What We’re Looking for in an Elder – Men With Whom We Are Likeminded on Certain Issues
Great post by Greg Gilbert about one quality, “Likemindedness”, sought after in an Elder
About two years ago, the elders at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville gave a series of “vision talks” regarding several different aspects of our church’s life. We were at the time considering nominating some new elders, and our church was full (and still is) of young men aspiring to someday be elders or even senior pastors.
I gave a talk entitled something like “What We’re Looking For In An Elder.” The first point I tried to clarify was why, in such a talk, I wasn’t just preaching an expositional sermon on 1 Timothy 3. That, after all, is where the qualifications are given. So why did we, the elders, think we needed to say anything beyond that? The answer I gave was that there were many men in our congregation who met the qualifications of 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1. But the text doesn’t say that a man who meets those qualifications must be an elder, just that he has to meet them in order to be an elder. Therefore, we as the current elders were looking not only at those qualifications, but also at a few other things as well.
I made four points in the talk, four things that not only would communicate to the congregation the kind of men we were hoping to nominate (not to mention be) but that would also, we hoped, spur the men in our congregation on to spiritual maturity. Here’s the first one, largely as it existed in my notes:
I. We Are Looking for Men With Whom We Are Likeminded on Certain Issues.
- This is self-evident on the gospel itself.
- But it is also true on things less important and less central than the gospel itself. There is an idea current out there that likemindedness of this sort is a very wrong thing, that it is better to have the elders disagreeing, creating gridlock.
- Let me argue to you that gridlock is great in the U.S. government, but it is not a good thing among elders. You certainly shouldn’t plan for it. (Proverbs 17:14)
- The church has made certain decisions, taken certain directions, and we want elders who are likeminded with us in those directions.
- Let me pause here to point out the danger of a talk like this. It could be said, “All they want are a bunch of yes-men, people who agree with them.”
First, that’s not true. Disagreement with the elders is not the issue here. In fact, we emphatically do not want yes-men. Perhaps you’ll simply have to trust me on that.
Second, I hope you can understand the wisdom of what I have just said.
- But on to what we want likemindedness on:
- The Sovereignty of God in Salvation. Because it affects everything we do as a church.
- Role of Women. Complementarianism. So if you’re going to start advocating for women to be elders, or arguing that they shouldn’t be deacons, you’re not going to be an elder.
- Ecclesiology. Elders, deacons, congregationalism, etc.
- Vision for Evangelism. Indigenous, authentic evangelism. That’s not to say there is not room for disagreement and thinking. But there has been a direction set.
- High Importance of Preaching. Not a church focused on social ministry or political activism. We have a certain texture that we have cultivated.
- There Are Others