Eldership and the Mission of God: Chapter 2

 Elders lead and equip toward mission-alignment.

 

Elders are responsible for the mission-alignment of the local church in which they serve. Mission alignment means everything the church is and does focuses on and supports disciple-making in ways that fit the particular people, time, and culture. To accomplish this, elders must strive to keep open communication with and submission to God, both as individuals and as a team. They must ensure that disciple-making is the church's number one job, and they must lead the church to do so primarily through relationships rather than relying on structures and programs. Finally, elders strive to maintain unity in the church by keeping the focus on Jesus and his mission.

 

Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership
By J.R. Briggs, Bob Hyatt · 2015

 

Eldership and the Mission of God: a reflective summary of Chapter 1

Elders put persons and the mission of God above all else.

Mission-oriented elders are committed to Jesus, truth, and the mission of God. To help the church live this out, they fit the church's communications and practices to the current time and culture. They prioritize persons and the practices of community above structures and processes. They model mission-oriented discipleship. They spend more time caring about spiritual health than about headcounts and money. They subordinate tradition to flexibly follow the Spirit on mission.

Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership
By J.R. Briggs, Bob Hyatt · 2015

Let's Get it Together

Inattention and disorder are signs of ill health in a community of faith.

When inattention and disorder prevail, our life together becomes unhealthy. Inattention creates vulnerability to attack, especially from within. All begin to do what is right in their own eyes and neglect care for souls, both their own and those of Christian siblings. Relationships become mere rituals, we judge those who do things differently as offensive, and we begin to think of unity as everyone-agreeing-with-me.

Disorder aids inattention by weakening the structures of community and patterns of life together that God has supplied to his people. Disorder makes it easier to neglect the fact that we are all siblings, the children of one Father; we become an affinity group, loosely gathered around superficial rituals. We forget we are family and begin to think of ourselves rather like a club, where one can leave when things get tough or even uncomfortable. We neglect our shared commitment to the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We neglect to pray together, worshiping together, and taking the cup and bread together. We ignore informal gatherings with our siblings, retreating instead to our own spheres.

Siblings, these things ought not to be so. Let us pay attention to our life together. Let us order our life together in learning, prayer, and worship.

Let us truly be the church.

Discern, Follow, & Serve: a reflection on Hebrews 13:7 - 19

Believers discern and recognize leaders who are called by God, all while ministering to and as fellow believers.

As those who minister together in the presence of God, believers make it a practice to think carefully about the life outcomes of teachers and preachers who have died so that they might follow the example of trust left behind by those leaders. Believers also help one another remain faithful to biblical truth so that the hearts of all are made steadfast by grace, not works. Finally, they put themselves in a position to be persuaded by their shepherds, deciding to yield to godly leadership.

Read the passage: Hebrews 13:7 - 19

Worship as Men & Women: a reflection on 1 Timothy 2:8 - 10

Both men and women believers are to set aside earthly priorities and desires to glorify Jesus.

As those who minister together in the presence of God, believers who are men should focus on prayer and holiness, setting aside any settled indignation or penchant for controversy. In the same manner, believers who are women should focus on modesty, self-discipline, and good works, setting aside any penchant for the external adornments of wealth and beauty.

I think it is important to note that the instructions to men and women in this passage relate to what in Paul's time, and possibly in ours, were particular distractions that kept men and women from following Jesus well and focusing on him. There is nothing in this passage that restricts the faith practices of men to prayer, holiness, and not getting angry. Likewise, there is nothing in this passage that restricts the faith practices of women to modesty, self-discipline, and good works. I say this as a reminder that God is sovereign and calls most both men and women to carry out the ministries that he desires, living the lives of faith that he requires.

Read the passage: 1 Timothy 2:8 - 10

Eldership and the Mission of God: a reflective summary of the introduction

Elders focus on Jesus and his mission and equip and lead the church to do the same.

Elders have the overarching responsibility to focus on Jesus and his mission in the context of the local people of God and through their sibling relationship. Under this responsibility, there are three areas of focus. (1) Elders wrestle together by the Spirit to discern and describe what it looks like to be the church as this particular local congregation. (2) Elders lead, feed, and protect the saints and this local congregation so that the saints might carry out the ministry and mission of God both as the church and as individual Christians. (3) Elders, as a body, model before the congregation what it looks like to be the people of God and siblings and Jesus. As individuals, elders model before the saints and attenders what it looks like to be a saved-by-grace Jesus follower.

Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership
By J.R. Briggs, Bob Hyatt · 2015

Please God Alone (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

Ministry requires that believers live in community in ways that align with and please God.

As those who minister together in the presence of God, believers with leadership roles are attendants of Christ and estate managers of the mysteries of God. Their whole lives must show them to be dependable and trustworthy, for they will be judged by God, a much more thorough and stringent evaluation than that done by themselves or other humans. 

Let us remember that all believers are expected to judge the external words and actions of fellow believers but have no capacity at all to judge hidden thoughts or motivations. Only Jesus, who is the Judge, can do that.

Read the passage: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Community is not a Choice

Being communal is not a choice. Behaving as community is.

Whether we believe it or not, whether we like it or not, everything is connected. The actions of one individual or group always impacts other individuals and groups. Sometimes this is for the good. Often it causes harm.

Reality is a system, and it functions as a system (read Thinking in Systems to learn more about systems). But lived reality isn't mechanistic. It is mutual, and mutuality requires intention. 

Humanity is communal by design. After God created the first human and put him through an orientation of sorts, God created human community by creating the woman. 

So, since humanity is designed as communal, then deciding to be mutual is deciding to be who we are. We choose to care for one another. We choose to keep one another safe. We choose to defer to one another. We choose to share resources with one another. We choose to dialogue with one another about hard things. We choose to be there for one another as protection against future losses.

Deciding to be mutual is deciding to be who we are. It is deciding to seek out commonality, setting aside the fractious tribalism that plagues our cultures. It is deciding to share our stories and hear the stories of others. It is deciding to gather as fellow humans, created in God's image, yet stained by sin and living in a broken world.

So the Community Might Flourish

A flourishing community of persons must care for both individuals and community.

Those of highly individualistic and highly communal cultures need to have a robust discussion of who flourishes first, the individual or the community. In communal cultures, the answer is likely community, while individualistic cultures would likely say the individual. That there are at least two deeply held and culturally embedded answers tells us it's an open question. To make it even more open, I suspect God's answer to this either/or question would be, Yes.

So, what do we do with this? First, individualistic cultures must intentionally remember the community, and communal cultures must intentionally remember the individual. For to maintain focus on one end of the spectrum leads to danger. Second, those on the ends of this culture spectrum, those along the spectrum, and those who are third culture (some combination of both) need to enter frank and respectful dialogue, seeking to understand one another from the other's perspective to hear the others critique. Together they might figure out what to do to help persons-in-community-in-Christ flourish.

One Lord, and you're not him

Jesus Christ is the church's only Lord.

Let's get one thing clear: The church has only one Lord. I don't care about your position or title within any church structure, for I can guarantee that you are not the master, ruler, lord, etc. The church's one Lord is Jesus Christ, her head. He is the only Great Shepherd, the only Senior Pastor (get the parallel?). Every believer with leadership standing is only a sheep, with authority delegated by the one Lord. 

This being the case, church leadership is only valid when carried out in obedience to Jesus and in alignment with his ways. Once leaders goes out of alignment, they must be rebuked (of course, in the presence of two or three witnesses) and either brought back under Jesus' lordship or removed from their positions. There is no other choice, for there is only one Lord.

Understand, Remember, and Pray (Acts 2:37-47)

Believers are committed to living, learning, and praying as a community.

As those who Minister together in the presence of God...

• Believers commit themselves to understanding Scripture and what it proclaims of Jesus.
• Believers commit themselves to remembering Jesus's sacrifice and to praying together.
• Believers live lives that portray God's glory and grace.
• Believers give generously of their stuff so that there are no poor within the church.
• Believers gather formally in worship and informally in homes and third spaces.
• Believers live in such a way that their devotion to Jesus is the only thing that offends the world.

Read the passage: Acts 2:37-47

For the sake of the Name (Acts 5:33-42)

Believers minister to those outside and to those inside the church, and all for the sake of the Name.

As those who minister together in the presence of God...

• Believers place obedience to God above obedience to humans.
• Believers do ministry for the sake of the Name.
• Believers proclaim good news to those outside and teach good news to those inside.

Read the passage: Acts 5:33-42

Together for the Long Haul (Psalm 133:1-3)

Community members are in it for the long haul and committed to fill their communal space with the aroma of God.

As those who minister together in the presence of God...

• Believers participate in the celebratory worship of God as a family of siblings who are able to remain as one without division.
• Believers practice a unity that fills the gathering with the aroma of God in ways that fit who we are in him and are acceptable to him as acts of worship.
• Believers practice a unity that fills the gathering with refreshment for all who gather.

Read the passage: Psalm 133:1-3

Generously Give; Generously Receive (Romans 15:22-33; 2 Corinthians 9:10-15)

Believers share their God-given spiritual and material riches with one another, practicing both giving and receiving as acts of worship.

As those here minister together in the presence of God...

• Believers share with one another the spiritual and material riches God has generously given them.
• Believers glorify God in their acts of giving and their acts of receiving.
• Believers share with one another the blessings brought to them by practicing generosity as a pleasing act of worship.

Read the passages: Romans 15:22-33; 2 Corinthians 9:10-15

Don't Stay Alone

Believers are community and cannot practice a full expression of faith apart from the gathering.

There was a time when religious hermits were a thing. Maybe they still are. I think that becoming a permanent religious hermit makes it impossible to live out the reality of community for which God has called his church.

As many of us have discovered during this time of safer-at-home orders, remote worship is insufficient. I'll admit that it took me a fair bit of study and meditation on Scripture to feel the loss, but I got there and I'm now theologically and experientially convinced that in-person, community worship is required.

Here We Stand

Believers are a people grounded in truth and we must not waver either in the search for or the standing upon that Truth.

God's perspective on things is Truth. We may not understand it. We may not like it. But it is the Truth nonetheless. The community of those who trust Jesus must stand on the ground of this Truth. We must work hard to discover and understand it. We must conform our perspectives to it.

We must do this as a community, for each of us has filters and none of us has full understanding. We need each other to get the full picture, and clarifying that full picture is the process of lifetimes. Indeed, we will only understand Truth fully when we are face to face with God in the kingdom. For now, we strive toward Truth. 

May we have the courage to say, "Here we stand. We can do no other."

Keeping One Another Supple (Hebrews 3:12-14)

As siblings in Christ, we protect one another by not allowing sin to harden each other's hearts.

• We are responsible for ourselves and one another, guarding our hearts to make sure that we lean into God with love and trust.
• We are responsible for encouraging and approving one another on every day that is called today so that the hearts of all remain supple in God's hands rather than hardened by sin.
• We are responsible for maintaining our partnership with Christ and our partnership with one another in Christ, doing so from the start of faith to its completion.

Read the passage: Hebrews 3:12-14

Abiding Brings Love (1 John 4:7-21)

Mutual love is the evidence for mutual abiding.

• We are responsible for properly understanding that love is most clearly defined by the manner in which Jesus loves us.
• We are responsible for loving our Christian siblings in the same manner in which Jesus loves us.
• We are responsible for abiding in God just has he abides in us and for knowing that this mutual abiding impacts everything about us.
• We are responsible for knowing and trusting God's unconditional, sacrificial love for us and for recognizing this love in our mutual abiding with God.
• We are responsible for living with boldness and without fear because we are loved by God just like Jesus is.
• We are responsible for loving one another because Jesus commands it and because our love for one another is the evidence that we abide in God and he in us.

Read the passage: 1 John 4:7‭-‬21

Community Members Keep One Another Safe (Galatians 5:7-15)

Community means taking responsibility for keeping the community safe from external and internal threats.

• We are responsible for keeping out those who bring in false teachings, practices, or values.
• We are responsible for using our freedom in Christ to serve one another rather than indulge in either legalism or license.
• We are responsible for ensuring that love for one another is the marker of our community.
• We are responsible for ensuring that strife and infighting are never allowed to go to seed.

Read the Passage: Galatians 5:7-15

Community Takes Responsibility (Colossians 3:12-17)

Community means taking responsibility for what happens in and as a community in a way that reflects and declares our gratitude to the Father.

• We are responsible for cultivating within ourselves the outwardly-directed, personal attributes of verse 3:16: characterized by Scripture, teaching and learning, gratitude, and worship.
• We are responsible for putting up with and forgiving siblings who annoy or offend us.
• We are responsible for prioritizing love that moves us toward community maturity.
• We are responsible for holding peace-wholeness as our heart-based community umpire.

Read the Passage: Colossians 3:12-17