Doing an Elder's Job

      Recently, I heard of a man. If he reminded me of any Bible character, it was Diotrophes of III John 9, always putting himself first. Apparently, though the congregation had no elders, he believed to become an elder, he needed to go ahead and do the elders’ job. For him, that meant making all the decisions. Single-handedly he determined evangelists the congregation would support, classes they would teach and preachers they would hire. He would then pass on the information to the rest of the congregation in the men’s business meetings. Oh yeah, he also decided when those would happen and what would be discussed.

      What is sad about this situation is this well-intentioned brother was so close to the truth and yet so far away. He was right. No one should wait until it is time to become a bishop to start acting like one. Pastors don’t start shepherding the day the congregation appoints them.

      The problem is shepherding prior to being appointed an elder doesn’t mean making unilateral decisions for the congregation. It means…well, shepherding. It means being a servant to sheep.

      Consider Ezekiel 34:2-6, in which God rebuked the shepherds of Israel:

Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

      No doubt, there are men whose lives are devoted to the tasks described above, strengthening the weak, healing the sick, binding up the wounded, bringing back the straying, seeking the lost and scattered. These are the men who have been appointed as overseers in the congregation.

      Hopefully, however, all the men of this congregation are working to be qualified to oversee and shepherd the congregation as elders one day. We do that not by waiting until the church says, “You are now a bishop.” We do that not by trying to make congregational decisions on our own. We do that by serving the sheep around us. We do that by strengthening, healing, binding and seeking the sheep with which we pasture. We should start doing that now.

Edwin L. Crozier