October 31, 2006
Elections 2006
This is the political season for my church, as well as for the nation. Our potential elder candidates are required to complete a lengthy nine-page questionnaire and submit it to the Senior Pastor. In all fairness some of the questions are well founded, both Biblically and spiritually, and will give insight into a candidate’s character. However, I find a few of the questions better suited for finding ‘rubber stamps’ than for finding qualified elders. Candidates are asked if they understand and support the ‘mission’ of the church, what they think is the best way to realize the ‘vision’ of the church, and if there’s anything that will keep them from functioning in harmony with the current leadership. Going on to more personally probing questions they’re asked if they are upset or angry with anyone in the church and about their tithing record, specifically, “Do you think tithing should be a prerequisite for becoming an elder?” Probably the most revealing of all the questions is # 31 which asks, “What should the relationship be between Elders and Ministers?” The status quo appears to be in no danger for 2007.
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Gail;
----Church, as defined by the New Testament, is a truly unique organism. Although it has structure, the Word does not give the development of that structure to man. Although it requires leadership, the Word does not give control to man. His Holy Spirit is given to the church for those purposes. But we see churches today developed and controlled by man as groups of Christians clustered around diferent theologies, cultural aspects, and purposes. The men in control must make sure that the group of people who are following them carefully stay on the path that they have so painstakingly defined. The Word of God is then no longer the measure for acceptance or rejection of beliefs and practices in the church. That measure has becomes the insights, understanding, and visions the leaders have developed in their personal relationships with the Lord and study of His Word.
----Knowing of all the hundreds of denominations and thousands of denminational offshoots, we must admit the truth that although God has called us all into His family through Jesus, He has not required us to all have the same ideological viewpoints. To Him, ideology is not important, each one of His children are. But, unfortunately, within any particular group of Christians, there becomes an unspoken, unperceived jealousy regarding the current ideologies of the group that seems to run stronger than the spoken and perceived need to love one another. Maintenance of those leader selected and defined ideologies becomes so important that they must write into their elder selection criteria procedures to protect ideology rather than to detect spirituality.
----What is sad is that they will be able to grow the church more and more into an ideological structure by addressing such questions, and less and less into a spiritual temple, not to their detriment alone, but to the detriment of all whom they are called to serve. Jesus will inquire why love of the brethren and scriptural basics were not sufficient for defining guidlines.
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