It is hard to believe 2018 is almost over and we are about to start another year. As we end this year, let’s discuss the state of Christian leadership in Churches of Christ. I really have more questions than I have answers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of our model? Is it biblical? Could it be done in a way more in line with scripture, not less? What does it mean to be a shepherd and how will we intentionally raise up the next generation of leadership? What about women in leadership? We are starting to see female elders in some churches of Christ (we will discuss Women’s Roles in August 2019 a lot more thoroughly). These are the questions that come to mind for me. I have stronger opinions on some of these than others and I am sure you do as well. When I consider the state of our congregations and our leadership, I believe we have been lacking in some areas and hopefully we can start a conversation that will chart a course to a healthier model of leadership in our congregations. There is much good that can be done by examining best practices, learning from each other and being intentional about developing people for the next 50 years. As always, thanks for reading!
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As long as our shepherds are more concerned about economics than spirituality, we will have problems with leadership.
Too many elders worry about the budget rather than the spiritual wellbeing of their sheep. Too many elders hand off the spiritual well being of the sheep to the ‘hireling,’ the preacher. In a local survey as to whether or not the congregation should hire another preacher, some of the responses made it clear that the elders were not fulfilling their “shepherdship.”
We need a preacher so we have someone to go to in times of troubles
We need a preacher, so he can lead us through the coming perilous times
We need a preacher so the congregation has a face to represent us in the community
The above are just some of the responses.
Female elders sort of go against the description of elders, right? Eventhough the gender-neutral translations have done away with that problem…