Elders, be an Example to the Flock

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

Pslam 133:1, ESV

My blog entry last Wednesday has got me thinking about the disunity within the Greater Body of Messiah. Why is unity lacking within the Body? This problem goes back centuries, so I don't think it will be solved anytime soon; but we can at least try to address it.

R.C. Chapman, the pastor, teacher, and evangelist known as the Apostle of Love, said that "Humility is the secret of fellowship, and pride the secret of division." In other words, the proud do not have much fellowship because of their pride; while the humble do not experience much division because of their humility. It is said that "humility makes the avenue to glory." This phrase is a reference to the path of humility that Messiah took for our sake. He humbled Himself for us and in His humility, Yeshua demonstrated His love for us (Phil 2:6-8).

The ability to maintain unity within the Greater Body of Messiah is an indication that love abounds; love for our fellow brother. We must have love in our personal relationships if we are going to maintain unity. We must have love in our marriages if we desire to maintain unity in this special, holy relationship. We must have love within our families, between parents and children, in order to have unity within our homes. Paul tells us that we, the members of the Body, are to be "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph 4:3) We must be eager to love our fellow brother in Messiah. So how can we achieve and maintain this unity within the Greater Body? I believe it needs to be taught and demonstrated by the leadership.

Teaching and demonstrating unity within the Greater Body of Messiah is the responsibility of the Elders in the Ekklesia, or the Local Body of Messiah (1 Peter 5:1-11).
Note: Because of the variations in titles used within the Messianic Community, I will simply say Elders when referring to the leaders of a Local Body and I will use the term Ekklesia to refer to a Local Body.

What is the Ekklesia?

The Ekklesia is the body of believers in Messiah Yeshua, Jewish and non-Jewish. In Biblical times each city had a local assembly of believers or an ekklesia also called a church (e.g., the churches in Ephesus, Galatia, Corinth, Colasse, etc...). Today in our modern society we have many, many churches or ekklesia in our cities comprised of many, many different Christian denominations. Most of these modern, local ekklesia do not associate with one another because of their differences in beliefs.

Who are the Elders?

The elders, like shepherds, protect their flock.

The Elders are the leaders and overseers of the local ekklesia sometimes called the under-shepherds (this is because Messiah Yeshua is the Chief Shepherd over the Greater Body of Messiah). Like a shepherd, the Elders guard, protect, care for, and feed their flock. Elders are men of integrity and spiritual maturity from within the local body. They are not imported or transplanted but homegrown. They are not given a test to take in order to qualify but rather their character makes it evident that they are worthy of this high calling. (For more on the qualifications of the Elders see 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.)

The Focus of the Elders

The elders are called to focus on their own flock.

The Elders are called to shepherd the flock that is among them (1 Peter 5:1-5). In other words, their responsibility is for the flock or the local church whom Adonai has put under their care. Like a good shepherd, an Elder will focus on the sheep in his flock, pushing them toward Adonai and helping them to develop their gifts (Eph 4:11-16). It is their responsibility to help the people in their local church develop faith in Hashem. To put it plainly, the focus of the Elders is inward, toward their own communities. They are called to be examples (1 Peter 5:3) to the local ekklesia and the ekklesia are called to emulate their own Elders (Hebrews 13:7).

When Elders lose their Focus

When elders lose their focus, their flock is not being cared for.

Believe it or not, like it or not, the flock is watching and emulating their shepherd. Really, they do. I once attended a gathering of men from a community where the Elder/Pastor told off-color jokes; he was also present at this meeting. At one point the jokes from these men got so bad and inappropriate, the Elder/Pastor had to put a stop to it. I attributed this incident to the fact that these men would see their Elder/Pastor behave in this manner so they felt comfortable behaving this way in front of him. They were emulating their shepherd, their elder.

One problem that I've seen today in the Greater Body of Messiah is that some Elders are losing their focus on their own communities. Rather than having an internal focus on the spiritual growth of their flock, they focus on matters outside of their own communities. This can happen with syndicated Shabbat Services and online teaching ministries, but this becomes most harmful when the focus of the Elders, and therefore the community, becomes the problems and shortcomings of other churches and denominations. It would be more understandable to have a parachurch ministry with this kind of mission but this is not the call of the Elder and/or the Church. When Elders belittle and berate the beliefs of other denominations they breed dissension within the Greater Body of Messiah. The members of communities like this will in turn belittle and berate the beliefs of their extended families, their friends, their coworkers and their neighbors. They bash the Christians in their life with the Torah and then tell them that the Torah is a blessing.

The Messianic Community has come out of the Christian Church to embrace the Hebraic Roots of their faith. Many new Messianics feel duped by the Christian Church and have feelings of resentment, this is understandable; but Christians are not our enemies. They are our brothers and sisters in Messiah and we should approach them with love and humility if we are going to reach them with the truth of the Torah. This love and humility must to be demonstrated by the Elders so the individuals within their respective communities can and will emulate them.

I'll end with a few quotes by R.C. Chapman:

"Humility is the secret of fellowship,
and pride the secret of division."

"Pride nourishes the remembrance of injuries;
humility forgets as well as forgives them."

"When mutual intercession takes the place of mutual accusation,
then will the differences and difficulties of brethren be overcome."

~