Elders, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

I have been thinking a lot about the role of elders as leaders in the church. I have been blessed through the years to serve under good men who loved God and wanted to lead his church in good and healthy ways. But I am not sure they have always seen the role of elders in the same way. While the Bible gives us a lot of data about elders, it never really spells out how they are to go about “leading” or “managing” or “taking care of” the church (see 1 Tim 3:4-5). It seems to me that there are several different ways that elders can see themselves and their task.

• CEO. In this model, the "Board of Elders" is responsible for every decision and most of their time is spent in meetings making those decisions. In small congregations, this seems to be the default style because often the elders of necessity have their finger in every pie. After 70 people or so, the elders in this model become a bottleneck because nothing can be done until they get around to meeting and discussing and deciding. Not only is the delegation of authority difficult in this model, it is almost unthinkable.
  
• Brakeman. Elders in this model see their role mainly as keeping bad things or even debatable things from happening. Their job is to say “No” and “Woe” and to stop things from getting out of hand. They may be distant from the work itself, but they are always ready to step in to stop things from happening.
  
• Governors. In this model, the elders lead by making decisions based largely on what most people want. Where the CEO (model #1) can be arbitrary and heavy-handed, the Governor tends to find out what the church wants according (opinion polls) and then they get out in front of that. It is very hard in this style of leadership to lead people where they are not already going. Biblical leaders, it seems to me, were often led by God to lead people where they did not want to go.
  
• Super-Deacons. In this model, each elder is especially involved in one part of the work, acting as deacon over the deacons. His area may be Sunday school or the building or benevolence. He may have more of a vested interest in that one area; the rest of the elders tend to let him run with that area. The problem here is that the work can become slanted toward what the elders are interested in themselves rather than in what the church really needs to focus upon. The more elders are involved in special ministry areas, the less time that they will have for people and for prayer.
  
• Managers. Good managers manage people, not processes. I think that is very important for elders to remember. Sometimes elders as managers seem to focus more on managing the process (ministries, events, the building, etc) and stay fairly aloof from people. A big part of the elder’s role is in equipping leaders to lead ministries and then mentoring them. This may be the hardest part of the job!
  
• Shepherds. In this model, the elders lead and care for people, not ministry areas. They mentor people to lead ministry areas, getting them the resources and training they need. They spend a lot of time praying for people, visiting those in need, and teaching the Bible in multiple settings. In Acts 6, the apostles not leaving the ministry of the word and prayer (their role) to wait tables (deacons role).

In smaller churches, elders may have to wear all of these hats at times. But I think the basic leadership style in which they see themselves makes a world of difference. For example, suppose someone complains about the preacher (use your imagination here) and says, "I think the preacher should wear a suit on Sunday." CEO elders may meet to discuss the issue. Board of Governor elders may want to know what most people think about suits. Shepherds will answer, "What did he say when you talked directly to him?" They want to lead people in Biblical ways like "Go to your brother." Shepherds lead and feed; managers guide and mentor. Maybe it is time that we pray, not just that our elders make wise decisions, but that they lead and feed and guide us in the ways of God even when we drag our feet.