Sheep Seeking Shepherd
We hear often that Elders pray at big events, introduce new members or the present the budget but they're really out of the loop as far as actually planning, leading or initiating anything. In the Churches of Christ, we made our leaders into a kind of monarchy or board members over a corporation. And their job is simply to rubberstamp proposals that come by them.
The famous phrase the Church of Christ is, "hey, let's run it by the elders." And we think they're the elders, they sit there and hear about 50 proposals, ideas or projects, and they go, yes, no, yes, no, too much money, not enough money. We think that's all they do. They just make decisions. That's been our great sin in the church.
God's people have always needed leaders. Both the Old and New Testament provide information as to the character and the responsibilities of those who would lead God's people. God doesn't leave us without a job description.
Now, this image of leadership is established right away in the Old Testament, and it's confirmed in the New and I'd like to review some of these passages in order to provide some insight into biblical shepherding, or biblical overseeing.
The Job Description of a Biblical Elder
First of all, we go to the Old Testament. One such passage is found in the book of Zachariah. Zachariah is an Old Testament prophet and I want to give you a little background to Zachariah because it's a kind of an obscure prophet and we might not be as familiar with.
Zachariah was a contemporary of Haggai, and both of these prophets served during the time when the Jews had returned from Babylonian captivity. The Jews were carried off by the Babylonians. They lived in Babylonian captivity for 70 years while the temple in the city of Jerusalem lay in ruin. Then eventually the Jews were released from captivity and it began to trickle back to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the city and rebuild the temple.
Now, it seems that when they first returned, they began to rebuild the temple with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of get go to rebuild that temple. But with time they ran into opposition from surrounding nations and soon they began to neglect their work and they began to concentrate on their businesses and on their personal dwellings. And they just simply let go the building of the temple. And so it remained incomplete. And so God chose Zachariah and moved him to go preach and exhort the nation to get back to work on the temple That was the substance of the preaching in the prophets.
Part of his preaching centered on the fact that rebuilding the temple was important because it was directly related to the coming of the Messiah in the future. The other part of his preaching had to do with shepherding and what he said was the difference between a good shepherd and a bad shepherd, and that's where we pick up Zachariah.
In Chapter 11, Zachariah describes the worthless shepherd and in seeing the negative way he describes the worthless shepherd, we can see the positive aspect of what a good shepherd ought to be.
15The Lord said to me, "Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
- Zachariah 11:15-16
All right, well then just flip that around and it'll tell you what a good shepherd, Zeb. And so Zacharias says, A good shepherd, God's leader, the leader of God's people, for things he does, one he cares for the parish. You know, the common factor of life is that everybody's going to die. Dying is a very difficult passage for a lot of people, for everyone.
And during that time they need great spiritual support, Zacharias says. The leaders of God's people help God's people to die. They help them to face death. You know, to have one of my elders pray for me and reassure me and comfort me as I pass from this life to the next is very important and very comforting. Secondly, he says, the leaders, the shepherds, see the scattered prime responsibility is evangelism.
This morning I said that each member must find a way, his or her own way to be evangelistic. And this is especially true of elders since they must lead in the area of ministry through example. What a wonderful thing. This afternoon, as I said in my office and as I was working on my various things, I can hear in the Elders conference room, two of our elders who were putting together the finishing touches on the class that they will teach, they will teach.
And what's the name of the class this year of men who of our elders working together to teach the church how to evangelize? I'm so glad to know that most of our studies, most of our training, most of our baptism have come through the work of our elders as Marvel. And that is because that is one of the prime responsibilities of elders.
Three he says. Leader Shepherd will heal the broken. The elders don't possess miraculous gifts of healing. So this refers to the breaking of the Spirit Elders Council and they encourage those whose souls are broken by sins that they have committed or things that have been committed against them. Why do you think we ask the elders to pray for those who come forward?
It's not a tradition. It's biblical. Biblical. Note that in James Chapter five, James says, Call on the Elders. It doesn't say, Are you sick? Call on the preacher. Is that are you sick? He says All of the elders to pray, not only to help heal your physical body, but also to help you your so, you know, before the age of professional counselors, the elders were the one to whom the brethren brought their burdens and concern for advice and for prayer.
And finally, he says, sustain the standing here, the references to the ministry, to the people in general, the healthy flock need encouragement. They need teaching and leadership to continue to go the right way. Paul in the New Testament, says Timothy, that the first qualification necessary to be a good elders was the ability to teach the ability for Timothy three two.
And this is important because teaching is the way that leaders keep the flock fed and keep the flock. Health. Now, Zachariah talked less about the type of man that should lead God's people and more about the type of work that this person ought to be doing. And you know, this is also true about New Testament passages that refer to shepherds and their shepherding as well in Acts Chapter 20 turned over to accept this one is going to be reading their minutes following along the Bible enacts chapter 20 down verse 28.
We'll read that in a minute. In this passage, Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem and he stops at an island off the coast of Asia Minor called my leader, and from here he invites the elders of the Ephesians Church to come and meet with him. And during their time together he teaches and he encourages them and provides them with an exhortation concerning the things that they ought to be doing.
The shepherds, the Lord's church. Listen to what he says to them. Talking to elders who accepted 20 beginning 28, he says, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseer. The Shepherds, a Church of God, which He purchased with his own blood. Notice that he called them overseers. No bishops.
They were the shepherd. My shepherd, pastor says, using two words interchangeably for exactly the same people. And he is. I know that after my departure, Savage Wolves will come in among you, not spreading the flock and from among your own selves, men will arrive, seeking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them, therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not see food madness, each one with fear.
And now he says, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I've coveted no one silver or gold or club. You yourself know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me in everything.
I showed you that by working hard in this manner, you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that He himself said. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Interesting, more blessed to give than to receive all passes that on to the. So what is Paul says? What's the job description that Paul gave to the.
Well, first he says they must guard themselves. Take care of yourself. He says, You know, the best way to destroy the church is to destroy the leadership of the church. That's how you destroy church Leaders are human like everyone else. They are tempted in areas of their personal conduct. They are tempted to spiritual apathy. They can become emotionally depressed because they carry such a large burden for so many people.
They can be lured into division and dissension among themselves, arguing among themselves to see how things should be done. Paul says leaders must maintain themselves, need to guard themselves. They need to maintain themselves physically and emotionally and spiritually to be ready and to be sharp because they are the major target of Satan's attack. I believe that's why the Lord's Church always has two or more elders, so they can help and support each other as well as confront one another.
When there is a problem of the most valuable thing that elders can do for one another is to confront each other in order to encourage each other to do what they ought to do. Secondly, Paul says they must guard the flock. Guard yourself, guard the flock. This, of course, is a general idea that covers a lot of areas.
Elders need to protect the church from whatever might hurt it or lead it astray. And boy, that includes a lot of things. I mean, false teaching, that's primary false teaching and false teachers. Every time we put together the teaching list, you know, a new quarter, we put it together. The coordinators and I work on that, put it together, put the teachers and the classes and the type of materials that we're going to use before it gets printed.
The elders have to see and they go through each name and each class and they ask what kind of material? Let me see the book that you're using, what kind of workbook? And it has happened in the past that they have rejected certain workbooks because there's been material in those workbooks that they felt were not healthy, were not found in.
We've had to go back to the drawing board and get new books, which is what we're doing our job, putting them back together. They're doing their job, screening everything, making sure that before you get it, it's sound and the teachers are that they also have to protect against the brethren who lose their because brethren can lose their souls because of all they have to protect against divisive people or troublemakers that disturb the unity of the church.
They have to protect against bad ideas and bad practices, which may not necessarily violate the scriptures, but are just not expedient. They're just not good ideas. You know, there is no thou shalt not, but it's just the, you know, weird idea. Maybe we ought not to do it, you know, maybe for financial reasons, spending too much on something or not enough on something else or projects and activities that might hurt our reputation or cause some people to stumble, they have the responsibility of saying, No, I don't think that's a good idea.
Sometimes it's not chapter and verse, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes it's a judgment call. Sometimes the elders have to say, According to our collective judgment, this is not a good idea. That's what leadership is all about. Making the call. Elders have a charge to protect the church, and for this reason they have the authority to permit or deny various activities and discipline individual members if they are causing problems to others or to themselves verbally, he says.
Help the weak, protect yourself, protect the church, help the weak. This admonition is also an echo of the of Zacharias. Those who are weak in body and soul, they need prayer, they need counseling, they need encouragement. You know, even though elders are not certified counselors, they bring the wisdom of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit by their presence and by their prayer.
We should not discount the importance of being ministered to by an elder when we are ill. They also need to help the weak in spirit and those who are young of the faith. And they need to help those who are caught in sin as well. I've been there and the elders have sent letters to people who have not been faithful and told them what you're doing is wrong.
You need to change that. Good shepherds never push the sheep so fast that the young and the weak head keep up. But they're continually ministering to the weak so that they can develop their ability to keep up and even move ahead with the leading. And so in both the Old Testament, the New Testament, we see that God has provided guidelines as to the role and the duties of those within the church.
And just as we have a right to change excuse me, just as we have no right to change or to add or to delete anything from God's Word concerning doctrine, we must also not change the names and we must not change the responsibilities that the Bible says the elders have. You know, it's easy for us to say, look, look at that denominational group.
Or they changed the name of the, you know, they call their minister pastor and they call their elders bishops, and one guy's in charge of six churches. Well, that's a biblical, but we got it straight. You call our elders Elder. You know, we call it Bible names. Bible people. Yes, that's true. But we mustn't change the responsibilities of the elders either.
That's just as serious as the other, and sometimes more damaging. Now, the Bible not only provides a description of the duties of the leaders, but also the kind of people who should lead. And first, Timothy Chapter three, Verse 1 to 7. Paul explains the character, the qualifications needed to lead the large church. And I'm not going to do a long I'll do a minute on this simply because we've reviewed this so many times in the past, but simply because it finds its natural order in my lesson, I just wanted to review these things with you just for a moment.
All says that in order to be a leader, in order to be an elder in the Lord's Church, that person should desire to serve in this role. There should be a desire to do it. You don't need to twist the guy's arm to become an elder. That person should be well behaved and dignified. I don't mean snobbish, I mean dignified.
And those that hold his tongue, that person should have only one wife and believing children. We get that information in title. That person should have developed the virtues of prudence and respectability and hospitality. Those things should be evident in their lot. He should be able or apt to teach. The man should not be a drunk, not argumentative, and certainly not greedy.
And he should also show that he can manage his own home. Well, what kind of a job has he done in his house? You can't manage his houses, certainly can't manage the church. And finally, he needs to have experience in church work and have a good reputation in the community, not just in the they have a good reputation in church building.
A lot of opportunity for trouble there. We need a man that's going to have a good reputation out in the community. One of our deacons ran recently for the school board, Don Allsup, and won the position. And some of us were on the phone. A lot of people that that I, you know, that were on my seat said, I know Donald.
I know who he is. He's a good man. He's a good man. I'm going to vote for him. Didn't even ask to ask. And they told me, yeah, he's the one I'm going to vote for because he's a good man. His reputation in the community was beyond what it is in the building. It had moved itself out into the community at the time of elders with me as well.
Now I've mentioned before that aside from the basic requirements of being a man and being a married man and having believing children, those things are their non-negotiable. These other qualities that I've mentioned should be developed to a point where they're evidence of others. In other words, some people say, Yeah, I'd like to be an elder, but how good a teacher do I need to be?
Or, you know, how gentle do I need to be, how hospitable, you know, what level of hospitality should I be at? You know, where, where what's the level the qualifier? And the answer is this It should be good enough that these qualities are visible to other people and that it can be confirmed. By this I mean your your well behaved ness and your dignity and your honesty and your prudence and your hospitality and so on and so forth that you're not argumentative and that you're not greedy.
And so all of these qualities should be developed to the point where other people can easily see them. That's it. I mean, they can be cultivated forever, these things, but at least to the point where other people say, yes, he is a dignified man, yet I know he has a good reputation in the community and so on. And so now God not only provides the duties, not only provides the qualifications for leadership, as I've mentioned, he also provides the tools.
And I'll finish with that lesson to your God provides the tools that leaders need to carry out their ministry. The main tool He provides are the following and they're in Acts Chapter 29 Passage Different idea. First of all, God provides authority. You know, when somebody gives me a job, I always tell them, This is a job you've given me.
These are the objectives that you want. Are you giving me the authority to carry out these things and no, God chooses a man to be a leader in the church. You give that man of thought. We select men according to the guidelines. And first Timothy and Titus. But when we find a man who is suitable as a candidate for Elder shift, it is the Holy Spirit who anoints them, not a That's what Paul says.
And acts get this right that you were anointed through the Holy Spirit. The elders position in authority comes from God. God is the one who appoints or commands, not us. This should answer the question. You know, it's an old question goes around all the time. Should elders be forced to retire after so many years? I've read this all my life in the church.
You know, after 20 years, all elders should retire. Or maybe elders should be re re hired from year to year, you know, like the church should vote every year to reinstall the elders. I've heard that all four years. I've heard this idea. What's the answer? Well, my question is, well, do you see that in the Bible anywhere, any prophet going up for popular vote in Israel, anywhere and in the New Testament, you see any church in the New Testament rehiring the elders from year to year.
I don't see it. You know, when a man who no longer when a man no longer qualifies to be an elder because he can no longer teach for some reason or another, you know, if I go if I can no longer speak, if I have an accident and my throat is damaged and I drop down, then I won't subject the audience to my bad boy.
When a man is disqualified because he falls into sin or he disgraces himself with some bad conduct, or he begins to divide the church. In other words, when he begins to put aside all the things that put him there that disqualifies. Now there's a place in the Bible that says that we shouldn't receive an accusation against an elder unless we have someone with us.
Elders do bad things. I've seen that in the past and that will disqualify them. Sometimes God is the one that disqualifies an elder, perhaps through illness, and Elder is no longer able physically to serve a God who is disqualifying then, or perhaps the family duty has been placed on your shoulders, which does not permit you anymore to do all the work that you needed to do.
Because now your family requires your attention for a variety of reasons or you die. That's a certain way that God disqualifies you. You're dead. Then you're excused. Otherwise, elders are called to serve with God's blessing in authority until God discharges them. Not the church. God is the one who anoint the elders. God is the one who describes them.
This is in politics here. This is the Kingdom of God. Secondly, God provides example in Acts chapter 20, verse 31 says, Therefore, be on the alert. Remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not see food admonish each one with the and in verse 33 he says, I have covered it. No one silver or gold or clothed.
You yourselves know that these have ministered to my own needs. And from the men who were with me, Paul and the other apostles provided examples of leadership for these first century elders to follow. And these men also had the mighty example of the great leaders in the Old Testament to learn from. And God has preserved these images in His inspired words, which serve leaders today as a source of examples and inspiration.
God also provides the living example and teaching of our own elders today who are setting the pace. The Elders of tomorrow are watching our elders today to see how it's done. They don't do it perfectly. Sure, but they are setting the watermark on how things ought to be done as an elder and the younger men are watching them to know how to act in the future.
Thirdly, God provides the word of grace. I love this one in verse 32 forces, and now I commend you, the elders, to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The Word of God is the blueprint from which the elders work.
Elders have no plan of their own. They do not rely on human wisdom. Their plans, their wisdom is based solely on the Word of God, period. I've heard this all so many times that elders meaning what's the word say about that? Or I don't find enough support in the word for us to do it that way, or this violates the spirit of the Gospel.
I've heard those words said, and that's right. That's the way it ought to be. Elders are there to sift everything through this sister right here to make sure that it works all emphasizes the idea of grace, the word of grace, because the word is the good news of God's grace towards sinners and elders lead God's people in being channels for God's grace to the law.
You know, it's a kind of rule of thumb among elders. It's the thing that guides all their teaching and all their actions. They ask themselves the question in everything we do, are we administering the grace of God here in this thing? You know, we put this plan together or we've dealt with this person in such a way and we've said this to them or that to them, and we're going to take this action.
But have we dealt the grace of God to this person? There's the rule of the elders. The word of grace is the tool that they use in order to take and reprove and correct and train the church, preparing them for the coming of Christ. And finally, God provides himself acts. Chapter 2432 He says, Now I commend you to God to God.
Now, if you read the Book of Acts, you'll see in many instances the Lord himself comforted Paul in his ministry, and while he was struggling and with disappointment and illness and opposition, many times the Lord appeared to him and comforted him directly. I believe that the Bible teaches that God anoints, equips and ministers personally through his leaders, directly through the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
The burdens of leadership are great, but God but the God excuse me, that we serve is able to support his leaders so they will not fall under the weight. Now, it may not seem like it, but this lesson was not an attempt to teach our leaders about leadership. I've got something specific to say to our leaders. I won't use the pulpit to do it.
We have enough meetings. I can speak my mind openly to them now. They're already aware of their role and their responsibility. This lesson was to help the congregation understand about elders and their work. I also wanted to remind us about our role and our response to our elders. According to God's Word. You know, I you about the elders, their role, their responsibility, the Old Testament, New Testament, their job description, how do we respond to that?
God even teaches us we are supposed to respond to them first, He says, Submit to them. Hebrews 1317. Obey your leaders and submit to them, or they keep watch over your soul. You know there is unity and progress in the church when leaders truly lead and the church follows without grumbling or complaining. That's how we respond to our leaders.
We submit to them. Secondly, we pray for them. Paul says. I urge that prayers be made on behalf of all men or kings and all who are in authority or simply to too well. Elders are among those who are in authority, and our prayers help support them emotionally and spiritually so that they can do a good job. Thirdly, we need to support and honor that again.
First, Timothy 517 forces Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching. And we honor them by supporting their plans. We honor them by respecting their role in their persons and their families. We honor them by encouraging them with our word and with our actions. Some who give themselves fully to the work, who include preaching and teaching, Paul says, are worthy of double honor.
In other words, they're worthy of being paid. We had an elder here who served as an elder and a minister at the same time and earned a living perfectly. Biblical ideas deserved. In the end, congregations will not rise above their leaders. I've said that in the past, and that's been a word of exhortation to our leaders. The congregation will not rise above where you go.
That's true, but I'll tell you something. Leaders cannot effectively lead their people if they will not follow enthusiastically. And the best example of that is Moses. Moses was considered the greatest political and moral leader among men in history. Even secular historians agree that Moses was the greatest leader in history. But what happened? Moses and his generation of Israelites never reached the promised Land.
And what, because his followers continually rebelled and complained and whined every step of the way. And for that reason he didn't make it and they didn't. Successful leadership requires supportive followers, and I'm glad to note that we have many of those elements here in Choctaw, and I hope we continue to see that pattern grow. You know, it's a good sign.
Like I say, when most of the studies and baptisms are carried out by our elders, they're setting the pace and we need to follow. Now, I know that our elders are ready and they're willing to lead. My question to you tonight is, are we willing to follow are we ready to follow their plans and our direction for this church?
Are we ready to follow them into the what is the baptism, as they call us, to respond to the gospel, Those of us who have not yet repented and then baptized, we ready to follow by being restored? Are we ready to place ourselves under their leadership by placing membership? Again, I keep harping on this idea of placing membership, not just the tradition.
Blessing Membership says I will now willingly place myself under under the oversight of these elders that they may minister for me and they may be responsible for my soul. If you need to express your desire to follow their leadership in any of these areas, or if you need simply prayers for your struggles, your own personal struggles, we encourage you to come forward.