word, and lead the church by pointing it toward Jesus and his mission. Good elders never lose that awareness that they themselves are still sheep, utterly dependent on the grace of the Good Shepherd.

Pray for Your Church

Yesterday I linked to an article about how to pray for your pastor. Here's one about Five Ways to Pray for Your Church.

One of the most important ways faithful followers of Christ can help their churches is to simply pray for them. We are inundated with criticism, instruction, debate over church practice and theology, but we often fail to pray. If you're wondering how you can make your local church better, here are five areas where it needs prayer: 

Read the list at the link.

Pray for Your Pastor

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.

Here's a link to a great article on How to Pray for Your Pastor.
 

Pastors Playing 21 Questions

Fro all my pastor friends - Do you ask yourself the same questions that Timmy Brister is asking? See -21 Questions I’ve Been Asking (Myself) Lately « Provocations & Pantings:

"1. If our church would cease to exist in our city, would it be noticed and missed?

2. If all the pastors were tragically killed in a car accident, would the church’s ministry cease or fall apart?

3. If the only possible means of connecting with unbelievers were through the missionary living of our church members, how much would we grow? (I ask this because the early church did not have signs, websites, ads, marketing, etc.)

4. What are the subcultures within the church? Do they attract or detract from the centrality of the gospel and mission of the church?

5. Is our church known more for what we are not/against than what we we/for?

6. What are we allowing to be our measuring stick of church health? (attendance vs. discipleship; seating capacity vs. sending capacity; gospel growth, training on mission, etc.)

7. Are the priorities of our church in line with the priorities of Christ’s kingdom?"

And that's only the first seven questions! The article is very thought provoking; read the whole thing at the link above.

Can Women Be Head Pastors?

For those of you who are interested in such matters, here's a good expression of the complementarian position on the issue Why Women Cannot Be Head Pastors? by C. Michael Patton.

For what is is worth, I agree with him.

A Half-Step Ahead...

At Blogotional I found this post entitled Pastors and Personality I found these thoughts intriguing.

When it comes to spiritual transformation, I think the same can be true. It takes a lot of discipline for very little transformation. So what is a pastor - a person that is supposed to model the transformed life - to do?

May I suggest rather than modeling transformation, model the path to transformation. That is to say, be human, exercise discipline and be confessing.

Spiritual leadership is not about being at the destination and calling people to you, it is about being a half-step ahead on the journey.

Oh no, not that transparency stuff again! Next thing you know they will want me to share me feelings.

Scholarly Pastors

Can I give a big shout out and Amen to this opinion expressed by Gerald Hiestand at "Straight Up" Pastor? Scholar? Why Choose?

Athanasius, Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, Edwards—men whose enduring legacies have shaped the landscape of contemporary theological thought. Their reflection was deep, their intellect profound, their passion remarkable, and their influence vast. And these great thinkers not only impacted the intellectuals of their day, but were followed and admired by the laity as well. What was it about these men that established them as such significant theologians? What made them so effective in sparking revival, bolstering faith, and reforming the Church?

Though diverse in their theologies, all of these men shared a common and significant mark of distinction—they were churchmen. They were bishops and preachers, pastors and founders of denominations, shepherd of souls. Though not all of them were formally pastors in the sense we understand today, their social, theological, and intellectual life was inseparably woven into the fabric of parish ministry. They were practitioners as much as theologians. Living among the people for whom they wrote and thought, the press and weight of parish life drove the questions that their theology sought to answer. And they were loved by their people because they resided among them, and because the questions that panged the heart of their parishioners, panged also their own. They were churchmen first, and theologians second, and the former gave birth to the latter.

The legacy of such great men teaches us the value of uniting the role of pastor with that of theologian; yet a resounding absence of such a union marks the church today. Our most significant theologians now reside almost exclusively in the academy. To be sure, the rise of the academy requires thoughtful academic theologians who live and move in that environment. But is it best that virtually all of our theologians have moved to the academy? There is a need for a renaissance of the pastor-theologian, pastors who endeavor to do theology from the pastor’s study and not solely the professor’s lectern. Not every pastor is called to a life of scholarship. Nor is every professor called to the pastorate. But many young people today feel the pull between a life of scholarship and the life of the church. It is to our detriment if we force such individuals to choose between these two callings.

The application for this short reflection is simple: if you find yourself to be that unique sort of person who longs to produce thoughtful scholarship on the one hand, and yet feels called into pastoral ministry on the other, don’t choose between the two. Bring these two passions together. The evangelical academy needs you in the church, producing scholarship that speaks immediately and directly to ecclesial concerns. After all, the most significant task of the evangelical divinity school is training future pastors; who better to write theology for training pastors than pastor-scholars?

I agree. Consider yourself Amened!

80% of New Preachers Will Leave The Ministry Within 5 Years

The Southern Baptist Seminary blog site "Said at Southern" reports 80% Will Leave The Ministry Within 5 Years

80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.

People Skills = Godliness + Peacemaking

The failure point seem to be “people skills” and more specifically dealing with sinful people. So if you want to beat the odds, become a peacemaker.

Good advice; much easier said than done and much more often said than done. Let's all pray for our pastors and leaders; they need God's grace every day.