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Eldership: Herding or Shepherding?
Brian Mashburn
October 15, 2017
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Maturing To The Point of Eldership
This year we are calling each other to take our next steps toward spiritual maturity. As we do this, who is it among us whose next step is to join our eldership group?
As is needed on occasion, the eldership here has discerned that it is time to add to their numbers. And, as is our practice, you are being asked to help identify who they might be. So, how do we recognize those around us who should consider this noble task?
Well, even though every Christian's destiny is to provide spiritual care for a few others, there are those among us who are a bit farther along in doing so. They have noticeably prioritized the shepherding of others.
Did you notice that word, shepherding? It is an important one. In the Bible, from beginning to end, God uses the "shepherd" as His one consistent metaphor to describe His kind of leadership. He uses it to explain the kind of leader He is, the kind of leader His son was, and the kind of leader He wants all Christians to become.
In describing Himself, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15)
For the next four weeks, we will talk about spiritual maturity through the lens of shepherding, and the becoming of a Shepherd, or Elder, in Christ's church.
As we prepare to consider these things, I like to keep in mind two quotes: One from our good shepherd Tom Farris who said, "I like the idea that we recognize Shepherds, we don't appoint them." The other from our good shepherd Jerry Morgan who said, "We should be a church full of shepherds."
Amen. May we all mature to become shepherds, and may God help us recognize those whose time it is to be recognized a Shepherd.