What elders wish members knew about eldering by Stan Mitchell wp.me/p1HIjv-4hD Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you (Hebrews 13:17, ESV). This passage expresses a kind of enlightened self- interest on the part of church members. If you maintain an automobile, change its oil and filters occasionally, it might run well for you; if you thank teachers they might be encouraged and redouble their efforts to teach your children. If you treat elders in a certain manner, they will be able to shepherd your congregation better. So, what can members do for their elders? * They can come to worship without being bribed, begged and cajoled. They can come just because its the right thing to do. * They can support the churchs programs because they know the way to kill a program is to simply be absent. * They can volunteer to participate in the churchs program, removing the awkward moment of wearily asking yet another member to help the worlds most important organization, the church. * They can see the congregations needs as a whole, not just that of their demographic group or clique. After all, thats what an elder has to do, consider all the parts of the congregation. * They can understand that some decisions will be made with information not available to members. Sometimes elders become privy to member problems that are private and do not need to be aired on Channel 7. * They can assume good faith on the part of their elders, that these men love the Lord, love the church, and love the flock they serve. What can members expect from elders? * They can expect more than decision-making, but actual shepherding. * They can expect more than decision-making, they can expect to be taught Gods word. * Having said that, they should expect decision- making to occur. Being an elder is a leadership position; some members dont want to be led, they want, without sufficient qualifications or maturity, to make unilateral decisions. * They can expect transparency in those areas that require transparency; the church budget, for instance, is not a national secret. They can expect to be included, for instance, in the process of selecting new elders and deacons. * They can expect that elders lead Christian lifestyles. The elder is an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:1,2). * They can expect decisions to be thought over and prayed for. How many times have we heard people say, We wish the elders would make decisions more quickly? I have a counter question: Do you want them to make decisions hastily? Remember this: The elders are not here to decide doctrine and teaching; the Bible has already done that. They are here to make discerning, wise decisions in matters of judgment. How often and when to worship? Who to hire as minister? What kind of outreach program? What missions do we support (note, not Will we support missions? but Which missions should we support?). What methods do we use to develop local leaders? Note that when the Bible speaks of spiritual leadership it turns most often not to the world of politics or the military, but to the world of the pasture; shepherd and sheep. As usual, the Bible is in this regard apt and accurate. ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others comments as well. Click here: wp.me/p1HIjv-4hD You can help get the word out. Heres how: forthright.net/help/ -- To subscribe to Forthright Magazine, send ANY message to forthright-join@associate To unsubscribe to Forthright, send ANY message to forthright-leave@associate Please do not reply to this email. Replies will not be read. Use the links to the online articles for comments and questions. Subscriptions are the responsibility of the subscriber. Please use the easy instructions above. We do not *ever* manually subscribe or unsubscribe anyone, for your protection and ours. Content copyright © 2013. Too many newsletters? You can unsubscribe or better yet, schedule automatic cleanup. © 2013 Microsoft Terms Privacy Developers English (United States) Warning {3} {3} {3} {3} {3} Favorite {3} Favorite
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 10:46:42 +0000
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