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How Do Elders Minister The Word Of God? by Pastor Kevin Feder

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The Bible offers us the simplest and clearest role description of an elder in Acts 6:4

"...But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

It is so simple and so clear that it is almost foggy and somewhat hard to understand. Well, I suppose prayer is easy enough. As elders we pray because we truly believe we need to hear from God. Come 6:00 a.m. every Friday morning, that is what we are doing. 

Ministry of the Word, by comparison is a little less straight forward. What does this mean? Should every elder preach? Teach? Counsel? How do we fulfill this? 

Let me tell you what I take it to mean. I think it means that one of the key ways the elders serve the church by prayer and ministry of the word is to discern the will of God for the church. 

Let me explain. 

This past week the elders of GCF began a project to discern our next leadership move (what will we do and where do we invest our time building?). We listed off 25 legitimate areas that could potentially need development. On the one hand I was energized by the project because there were so many tasks we could give our attention to. On the other hand I was depleted by the project because there were so many tasks we could give our attention to. 

Discernment is needed. As I looked at the list leading up to this morning's meeting with the same elders who created it just one short week ago I felt a kind of desperation, the feeling you get when you need to do something but aren't quite sure what or how. Knowing we are limited on time and resources selecting the 2-3 that gives us our best chance of success is necessary, but how do I go about discerning that? How would I know that whichever one I choose would be best? Would I be able to be confident that whichever task I choose will be where I really need to invest my time? What do our people really need? Is God with us in this one as opposed to that one? 

These are all great questions and by the way, this is also how pastors burn out. I felt like the possibilities that faced me could be described by the lines to the left of the Bible in the thumbnail picture for this blog. Devoting your efforts to initiatives you aren't quite sure about is a good way to burn the candle on both ends. Thus, there is a great need for discerning the will of God, and this brings me back to the role of the elders: prayer and ministry of the Word. 

I can say with confidence that rightly discerning the will of God as a team will not only ensure the fruitfulness of a church but it also fulfills what prayer and ministry of the Word is getting at. Discernment requires a rich understanding of God's Word and a Spirit empowered application of it. Why do we do what we do? Why do we spend what we spend? Businessmen might answer that by pragmatics (what works and what has worked in the past?). Churchmen must answer this much differently. Who is God and what does He say? Those are the questions elders must entertain and discerning their direction must be one of the foundational ways the Word of God is ministered in the life of the church. We don't do what we do because methodology determines it to be more effective. We do what we do because God is who He is and  that is revealed through the pages of Scripture, the Scripture you want and need your shepherds to be acquainted with as we put our hand on the wheel and steer the ship. 

My desire, and I hope I succeeded, is to show you a foundational way an elder ministers the Word of God in the life of the church. Yes, elders may preach and teach Sunday school classes and counsel hurting souls. Before all of this, however, there are decisions that are made (which many are not even aware of) that not only affect each believer at the church but also reflects the fear of the Lord and our knowledge of Him. 

Thus, we invite you, the flock, to pray for discernment. Pray that the Holy Spirit will confirm the ideas that we discussed this morning and hope to present to the church at the Quarterly strategy meeting on May 16. The congregation, who must also know God, must also play a role in the confirmation of God's call upon our congregation. To this end, we are eager and excited for the way God will speak to GCF, both through the elders and through his people. 

In Christ, 

Pastor Kevin 

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