I’m taking a few days off — likely less than a week — to work on a sermon I have to preach February 5. All my drafts thus far have been disappointing, and I blame me.
I have a new angle now, but now I have to start over entirely.
You see, we’re in between preachers and so, in utter desperation, the elders have to fill in.
So what do we do with bad elders — men who have no business being elders? And how should the congregation respond to a bad decision by good elders?
Bad elders
No elder is perfect, and all elderships will make mistakes. But sometimes a man is ordained when in fact he has no business being an elder. He simply is not gifted to serve in that role — at all.
He may be domineering. He may act without concern for the flock. He may undercut the other elders. What should the church do?
Sadly, the Churches of Christ have very little teaching on how to deal with truly bad elders. We just let them get in the way, running off members and destroying God’s congregations. After all, there’s no denominational hierarchy to remove them, and the church has no right of recall.
In my congregation, we require new elders to sign a pledge to quietly resign if the other elders ask him to do so. We take that pledge with the utmost seriousness, and we’ve never had an elder even pause before signing. So far, the men we’ve ordained have so respected the other elders with whom they serve that they gladly make such a pledge. And this pledge makes the elders truly accountable to one another.
Other congregations adopt a rule that elders must stand for re-affirmation every so often, maybe every five years. In fact, some churches require an elder to take a year off every so many years and then be re-nominated and re-ordained to serve again.
Dub McClish, a Memphis preacher, has declared elder re-affirmation apostasy, but it’s an absurd argument. He says the practice is unauthorized because the scriptures are silent on such a process. But McClish thereby makes elders into monarchs, with lifetime appointments, regardless of conduct.
After all, elders must meet certain qualifications — not just those in the lists but also those denoted by the terms used for them — shepherd, overseer, and elder — and by the Spirit’s gifting of these men. If a man ceases to be qualified or is shown to have never been qualified, what’s the process to remove him? There’s no authority for leaving him in place! Indeed, to do so is to violate the scriptures — which is far worse than violating a silence — as though such a thing could be done. It’s a strange doctrine indeed that overrides specific instructions with a silence!
Another alternative is found in the scriptures –
(1Ti 5:19-20 ESV) 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
The church has the power to try an elder for a sin persisted in. Domineering is a sin, because it violates the very words of Jesus. Not all decisions that the congregation might disagree with are sin, but where the sin is evident and not repented of after proper warning (see Matthew 18), the church may well formally rebuke an elder.
Indeed, under Matthew 18, the church could go so far as to disfellowship him. And if the church can disfellowship him altogether, surely the church can take the lesser step of removing him from office.
But this is a rare and very difficult thing to do. Speaking as an elder, I’d far rather be asked to quietly resign than be charged with sin before the entire church.
Jesus
Now, what does Jesus say about elders? Quite a lot, actually.
First, Jesus himself is referred to a “shepherd” several times, most importantly in –
(Joh 10:11-16 ESV) 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. Continue reading
Why do you think there is so often such a blind spot that insists that elders MUST HAVE authority when there is nary a word in the NT about such a thing???
Amazed and amused and saddened into seriousness Continue reading
Peter
Peter was an elder. Evidently, the apostles of Jerusalem came to adopt “elder” as their own title, indicating their leadership over the city of God on earth, I suppose. Or perhaps they wanted a more equal relationship with the non-apostles elders in Jerusalem.
We really don’t know. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that Peter chose what to us would be lesser title. Continue reading
Paul’s farewell discourse
Paul’s farewell discourse to the elders in Ephesus speaks to their duties –
(Act 20:28-30 ESV) 28 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
(Act 20:35 ESV) 35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Paul refers to the congregation as the elders’ “flock” and speaks of “fierce wolves.” Obviously, he is speaking of the elders as shepherds. Continue reading
My question is, how did we come up with all this stuff that requires centralized rule?
Jay, I wanted to encourage you to go at it again. Give us a perspective that comes from the teaching of Jesus. Experience aside, what does Jesus say about leadership and how it should function? Continue reading
“Day by day”
(Act 2:46 ESV) 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
“Day by day” indicates a continuous practice. Many translations” say daily.” Continue reading
But seriously folks, the preacher really should preach against Auburn. Every week. That would generate some major enthusiasm!
Okay, that’s not serious at all — except in this sense: in football, we know who the enemy is. It’s Auburn. And there are some other teams that are enemies of Alabama, too. But it’s mainly Auburn. Continue reading
Reader Bill Perkins wrote this comment:
Football is better than religion for many, and here is why:
1. No one is late for the game, as a matter of fact they show up hours early for fellowship with fellow fans.
2. People are content to sit for 3-4 hours packed in shoulder to shoulder on metal bleachers with no backs and never complain that it’s too crowded or uncomfortable. Continue reading
