CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Teachers/Disciplers

What is the Role of the Leadership in Christian Education?

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To answer this question we need to go back and define what parts of the church involve Christian Education. The answer: everything the church does is Christian Education! Unless we clearly understand this principle true discipleship will not happen. With this understanding we can begin to comprehend what Paul meant when he said the job of the pastor (and note he really says pastor/teacher) is NOT to do the work of the ministry, but to EQUIP the members of his church to do it. This is discipleship – getting all the church operating according to the gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit.

To equip the church means that we are taking deliberate steps to train the people to do all, and more, than we were taught in seminary. One man cannot train everyone. Jesus trained only 12 (in reality three). But think about this – if a pastor trains three elders to do certain aspects of ministry, then he has multiplied what he would have done on his own. Each teaching and ruling elder has certain gifts to be used for the benefit of the church, therefore, if each elder was tasked with training three others with those same gifts we begin to see the multiplication of disciples take place as Jesus intended.

Training more teachers: One of the really sad facts about seminary training is that we get a great deal of training in how to preach, but little, if any, in how to teach. Yet how much more time do we spend teaching than preaching? Therefore, if the leadership does not have anyone who is gifted and trained to teach others to teach, then the church needs to bring in help, such as CE&P’s Regional Trainers.

Jesus did not say to go and preach the Gospel, he said to make disciples, of which preaching is only a part. The process of making disciples takes a lot more than simply listening to a sermon – it takes training, and that training means coming along side those saints we are equipping for works of ministry.


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What I have said here is nothing new or earth-shaking, but it is often forgotten by the pastor who is so busy doing the work of the ministry that he forgets that this is not his job! And if the church thinks it is, then they have not been taught properly. If this is the case for you, then start by re-prioritizing your time and job description so that there is time for true equipping. Start by selecting those who may be already doing works of ministry and help them equip others to do the same. This isn’t brain surgery; it is the difference between having one minister and 200 congregants over against having a church with 201 ministers! It’s your choice – do it the way you are, or do it God’s way. Which do you think he will bless?

One last point: If we are going to set our goal to train disciples, we must first ask what a “fully discipled” person looks like. For this, I am indebted to Perimeter Church for their well-thought description:

“A mature and equipped follower of Christ is one who:

Elders, Executives or Servants?

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Equip2ndQtr2007.jpgThe question we are often asked in a variety of ways has to do with the role and function of leaders in the body of Christ, the church, and more broadly, in the kingdom. The question usually asked is, “Who are leaders and what are their performance expectations?”

In the opening lecture of our video series on the eldership, Elders, Executives or Servants, I point out that every organization has two kinds of leader-formal and informal. The formal are those who are in an official position of leadership, either by appointment or election. The informal leaders are the men and women that have substantial influence in the organization but do not hold an official leadership role. While organizations are quick to recognize the existence of the formal leaders, in our case the church officers, they have often failed to recognize the existence of the informal leaders. Some of you may remember the film Pollyanna. In that story a very wealthy and influential woman in the town, known as Aunt Polly, determined many things in that town, including things related to the church. She was an example of an informal leader with power and influence. We have been called into situations where churches are being ripped apart because of the conflict between the informal and formal leadership. In a few cases such struggles resulted in a church split.

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We have also been in churches where the formal leadership and the followers were in conflict over certain issues that jeopardized the church’s life. The lead article on the eldership clearly reminds us that God established leaders, formal leaders, to oversee or watch over the local church. The article clearly reflects that biblical nature and posture of the role of the eldership. This is important because when we think of the church and its mission, we are reminded that the church is both an organism and an organization, or an organized organism. Actually, that’s the only way we can think of the church on earth, because that is the way God designed it-a living organism with design and purpose. We might say that the church is a structured organism. Further, the Apostle Paul tells us that God orchestrated the church, each part just as he wants it. Some are in the position of leadership while others are followers; yet both are extremely important to the design.

In my doctrinal dissertation a number of years ago, in the section on leadership, I highlighted three major points regarding leadership that I found in the writings of Richard Hutcheson, a Presbyterian Clergy in Washington D.C.

First, we must have a theology of leadership. Part of this theology is recognizing that every leader has a distinct calling and gifts in specific areas, just as the church has a distinct mission. Second, there is the pragmatic side of leadership. Hutcheson said that leaders must know how to use the leadership and managerial skills in a way that is compatible with our theology, especially our understanding of the church’s role.

Third, leadership has an evaluative role. This means that the leadership is asking the right questions: How effective are we in carrying the mission that God has assigned to our church? Are we effectively carrying out our church’s mission? Are our leaders using their specific God-given gifts? Are we using our leadership and management skills theologically to set the vision for the church’s mission?

What this means is that the church’s leaders, while viewing themselves as shepherds, must be trained in the best of leadership skills, starting with doctrine and theology. Leaders of the church should also have skills and techniques to be capable of leading in the broader kingdom. However, to avoid the temptation of simply adopting the world’s way of leadership, or to take the very opposite “fundamentalist” approach of proof texting everything we do, we must work together to integrate all the principles of leadership that we know into our theological framework. As effective leaders, we do not simply adopt the ways of the world in carrying out our responsibilities, nor do we narrow our scope by feeling as though we have to quote scripture and verse for all that we do.

God’s body, the church, or any other kingdom entity, is not to be carelessly and sloppily arranged. The church is made up of people, and the Apostle Paul says that the church is more or less effective, “as each part does its work.” The role of the leadership is to help each and every part (person) know where he or she fits into the body and what function they are to carry out. That does not automatically happen. It requires knowing our mission, knowing our people, and knowing how to lead them forward in their mission and purpose. Any organization, especially the church, must know and demonstrate how leaders and followers work together to carry out and accomplish their mission of equipping people to live as kingdom disciples in a fallen world.

Joyful Servant Leaders

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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.

The Hidden Curriculum

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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.

How Should We Understand “Curriculum”? Part 2

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dennis.jpgOne of the hardest things I had to do as academic dean in a seminary in South Africa was to educate the faculty to understand the different between a “content driven curriculum” and a “process oriented curriculum.”

One member of faculty argued with me that unless he covered all 16 chapters of the Book of Romans he had not taught the course. He was content driven. The students, however, complained that after completing the course they were still not prepared to do anything with it – like teach it to others, unless they covered it the same way they were taught.

My approach is different. My goal is this – even if I only cover only 8 of the 16 chapters of Romans, if, in the process, I teach the students/congregation how to continue to learn the book, how to live out what they discovered, and how to communicate the book to others, then I accomplished a much greater goal. I am process driven. My goal is for my students to learn how to learn, know how to put it into practice in their own lives, and to learn how to communicate what they learned. It is also for them to approach the study with their first goal to see Jesus in every verse of Scripture, and prayerfully seek to be changed into His image. Only then can they seek to present to others what they have learned and how it changed them.

The content of what we teach and preach must never be minimized. But if we leave it at the content level (head knowledge) it will never accomplish the Holy Spirit’s goal – for every believer to be like Jesus. Every lesson and every sermon must ask these three questions: As a result of this lesson/sermon I want my to hearers to know what? To be what? And to do what? Unless you can answer these, you have no goal for your lesson or sermon. If you have no goal, then what are you trying to accomplish?

If you need help with this, CEP’s Regional Trainers are available to come to your church. Contact us at:1-800-283-1357.