PART TWO

FINDING RELIABLE ELDERS

7

SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ELDERS

Do you like the smell of sheep?

I don’t mean the smell of lamb chops roasting in the oven. And by “sheep” I don’t mean the imaginary animals conjured and counted by insomniacs. I mean the living, bleating, wooly animals roaming in green pastures.

Truthfully, I don’t have much experience with sheep or sheep farms. Once during a visit to Scotland my family and I had the honor of visiting publisher William McKenzie and family on their sheep farm. What a beautiful place for tending sheep!

But pretty quickly I learned that it is not really the smell of sheep that need concern you. It is what sheep indiscriminately drop around the pasture that poses the greater threat! With vistas as breathtaking as those in the Scottish highlands, the sheep-herding novice has a tough time keeping his eyes down to watch his step. But you should. Sheep are messy and shepherds need either good work boots or careful footing!

Repeatedly the Bible describes Christians as sheep. It is not a flattering description. But it is an accurate one. Christians are messy people. Our lives are filled with brokenness, waste, trouble, and sticky situations. We are timid, and we sometimes wander. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isa. 53:6). This is why we need shepherds, men who know what to do with sheep, how to care for us, lead us, and navigate our mess!

And here’s the really good news: in the Bible God reveals himself as our Shepherd.9 The Lord of the universe tends us in all our messiness, fear, weakness, and wandering. One thinks of the well-known and comforting words of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Ezekiel paints for us a compellingly beautiful prophetic picture with these words:

The Lord God’s determination to be the shepherd of his people thunders with each repetition of “I” or “I will.” That determination finds fulfillment in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who announced, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Then Jesus explained:

All good shepherding finds its root and model in the life and love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the shepherd we need is Jesus himself.

Yet, as a gift to his flock, the Chief Shepherd appoints godly men as under-shepherds to tend the flock that he purchased with his blood (Acts 20:28). We know these under-shepherds by various titles used interchangeably, including: pastors, overseers, bishops, and elders.10 Like the Chief Shepherd, elders or pastors watch over the flock entrusted to their care (1 pet. 5:1–3) by leading, feeding, and protecting the sheep.

Deacons and elders make up the two enduring offices of the New Testament church. While deacons serve the practical or physical needs of the church, elders serve the overall spiritual needs of the church. The two offices are not like two chambers of government—a House and Senate with more-or-less equal authority. If deacons are table servants or waiters, then elders are maîtres de or head chefs. Elders exercise authority or rule in the church (1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:17). However, whatever authority the elders have has been delegated to them by Jesus. Further, the Scripture and Christian love set boundaries for the proper exercise of that authority.11 As Pastor Mark Lauderbach puts it, “An elder with no Bible is an elder with no authority.” Elders do not “lord it over” the sheep. As Christ’s gifts to the flock, they lead and serve in order to build up the body of Christ, not to advantage themselves (Eph. 4:11–16; 1 Cor. 12:4–11).

Also, the New Testament clearly instructs churches to appoint multiple elders to shepherd the sheep (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5). The plurality of elders seems to offer several desirable benefits. Multiple elders means multiple gifted men can share the shepherding load, teach in various settings, hold one another accountable, maintain stable leadership during change, encourage one another during difficulty, and work through the wisdom-requiring messy areas of church life. In the multitude of elders there is safety and plans are established.

Finally, elders may be paid for their work—as in the case of full-time pastors (1 Tim. 5:18)—or they may be unpaid volunteers—as with many lay elders. In either case, elders receive their reward. Faithful pastors, eager to serve from a pure heart, have the confident expectation of a great reward when the Chief Shepherd appears (1 pet. 5:4). But unfaithful shepherds and hirelings have only the fearful expectation of judgment (Ezek. 34:1–10; John 10:12–13). God the Father will not look lightly upon either the dutiful service or the neglect of sheep purchased with the blood of his Son.

So, above all, shepherds are stewards required to be faithful (1 Cor. 4:1–2). They watch for souls as those who must give account for the sheep (Heb. 13:17). As eighteenth-century pastor Lemuel Haynes wrote:

In the following chapters (part 2) we examine the spiritual qualifications prerequisite for serving as an elder. We do this chiefly by meditating on the qualifications for elders listed in 1 Timothy 3. In Part 3, we turn from spiritual qualifications to the elders’ duties as outlined in 1 Timothy 4. I pray that these sections help congregations receive the blessing of faithful shepherds and encourage faithful shepherds in their ministry and the hope of their reward.

8

DESIRES A NOBLE TASK

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

1 TIMOTHY 3:1

In order to find reliable men to serve as elders, the first thing we need to look for is men who desire this “noble task.” We want men who have a heart for it, who “aspire to the office.”

This, in my experience, is not as straightforward as it sounds. Some men may “want the office,” but their wanting is really lust for power, and so they are not fit. Conversely, some men who are fit for the office think that wanting it shows pride, ungodly ambition, or impoliteness. Finally, some men are probably qualified, but they either lack the desire or think they are not qualified because they’re holding onto some idea of a “super elder.”

STIRRING ASPIRATION

Practically speaking, one of the first things a pastor must do is clarify and teach godly ambition, including the godliness of aspiring to be an elder.13 Faithful pastors will regularly encourage young men (including twenty-somethings) to include in their personal aspirations the goal of becoming an elder. After all, every characteristic that Paul lists for elders in 1 Timothy 3, except for the quality of being “able to teach” (v. 2), should mark every Christian man. The pastoral challenge to aspire to be an elder is good and godly. It’s another way of saying to Christian men, “This is what Christian maturity and Christlikeness look like.” Such maturity and Christ-likeness ought to be desired, not shied away from or downplayed.

Can you imagine the Christ-exalting power of a church filled with men possessing a strong, godly desire to lead Christ’s sheep in their homes and their...