Notes from Developing Elders, Deacons, & Members:
Jesus is the Senior Pastor of the Church. Check out Hebrews 3.1 & 1 Peter 5.4. He plants, builds, & sustains the church, not you.
3 Reasons you do NOT want to be your church’s Senior Pastor -
1) You will try to control it.
2) You will want all the glory.
3) It brings security to you and your church knowing that Jesus is in control.
Elders/Pastors are the senior leaders under Jesus. Elders are the senior male leaders of the church who are also synonymously called ‘pastors,’ ‘bishops,’ and ‘overseers’ throughout the New Testament.
Elders are brothers who will go to war with you.
Chan’s 7 characteristics of an Elder:
1. Christian - a man who loves Jesus (1 Timothy 3.6)
2. Character - In the heat of battle, the character of Christ comes out, not some other character! Interview his wife. Every husband should pastor his family. Every man in your church should aspire to become an elder.
3. Commitment
4. Chemistry (Titus 1.8). Men who will guard the unity of the church.
5. Confidence - can teach Scripture. Can refute false doctrine. Spend a year taking him through Systematic Theology.
6. Capacity (1 Timothy 3.4) - manage home well.
7. Courage (Titus 1.9). Most men hate conflict; you need men who will stand up and fight for what is true.
Every church must deal with the tension between syncretism (too much culture) and
sectarianism (too much church-bubble culture).
“Missions is not something that happens over there; it happens over here.” - Leslie Newbegin