This saying is trustworthy: “If
anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”
Jesus said make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:16-20) and with the
coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the disciples got on it. Everywhere they went, they shared the gospel,
and when people responded in faith, the church was born. Yet, who would shepherd these fledgling
believers? Who would protect them from
rampant false teachings and shepherd them through the overwhelming hardships
that would come their way? God’s
provision for the leadership and spirtual guidance of His church was elders.
Luke records in Acts 14:23, “When
they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they
committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” What did it take to become one of these
elders? First, you had to desire this
place of service. 1 Timothy 3:1 begins
with that. But it doesn’t end
there. What follows in the next 6 verses
are the qualifications that must be met to serve God’s people in this
capacity. They might be the most
convicting verses in all the Bible for men!
At Candeo, we are striving to
follow God’s biblical pattern laid out in the New Testament. We believe that God leads the church through
a plurality of elders, not merely one pastor or outside ecclesiastical
hierarchy. These qualified, trained, and
tested men share the joys of leadership and share the pain of leadership. They are called to be examples to the flock
(1 Pet. 5:3) and they are called to shepherd the flock the Holy Spirit has
entrusted them (Acts 20:28-31). It is a
noble calling to be sure, but it is a real weight to be borne.
Let’s join in prayer that God will
raise up qualified biblical elders among us who will serve with joy, in God’s
power, for the health of His church, His bride, for whom He shed His blood.
Lord, I ask You to raise up
strong, qualified, shepherd elders among us.
Make them men who will faithfully pray for Your church, teach sound
doctrine, refute false teaching, and lead Candeo as we seek to advance the
gospel in the Cedar Valley and to the ends of the earth. Make them to be humble men who are the first to
confess their own sins and lead their wives and families as well as our
church. Help me to make their leadership
a joy as they care for me and watch over my life. Amen.
