Elders: Representatives or Leaders?

Author Larry Osborne raises an important factor for the vitality for elder groups as they lead congregations. [1] He notes that congregational leaders often assume that their job is to represent the various interest groups and constituencies of the church. So Jack speaks for the older folk and Jim understands the young families and so on around the table of elders. The unfortunate result is that each elder inadvertently takes up the task of lobbying the rest of the elder group for “their” constituency.

Although such a model does seem to honor the biblical idea of the priesthood of all believers, it creates a dynamic that quickly dismantles the one thing that an elder group is uniquely given to do. Rather than ask and debate about the various minority positions and constituencies that exist within the congregation, the higher calling of elders is to ask, “what does God want us to do?”

I wouldn’t want to suggest for a moment that elders shouldn’t know their congregations. Elders do need to know their congregations. But knowing their congregations is not to keep various constituencies happy; rather, the knowing is directed toward how elders partner with God in the transformative work of the gospel within the congregation and the public witness to the gospel in the community.

As Osborn says, elders and church leaders should “never forget that they work for the Chief Shepherd, not the sheep.” [2] My prayer for elders, ministers, and church leaders is that the main thing remains the main thing—that God’s will and purpose shapes all else. May God bless you with a God-sized vision!

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[1] Larry Osborne, Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page (Zondervan, 2010), 51ff.

[2] Osborne, 53.