Think about what has influenced your walk with the Lord through the reading of this book. In the weeks ahead, lets discuss things that stood out in our individual readings. No 95 Thesis posted on the doors of the Journey ! :o)...
Post a note and then lets each of us communicate a little something about our journeying through this book together.
Greetings fellow-servants ! We will be discussing this book together here on this blog for awhile. Brother Erik will be joining us since we are restructuring Lebanon Campus.
ReplyDeleteLets each share what this book has meant so far to your spiritual growth in understanding Elder Leadership. Then after a time for each of us to commment....I will issue the next chapter we will look at.
Hey team, just testing the waters and making sure my accounts still work. I have nothing to post right now but I am looking forward to the interaction.
ReplyDeleteHis Blessings.
TB
RC here, just testing the post, as well. Will have some thoughts first of next week.
ReplyDeleteGetting back in the grove. Eldership requires being in the grove designed by God, explained in the Word, and driven by the Holy Spirit. This book has caused me to rethink how I travel the eldership road. Often I have found myself bouncing around because I tend to design my own grove to travel.
ReplyDeleteThis book forces me to revist and rethink through the Scriptures about leadership.
Team, I have not made any significant progress in the book since Tim, James, Jeff and I met at Panera's. the events of the past two weeks getting the finance team moving forward has consumed most of my time. This is not an excuse, I just wanted you all to know that I am not being lazy...I just suck! I will get more read this week!
ReplyDeleteWe have gone over some of these chapters (6&7) Good Stuff.
ReplyDeleteI am always trying to remind myself of this "The multigifted servants of God described above may or may not be local elders; in many cases they are not. Local elders need to call upon these gifted men for help in evangelism, teaching, and setting the vision for the church." page 106
Tagging this to the Gifts of the Holt Spirit "And there are varities of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." I Corinthians 12:6.7
This stands out and causes me to want to have my discerment visor on when I am with the people of God on Sundays.
Chapter 7 is a long one! But a good one. I guess the thing that sticks out the most to me is Strauch's focus of the meeting Paul had with the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20. In one small meeting, Paul really lays out the foundation for how an elder is supposed to live his life and govern the church. The distinctions Strauch made for the original Greek for words like Overseer and Be Alert just bring to mind how important it is to take eldering seriously.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how he talked about the distinction between the overseer of a house church, making up the collective "churches" in an area vs. the "church", singular. Once again this just brings to mind the idea of the need for a plurality of Elders, not just a single overseer. But within that he made the distinction that, though we may have areas of focus, as we are gifted to have, we need to keep in mind that we, as Elders, are overseers of the entire flock. Not just those areas where we focus. I think that this is something we need to really pray about and focus on. Do we just feel the need to minister to certain areas because those areas are where we are drawn to? Or are we willing to step out of our comfort zones and realize that we are to shepherd the entire congregation.
Thanks for bringing this to a good point..we are elders of the whole church.
DeleteChapter 8 page 167. " The prepositional phrase"among you" shows that the labor is on behalf of the local congregaton, not labor for personal employment. These brethern were working hard in the church. So a biblical eldership is not a church board that conducts business for two or three hours a month - it is a hard working, pastoral body."
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a phrase I have oftened use.
"Body Life Ministry"... We minister to the Body in Christ through life's encounters with the congregants and not just on Sundays.
It seems to me that the beginning of Chapter 8 is one big defense against a claim made by a minority of liberal theologians that claim Paul never mentioned "elders" in his writings to the churches, so Luke was part of some conspiracy to include them in his accounts later. Am I missing something? Not finding any practical application yet. However, loved the challenge by Paul to be aware of the temptation to "go easy" on those who are slipping spiritually out of fear that they may leave the church if challenged. We must remember that if people leave, it is because they have unrepentant sin in their lives, not that they are offended by us or our guidance. But the reminder is, do all shepherding (even if this involves correction) out of love. With the goal of "working towards peace" amongst our brothers and sisters.
DeleteThere. Now am I better than Todd?
Moving on to Chapter nine for me....is the jumping in those pastoral letters of Paul for some of those on the road insights he was giving.
ReplyDeleteRight off the bat on page 181... I am challenged by this quote...." It demands reform, correction, and discipline for many of the problems that trouble churches today."
Yes, that is so true....but the real challenge is not what the church needs,,,it is what I need to be able to function as an elder called to such reforming of those problem area. My own reform, correction and disciple within my intimate relationship with our father.
A powerful statement for me is " In the face of many problems and labors, the greatest encouragement and incentive an elder can have is to know that he performs an exceedingly excellent work -- one that is worthy of the sacrifice of one's life." Page 187 ( bottom portion )
ReplyDeleteWow ! We can be doing our thing in the church to support its on going endeavors,,,,but real sacrifice is for Christ's Church... and that is something for me to mull a bit and see how I fit in that thought.
Moving on to Chapter ten... page 231.. the idea of household manager (overseer) stood out to me.
ReplyDelete"Thus a steward is a manager, administrator, ro trustee of someone else's household, property, or business."
What a priviledged to be given such a charge by our Lord. Stewards who need to and better have some returns that stand the question of " What have you gain for me?"
On to chapter 11. Page 243 first paragraph. "So elders must never forget that the flock is not their own, and should never be indifferent toward a single one of His sheep." If we lose one, we lose another's property, not our own; and He is not indifferent to what becomes His flock."
ReplyDeleteSome heavy thoughts as we encounter those in our congregation that are physically, mentally, economically, young, old, etc different than what we consider worthy of our time.
On to chapter 12. page 259 - The Prayer of Faith.
"The prayer of faith is prayer inspired by sincere, unwavering confidence in God (Matt. 21:21,22; 17:20). Indeed, the prayer itself is an expression of deep faith in God. Prayerless, worldly-minded, and spiritually impotent elders cannot offer such a prayer (James 1:5-8; 4:3). This places a solemn responsibility, then, upon the elders to be men of living, vital faith and prayer."
This really hits home for me. Do I really have the faith that shows itself in my prayers and reveals itself in the fruit of my prayers?
Wow,,,,time is flying by. Perhaps we can get back to this task of reading our books. I would love to join in with you even though I have Finished our Biblical Eldership and am on my way through 9 Marks.
ReplyDeleteSo how about letting us know where you are in the Biblical Eldership and share some thoughts.
Blessings in Christ...
Chapter 13... Obey..Obey..Obey.... sometimes we just hate that word....But it does have its purpose and and even in the local assembly it has its roots in submission to God.....page 269 top paragraph "Thus genuine submission to God and His Word expresses itself in obedience and submission in the home, in marriage, at work, in society, and in the local assembly of believer." and the wrap up for me was page 271... " However, their good pastoral efforts would be of little success if the believers did not submit to their wise, loving leadership."
ReplyDeleteFor me the idea of asking others to submit to me would be bound up in my own submission to God.
Well...I pushed through and finished Biblical Eldership last night. Here are some general comments:
ReplyDelete(1) Great book regarding eldership. Citations from various authors & scholars (especially the early church fathers)added greater insight into the scripture passages.
(2) Very repetitive. Perhaps this was intentional to drive home the key points about eldership - especially in a time when church eldership may be ignored, misunderstood or has taken on characteristics that are not exactly in line with scriptural examples of eldership.
(3) The most revolutionary idea in the book, for me personally, was that elders are the pastors of the church. Coming from a traditional Southern, Bible-belt church background, I am accustomed to the concept of a pastor (or pastor & staff) & laity. The concept of elders = pastors does seem to align much more closely with Biblical examples. It does, however, raise many issues regarding church administration & function. For example, in order to shepherd as described by Mr. Strauch,an elder must live life with those in his "flock." There is no way to zip in and out of people's lives and keep up with those in his care to the degree described in the book. I do not disagree with the concepts put forth in Mr. Strauch's book, but I do find this to be both challenging...and frustrating.
Challenging from the standpoint of "how do I do better." Frustrating from the realization that practically "I can't do it." I would have to live on the same street with my "flock," work where they work, go where they go, do what they do. When people are scattered across multiple counties, work in my different places, are at many different life stages, can anyone except a limited few achieve such an intimate fellowship? Perhaps...but how? What is a reasonable expectation?
(4) The concept of elder = pastor also raises an issue regarding church growth. For example, is aspiring for mega church growth really achievable without dedicated, full-time, "boots on the ground" church staff leading the church? Is the trend toward elder-led churches a reaction to & a movement away from staff-led, corporate management style mega churches (as well as a movement back to a more Biblical style of leadership)? If so, are we ready to re-envision different definitions of success. For example, the % of congregation involved in discipleship instead of Sunday morning worship attendance. The number of ministry & missions projects fully supported by church members instead of the size of a worship center.
(5) As you can tell, if you have endured reading this long, I find Mr. Strauch's book thought provoking. Not only from the biblical content he supports, but also from the tangential issues that arise from the concepts he presents.
Thanks Tim! I have been away from site.....I am now reading Strauch's Book on Deacons.... As well as the Nine marks book....which I am not very far into it.
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