CDM Archive
Discipleship Ministries of the PCA
By Pat Morley, David Delk, and Brett Clemmer
Editor’s note: CEP is partnering with Man in the Mirror to offer the best in training and resources for men’s ministry in local churches. The following is an abridged article used by permission from No Man Left Behind (Moody 2006).
A church was having its annual men’s retreat, with discipleship as the overarching theme. A few of the men from the leadership team became a subcommittee to organize it. They set some goals:
This first interview is with Wallace Tinsley, pastor of Filbert Presbyterian Church in Filbert, S.C. (See the lead article by Tinsley).
Where are you located? We are located three miles outside a town of 8,000 people.
By Wallace Tinsley
God’s people are sheep. They always have been. They have always needed a Shepherd. From the first time Jacob voiced his recognition of this comforting truth in Genesis 48:15 to the repeated imagery in the book of Revelation, we sheep know the security of having a sovereign, heavenly Shepherd.
God’s people are sheep. Moses, a sheep-shepherd for the second third of his life and a people-shepherd for the final third, knew the burden of serving and leading God’s people. At the end of his life, he pled with the Lord to continue to lead the people through a human leader. Otherwise, he said, the congregation of the Lord would be “like sheep without a shepherd”(Numbers 27:17).
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God’s people are sheep. But so is their Shepherd. In Revelation 5, John has his gaze directed to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, but, as he turns around, he spies “a Lamb standing, as if slain.” What joy there is in knowing that our High Priest can sympathize with our weaknesses!” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is not only the powerful, just, victorious Lion, but is also the Sheep sacrificed for sinners. Jesus is the Servant-Leader. We stand amazed.
The Amazing Provision of Elders
Amazed at the total provision for all our shepherding needs in glory, we stand equally amazed at the Lord’s provision for servant-leadership here on earth. He has directed us to have elders in every place (Titus 1:5), not just in Ephesus under Timothy and in Crete under Titus.
Elders are repeatedly called shepherds in the Bible and are held accountable as such. Remember the Lord’s charge through Ezekiel: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves!” (Ezekiel 34:2). The Greek word for “elder” is “presbyter.” Being Presbyterian means being convinced that the biblical form of church government is that which is conducted by a group of elected elders. Human shepherds, obviously, are also sheep. They are not spotless or undefiled. Their sacrifice can purchase no one’s pardon; nevertheless, they serve by shepherding fellow sheep. As an earthly reflection of a heavenly reality, they, too, are servant-leaders.
How Can This Be?
How can this be, since we are sinful? First, the Lord makes a man into a man of God. He must “be” before he can “do.” Second, the Lord places the forgiven sinner into a functioning plurality of elders, placing the burden of servant-leadership squarely upon their collective shoulders. Third, it works beautifully because it is God’s plan; it is what the Bible tells us to do.
Who? What Must an Elder Be? The Elder’s Qualifications, Short Form
What, then, is required for a man to be qualified to serve as an elder? He must be above reproach, the husband of one wife (a one-woman man), temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, and free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. He must not be a new convert. He must not be conceited. He must have a good reputation with those outside the church (I Timothy 3).
Wow, that’s quite a list! The requirements are inescapably difficult. There is no Form EZ. There is, however, a Short Form, a way to summarize these qualifications: this is a man who is becoming like Jesus. This is a man whose life is being conformed more and more to the image of Christ. This is simply a picture of a maturing Christian man. Now think about this question: How is this description any different from the hopes and expectations for any normal Christian man? Do we want any Christian man to be imprudent? Inhospitable? Warlike and pugnacious? Did you want your dad to be intemperate or ruled by a love of money? Did you want your dad to be conceited?
Looking back on it, do you wish your dad had let you run wild? The man qualified to be an elder is simply a normal Christian man, a maturing Kingdom disciple.
How? What Must an Elder Do? An Elder is an Elder is an Elder
Once an elder is recognized by his congregation and set apart for service, how should he expect to function as one of a group of elders or “session”? On the one hand, there are no elders who are “first among equals.” In Church history, super-elders became bishops. The super-bishop, first among his equals, was the bishop of the most powerful city. That city became Rome, so the bishop of Rome became the papa-bishop or the pope. No, we cannot allow ourselves to take that road again. Elders may have different functions, some concentrating their efforts on teaching and some on ruling, but they are all simply and equally elders, as described in the Bible.
On the other hand, there are elders. That is to say that there are elders in the Church in the Old Testament, and there are elders in the Church in the New Testament. There are elders depicted as gathered around the throne in glory, twelve representing the O.T. Church and twelve representing the N.T. Church (Revelation 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, and 19).
Why are these two factors important? It is because God has designed the shepherding of His Church in a marvelous way. Shepherding does not fall onto the shoulders of one man, as a super-elder or bishop. Nor is shepherding left to the sheep. The responsibility for human guidance of Christ’s Church is placed neither in a manmade hierarchy nor in a man-made pure democracy. Both tyranny and mob rule are biblically prevented.
The burden of church leadership falls on the shoulders of a group of godly men, forgiven sinners, living in the world but not of it. Clearly, this responsibility is too much for them, as husbanding a wife or parenting a child is clearly too much for any man. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the job is not only overwhelming; it is impossible.
Part of the genius of shepherding by a group of elders is that it takes into account Romans 7, along with I Corinthians 3 and 6. In Romans 7, the Christian man so struggles against sin in his life that he cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” The maturing Christian man cries out in humility day by day how much he needs Jesus! On the other hand, he relies upon the truth of I Corinthians 6:19, that the Holy Spirit lives in him and that, by His power, he can flee immorality and live a godly life. More than that, the elder takes I Corinthians 3:16 seriously, believing that the Spirit indwells the Body of Christ, the Church. He believes that God’s leadership among a group of forgiven sinners is possible.
The Elder and Practical Servant-Leadership
Therefore, the elder is willing to step up to the plate. On behalf of his sheep and on behalf of his Shepherd, he is willing to stand there and take the pitches thrown at the Church by the world, the flesh, and the devil. First, he will not pass his responsibility off to a hierarchy above him, to a super-elder or bishop or CEO of the Body of Christ. He will not consider “rubber-stamping” someone else’s viewpoint. Second, he will not demur and wait for the whole congregation to get together and say what they think so that he cannot be held responsible.
Instead, recognizing his feebleness and tendency to sin and selfishness, he will share the burden of leadership with the rest of the sin-scarred set-free shepherds the Lord has raised up in their particular flock. He will be eager to speak his conscience. He will be “quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19). He will have the Philippians 2 mind within him, copying Jesus. He will war within himself against selfishness and empty conceit. With humility of mind, he will consider the other elders as more important than himself. He will simply be living out the gospel as a maturing Christian man among maturing Christian men, dealing with a burden too heavy for them to bear, but placed upon their shoulders by their Best Friend and their Good Shepherd. It takes courage, but Jesus gives it. It destroys pride and causes humility to blossom. It is part of a long, hard, uphill race, but what joy awaits the faithful servant at the finish line!
Why? The Elder and Confidence
Proceeding in this manner, the elders and the congregation can rest assured in the Lord’s leadership of His Church. The elder can vote his conscience and rest in the confidence that the Lord is leading through this process He ordained. Voting in the minority is no more of a problem than depending upon the God-ordained process of husband-wife decision making. If, as Henry Krabbendam recommends, the wife has her full say and her husband has the final say, then the couple can rest assured that the Lord will lead their home (A Biblical Pattern of Preparation for Marriage, 2001, Ninth Edition).
Similarly, the pastor, as one of the elders, can rest assured of the Lord’s guidance. He consciously sets aside any goal of getting his own way. Having no “yes men” on his session, he seeks none. He, as one of the elders, speaks his mind and expresses his viewpoint. As an elder who specializes in the function of teaching the Bible practically, the pastor will seek out relevant Scriptures and biblical themes for the discussion. He is in a privileged position of teaching, but he does not have a bully pulpit. He sees himself as an elder among elders, a forgiven sinner among forgiven sinners. He trusts that the Spirit’s leadership is greater than his viewpoints.
What are the results? Stability. Excitement. Creativity. Vision. Planned and executed assaults on the Gates of Hell for the glory of Christ. Proclamation of the good news, near and far, to all nations. Expansion of the Kingdom into all areas of life’s endeavors. The sheep are fed. The forces of darkness feel the overwhelming, invasive, persistent power of the Light. The flock of potentially wayward sheep becomes a Kingdom army, discipled, equipped, and led to victory by their King. The servant leadership of a Presbyterian elder is priceless.
We know something is wrong because of all we see around us. We know people do awful things to each other that cause pain and suffering. We don’t always understand why but we know something is not right.
Some cannot accept a good and loving God while living with pain and suffering. Chris Tiegreen brings this into focus in a simplistic yet profound way and shows us how it is to live in a fallen world. He brings us face-to-face with suffering and pain in his personal experience with his sixteen-year-old son.
Why a Suffering World Makes Sense gives a clear presentation of the presence of suffering and why suffering is part of God’s revelation of who he is, his attributes, and the blessings that can be found through suffering. If suffering were not part of life then we would not know God as we know him. He would be a hidden and distant God rather than being the powerful, loving, healing, and personal God he really is. Tiegreen explores suffering as part of God’s plan and how pain and suffering reveal God’s mercy and healing-all of which we would not know if we did not live in a fallen world. This book gives incredible insight into what most people think is inconceivable-a good God allowing his people to suffer with promises of good things to come from it. Need is the stage where God’s mercy demonstrates itself.
Why a Suffering World Makes Sense brings suffering and blessing together and there is much to gain from reading the book. It gives new depth to why we should always seek the lesson God would have us learn through suffering and pain. It helps answer the “why” question.
The overall point of the book is to help us understand there is purpose in pain. It brings together God’s creation as to his power as the Creator, man’s free will, and the consequence of man’s choice to attempt to make it “all about me” rather than it being all about God. The author helps us understand why God remained silent at the most crucial time in the history of mankind and helps to give meaning as to why we live in a fallen world; even the earth groans in turmoil.
Why a Suffering World Makes Sense gives a new dimension to the presence of pain and suffering in a believer’s life. The overall purpose is the glory of God but the journey is difficult, and this book is an encouragement while withstanding the darts of the evil one. It is a strong reminder that as Christians we are not fighting against just a problem but against the problem maker.
This book should be read by Christians, especially those struggling through pain, doubts, or asking questions regarding why things have happened that seem to have no answers as well as to be read by non-Christians seeking to understand why life seems so empty and futile. It reverses the questions to answers while explaining why we need to be asking different questions. The author seeks to bring his readers to see as Christians we need to be relating with the One who allows the suffering; not spiritually crippled by the suffering. It’s all about the Person, not the problem. Difficulties, pain, suffering, hurt, disappointment, betrayal, divorce, death, are all here to stay. What we need is to work through all the trials with our Father who meets us in our suffering.
A man is hard to disciple. Men are busy, tired, over-committed, and struggling with sins they don’t want to talk about. Unlike women, singles, teenagers, and children, they will not show up at church just because they like to be together. Any event for men has to have high value to them. Otherwise, they will not come to it on any kind of regular basis.
No wonder so many pastors and leaders get discouraged with men’s ministry. The ministry is so difficult that mistakes can set men’s ministry in the local church back for years.
That is the reason that we need to gain the counsel of many other men who are doing men’s ministry, because “in the abundance of many counselors, there is victory,” (Proverbs 11:14). This wisdom that results from many counselors is the purpose of “Get In The Game.” This bi-monthly enewsletter provides insight about men’s ministry from the most effective men’s ministries in the country. It supplies updates on resources that are available and enables you to stay abreast of what is happening in men’s ministry in the PCA. It is a great tool to encourage and equip the men on your men’s ministry leadership team, so make sure you go to www.pcacep.org/men to sign up for your entire team.
In the last two issues of Equip we have looked at the use and benefit of having a good understanding of curriculum. This time I want to look at “hidden curriculum.” Hidden curriculum is what is taught and conveyed nonverbally in the classroom.
We teach a great deal by how we communicate. For example, when a student asks an off-topic question with true sincerity and curiosity, how do you deal with it? Do you dismiss the question? Do you tell the student that the question is not important because it has nothing to do with the lesson? Here, your hidden curriculum is how you decide to handle the situation. While we don’t want to get off the topic, we must make sure the students understand that they are important, and their question is important, but at a more appropriate time.
Another example of our hidden curriculum can be the physical setup of the room. The room should be set up in a way that invites interaction. Typically, the classroom is set up to make the teacher the focal point of the room. A better arrangement is to set the room to enable the students to interact with each other as well as the teacher. Color! Did you know that sterile white walls can be a distraction for some students as well as having too much color? All of this communicates to students without our saying a word.
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When you teach, are you standing or sitting? If you are standing the whole time you can be communicating a sense of superiority over the students. Being at the same level as them communicates an openness and equality with them in Christ.
Budgets are also part of the hidden curriculum but less subtle. Budgets communicate just what value the church places on the students. If students lack for supplies or a written curriculum, then it says to these students that they are not important enough for the church to provide for at any cost. Did you know that 80-90 percent of all church budgets are spent on those over 18? Yet, on average, at least 50 percent of most churches are made up of those under 18!
One of the greatest weaknesses I see in our hidden curriculum is when we don’t help them know how to apply what we are saying. There is this myth that all we need to give is the information and the Holy Spirit will do the applying. If this were the case, half of many of Paul’s letters would never have been written! More than ever people don’t think through things on their own. They need help knowing how to take the truths we are presenting and apply them to their lives. We should never allow our students or congregation to go away asking what they are supposed to do with the information they just received. We need to direct them so that the Holy Spirit will do the applying of what we have said.
The hidden curriculum should not be feared, it should be something you try to think through as you put yourself in the place of your listeners. We cannot control all of it, but we can make adjustments when we make ourselves aware of what our listeners are hearing us not say.