Articles
Submitting to the Judgment of Elders
Trying to teach or admonish on any topic requires that elders first must remove (as much as humanly possible) our own personal bias, opinions, predispositions, family tree influences, etc. from our thinking, and take guidance from scripture alone. Second, elders are charged to follow the NT pattern, particularly when it comes to being autonomous. That is, elders should try to make decisions as shepherds of the local “flock which God has made you overseers,” and not what would please secular government, other local churches, influential men (inside or outside the body), forefathers in the faith, or select groups within a local church. In other words, elders are to try and be unaffected by influences other than first, the word of God, and second, what is best for the local church.
Then the third aspect that must be considered is to not be a “lord” over the flock – a warning from an elder who lived in the NT period (1 Peter 5:3). The NT is specific in its analogy: elders are to be like shepherds. Not kings, not CEO’s, not managers, not captains of a ship, not political leaders and on and on. “Lording it over” a group means “I speak – you obey” (let a literal shepherd try that with real sheep and he will quickly discover he is not a “lord” over the flock even if that is what he wanted). Jesus is Lord over us and so the relationship of “He speaks – we obey” should exist there. All shepherds can do is repeat what the Chief Shepherd has said and encourage mutual obedience.
But what about areas where there is no clear “thus saith the Lord” and human wisdom and judgment is required? These areas certainly do exist, otherwise 1 Corinthians 8-10 and Romans 14 would never have needed to have been written. The Holy Spirit guided an apostle to spend a great deal of time teaching on this very subject. Areas of judgment do indeed come, and must be handled according to the Biblical pattern – with sacrificial “agape” love for a brother/sister being the supreme rule. In 1 Cor 10:33 Paul stated it this way: “not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many.”
It has been my own personal experience that a lot of what elders find themselves doing is making “judgment calls” on behalf of the congregation in various areas – ideally using the principles listed above as our guide – i.e. removal of subjective bias; following the revealed NT pattern; doing what is best for the local church; humbly shepherding rather than issuing commands to be followed; etc. Some of these are minor areas of judgment (at times even trivial): what time shall we meet?; will we start services with a song or a prayer?; length and content of the announcements; should we have a reading with the Lord’s Supper?, etc. Some of the decisions are much more serious: how long do we give a brother or sister to repent?; when does someone need spiritual help?’ will we have two (or more) services on a Sunday?; or from more recent experience, will we ask the members to wear masks and observe quarantine requests from our government? None of these decisions is specifically covered by a verse or “thus saith the Lord” but instead falls within the category of the collective judgment and wisdom of the eldership.
The implications of decisions made within this ‘judgment” category are several. First, there is a chance that mortal, fallible, non-divine beings will not always “get it right.” There is a chance that not everyone will be pleased with a decision. There is also a chance that I may be called upon to humbly submit what I might have chosen to do in deference to the decision made by the elders. Nothing is easy about submitting our judgment to someone else’s decision. A lot of political turmoil in the secular world is due to the judgment of one group not aligning with the judgment of another group. But it is an area of life we must learn to deal with and as Christians we should grow to have an attitude that is God-pleasing. Perhaps these are simply ways God teaches us to mortify the pride that so easily finds its way into our hearts.
None of this means that a faithful Christian is one who never questions or critiques decisions made by elders. But it does mean that carrying our disagreement (in an area of judgment) too far can lead to wrongdoing. In other words, faithful Christians can disagree and voice reasons for doing so with their elders – and should. But if we allow that disagreement to lead us to gossip, slander, accusations, bitterness, or ultimately destroying the local “temple of God” (1 Cor 3:16-17), then we have gone astray into wrongdoing.
It’s not always easy when it comes to our relationships with each other within the local church. This is probably the reason the NT spends so much time emphasizing the “one another” commands and admonitions, especially to love one another. So given the ease with which the tempter can snare us, let’s put on the whole armor of God “so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:11-12).
