CHAPTER TWO
THE PROPER PURSUIT OF THE ELDERS
Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 5:17; 3:2b; 1 Cor. 14:1, 4-5, 12, 31, 39a; 3:10, 12; Psa. 119:147-148; Lam. 3:22-24; 1 John 1:9; Acts 13:52; Rom. 8:4; Phil. 1:20-21a; 1 Thes. 5:17; 2 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 10:25; Phil. 1:19; 4:13

Prayer: Father, be gracious to us that we may treasure Your holy ministry and touch Your throne of grace with our spirit. Enable us not only to enter into the Holy of Holies but to remain and live in it in order to be able to pray for Your church and for the saints, to pray that we would take Your way, and to pray that we would be revived inwardly and gradually be enabled to live an overcoming life. Lord, grant us Your visitation so that we may not waste our time or squander Your grace but may become priests and living stones. O Lord, we want to enjoy You and to actively produce building materials for the building of Your church. In these days may You fulfill Your heart’s desire, which is also our heart’s desire. May You be glorified, may we be perfected, and may all of us be built up. Amen.

We all know that the elders in the church are crucial in God’s New Testament economy. In any place, as long as two brothers know how to be elders, even if there is not a single saved one in that place, within two years a church of twenty-five will surely be raised up. If several hundred brothers on the island of Taiwan are perfected and are truly able to fulfill the responsibility of elders, churches will be raised up wherever they go, regardless of whether believers are already there. As long as they stay in a locality for a period of time, a church will surely be raised up. Our past experience tells us that the workers are very useful for the raising up of churches, but it is difficult for them to stay in various places for the perfecting of the churches. Hence, there is a need for elders in a locality for the perfecting of the saints.
NEEDING TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE LEAD,
TO TEACH, TO RENDER CARE,
TO TAKE HEED, AND TO SHEPHERD

In the New Testament the first requirement for the elders is that they take the lead (1 Thes. 5:12; 1 Tim. 5:17). Many people can preach the gospel, preach the word, and edify others, but in regard to taking the lead, they are helpless. Taking the lead is not an easy matter. Many people know how to get to their destination, but they may not be able to tell others how to get there. For example, we may ask someone for directions to a certain place, and he may know the way to get there himself; nevertheless, when he points out the way to us, it is quite possible that he will point in another direction and provide an indirect route. We might even get lost. Therefore, it is not a small matter for someone to take the lead in a locality where saints have been raised up to meet as the church.

The second requirement for elders is to be apt to teach. Teaching is not easy; it requires labor in word and teaching (v. 17). The teaching required of the elders is not general but specialized; otherwise, there would not be the need for labor. For example, a person can easily speak a message for an hour without much need to labor; however, if he truly wants to release a burden and speak the truth into the saints, helping them to enter into the truth, there is the need for much labor.

When school teachers and college professors begin to teach others, even though they have previously taken many courses while in school, they must labor and study even more in order to collect the items that they have studied over the years and compile them into a set of teaching materials. In this way the teaching materials cover the main points and follow a definite sequence so that what is taught is presented clearly and logically. Such teachers are good teachers and are well liked by the students. If a teacher speaks aimlessly in the classroom, it is difficult for the students to follow. This teaching method does not last because it becomes unbearable for the students.

If the elders in the church want to teach the brothers and sisters, they must spend time and effort to labor in God’s word. Those who do not labor in the word are not able to teach, because they have nothing to teach. Hence, in the matter of teaching, the elders need to study teaching materials and teaching methods. They need to learn how to teach properly so that what they teach can be imparted into others.

When the elders actually teach the saints, they need to labor even more. The elders’ teaching of the saints is different from the brothers’ speaking from the podium. Those who speak from the podium need a certain degree of labor, but the elders’ teaching of the saints requires even more labor. A mother who teaches her children must labor abundantly. This is because it is not easy to teach the children in a manner that will cause them to listen, receive, understand, and endure to be educated. Though most mothers do not have this ability, some mothers are truly able to subdue their children without angering them but rather causing them to happily receive their teaching. We urgently need this kind of teaching.

The elders must realize that most of the saints in the church are a “hodgepodge.” They cannot be divided into different grades, such as first and second grade, as is done in an educational system. In the church it is impossible to divide the saints into different classes. Even in the training center this is not possible. The reason is that there are all kinds of people in the church. If we were to divide them into different classes, we would probably need several hundred different classes. This is impossible. The elders’ teaching of the saints is truly laborious.

In addition to knowing how to take the lead and teach, the third requirement for the elders is that they need to know how to “care for the church” (3:5). Care for is an excellent translation; the elders should not merely manage but care for the church. To manage is easy, but to care for a matter is not so easy. It may be quite easy for a brother to manage a brothers’ house, but it is not easy for him to care for the brothers’ house. To manage the brothers’ house, he needs only to ask the brothers to wake up at 5:30 A.M., have morning watch at 6:00 A.M., and go to bed at 10:30 P.M. This is to manage the brothers’ house; however, to care for the brothers is more troublesome. To do so properly, he may need to wait at the door for the brothers to come home in order to find out why they have come home so late at night. This requires both time and energy. To care for someone is to look after him, to serve him, be concerned for him, teach him what to do, and give him what he does not have. This depicts how the elders should care for the church.

The fourth requirement for the elders is that they need to take heed. Acts 20:28 says, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock.” One is able to walk and move freely in an empty meeting hall; he can also jump, run, or even roll around. However, if the meeting hall is well furnished with tables, desks, and chairs, it is not that easy for people to walk around. If they are not careful, they will stumble, cause others to stumble, or even break the windows. Thus, Paul says that the elders need to take heed to themselves and to all the flock. This shows that the responsibility of the elders is not simple; it encompasses many aspects.

The fifth requirement for an elder is to know how to shepherd (John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2). Shepherding includes teaching (Eph. 4:11). Shepherding may seem to be relatively easy and involve merely feeding children milk; in reality, it is not easy because shepherding is not merely to feed people. It also includes providing them with warmth. In other words, the shepherding one must provide tender care so that the one being cared for has a feeling of warmth. A brother may be discouraged to the uttermost, but when we talk to him and supply him with life, his heart is comforted and his inner being is warmed up. This is shepherding.

A brother may have a problem with another person, and he may have been wronged. In this situation he needs our shepherding very much. If we are able to speak something appropriate to him and minister life to him, our shepherding will calm him down. This is not easy. Sometimes we genuinely desire to comfort others and we may think that we are comforting them, but the outcome may be exactly the opposite. If we accuse them, we will make them feel even worse. We must know that the saints have a certain kind of respect toward the elders. Hence, if an elder is not able to speak something appropriate and give people a feeling of warmth but rather speaks something inappropriate, the saints will feel even more that they have been wronged. A brother once told an elder that if he were to be wronged by a brother or sister, he would be able to bear it, but if he were to be wronged by an elder, it would be difficult for him to bear. Shepherding the saints is not an easy matter.

Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, Chapter 2, Section 1

Not a scary room to knock on the door of!!! Show this to Sharron
NOT LORDING IT OVER THE SAINTS
BUT BEING PATTERNS TO THEM

On the negative side, an elder must not lord it over the saints (1 Pet. 5:3). In Greek, to lord over is to be someone’s master. If an elder thinks that he is a kind of master, puts on airs, and lets people know that he is an elder and that everyone must listen to him, his eldership is utterly annulled. In the Bible the Lord taught that among us we have no masters except One (Matt. 20:26-27). This means that none can be a master over others. Among us, we are slaves to one another. Even the elders should be slaves to the brothers and sisters. We may be familiar with the saying that every ruler is a servant of the people. Even a president calls himself a servant of the people. When he meets with the common people, he should not put on the airs of a president. If he puts on the airs of a president, he is not a good president. A good president always feels that he is lower than the common people and that the common people are the true masters of the nation; he is but a public servant to these masters. This concept is undoubtedly influenced by the Bible.

In the church life, however, there are always some who misunderstand the meaning of the word elder. Consequently, they overly revere the elders. This is not proper. All of the elders must remember that they are not higher than the brothers and sisters; among us there is no such thing as the “airs” of an elder. It is said that in a certain locality, the brothers and sisters tremble when they knock on the door of the elders’ room; this is wrong. We should not create such an atmosphere for the elders. If there is such an atmosphere, even if the church has increased into many districts, it cannot be built up. Moreover, even if it is built up, the building up will not last. We all need to pay attention to this matter.

The elders, moreover, must be patterns to all the saints. First Peter 5:3b speaks of “becoming patterns of the flock.” For the elders to become patterns of the flock implies that elders are also sheep, except that they are the head sheep. As such, they need to be patterns. In New Zealand many flocks of sheep can be seen, and the wonderful thing about those sheep is that they all follow the sheep at the front, proceeding in two lines. The first two sheep are the head sheep. When the head sheep stop, the rest of the sheep also stop, when the head sheep turn right, all the sheep turn right, and when the head sheep turn left, all the sheep turn left. They do not need any command. The flock single-heartedly follows the head sheep. It is the same in the church life. The brothers and sisters simply follow the elders. If the head sheep, representing the elders, do not move forward but instead try to drive the sheep from the rear, the sheep will not know where to go. It is unreasonable and illogical for the head sheep to lead in this way.

If the elders would practice these points in taking the lead, teaching, rendering care, taking heed, shepherding the saints, and not lording it over them or putting on airs, the church will surely be strong and rich. If the elders take the lead in all things, whether visiting people, knocking on doors, preaching the gospel, having home meetings, having small group meetings, or having morning revival, sooner or later their pattern will spread and become a help to all the churches.

The living of the elders is a pattern. If the elders do not practice certain things, it will be difficult for the saints to practice them. For example, if the elders are not punctual in attending the meetings, it will not be easy for them to encourage the brothers and sisters to come to the meetings on time. In fact, this may leave the saints with the impression that the elders exercise special privileges to come to the meetings whenever they want, while expecting the saints to come early. This will cause resentment in the saints’ spirits. Hence, all the elders must set an example by their own actions. This kind of leading is the best. When the saints recognize the elders as the head sheep, they will simply follow the elders however the elders lead them.

Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, Chapter 2, Section 2