Elders shepherd the flock

Last time, we explored the "job titles" of elder, overseer, and pastor. We saw that in the New Testament, these seem to be interchangeable - and important.

Paul left Titus in Crete to make sure that the early churches there were on a solid footing. And that they were led by mature, godly men who would devote themselves to the tasks of being elders.

Let's study their job of shepherding the flock.

What does that include?

If we break down the job of a shepherd, who is in charge of a flock of sheep, it gives us a picture of the functions of church leaders. It's really important for the health and survival of the flock for the shepherd to know where the rich pastures are. He must lead them to the good spots for grasses, so that they may eat and grow strong and healthy.

The elders must "feed" God's Word to the people of the congregation - their flock. But there are other times they need to utilize the Word. Let's dig in.....

Paul told Timothy that all of the elders must know the scriptures well enough to teach others ("able to teach" in I Timothy 3:2). He told Titus that elders must:

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:9, NIV)

In some translations, the word "encourage" in the NIV is shown as "urge strongly." And "refute" carries the meaning of arguing and proving someone wrong. Paul was making sure that Titus knew: sometimes one must argue to convince someone of right and wrong. A sound and thorough knowledge of God's Word would be needed.

That doesn't mean that every elder must have the gift or the desire to speak publicly. Some will preach; others will teach; still others may administrate the affairs of the church:

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages." (I Timothy 5:17-18)

That shepherd out in the fields also cares for the sheep. He binds up the wounds of the injured, nurses the sick back to full health, and helps the lambs to grow up to healthy maturity. 

In much the same way, the church elders are to take care of the physically ill:

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: (James 5:14)

And to care for all the church:

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. (Acts 6:4)

Paul told Timothy that elders were to disciple younger men, so that some could be trained to be leaders in the future:

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (II Timothy 2:2)

And that they must be gentle and encouraging to all of the members of the congregation:

...Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (I Thessalonians 2:7b-12)

It takes a special kind of guy to be able to do all that! All of this is part of shepherding the flock. We'll see next time, that there are a couple of other tasks for elders, too.