I recently read the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. It was a great book that really stirred my thinking about myself, teams, and organizations. But specifically, I started thinking about why Jesus chose for His church to be led by a team of elders.
It is most natural to think about who are the best elders among your congregation.
It is also natural to think about how your elder board will be organized, when, where, and how often they will meet.
You may also spend time thinking about what your elder’s roles and responsibilities should be and what they should not be spending there time on.
When asking who, how, when, where, or what – we are not asking the most important question.
When thinking about your elder board, the most important question is Why?
Being clear on the Why will anchor our purpose while allowing your actions and decisions to be fluid. If we know the Why, then there are many ways the Why can be achieved.
The really great news for churches is that the Why for elders is very clear in the bible. The apostle Paul in Titus 1:5 gave us the clear Why.
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you
The answer to the question of why we appoint elders to lead our churches, is to bring and keep order. This is such great wisdom, because almost anything left to its own will drift to disorder.
Christians drift away from God.
Marriages drift away from love.
Leaders drift away from leading.
Teams drift away from working together.
And… churches drift away from preaching and sharing the Gospel, making disciples, and worshiping God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Elders are called and equipped to keep the church from drifting.
Keep the focus on the Gospel, on Worship, and on their Mission.
Elders keep order!!!