Service: An Elder's Function (Part 2)

Examples to the Flock

“Nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:3)

Jesus Himself referred to His people as sheep. One of the qualities of sheep is their need to be led. Sheep, left to themselves, will never find the right way, rather, each will turn to his own way. One of the mistakes commonly made by those who are called to watch over the flock of God is their belief that somehow the people of God will naturally find their own way into the things of God. We preach holiness and assume the people will become holy. We preach obedience and expect the people to become obedient. We preach the will of God and expect that the people will find their way into the will of God.

While most people know what they should do or be, they don't know how to do or be. We have become very good at telling people that they should be holy, obedient, and in the will of God, but we fail to show them how to be holy, obedient, and find the will of God. Elders are called to be leaders, to take the lead, to go before or ahead of the flock. An elder's primary function is not to merely tell the people that they should be holy, but to demonstrate with their own lives the way of holiness. An elder should not merely talk about obedience, but rather should demonstrate it. They should show God's people what holiness and righteousness look like; to be an example that the rest may follow.

Moses was given explicit instructions about how he was to anoint Aaron and his sons as ministers of God and of His tabernacle. “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.” (Exodus 29:4-7) All of this was to be done in the sight of the people. It was important to God that the people witness the process of cleansing and anointing. It is not always comfortable to be stripped and washed in the sight of all the people, to have God working in our lives while people are watching, but God deemed it necessary. Elders are not only to be examples of the finished product, but also of the process of being conformed into the final product. We need to learn to be transparent to the point where others can see what God desires in their life and the pathway to obtaining that goal.

Laying on of Hands

“Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.” (1 Timothy 4:14)

Too often when we look at the church, all we see are people; people full of problems, quirks, and needs. When Jesus looks at the church, He sees a “glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” (Ephesians 5:27 NKJV). We tend to look with the natural eye while Jesus looks with the spiritual eye. When we limit our sight to what we see with our natural eye, we fail to see the deposit of God in our lives and the lives of those around us. Part of the ministry of elders is to help people identify that which can only be seen by the spiritual eye. Most people do not need to be reminded of who they are in the flesh; we have an enemy who’s very good at that. Rather, people need to be reminded of who they are in God. They need to see themselves as God sees them. People need to see the richness of who they are in God rather than the depravity of who they are in the flesh.

When elders look out over the people, they should not only look with the natural eye, but should also with the prophetic eye. They should look with prophetic insight to identify the giftings and callings latent in the people and to call these gifts and callings into being. Through the laying on of hands they should seek to impart, identify, and confirm the deposit of God in people. For many of the people of God, this impartation and confirmation can be the difference between victory and defeat. It can embolden the people of God to fight the “good fight of faith.”

“This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight.” (1 Timothy 1:18)

David Robison