Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Servant Leadership

Elders must understand that the agonizing frustrations, problems, and conflicts of pastoral life are the tools God uses to mold them into the image of the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. If they re spond to these difficulties in obedience and faith, they will be molded into Christ’s image. And few things in life are more thrilling than to know that one is being transformed into a Christlike pastor. The humble-servant character of the eldership doesn’t imply, how ever, an absence of authority. The New Testament terms that describe the elders’ position and work—“God’s stewards,” “overseers,” “shep herd,” “leading”—imply authority as well as responsibility. Peter could not have warned the Asian elders against “lording it over those allot ted to your charge” if they had no authority. As shepherds of the church, elders have been given the authority to lead and protect the local church (Acts 20228-31). The key issue is the attitude in which elders exercise that authority. Following the Christian model, elders must not wield the authority given to them in a heavy-handed way. They must not use manipulative tactics, play power games, or be arrogant and aloof. They must never think they are unanswerable to their fellow brethren or to God. Elders must not be authoritarian, which is incompatible with humble servanthood. J .I. Packer, noted author and professor of theology at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, defines authoritarianism and describes its evils: Exercise of authority in its various spheres is not necessarily authoritarian. There is a crucial distinction here. Authoritarianism is authority corrupted, gone to seed. Authoritarianism appears when the submission that is demanded cannot be justified in terms of truth or morality....Any form of human authority can degenerate in this way. You have authoritarianism in the state when the regime uses power in an unprincipled way to maintain itself. You have it in churches when leaders claim control of their followers’ consciences. You have it in academic work at high school, university or seminary when you are required to agree with your professor rather than follow the evidence of truth for yourself. You have it in the family when parents direct or restrict their children unreasonably. Unhappy experiences of authority are usually experiences of degenerate authority, that is, of authoritarianism. That such experiences leave a bad taste and

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