May 14, 2007
Evangelism
An older preacher told me about serving in his first congregation. As a young man he’d inherited a couple of elders who were on the calling committee, but they were terrible at calling. “Their hearts were in the right place, but you just can’t go around telling people they’re going to hell [if they don’t respond to your efforts]. I’d try going behind them with a follow-up call and nobody would talk to me.” Out of respect for age and eldership, it was a touchy situation for the young minister. “I thought if I tried to stop these particular elders from calling, I’d be loosing two while I was trying to reach one.” I ask how the situation was finally resolved and he said, “Preachers can just let a program die, and that’s what we did.” Believers really do have good intentions - just not always the best bedside manner.
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----It is sad that the decision was to just let the calling program die because of a mistaken belief about older men and the eldership. Paul told Timothy not to rebuke older men harshly, but to exhort them with the respect for a father. He also told him the procedure for dealing with elders who sin. A mixture of love, kindness, respect, the truth, patience, and perseverance would eventually have reached a satisfactory solution for the situation of these two elders if applied with faith and prayer. It is admirable and proper to value the feelings of your brother. But it is also necessary that the bond-making of a calling program continue. Because a man has been placed into the position of an elder does not make him bigger than the body. In I Corinthians 14 Paul said all things in meeting together should be done decently and in order. He did not give dissolution of bonds as an option for when indecency and disorder enter the relationships through someone thought to be too big to be corrected.
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