Now that the most important election in a generation is over (at least that’s what some said), I’d like to take a look at a third type of election that Christians are involved in but often don’t pay much mind to.
In my last post, we discussed the great election of believers. God has chosen a people not because of their political prowess, or wisdom, or wealth, fame, appearance, honor or any other item on which our society places an inordinate affection. God chooses because He loves. Next we discussed this past American election and what God values in political office. Does God care about the environment, healthcare and the economy? If so, what priority do they take? I’d like to raise awareness of another type of election that we often ignore or worse scorn, the election of church officers. “What? you may be saying. “Who cares?” others might be tempted to reply. “I don’t even know who my elders are”. A body of officers in a church is often regarded as an elitist club of good ole boys, detached from the daily events of the church and her immediate concerns, almost like a board of directors, huddled away somewhere taking care of the dirty dealings of finances. I would like to look into the role of officers, their place in the church and what we can do to ensure representative officers, and not a group of men with a hidden agenda.
From the beginning, God created a body of leaders to be a guide to His people. From the earliest days of Moses in Exodus 18, God gave leaders to be: “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness”. They were to lead the people in groups of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands. Imagine that! Imagine have a leader, a shepherd, who was responsible to watch over, encourage, care for, and defend believers in groups of ten. What a wonderful concept! We can see that their role involved participation to some degree in the lives of the average person. Did they call them at the end of the week to see how they and their family were doing? Did they drop by with a hot meal when the mother of the family was ill? Did they stand at the door with kind but firm words when one of the family members had done wrong but were afraid to deal with it? I don’t know for certain what they did. But, one thing I do know, they did was be involved. How do our elders measure up to that? What is our expectation of our elected officials? Do we have Biblical expectations? Of course, there is the actual running and operation of the institution of the Church and her facilities, but the elders and deacons are called to a lot more than that. They are called to lead us, to be involved in our daily dealings in life, and they are called to care as a Shepherd cares for his sheep.
Secondly, what is the position of the elders? While every church has a ruling body of men, what should be their place? God has given us elders to perform a specific function, to shepherd, to train, to lead His people. God has also exalted and honored them with such a position, and while He requires much of them, He also requires that we hold them in high regard, “worthy of double honor”. In I Peter V, God calls us to honor these men who have sacrificed themselves to follow God’s call. We are not called to backbite, nor complain, nor scoff and disagree with their decisions (even when we legitimately do so) but He has called us to respect them and honorably engage them when we do disagree. We can find picture after picture in the Bible where God calls us to honor those in authority because of their position not their deeds (though we may have good cause to honor them because of their deeds as well).
Lastly, how can we ensure that we have men of Biblical substance who desire to serve in the fear of God, who are men of substance and talent in this regard and not just good intentions, and are men of integrity. While we often find that men who are being considered for elected ecclesiastical office have been vetted in some sense by the present governing body, it is up to the body as a whole to consider not just a man’s occupation and career achievements but more importantly his spiritual life, individually and in his spiritual service to the congregation, whether formally or informally. A man might serve well in evangelism class but neglect his wife. A man might have worked tirelessly to augment the financial base of the church but might treat his children with irritation and abuse. A man might be involved in sacrificing his time to the weekly worship of God, lead Bible studies and prayer events but neglect his own personal devotional time. What type of men do we want to lead our church? What kind of church do we want 20 years from now? The answer is in how we vote? How would Jesus vote?
A concluding thought:
Might I also suggest that once the elders or deacons are chosen, the job of the laity is not complete. Our responsibility is not just to vote but also to continue to interact with those in authority. May I use such vulgar terms as “contacting your elected official” and “lobbying” to describe continued contact with our elders and deacons while not forgetting that we are to honor and respect them. They must hear from us. They need not only our admonitions and rebuke (when suitable) but also our encouragement.
A discussion of truth, spiritual issues, and how they play out in our lives.
