Good morning. We're going to read the Bible now. There are two readings. Please turn with me.
First one is in Timothy, 2 Timothy 3, verses 10 to the end of the chapter, and then the first five verses of chapter 4.
And then the second reading we're going to read is in 1 Peter 5, and that's going to be the first seven verses.
So, 2 Timothy chapter 3.
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured.
Yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it,
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings,
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.
Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season,
reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching,
but having itch in years, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering,
do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Our next reading is from 1 Peter 5, verses 1 to 7.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
Shepherd the flock of God that is among you,
exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you,
not for shameful gain, but eagerly,
not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another,
for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.
Well, good morning, everyone.
One of the things I learned and was reminded of again this week at the conference,
I was at least that I need help to speak and you need help to listen.
So let's pray.
Lord, reshape our hearts to hear your word.
Make us delight in your word.
But more than that, Lord, delight in you who has spoken your word.
Make us long to be like you.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Well, how should we be governed?
We've been talking now for four weeks.
This is our fifth week talking about the local church.
How should decisions be made in our local church?
Two weeks now we've looked at God's agenda.
Christ has a very clear agenda for the church.
But who's responsible for implementing that agenda?
Who's responsible for making sure that the church stays faithful and consistent in that agenda?
Big questions to wrestle with, actually.
A pastor friend of mine once said these words.
He said, you know, David, the greatest conflict in my ministry life, his ministry life,
and that was a long one.
The greatest conflict in my ministry life was not about doctrine,
but about the nature of authority and leadership.
In short, he said, I find that people just don't want to be led, according to God's word.
That's a seriously sobering thought, isn't it?
Of course, most Christians recognize the need for some form of leadership in a local church,
like ours, a community.
But the big issue is about the distribution of authority and leadership across the church family.
That's where it comes down to.
How much authority do church leaders like myself have?
And then what authority and input do those who are not church leaders,
which, after all, is the vast majority of a community like ours,
what authority do you have in this local church community, this local church family?
And it's that question, getting that right, which has been responsible for so much confusion,
so much hurt,
dare I say, so much passive, aggressive rebellion in local church families against leadership.
And indeed, even sadder to say, it's been responsible for some open warfare against leaders in the local church.
And at one extreme, some Christians give not much more than lip service to the concept of leadership.
But secretly, they resent it or they ignore it and actually just do their own thing,
as much as they're able to.
Or perhaps they secretly hanker for a democracy.
That is, well, all we need is the body of Christ,
and therefore everybody should have an equal input, equal authority.
We're just the body.
And at the other extreme, then,
some Christians expect the leaders to take all responsibility
for the health and well-being and longevity of a local church family.
Not just all the responsibility, but all the blame when things don't go well.
While they remain passive and unthinking,
or selectively involved just in the bits they like to be involved in,
or, perhaps worst of all,
while they sit on the sideline and critique and criticize.
And again, I'm trying to be fair in this sweeping everybody into this,
some Christians, and this is a terrible sadness,
some Christians have been deeply wounded and traumatized
by heavy-handed leadership.
What I call magisterial leadership,
acting as if, you know, they're the king, they're above the law.
And that sort of thing has left them wounded, as I say, traumatized.
And at a practical level,
left them deeply suspicious of leadership.
And sometimes, even after many years,
people have been unable to move on from that.
And so, practically,
they might be in a totally different context,
but they still struggle to have a positive engagement with leadership.
Very quickly and easily sort of default back
to combative engagement with leadership.
Friends, with every other aspect of church,
as we've been thinking about it,
authority and leadership must be examined and established from Scripture.
And this morning, I hope to give you a clear,
but unfortunately it has to be necessarily brief,
overview of what I believe the biblical structure of authority
and leadership in our local church family ought to be.
If you've got your bulletin with you or you've got it on your phone,
you can maybe switch between pages or look at that.
There's a diagram there.
I love diagrams,
but I'm not terribly good with the technology of putting them together.
So it may or may not be helpful to you.
I think it's a wonderful diagram,
and I'm sticking to that story.
You can do whatever you like.
The first three or four points here this morning.
The first point is this,
a very basic point.
We've been saying it for four weeks now.
When we think about the distribution of authority and leadership,
we need to establish first things first.
And the first thing to establish is that it's Christ's church.
Christ is Lord of his church and the chief shepherd.
That's how he's described,
and we'll see that in 1 Peter passage we're looking at this morning.
In fact, we're going to look at it now.
1 Peter 5, verse 2,
talks about Jesus being the chief shepherd in verse 4.
We are a local expression of God's church.
We've established that over four weeks.
We are, in another term, a flock,
one of the flocks of Jesus,
and he is the chief shepherd.
We are the sheep.
And he rules for us and cares for us.
The church is precious to him.
It is the means by which he does his work in this world.
It is the context in which he means
he's died for people to come to maturity.
We've established all those things over recent weeks.
And that's repeated across Scripture,
from one end of the Bible to the other end of it.
We started four weeks ago, Matthew 16, 15.
No sooner has Jesus been identified by his disciples as Messiah
than he actually articulates what he's come for as Messiah,
and that is to establish and build his church
by dying for his people.
Inseparable to the role of Messiah
is the building of his church.
Colossians 1, verse 18.
You can look it up if you're able to,
or I'll read it to you.
I assume I can find it, of course.
Colossians 1, verse 18.
It says that wonderful paragraph about the preeminence of Christ.
And Christ is the head of the body, the church.
It is through the church,
as much as anything else in this world,
that Christ will be preeminent.
Christ is supreme in every way.
Ephesians, we've seen in the last few weeks,
from start to finish is about Christ's church.
Christ's church is God's big idea.
His one building project in the world,
we said a couple of weeks ago.
The gathered community of God's died for people,
gladly serving and worshipping God.
And so we could go on and on and on
about the church being Christ
and the preciousness of the church to Christ.
But here I just want to move on quickly from this point.
Friends, here's the problem with that.
Given the verses I've referred to
and dozens more we could consider,
it is so sad.
that so often Christians in local churches
act as if the church is theirs
to do with as a place.
Act as if they have supreme authority.
And in brackets,
if they take supreme authority,
then they're also taking supreme responsibility
to care for it and protect it and nourish it and build it.
But that tends to get cut off.
People just want to say,
well, we can do,
we can make this church wherever we want it to be.
It's our church.
And that's the language we use.
And it grates on me no end when,
and I heard it,
I don't know how many times it was come from this week,
oh, tell me about your church.
And my standard refrain was,
and people thought I was just weird,
I don't have a church.
I minister at,
but I think people just thought I was being a wally.
Anyway, move on.
But it's Christ's church.
And that's a crucial thing to get right to start with.
Secondly,
Scripture is God's voice into his church
and the world at large.
Turn with me to 2 Timothy 3.
We'll come back to 1 Peter 5 in a minute.
Turn with me to 2 Timothy 3,
verses 14 to 17.
In these verses,
we have a comprehensive statement
about the authority of God's word
and its place in the governance structure
of the local church.
And we're told here,
the Bible is God-breathed.
It is God's words in men's words.
It is God speaking into his church in real time.
In living words.
Powerful words.
The fact that it's God-breathed
gives us both the source of the authority,
sorry, gives us the source of God's word
and the authority of God's word.
It's all God wants to say
into his local church.
It's all God needs to say
into his local church
and into his world at large.
His church in particular.
It's through the living,
breathing word of God
that we begin life as Christians,
as the Spirit takes that word
and applies it deep in our hearts and minds.
It's through the living word of God
that we move towards maturity
or as we've seen in other passages,
grow up into salvation in Christ.
What's that?
Well, we're about to say in a minute,
being fully equipped for responsible,
wise, consistent Christian living.
Verse 14, Paul's speaking to Timothy,
giving him instructions as a young preacher,
young pastor.
As for you, Timothy,
continue in what you have learned
and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it.
That's a bit of family history there.
And how from childhood,
you've been acquainted with the sacred writings.
Here it comes.
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
Want to apply God's agenda?
We need to be students of God's word.
All scripture.
Do you hear that?
All scripture.
Not just the bits we like,
but the bits that are convenient.
But all scripture
is breathed out by God
and profitable.
It's hard to believe
how some churches
who turn their back in God's word
can actually read that verse.
They've obviously decided
it's not that profitable at all.
And there's something better
to be front and center with in church.
Profitable for teaching,
for reproof,
for correction,
and for training in righteousness.
That's the messy stuff
of growing to maturity.
We just need to learn to start with.
And then as we learn
God's way of doing things,
we will stubbornly be stuck
in our way of doing things.
So we need,
we need,
you know,
to be knocked around a bit
by our fellow believers.
To be corrected.
To be challenged.
Why?
Not because anybody takes delight
in showing up
somebody else being wrong.
But because it all moves us
as part of this training
in righteousness.
Which is
that the man of God
or the person of God,
that the believer
may be competent.
Competent.
well,
competent means
to know God's word,
to know the concept of grace,
to be able to apply
grace to other people's lives,
to be able to live in grace
in my own life,
all the while aware of my sin
and struggling to deal with it.
That's what it is to be competent
in God's word.
And that then
leads to being equipped
for every good work.
That is,
being skilled and equipped
to live
as God wants me to live.
That is,
every good work.
Doing that which is pleasing to him.
Doing that which is
kingdom building.
Quite literally then,
God's word,
God's living word,
is spoken
into our local church here
to shape us
in every way
possible
and imaginable.
And that includes me
as a Christian leader.
Even Christian leaders
are to be under
the absolute authority
of God's word.
It's to be the basis
of every decision
I make as a leader.
Every action I take
as a leader.
Every structure
I urge on the congregation
as a leader.
Every program
that we adopt
as a leader.
And all of us included
every conflict resolution
in our church family life.
The Bible must stand
over reason.
I.e.
what I think is right.
It must stand
over experience.
What we feel is right.
or what we'd like
to be right.
What makes me happy.
Or what works
pragmatically.
The Bible must stand
over our culture.
What our society
says is right.
Popular or desirable.
My friends,
that's why
God's word
is and has been
and hopefully
always will be
central in the life
of our church family.
we read it
and we encourage you
to teach it.
Read it.
Sorry,
we read it
and we teach it
and we encourage you
to read it
and learn it.
Both in this community
and its subunits
as we meet
during the week
but also in your
biological family
in the home
day by day,
week by week.
We're constantly
encouraging God's people
to dig into
God's word.
Why?
Just because it's
something that
we get the hots for?
No,
because God's word
is so central
to who we are
as a people,
as a community.
We cannot be
the community
that we call
ourselves God's church
apart from being
competent
in God's word.
Expanding our
understanding of it
and applying
its wisdom
and truth
to your life
individually
and the community
life of this
local church family.
Now,
again,
let me just pause
there before I move
on to the next point
and just ask a question.
The question comes
down to a very simple
one,
that is,
does God's word
have that much
authority,
that much
immediacy,
that much
importance
to you?
Make it really,
really practical.
Does God's word
shape
your determination
and your thinking
as you walk
in that door
every Sunday morning
to be in community,
the community
we call the church?
It should.
But I have to
confess
with probably
the rest of you,
it doesn't shape
me like that
as I walk
in the door
some morning.
I'm shaped
by,
you know,
something not
sitting right on me.
I'm shaped
by things
that happen
during the week.
I'm shaped
by interactions
with people.
I'm shaped
by fears.
I'm shaped
by lack
of understanding.
I'm shaped
by a desire
to be liked.
I'm shaped
by a whole heap
of things.
To my shame,
I confess that to you.
when I should
be shaped
by God's word
when I walk
in that door.
Determine that
every word I speak
is sourced
in God's love
and God's grace
and unity.
See,
the church,
this series
is called
Church,
a Forteist of Heaven.
Well,
what do you think
is going to govern
and dominate
with such beauty
and sweetness
and delight
in heaven?
God's word.
We're going to
hang on it
in a way
that we've never
been able
to hang on it
here in this life.
So if we want
church to be
a Forteist of Heaven
as people come
in the door,
let's be seasoned
by God's word.
So the question remains,
does it determine
your commitment
to and involvement
in this local
church family?
so that
everything you're
involved in
and committed to,
you do so
believing those
things to be
helpful in moving
us to competency
as Christians,
moving us to
maturity as Christians,
moving us to be
equipped for God's
word and good works?
Does God's word
ultimately drive
how you operate
in relationships?
Does it drive you
when you need
to seek to
repair relationships?
Because let's face it,
the longest
relationships can be
broken just like
that, can't they?
And don't we find
it so easy to live
with broken
relationships?
When God's word
is full of the
very things that
we need to repair
them.
But we like to
hang on to our
hurts, don't we?
More than we like
to go to God's
word to have
things repaired.
Third point then,
moving on.
Christ intends his
people to be
nurtured in
structured communities.
With the primary
authority of Christ
and God's word
established,
we can now
sort of zone in
or zoom in a little
bit on the
leadership structures
in the church.
But commonly,
in a sermon like
this, that would
now zero in on
the role of elders.
And you might
well expect a
lecture on elders
and your
responsibility to
them.
And I'm not going
to disappoint you,
but maybe not the
way you think.
The focus would go
on elders or
bishops or
shepherds or
what's the fourth
word?
I can't even see
me.
Pastors, there
you go.
Sort of four words
used in the New
Testament that
essentially can be
used interchangeably.
And that's where
that diagram on page
two comes in.
And so, here's what
the nuances have to
start.
It's clear that the
scriptures have a
fair bit to say about
elders and the role
of elders in the
structure of leadership
in a church.
church.
But, equally
important, there's
another structure that
often gets overlooked
that's spoken about
just as strongly in
the concept of
leadership and
nurturing in the
church.
And that concept is
the interconnectedness
or the interdependency
of believers.
believers.
I like to use the
term the priesthood of
all believers, but
people don't really
understand that.
So, it's the
interconnectedness of
the body of Christ.
We've looked at that
metaphor of the body
over the past few
weeks.
And to have a
healthy body, all
the parts need to be
working in sync.
If you get some
parts of the body
that just aren't
functioning, then
you've got a
distorted, terrible
shape of a body,
haven't you?
You would say, well,
there's the
consequences of sin
in our world.
The
interconnectedness of
the body of Christ,
which we also need to
display in total
balance with the
role of elders.
Now, again, you
see, Christians tend
to go to extremes in
the practicalities of
leadership.
One extreme is the
outright denial or
an ignorance of the
need for any
functioning leadership
structure in the
church.
Call it eldership or
a leadership team or
a pastor team,
whatever you want to
call it.
And again, I'll go
back to what I said
in the introduction.
Lots of Christians
might say, well,
what's all that about?
Why can't we just
have the body of
Christ?
The other extreme is
to adopt an
eldership or
leadership structure
which operates with
such a controlling
authoritarianism that
any concept of the
body is either
totally obliterated or
is just tokenism.
So one extreme says, hey,
what's your problem with
leaders?
All we need is the
body of Christ.
The other extreme
says, hey, you sit
down and be quiet.
It's the elders that
have the wisdom and
the insight in this
congregation.
It's the elders that
will decide what happens
in this congregation.
It's the elders that
decide what this
congregation is going
to look like.
You just sit down and
wait until you're
spoken to.
I can take you to
churches where both
those operate very
successfully, well,
not very successfully,
very openly.
The key for distribution
of authority according
to biblical structure,
I believe, is a
harmonious balance
recognizing both,
valuing how they
complement one another.
The interdependent body
or the priesthood of all
believers is an obvious
and central structure
to be displayed in the
local church.
If you want to turn
with me to Hebrews
chapter 10, I'm going
to jump through a few
verses now, so you
might just want to
listen.
Hebrews chapter 10,
well-known passage,
verses 22 to 25.
The writer in Hebrews
says to the believers,
let us draw near with a
true heart in full
assurance of faith,
with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an
evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure
water.
In other words, let's
draw together very
conscious of who we are
in Christ.
Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope
without wavering, for he
who promised is faithful.
Let's draw together, let's
gather together conscious of
who we are and conscious of
what we will yet be as we
look to the future.
And out of those two
things, let us consider how
to stir up one another
to love and good deeds.
Not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit
of some, but encouraging one
another.
And all the more as you see
the day approaching.
Since the church community
believers are Christ's new
priesthood, like the priests
of old, we have a duty of
care for one another.
priests needed to pray for
the people and care for the
people.
And the one another, the
together idea in there is
there for us.
We're to pray for one
another.
We're to care for one
another.
We're to nurture one
another into full assurance.
We're to help one another
keep our eyes fixed on the
hope that's before us.
We're to demonstrate and
extend love, unity to one
another.
Together, we're to have a
lifestyle which is played
into the Lord and kingdom
building.
Ephesians 4, 1 to 16, that
body matter.
In a very real sense, we
stand or fall together.
If part of the body is not
well, is not functioning, then
the body becomes grotesque.
And we can't just say, well,
that's an arm or a leg.
I don't need that bit.
I'll just press on with my
little finger part of life.
Galatians chapter 6, verse 1,
1 to 4, 1 to 3.
Galatians, Ephesians, here we
go, we'll get there eventually.
When was the last time you
thought about this?
Brothers, if anyone is caught
in any transgression, you who
are spiritual should restore
him.
What doesn't it say there?
Well, that's the job of the
elders.
If those people fall off the
edge of the track as
Christians because they've
fallen into sin, those elders
just aren't doing their job
again.
Typical.
You who are spiritual, that
is, we are our brother's
keeper.
You have a responsibility for
every other you.
And I don't want to offend,
where's Vicky?
Don't want to offend Vicky
again.
So it's you all.
Is that it?
Instead of you's.
You all have a responsibility
for you.
For one another.
I don't know how that all
works.
Anyway, yep.
Restore him in a spirit of
gentleness.
kindness.
We know what we need to do
and we know how we need to
do it.
And we need to recognize the
danger in doing it.
So as we have humility, lest we
fall into the same trap.
Keep watch on yourself, lest you
too be tempted.
That's our attitude of coming
into helping one another.
Bear one another's burdens.
Well, of course, I just don't
have time to listen to all that
claptrap that people have.
Stop whinging and get on with
life.
I'm too busy.
Bear one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ.
I am my brother's keeper.
The interconnectedness, the
interdependency of believers.
Ephesians 5, verses 15 to 21.
I'm not going to read that
through, but it speaks there of
the mutual submission that there
needs to be in Christ's community.
Why?
Well, go and read it for yourself.
For the benefit of all.
So I need to be able to submit to
you.
Yes, even as a leader.
Expecting that the Lord at times
will use me, when necessary, will
use you to speak into my life.
To reprove me.
To correct me.
To discipline me.
And you need to be able to submit
to me.
Believing that my speaking into
your life is designed for your
good, your spiritual well-being.
When we've had part-timers and
staff, they have witnessed that
first of all, years ago, and then
Martin and Jeremy and others, the
deal always was, or when I meet
with people one-on-one for a Bible
study and prayer, the deal always
is.
Yes, I'm 66.
I've been in ministry more years
than you've been alive.
But if you can't come into this
relationship with me, and the
expectation that the Lord might use
you with your limited life
experience to speak into my life
with a massive amount of life
experience, if you can't do that,
then I'm not interested.
That's the way it is.
Somebody coming in with limited
ministry experience can cut through
all the baggage and rubbish that
I've accumulated over the years and
get to the heart of things.
Cold would stop having yourself on.
Philippians 4, verses 2 and 3.
Remember that episode dispute in the
church?
Between two ladies, I entreat
Euodia and I entreat Sinkte to agree
in the Lord.
There's a problem that needs to be
resolved for the sake of the church.
It needs to be resolved.
Yes, I ask you also, true companion,
help these women who have laboured
side by side with me in the gospel
together with Clement and the rest of
my fellow workers, whose names are in
the book of life.
If you read around that, this is
written into the context of a
community.
Two ladies with a problem?
Solution involves the whole community.
Not the whole community in the same way
at the same time, but it needs to be
the context.
Help them sort out the problem and
support them back into productive
gospel witness.
Hebrews 13, 7 and 17.
You think I'm laboring this a little
bit?
Good.
You're getting the message.
Remember your leaders, those who spoke
to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of
life and imitate their faith.
Verse 17, obey your leaders and submit
to them, for they are keeping watch over
your souls as those who will have to
give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with
groaning, for that would be of no
advantage to you.
Now those verses occur in chapter 13.
If you get your Bible like mine, the
heading for the chapter is spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God.
Sacrifices pleasing to God.
That is, actions and attitudes in the
community of God's people which delight
the Lord.
And among other things, it lists this
mutuality in respect of leadership.
Leadership is to be offered in the
context of grace and love and concern
to build one another up.
And it's to be received as that.
It's to be responded to in godly ways.
And that package, when it works well, is
a sacrifice that's pleasing to the Lord.
So, zooming in even more, elders in the
office of elder is fundamental to churches
across the New Testament.
And today it's even more in focus for us
because we're adding three more elders to
our eldership team here.
Now, Christ has bought his church.
It's been a massive investment on his
part.
And he has secured his investment by
appointing managers, if I can call them
that, or elders to act on his behalf.
Now, back to 1 Peter chapter 5.
Verses 1 to 7.
And not surprisingly then, since an elder is
a manager or an undershepherd serving
under the chief shepherd, it's not surprising
then that the chief shepherd gives very clear
parameters in which his undershepherds need to
work and function and act, both in terms of what
they do and in terms of the attitude and character
in which they do it.
Verse 2.
Shepherd the flock that is among you.
That's a picture word.
It doesn't need much explanation, does it?
Shepherding.
In the days of Jesus, mostly a shepherd would be in front
of the flock saying, come on, follow me.
And the flocks were small and not like broad agriculture
here in Australia, but the flocks were small, so that's
literally what happened.
They'd follow the shepherd.
But every so often the shepherd would need to be behind
them, driving them forward.
And the wisdom of the shepherd would be revealed in as much
as he knew which place to be at which time.
But his authority is always limited whatever he's doing
because he's an undershepherd.
An elder can only work with delegated authority
as one who will give account to Christ, the chief shepherd,
for those entrusted to our care.
So contrary to what some might think, that eldership is not
a blank card in terms of control and power.
I labor all the time under that concept of that I one day will
give an account for you people here in a way that you won't have
to give an account for one another.
That's a sobering thought.
In verses 2 and 3, attitude and modeling is critical,
fundamental, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.
Not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
It's not about me.
It's not about my remuneration.
It's not about my nest egg.
It's not about that which will advantage me.
It's about that which will be good for God's people.
And in a real sense,
my life has no account
before you other than that.
That's the nature of a servant.
Not domineering
over those
in your charge.
How easy is it
when you're in charge
to take charge
by manipulation,
by control,
by demandingness,
by being examples to the flock.
my job is to be a model
of grace
and a model of Christ
to those
you
whom the Lord has given me charge of.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
And responsible for direct teaching
of God's word,
both formally when we meet,
informally through counseling
and personal interaction.
Responsible for active oversight
that is setting a lead
in a whole range of issues
which I call wisdom issues.
Issues that
may not necessarily have a verse
or a principle you can go to,
but you take a principle
and a verse
and you work out
then the application
and a wisdom base.
Well, I think this would be
a good thing for us
to do as a church.
That wouldn't be such a good thing
for us to do as a church.
And so as elders
we need to be able to identify
clear principles of scripture.
And then we need to be able
to propose
and encourage
and direct
and draw
people into
what's helpful
and wise,
practical applications,
strategies,
which will take us
all together
in a spiritually
healthy direction.
To put it in a
colloquial country term,
we just need to make sure
that the herd
is heading west.
And all of the herd
is heading west.
No stragglers
left behind.
We don't shoot
or are wounded.
We're responsible
to model clearly
what we teach
as a visual aid
for the congregation
to follow.
But all the while
recognizing
that as I'm called
to be a leader,
I'm never
more than a sheep.
My authority
is never
absolute.
My authority
is only ever
delegated
and is to be
exercised
in full awareness
of my ongoing
failure and sin.
So I have
very much
limited authority
under shepherds
of Christ.
And I tell you,
I think
the scripture
and I'm now
doing one of those
wisdom applications,
I think we can
only command
authority.
This has been
my ministry
experience
and my
ministry pattern.
I've only
tried to
command authority
not by virtue
of the office.
Now listen
here,
I'm an elder.
But by virtue
of my ability
to handle
scripture
and the strength
of my life
lived among you.
In all its
ups and
down points
I think that's
where respect
comes from.
And I don't
think I have a
right to command
respect solely
based on the
office.
Even though
lots of
leaders do.
That's another
one for you to
think about.
Now the big
question is how
do we balance
these two things,
eldership and
interconnectedness,
interdependency of
the body?
Well the heading
there on your
outline is servant
leadership in the
context of the
interdependent body.
And we're almost
finished if you're
despairing.
As an elder I
must lead.
That is my brief
from the chief
shepherd.
But always as a
servant.
Now those things
don't seem to fit
together if you
look at the
general operation
of a big
company.
But that's
exactly what we
have to fit
together here in
our local church.
My lead always
has to be as a
servant and always
therefore as a
servant for the
good of Christ's
people.
And never,
never to advance
my ideas or my
reputation.
And my success
will be measured
not in terms of
how great you
think I am,
popularity,
that's probably
just as well,
or how you
measure my
giftedness.
But in terms of
how well I
serve you by
pushing you into
the arms of the
Lord Jesus.
Jesus.
For grace and
mercy.
And pushing you
to have a life
shaped by trust
and delight in
his beauty.
And as an
under-shepherd
going before you
and saying,
hey, follow me,
this is the good
life this way.
As an elder I
must press you,
actively press you
to live in the
light of God's
word individually
and in our
church family
life.
But I'm
never free
to be arrogant,
manipulative
or dismissive
of you.
Or to be
controlling.
Pushing you
around as
just pieces
of furniture
to be arranged
in a big room.
And sadly,
that's where
some leaders
fall.
Well,
but equally
true,
my leading
as an elder
does not
allow you
to be passive
in this
church family.
Our church
is not like
a bus
with one
driver
and everybody
else along
for the ride.
As part of
the body,
you must be
engaged
and you must
be doing
what the
Lord has
asked you
to do
in this
local
church family.
Friends,
what I'm
saying here
is that
the essence
of authority
distribution
is that
we must
not play
off one
command
against the
other.
We must
sync them
and have
them in
harmony.
You are
responsible for
the leaders
to accept,
submit to,
and relate
positively with
the elders
in this
church.
But of course,
that doesn't
mean you
can't disagree
with us
and challenge
us.
To have
one without
the other
would be
imbalanced.
Wise army
officers
will always
be open to
ideas and
suggestions
from the
soldiers.
I think
likewise,
godly,
wise elders
will welcome
challenge and
correction based
on God's
word.
wisdom or
welcome ideas
that come from
our collective
wisdom.
I hope you
know if you've
been in this
church long
enough that
we love that
bottom-up surge
of interest and
involvement and
ownership.
Collective
wisdom.
Friends,
this is a
really difficult
area.
It's difficult
to speak about.
It's been hard
for me to
actually talk
about this
this morning
without a
sense of
self-promotion.
It's a
difficult area,
but I'll tell
you this,
it's an area
that Satan
loves to
exploit.
He just
loves to
bring churches
undone over
this very
issue.
And he'll
be able to
do that in a
way he won't
be able to
prize us away
from theological
distinctives.
God's word.
How do we
stand against
it?
By keeping
the bounds
of God's
word.
If we,
I,
am a
godly,
wise elder,
then I
will be
happy to
serve,
and I
will resist
any temptation
to dominate,
intimidate,
manipulate,
or treat
with derision.
Because that
would be at
odds with
serving you.
Likewise,
if you are
godly,
wise,
you will
not allow
yourself to
focus on
the short
faults and
the short
comings of
us elders.
We are but
sheep.
We are sinful
men.
When we
first became
elders,
the day we
take our
last breath
as an
elder,
we are
sinful,
failing
men.
So you
will not
allow yourself
to focus
simply on
our faults
and short
comings.
You will
speak into
our lives
to address
those faults
and short
comings,
and you're
invited to
do so.
You have
a compulsion
to do so
before the
chief shepherd
yourself.
You are
my keeper.
You cannot
simply reject
us when we
disagree with
you.
You cannot
simply withdraw
from us.
God
will
be at
odds
with
maintaining
deep
holiness
and love
and unity
in the
body of
Christ.
My
friends,
my final
sentence is
this.
Going to
either one
of these
extremes
will
seriously
weaken and
even threaten
our church.
The truth
is at both
extremes.
pray with
me again.
Lord,
help us
to avoid
building our
own little
empires.
It seems
to be the
thing we
just default
to all the
time.
We just
want to be
big fish
in small
ponds.
and we
fail,
Lord,
when we're
chasing that
dream,
we fail to
see how
ugly it
is.
And we
fail to
see,
Lord,
how grossly
it is
with the
very purpose
of you
dying for
a community
that would
be marked
by your
characteristic
of servanthood,
love,
and unity.
Help us to
care for one
another.
Help us to
encourage one
another.
help us to
submit to
one another.
And help us
to do all
these things,
Lord,
not for
personal gain
or acclamation,
but that
together we
might grow
up into
Christ and
be competent
and equipped
for every
good work.