Tulsa Lectures: First and Third Class, On Being a Shepherd

So am I opposed to the notion of elders being shepherds?

Well, yes and no.

There is unquestionably a deep need for elders to be more involved in the lives of the members. Whether its counseling, comforting in times of distress, the members need their elders to be there. Well, not exactly. Not really. You see …

All too often, the elders retire to a meeting room to make big decisions but don’t have the time to be with the membership and help them as spiritual fathers and mentors.

But this very real need can be distorted to become just one more of countless demands made on elders so that the “church” (meaning the leadership) meets “felt needs” and otherwise satisfies our members’ consumeristic mindset. If the elders are merely providing one more service to draw selfish members to the church, they are working for the wrong Jesus. The one who died on a cross has no interest in providing such a service!

Therefore, to be biblical, any shepherding program has to be specifically, intentionally targeted toward helping the members become more like Jesus — in terms of service, sacrifice, submission, and even suffering. And that’s very different from the ministry that’s usually envisioned.

For example, a true shepherd would —

* Encourage the members to attend funerals for other members, rather than expecting the elders to make all the funerals as a service paid for with tithes.

* Encourage the members to visit the sick and those who’ve suffered death of a loved one, rather than expecting the elders to handle all the visitation as a service paid for with tithes.

Now, elders can and should do this by setting an example — but not an example of how to be an elder who effectively markets the church by providing emotionally uplifting services to the members. The elders set an example for how members should act.

Moreover, the shepherds have to change expectations. Rather than members assuming they are only important if the preacher (or least an elder!) comes to their bedside, the members should expect to have their sick room filled with beloved friends from church because that’s how church members act. Some of those friends will often be elders, but they will not be there in any official capacity on behalf of the church. They will be there simply as friends.

It’s astonishing, if you think about it, that we put preachers and elders on the payroll solely to visit members in the hospital and to go to funerals — as though a church of 100 or 600 doesn’t have enough members to visit their own!

But when we marketed ourselves as a place to receive services and have needs met, the members stopped being service providers and needs meeters. Rather, they became consumers, happy to give money to let someone else do their work.

Shepherds lead. Shepherds don’t enable.

If I’d had more time, I’d have asked how many elders have enough time to do all the work they expect of themselves. I’m sure the answer would be “none.”

Now, how many have enough time to do all that is demanded by themselves, their ministers, and their members — even if they quit their jobs and ignored their families? The answer would again surely be “none.”

I’m finding that every meeting we have with staff and members ends with one more time commitment needed from the elders. We are expected to —

* Prepare Sunday school class curriculum for all the adult classes.

* Teach classes.

* Preach when necessary (absolutely necessary)

* Hire, fire, supervise, and manage the ministers.

* Handle church finances.

* Oversee the secretaries.

* Deal with crisis counseling, incipient divorces.

* Decide which families to help with financial problems through loans, which to refer for counseling.

* Oversee the various ministries of the church.

* Set worship times and styles.

* Deal with complaints about the ministries and ministers of the church.

* Patiently listen to complaints.

* Form close, personal relationships with the ministers, to mentor them and support them in their work.

* Mentor younger members.

* Deal with natural disasters, such as tornadoes and hurricanes. Coordinate relief efforts among congregations.

* Determine the vision of the church.

* Determine the doctrinal limits of the church.

* Confront false teaching.

* Rebuke wayward members.

* Oversee the small groups ministry.

* Train the small group leaders.

* Lead a small group.

* Attend and occasionally conduct funerals.

* Visit the sick.

* Visit those who’ve lost loved ones.

* Approve the budget.

* Oversee spending as against the budget.

* Manage employee benefits.

* Set employment policies.

* Handle terminations, severance arrangements

* Interface with legal counsel on legal issues.

* Approve major non-budget items, such as unanticipated building repairs.

* Engage in more training for elders by attending lectureships and seminars.

* Keep up with current church leadership literature.

* Keep up with popular church literature the members read and expect us to know about.

* Set building use policies.

* Approve new ministries.

* Shut down defunct ministries.

* Spend less time in meetings and more time with the members.

Now, we are between preachers and have another ministry vacancy, and the crushing workload is in part due to not having these two ministers to help carry it.

And some of these tasks are delegated to single elder (I usually write the curriculum, for example). But still, it’s a huge workload.

Churches larger than mine have even taken to hiring executive ministers or HR directors to handle the personnel issues. I say from experience that, by far, the largest emotional and time drain comes from personnel issues. But few churches are big enough to hire that part of the job away.

A Baptist Church would create a personnel committee filled with HR professionals to handle staff issues. From my conversations with church leaders, it’s far more effective to hire a minister gifted in that area to oversee the staff — but a church has to have 1,000 or more members to afford that.

Meanwhile, many of the tasks are delegable to ministers or committees or individual members. We need to do that. When we finish, it’ll still be unmanageable.

The next step would be to specialize the elders by talent, allowing some men to act in purely pastoral roles and allowing others to handle more oversight-type tasks. We have to get past the false assumption that every elder gets to vote on every issue.

Indeed, I know of churches with over 1,000 members who have only five elders — because those elders realize that larger elderships lose a vital dynamic and unity. But then again, it’s impossible for five men to do all that needs to be done. Specialization and delegation are essential (Moses would agree!)

Ultimately, though, the over-burdening of our elders — even in the smallest churches — comes from the consumeristic, goods-and-services mindset that the elders should love the members on behalf of the other members.

There is no biblical or good reason that the elders should attend every funeral or every sickbed. That sounds like heresy, but only if you begin with the assumption that the “church” is an institution represented by its officers. It’s not. It’s a body.

It’s a living, breathing organism, and the entire body cares for each part that hurts. The parts that do the tending vary. The elders should be very concerned that someone visits and make sure that needs are met. The elders are not charged to meet those needs themselves.

The modern (and a good) approach is to do this through small groups. And the members should not demand that the preacher or the elders visit them, as though their importance to the church depends on which body part appears in their hospital room. (I just finished three weeks in the hospital, and was visited by not a single minister. And I’m an elder!Good. The rest of the church needed them far more than I did.)

Now, I’ve not fully thought this through, and I imagine I never will. The body is alive, and so its needs change daily. But the old model doesn’t work. We need a new one.

It begins with teaching the members to become like Jesus. When their hearts are transformed to become like Jesus’ heart, elders and ministers will be freed to stop providing services to consumers and may instead lead the members into the green pastures of the life of Jesus. Everything will change.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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8 Responses to Tulsa Lectures: First and Third Class, On Being a Shepherd

  1. Alan says:

    When an elder stands before God to give an account for his service, one question will dominate all others: Did the flock thrive spiritually under your care? That’s the bottom line. (Ezekiel 34:1-31; Matthew 24:43-51; Acts 20:17-38). Some of the things in the above list would be de-prioritized using that principle.

    Yes, there are hundreds of things clamoring for an elder’s attention, and there is only time to do a fraction of those. The elder is responsible to choose those things that will enable the flock to thrive. Choose wisely.

  2. Charles McLean says:

    No more than five elders can be a functioning executive board. More decision-makers start clogging the works. OTOH, no elder with a full time outside job can actually personally tend more than a few dozen sheep– if he’s doing more than just herding them to services. So, in a large congregation, we will always have either too many elders or not enough, or both.

    So far, our standard answer to this dilemma has been for elders to retreat to the boardroom, turn themselves into a decision-making body and start sending down missives from the mount. They become ranch managers rather than shepherds. The very thing which made them suitable to be appointed as shepherds in the first place — their care for the sheep — has been effectively removed from their job description.

    I think this is a bad choice. We have created this enormous operation which requires advanced centralized management, and it never occurs to us that THIS is our primary problem, the main thing keeping the shepherds from the sheep. We have met the enemy and he is us. But we can’t, just CAN’T, take apart Our Big Thing because its bigness is the mark of its success. What would people say?

    I read Jay’s list and realized that much of that elder worklist is serving Our Organization, not the people in it. The people are interchangeable parts, they come and go, and their coming and going has little effect on Our Organization unless they come in or out in significant numbers. But Our Organization remains and we serve it so that it may continue to exist.

    Unless I really slept through Management 101, organizational management is only appropriate where there is so much business activity going on that the concern has begun losing revenue from chaos as fast as it increases it from sales. The local congregation, OTOH, hires management and then hopes they can get the members to generate enough revenue to make payroll. The members thus serve and support the structure, rather than the other way around.

    The only reason you build a locomotive is because you have so much freight to move that nothing less works. Churches these days buy the locomotive (because that’s what all the others did) and then they have it pull the tender; they keep the firebox loaded, so the locomotive can keep chugging along. The mark of success is how much smoke we create. The small amount of actual freight being moved has become a troubling afterthought.

  3. Royce Ogle says:

    I know this is probably far to simplistic for such complex problems…but, in business over the last few decades upper and mid-level managers have started to discover and utilize the talent pool under them. And, they tap into that resource by empowering those under them to make real decisions with real consequences. The result has been largely that each person who was given the latitude to make decisions, make changes, effect company policy, etc., has also for likely the first time felt ownership and is thus more committed to his job.

    If you look at biblical leadership in the NT beginning with Jesus and then with the Apostles is is different than the way we do things. There was a problem with widows not being cared for. The task was delegated to the flock, find 7 men (for a church of several thousand and without all the communications and travel options we take for granted) who are full of the Holy Spirit, and give the job to them. We are not going to take care of the widows, our priorities are preaching and praying. They were right to do it that way. Jesus left the small task of getting the gospel to the world’s population to a group of ill equipped fishermen, tax collector, doctor…you know, a cross section of society. He literally empowered them to do what he had delegated to them.

    Maybe a group of elders could say to a congregation “We are overwhelmed with work and not doing any of it as well as we would like. You folks choose 5 or 6 mature members to sit on a church counsel and they will find people to oversee small groups, someone or a few to minister to those who are grieving, and maybe 4 or 5 couples who will take it as their assignment from God to visit those in the hospital or ill at home and pray with and minister to them. Many things on your list Jay should be delegated.

    I would wager that in most congregations of any size there are more than one person who is more capable than most of the elders to do some of those tasks. Why not let them do it?

  4. Grizz says:

    Jay,

    If you allow people’s expectations to over-rule God’s expectations, then you will have this kind of chaos. Why not show some conviction by leading AWAY FROM this chaotic model and back TO God’s model as revealed in the scriptures? I

    You have about 39 responsibilities listed. Maybe as many as 1/3 or so are legitimately elders’ work. Nearly 2/3 of them are better left to deacons and others (staff or volunteers) who are or can be trained to handle them faithfully with minimal supervision. Charles McLean’s concern about the beast (institutional organization and/or system) we have created certainly seems apropos when considering this laundry list that has too often supplanted God’s revealed will.

    Elders are NOT appointed to handle everything they see that may be done by someone within the Body, but rather to shepherd and watch over the welfare of the congregation/flock to which they were appointed. Wise elders will remember they work according to God’s revealed will and NOT according to their own or anyone else’s supposed agendas, no matter how well-meaning those agendas may have been intended to be. Wise elders learn and follow God’s agenda. Period! THIS focus is a persuasive one that will settle things that need to be settled. The chaos you described is NOT of God and will only persuade people that we have lost our way and are not following God’s plan.

    We do NOT hire our way out of anything! That is a fool’s errand. We listen to the Spirit’s call and serve others according to that call. Elders and evangelists and prophets and missionaries are NOT the only people called and gifted by God. Use everyone’s gifts. Everyone’s! Every single last individual called to follow is gifted. You made mention of doing this in your post. So let them use those gifts!!! Trust God’s gifting. Stop trying to operate by doing everything YOU see to do. Do what God has gifted YOU to do. Let others fill the gaps. Do you think God is ignorant of the gaps? Do you think God is unable to fill the gaps that need filling? What kind of example is it to act as though it all rests on YOU? Are YOU the savior? Of course you are NOT! Jesus took care of all of that – and He promises that God will take care of whatever we need and ask Him in faith to supply. Why not trust Him to be as good as His word???
    Think about it. Think harder than you ever have. Then let go of everything that God has not gifted YOU to do. Satan wins when we lose sight of God’s calling and begin to create our own agendas. Satan wins when we ignore the gifts the Spirit saw fit to give the members we have. Satan wins when we question God’s plan as being less than what is needed. Do NOT let Satan win!!!

    Some will take offense at the new approach. You mentioned that, too. And this is going to happen because doing things the Spirit’s way instead of the world’s ways is unfamiliar and other-worldly. But people will NOT be caused to stumble because you are follow God’s agenda! If they stumble, it will be stumbling over their own failure to accept God’s agenda and His gifting of the saints. And you can deal with that. So what are you waiting for?

    With blessings of clarity to see God’s vision for the saints,

    Grizz

  5. Gregory Alan Tidwell says:

    Jay;

    I believe being an effective elder is more about example than about micromanaging every detail of the congregation.

    Example is important for leaders in every area of life. Aristotle outlined the three components of persuasive leadership and placed a leader’s ethical standing, a leader’s example, above all else. In the business world, the example of the individuals heading major corporations set the tone for all who work there. In the church, as well, an essential aspect of leadership is the example you set for others, coupled with your ability to follow the examples of faith God has given you. Learning by example is integral to being a disciple.

    The Bible teaches many truths through biography, showing some examples we should follow, showing other examples we should avoid. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, according to 2 Peter 2:6, provide “an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly,” while James 5:10 displays the Old Testament prophets “as an example of suffering and patience.” The greatest example provided in Scripture, of course, is the life of our Savior, detailed in the four Gospels.

    Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our perfect example. Showing the way of humble service in washing the feet of His disciples, Christ explained the point of this lesson in John 13:15, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Our Savior also provides an example of patent endurance, as1 Peter 2:21 encourages, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

    Beyond these direct references to the example of Christ, we find in Scripture a pattern of obedient faith displayed by Jesus as He lived and worked among men. Detailing the full impact of this example, the apostle John writes in 1 John 2:1-6:

    My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

    Obedient faith is the key to walking in the steps of the Savior. Receiving the blessings of His sacrificial death, we should emulate the obedience of His faithful life.

    “Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other,” British statesman Edmund Burke rightly observed. In Scripture, we have examples which engage us, moving us forward in Christian excellence, but we are also blessed with godly examples in the Lord’s Church today. “Brothers, join in imitating me,” Paul writes in Philippians 3:17, “and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Not only in Christ and in the apostles, but also in the lives of all faithful Christians we can see a pattern of spiritual excellence that serves as our template.

    This pattern of spiritual excellence transcends generations. To the young evangelist Timothy, Paul writes: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) On the other end of the spectrum, Peter instructs:

    So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

    All Christians, at each stage of our lives, are to build one another up through the power of the example we set.

    Christians of every age have blessed me through their godly examples. One of my joys in ministry is working with teenagers as they begin their journey of faith. The conviction and sincerity of these young men and women is refreshing as we see the Lord build His church through their obedient faith. The example of peers and the example of older brethren have also inspired me in Christian service.

    Examples have the power to reach across generations. In the sixth grade at David Lipscomb Elementary School my teacher, Gertrude Deese, often spoke of her grandfather, James A. Harding. Almost a century after his death, brother Harding’s example of faith continues to speak to me. This is the lengthening shadow of example described in Joshua 24:31, “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.” Through faith, we are building for eternity.

    And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:13)

    Great men and women of faith, through their example, provide a great legacy that strengthens the Lord’s work long after they have gone to their reward. This power to reach across the years is an encouragement to us to invest ourselves in the lives of Christians today.

    As a youth, one of my daily rituals was reading the Peanuts cartoon in the Nashville Banner. Charles Schulz was my hero. In one cartoon he showed Lucy berating Linus for not loving mankind, to which Linus replied: “I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.”

    Christian leaders, also, must realize leadership cannot occur in isolation. You cannot serve the church without engaging individual Christians. Example requires engagement.

    Christians should consider the opportunity of being with God’s people as an opportunity to serve the Lord as we serve His people. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 25:40, “I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” The care we exercise in setting the right example in the church is an extension of our loving service to Christ.

    While we cannot reduce the example we set to a short checklist, let me propose five areas we should consider in being the example of faith that Christ would want us to be:

    A servant-leader must always place the needs of others ahead of his or her own needs. This priority requires paying attention to the image we project to others. When you teach a Bible class, visit the sick, or participate in any of the works of the church, you are not only doing good by teaching, visiting, and working, but you are doing even more good by influencing other Christians to teach, to visit, and to work.

    Nobody is perfect, and no one has ever set a perfect example except for our Savior. Recognizing our shortcomings, the integrity with which you live as a Christians will, in large part, determine the scope of your influence.

    Integrity is especially important in the example you set for younger Christians. Growing older, we become more aware of our own failings and, often, more forgiving of the failures of others. Idealistic youth, however, needs to be sheltered from the harsh reality of life’s inconsistencies. The standard we should seek in our lives is a seamless obedience to the will of God. Where we inevitably fall short, sadly, our example will be compromised.

    Viktor E. Frankl, reflecting on his experience in a German concentration camp, observed one freedom the Nazis could not take away, “The last of human freedoms – the ability to chose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.” Far too often, we focus on the external world of circumstances that are beyond our control and ignore the internal world of our disposition that we can control. True leadership comes from the convictions of your heart, and an authentic example of faithful leadership comes from a heart that is in step with the Spirit of God.

    The apostle Paul describes what it means to walk with the Spirit, as he describes the fruit that the Spirit produces in our lives:

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23)

    Notice the attitudinal nature of true spirituality. Notice also the importance of relationships as the venue within which Christian conviction is displayed. (You cannot, for example, be kind except in relationship with someone else.)

    In his poem “Sermons We See,” Edgar Guest penned the memorable refrain, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.” Having a heart convicted by God’s truth, having your life directed consistently by this truth, and displaying this truth with consideration of its influence on others, you will lead effectively through your example. Not merely by what you say or by what you do, but, more importantly, by what you are.

    GATidwell

  6. eric says:

    Jay
    I’m glad you approached this subject. I’ve been concerned for our elders. The demands seem to great for such a few men and I agree that the problem starts with the consumer attitude. Christ lived a life of service and He rarely demanded to be served. Elders hear way to many complaints about things that have nothing to do with glorifying God or reaching others for Christ.

  7. Larry Cheek says:

    I see in this presentation a very strong message to consider all of the men that are qualified being appointed to the work of Elder. Even in a small congregation there is more than enough work needing to be done than can be accomplished by the Elders. Especially considering our normal concepts of the quantity of Elders to be appointed. Even if the duties pertaining to the psychical, maintenance, welfare of the members, finances, etc were delegated to Deacons, there would still be plenty of work to keep many Elders busy caring and overseeing the Spiritual needs of a congregation. Each of you surely can understand that when men that are placed into the responsibility as Jay has portrayed they are destined for burnout. The ratios of the responsibilities that are used in the church are far greater than those of business or government.

  8. Wendy says:

    I’m with Grizz on this one. Many of those responsibilities listed above can be delegated to ministry staff or admin staff or deacons or members. Where I attend, we don’t have deacons as everyone is expected to serve in some area of ministry and at about half of the “ordinary members” would be “leading” in their ministry area/s in some way. For instance, our treasurer is not an necessarily an elder, but someone with particular financial expertise. Our ministry staff prepare the teaching materials (after all, they are generally those with professional qualifications in the area). Most of our small groups (and we have about 25 in a church with 5 elders) are led by non-elders. Delegate, delegate, delegate…

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