An Efficient Eldership

An Efficient Eldership AN EFFICIENT ELDERSHIP
(Acts 20:28)
By Otto Foster

“Take heed unto yourselves”: This was, spoken by Paul to some elders in the long ago. Peter said in 1 Peter 5 : “The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder.”

Ordinarily, I like best the preacher who leaves his family at home and does not take them with him into the pulpit; therefore, I should leave personal references out, but I have really longed for an opportunity to talk to a lot of fellow elders,. I have been an elder in the church for many years, and I have heard them criticized severely for this action and that, this attitude and that; but mainly for being inactive, by our preaching brethren. Upon investigation, be it said regretfully, I have found much of the criticism to be at least somewhat justified.

“Take heed unto yourselves.” Have you really ever taken heed unto yourself? Regardless, of how or when you were chosen as an elder, deacon, teacher, if you are a leader in your congregation the fact remains that you are a very important cog in God’s machinery for the saving of the wrorld. Are you working as you should work? In the Bible the elders are also called bishops or overseers,; presbyters or rulers; pastors or shepherds; according to the phase of the work under consideration. The King* of kings has ordained, selected, and specified the offices in his kingdom, who would dare to include any other or change their duties? The Holy Spirit has given very definite qualifications of the kind of men the church should select to rule over them. As we have it and practice it largely today, “If you are a fine Christian man, humble and always agreeable, plus possibly a child or two, good or bad, you make a good elder or deacon.”

“Take heed unto yourself,” Look to your life, does it measure up to God’s qualifications ?

1. Do you more nearly correspond to these qualifications now than you did when you were placed in that
position, or is your life a detriment to the church ?
2. If the church of which you are an officer were choosing now, would they select you again as an officer?
3. How is your life, my brother?
4. How are your actions as an elder in the church of the Lord?
5. Examine yours,elf today if you have never really done so before?
6. Do you love the church?
7. Is it really first in your life?
8. Or do you love your profession, your vocation, the Masonic Lodge, the Rotary Club, or even your wife, or
your life better?
9. Do you spend more money for tobacco, coffee, tea, cold drinks, golf, football, any or all of these
combined than you give to the church?
10. What do you talk about when you meet a friend, is it the church, or is it the war, politics, price of cotton
or wheat, or what not ?
11. Where is your treasure? There is, your heart also.
12. Our God is a jealous God, and he will not occupy second place in our hearts and especially is this true as
applied to an officer of his church.
13. Again I ask, how has your life been s,ince your elevation to the rnost responsible place in God’s church,
with the exception of the preacher or his word ?

“Take Heed Unto Yourselves”
“And to the flock”—“Feed the flock.”

What are you doing for your church? Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” It pleased God by the preaching of the gospel to have the gospel presented to the world and that those who did the preaching were to be supported by or because of, giving of their time to this work, by the church. Are you feeding the flock over which you are an overseer? Is the preaching of the gospel being supported by you?

1. What is the size of your congregation?
2. If you have ten members that earn a living could you not support the eleventh?
The Jews did it. Could not we do it if we wanted to badly enough?
3. Do not we do the things we want to do?
4. If you los,t your car, wouldn’t you get another?
5. How often do you have preaching? How much do you pay the preacher? $5.00 per trip? $10.00 perhaps.
6. Is that discharging your obligation? 
7. Have you taught the church to give? Isn’t that a part of your responsibility? Do you realize that the Bible
says more about giving of your means to the Lord than it does baptism? If you fail to warn the members
of your congregation of the consequences of spending all they earn on themselves and not giving God
his part, robbing God, then their souls will be required of you. If not, why not?

Well, if you have done all this, given liberally your-self, really sacrificed, been an example in giving as well as in living, and taught the congregation to do likewise, you have preaching regularly, and look after the local work, then what else do you do? “Go into all the world.” Are you doing any preaching except in your own home town? Are we really in earnest, my brethren, wanting to save souls,, or are we just fooling ourselves?

One of the qualifications of an elder or deacon is that he must not be greedy of filthy lucre—a lover of money. Not a “skin-flint” or a “tight-wad” as we would say. I know one elder that seemingly tries to keep his, congregation from spending any money. He is perfectly satisfied to come on Sunday morning, to teach a Bible class in which the teaching of the different sects is condemned in no uncertain manner and the Truth held up in bold contrast—then have the Lord’s Supper with little or no comments, go home and await the coming of another Lord’s day. If and when anything worthwhile has been done or will be done there, it is when some of the good women rebel and raise money or a fuss and get some concession. He is the watch dog of the treasury of the church. The ladies are called on to can the grape juice so that the ten cent bottle will not have to be purchased for each Lord’s day. Are any of you the watch dog for the treasury of your church, always, afraid the church will be broke? The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a saving institution. On the contrary it is a spending institution. It was founded by a supreme sacrifice, it has been and will ever be kept alive and increasing in numbers and power over the hearts of men and nations by the same principle. The church that gets money in any way and keeps it for years to spend in some special way for some special purpose is, doing wrong, as is any church that strives to create a large bank account. The world needs the gospel and as much as we can get, given by those who love the Lord, and no one ever gave too much to the church, should be spent in preaching it. May the Lord direct us in spending it. He will never be pleased with our attitude of trying to save it. An Efficient Eldership
The church cannot develop as it should without an efficient eldership. My brother elders:
1. An efficient elder will be doing more than other members of the church. Giving more in proportion to his ability.
2. The best elders do not do all the work themselves, but pass it out to others.
3. Elders who study their job do not have the deacons exclusively wait on the congregation in the observance
of the Lord’s Supper, but use other members to do that and thereby start these to working in and for the church.
4. Good elders will have mid-week prayer meetings. Even if those who attend are fewT, they can sing together
such wonderful prayer songs as “I Am Thine, O Lord” until all will be in the spirit of prayer, and then those who
will can lead in prayer. Twenty per cent of the songs in most of our s,ong books are prayers set to music and
any Christian needs and will ever be benefited by a service like this; and we certainly need to take time to get
nearer to God in this hurried age in which we are living. Yes, “Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord.” A
devotional mid-week service is necessary if we would develop spiritually as we should.
5. Elders who understand and appreciate their re-sponsibility will attend all services of the church if at all possible.
6. They will meet together for council.
7. They will consult the membership and not arbi-trarily decide all questions on their own judgment. Elders are
only men, and when they exceed and emphasize their authority to rule God’s people they should remember
they are dealing with Christians and the greatest thing in the world is an humble Christian. We are to be leaders
rather than rulers in the present accepted meaning of the term “ruler.” “Follow me as I follow Christ,” said Paul.
8. We should endeavor constantly to get our con-gregation to do more, and not be weary in well doing but exercise
patience because in due season we will reap.
9. We should never be satisfied with the w’ork we are doing but have a vision of greater things—more preaching,
more work. “My people are lost foi want of a vision.” Every year our work, if possible, should excel the previous year.
10. Elders and deacons should cooperate with the preacher, and they should council together. If not, why not? They
should plan and work together in the great work of the church. Being fellow workers with God, neither officer, nor
preacher, should seek to excel the other in authority or influence. (The request of the mother of the sons
of Zebedee.)
11. Leaders should have no outside interests that hinder. Our business is serving the Lord.
12. Elders should be training others to take their place. Some fifteen or twenty years ago I noticed that one of
our younger men was secretary of the several Masonic bodies in our town, and I said to myself that if he is a valuable
man to the Masons, he should be to the church; and I courted his interest in the church and ere long asked him to
teach a class in Bible school. He consented and gradually became a good worker in the church. When the church
selected officers, he was one selected as a deacon. Later he was likewise selected as an elder and became one
of the most valuable officers the church has, had in many years. In addition to being secretary of the officers
meeting and keeping a set of records that would be a credit to any man, he could and did do anything that was to
be done. Did he keep up his lodge work? Nay, verily! He found that working for the Lord and his church was
more glorious. He was living on a higher plane and those things, ceased to attract.
13. We should strive daily to be better teachers of God’s word, better directors of the Bible school and the work
of the church.
14. Broaden your knowledge by learning how the other churches of Christ do their work.
15. Of all men we should spend much time in prayer. If you are striving to attain the high plane of leadership
in the greatest institution on the earth— the church—the bride of the Lamb—then you will ever need and ever
want contact with our God in prayer. Are you growing as a leader?
None of us can stand still in the Christian life. Neither elders, deacons, teachers, nor others remain stationery. We either go on or we slip backward. When you assumed leadership of your congregation you thereby agreed to learn and perform the duties of your office to the best of your ability. Are you doing it, my brethren?

“Over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseer.”
How did you happen to be an elder anyway, did you just happen to be? Did some preacher suggest you? Did your congregation after much prayer and study and deliberation, considering the qualifications laid down by the Holy Spirit, select you to fill the place you are now filling, select you to be their ruler and to decide the many problems of the local church, and you in turn were to look after and give an account of every member of the congregation ? Then should we not feel our responsibility and ear-nestly and zealously work every day that God will help us to be more efficient in our work, to lead by precept and example, those under our care to greater fields of usefulness in the great work of saving the world.

“Heaven is not reached by a single bound But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted sky And we mount to its summit round by round.”

I desire above everything to get to heaven. I do not remember when I did not so desire. That desire has increased as I have learned more day by day and year by year of God’s wonderful plan of the ages; and I am, therefore, intensely interested and fully determined to measure up insofar as, in me lies, to my place in the church. It has been and will be my life’s study to be more efficient in my work in order that I may be useful in the Master’s vineyard.

“Wherefore my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” That is the way to be and to have a more efficient eldership. And why should we always, abound? “For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” No men ever worked for a more certain or a greater reward. “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.”

Let’s here and now rededicate our lives to better service, more study, greater usefulness, to the laying aside of any weight that hinders and start anew for the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.