Continuing the conversation on shepherding by posting your questions and/or answers here.

A fork is for eating? A car is or driving?  A violin is for playing music?  So what is an elder for?

Three words are used in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 to describe the same people or function: elder (or older), presbuteros (bishop), and poimain (shepherd). Elder is what they are—older, mature people. Bishop is what they do. Bishop literally means, “take care of—the caretaker.” Shepherd is how they do it. Elders are mature people who take care of the church by shepherding people.
What do you think?  What is your question?
Lynn Anderson

Oh yes.  One more thing.

To see a more detailed answer to your question, see the article entitled WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS SHEPHERDS DO FOR FLOCKS on the front page of MentorNework.org.

We see that several people are visiting this question.  Let us hear from you.  Your comments. Your questions.

Blessings,

Lynn

How can an elder be a “church leader” and still square with Jesus’ teaching that we must be a “servant of all?“

Your question seems to assume that these are some kind of opposites.  The whole purpose of Jesus statement was to turn traditional thinking about leadership on its head.

In His church, the servants of all are the leaders.  They are recognized and “followed” because of their service.  Just as Jesus gave himself for his bride, shepherds are called to give themselves away for the church God has appointed them to watch over.

More personally, servant leadership is really the only satisfying kind I’ve ever found.  I’ve been “in charge” of relatively largely organizations.  I’ve tried the different leadership styles.  I’ve used position power and authority.  They never turned out very well until I started asking those I worked for “What can I do for you today?“  Then leading became a delightful experience because I quit worrying about if I was doing it right or if anybody was following.

Hope that helps you understand how God uses servants as leaders.

Great question Laurene,

Yes Leadership as it is too often viewed in the modern church (and in the business, entertainment, sports and political worlds) is very much at odds with Servanthood.  But the most healthy of Christian Leadership modeled in Scripture IS Servanthood!

1.  First and foremost: The leadership scripture calls for in elders is Spiritual Leadership.  Not necessarily Visionary leadership, or CEO leadership, or Management skills, or Public speaking skills or ‘Ruling.‘  Jesus said, that Ruling is the way pagans view leadership but “It shall not be so among you.“

2.  A Spiritual Leader is THE KIND OF PERSON THAT GOD-HUNGRY PEOPLE WANT TO BE LIKE.  So the shepherd/elder leads best by example.

3.  Shepherding, Mentoring and Equipping are Biblical functions of elders/shepherds.  This is done Jesus Style - through relationships, one on one and in small circles.  Jesus spiritual formation style was “Recruit 12, graduate 11, focus on 3, pay special attention to the most responsive 1—and spend a lot of time with them all.“

4.  And of course, Scripture knows no such thing as a ‘lone-operator’ shepherd/elder.  The norm for shepherding/eldering in scripture is ‘a plurality of leaders’ - that is ‘team leadership,‘

5.  This is not to say there are not times when elders/shepherds must set policy or make decision - or even vision.  But those things are more part of modern and western church models, so scripture has almost nothing to say about that.

Lynn

Submitted by e-mail from Jeremy :
I have heard you quote someone as saying, “Most churches of Christ can grown no larger than a committee of amateurs can manage part time.”  Where did that come from?  And how can you say that?

Thanks Jeremy

I think the quote you have in mind is from Lyle Schaller (who has written some 20 books on church development -  an in the 90’s was a much sought after Church consultant inter-denominationally.  Several of us Ministers from the church of Christ, bought a day of Schaller’s time and asked him to talk to us about what the C of C looks like from the curb, and how to ‘fix’ the negative aspects of our image without abandoning our core values.

He said, “How honest do you want me to be?“
We said,” shoot straight, but be gentle, as we are all insecure.“ (ha)
He said, “Ok, let me begin with your polity.  You think it is biblical, but it is not. 
  1.  You don’t empower your senior ministers to do what you hold them responsible for - lead.  Yet when things go badly in your churches, you blame the minister. So you are driving your brightest and best out of your pulpits.  And at the same time postponing the repairing of an ineffective polity.
  2.  You demand that your elders vision and lead - something that ‘groups’ have never been able to do. (All the way through scripture God has chosen persons, not committees to cast vision, and to do visionary leading.  For example, if Moses had been one of your ‘boards of elders’ the children of Israel would still be in Egypt.  And the ‘angels’ of the seven churches of Asia were messengers, not celestial beings with feathers on their back.)
This means elders energies and time get diverted away from doing what scripture describes as their central job description - feed and care for sheep.  Besides, you select elders on the basis of their visionary leadership and their management skills – the wrong gift-mix for shepherding.  So your elders often become frustrated
3.  In addition, the 50-70 hours a week most elders have to give to the market place takes their best energy and attention off the top.  Leaving only the weary fragments of time for the life and death serious work of ‘eldering.’
4. Plus very few of your elders are trained theologically or in church development.  Producing more ineffectiveness, thus more frustrated elders.
e) Thus you are driving the brightest and the best spiritual leaders away from formal leadership roles in your churches.  And many of those who do stay with it become frustrated, and either burn out or passively settle for a flat-line status quo.

“So,” Schaller summarized, (and here is the stinging quote that you likely had in mind,) “so, your churches can grow no larger than a COMMITTEE or AMATEURS can MANAGE, PART TIME.“ 

Then Schaller unpacked his carefully selected words:
1.  COMMITEE: Committees often meet primarily to perpetuate their own existence.  Committees SIT. Teams PLAY!!

2.  AMATEURS:  Not meant as a pejorative term.  Just means persons functioning outside their areas of expertise.  Many elders, while excellent professionals in business, law, academics etc. etc. have little to no training in theology and church development.  But the church still expects them to function with excellence outside their areas of expertise at ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING AND IMPORTANT JOBS IN THE WORLD!!!!  Sadly, many expect this of themselves.  Recipe for ‘burn-out’

3.  MANAGE: Managers sit!  Leaders lead!  Managers preserve the past, and control the present.  But they don’t usually create a better future.

4.  PART TIME: (Most weary elders that I know, don’t need anyone to explain this part to them.)  After 50-70 hours a week in the market place, then family responsibilities and community involvement, etc. etc.  they attempt to do (again) ONE OF THE HARDEST AND MOST IMPORTANT JOBS IN THE WORLD, on the left over margins of their time and energy.  Recipe for declining excellence and further burn-out.“ 

So my hat is off to the faithful and weary elders who keep trying.  And it is no wonder that most of our churches stay at a plateau at best, or - more commonly – are in decline.  No mystery that they tend to “grow no larger than a committee of amateurs can manage part time.“

Hope this is what you were after.

Lynn Anderson