Elders 2

I want us to operationalize the elder in this post.

This is because I am sure many have wondered as they read my past post how the church should operate once the elders are identified, the main thrust of the post.

I will therefore give us some scenarios where an elder is present to help us appreciate what he does, and probably how he does it.

Let me start with the visible ministries because that is where the absence of an elder is most destructive.

Let us start with music and the whole music inclined ministry. This because the distinctions are most blurred. By this I mean that very few are able to differentiate between a Jesus rhyming secular song and a spiritual song, among many other things.

Who is best placed to set the standards for the church in this muddle of popularity seeking and feeding ‘ministry’?

It must be an elder who WAS in the ministry properly (in holiness and scriptural fidelity).

I insist on the ‘was’ for the reasons I explained in the past post.

This means that he understands the ministry (or whatever it has morphed into) in a way few other elders can. He knows the struggles, the motivations, the temptations, the inherent pitfalls the ministry opens one to.

It is from that elevated position that he can be able to clearly see and understand the music ministry and ministers in the church.

He can also be able to authoritatively speak to the music industry and be listened to even by the secular and ungodly musicians since they know his past was without spot.

It is impossible to speak to the industry you are part of. It is impossible to rebuke people you are eating from or with, even when they are not treating you well.

As an example, there has been much uproar from musicians in Kenya about their royalty payments.

If I spoke against that abuse when I am in the system (receiving royalties), it will be interpreted as fighting for my rights as any other musician.

If however, as one who stepped out of music to serve God as an elder, I spoke against what is happening, I will be listened to.

Both may have used the same words. Both may have read the same speech, even word for word.

But one has the authority to speak, simply because he is addressing a situation he is not part of but understands intricately.

Again, due to the fact that he is outside the action, so to speak, other musicians find it easier to come to him for counsel and direction.

Why is this important?

Public ministry has a dynamic that makes it very difficult to seek help. And I am speaking as someone who was for years in such ministry.

This is worsened by the fact that very few, if any, of the people being ministered to, think that you need help.

I have written of situations where I approached a friend for help in my distress and the same friend thought that my story was an illustration, a teaching aid of sorts.

Then of course the pride this arouses.

It means that only someone who has been there has the capacity to understand you enough to help or guide you. And the fact that only that person qualifies in your eyes.

Not only was I a musician, I have also ministered to musicians, or what people today call worship leaders. I therefore have a first-hand experience in handling that ego.

Incidentally, that is not constrained to the music ministry.

Any visible ministry is open to that dynamic, even the basest of them according to some.

Some people do not associate ushering with any issues with ego and pride. But I have handled ministry in church enough years to confirm to you that it is only in matters of degree or the location that ego functions.

Incidentally, even closet ministries can be drawn into pride, including intercession.

Or haven’t you felt so driven to confirm the veracity of the burden God gave you concerning somebody? Or somebody who is always asking for or sharing prayer requests.

It is only someone who has walked those roads who may understand the intricacies of those ministries.

That person is the elder.

How does one correct a pastor? Who can rebuke a pastor? On what basis does he do it?

Their dynamic is similar to what I have said about music ministry, only that in this position one is dealing directly with authority, since a pastor wields spiritual authority over a wider constituency.

This means that one will be dealing with an ego on steroids for most.

Allow me to give an example for emphasis.

One time a pastor did something which was wrong and I felt God wanted me to bring it to his attention.

But he had ringfenced himself and so it could have been very difficult to get into his audience.

I therefore wrote him a personal email, explaining to him the situation as I saw it.

Shortly after, I was confronted by another leader of that church about my insubordination.

It was a private message from me to him. And I was of course willing and available had he needed us to look at what I had written.

But his ego could not handle correction.

Lest you think this is an isolated incident, I will give you more.

Recently in a service, the programmer (or what are they called?), overreached in his zeal and said things he ought not to have said.

I wrote him a text (and of course texts are private). The following Sunday that text and I became part of the sermon, yet he was not the one preaching.

Many years ago, we invited a popular preacher in our overnight prayer service.

He preached and preached even as I took notes.

After the whole thing, my spirit was disturbed and I decided to go back to the notes because he had said things that were clearly unscriptural.

I then realised that I had to write to him about the false doctrines he was propagating.

I looked for his contacts (there were no emails or social media) which was a very tedious affair. But God gave me the breakthrough.

I then wrote him a letter (a private letter to his postal address) contrasting what he had been teaching with what the scriptures taught.

I even opened myself to him, offering to sit with him if he needed to discuss what I had written, to the point of giving him my room number (there were no cellphones).

The next thing that happens is that I am kicked out of leadership in the Christian Union.

I hope you realise that I am not painting the picture of me being right and them being wrong. I want us to see the power ego has over truth because there really can be no justification for making a private matter public and diverting correction into unrelated matters.

You may realise that this is why many prophets died. Ego hijacked private correction and made it a national issue.

The Bible does not say that John the Baptist confronted Herod in public and there is no indicator of anything other than a private rebuke. But he was killed.

An elder has a stature that draws people to him, even his enemies, because they know him as someone they can count on.

Zedekiah did not love Jeremiah. I suspect he barely tolerated him.

Yet in a crisis he goes looking for him.

With Elisha even enemy kings come looking for him.

That for me is the ministry of the elder.

In the next post I will explain how an elder is made.