Elder Nomination

When the apostle Paul wrote to Titus, his disciple, he opened his letter with these words.

Titus 1:5, This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—

Paul left Titus in Crete with the charge to disciple other men with the goal of seeing many of them serve as pastors over the churches as the gospel was spreading.

The reason for this charge was that Crete was a sinful and very secular city. It needed the gospel. It needed God’s Word ministered to the people.

If the city of Crete was going to be changed, if the Kingdom of God was going to advance, it was going to happen as people were changed through the power of the gospel. Through careful preaching and teaching and modeling.

The role, and responsibility, and high charge to a pastor is to minister the Word for it is the Word of God that transforms hearts. This is why God gifts the church with pastors and teachers.

Ephesians 4:11-12, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

A healthy church is not one where its pastors see themselves as CEO’s or businessmen locked away in a secure room making decisions from on high but rather as shepherds who lead by serving and humility. What the church needs are shepherds who love the Lord, love His Word, and love His people.

My desire to see this church affirm lay elders is not because I’m seeking power or control. As the lead pastor here, I am actually giving that sole authority away and spreading it out amongst a plurality of leaders who serve equally.

I desire this, not just because I believe it is biblical, although, that is enough and sufficient, but because I love you and know you will be better served by a plurality of faithful shepherds who are caring for your souls and keeping watch over the entire flock. I can’t do that alone.

If we are going to see Bloomington/Normal changed. If we are going to see the Kingdom of God advance, then we need to continue to follow this Biblical pattern of discipleship and appointment of elders who understand their role, their responsibility, and their charge by God to shepherd His church and to minister the Word.

In 1 Timothy 3, Paul lists the qualifications for an elder.

“If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”

We should desire as a church that every man meet these qualifications and strive to be men of character. We should desire as a church that every man and woman strive, by God’s grace to meet the qualifications of a deacon. For we’re all called by God to serve one another just as Jesus has served us.

And so, though we should desire that every man in our church strive to be men of character, not all will be called by God to shepherd the church as pastors. Not all men, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 will aspire to the office of overseer. But God will call some and it’s now my privilege to share with you, the church two men whom we believe God has called, has gifted, and has raised up to serve the church as elders.

The two men that the elders are nominating this morning are George Rutherford and Brian Jackson.

Both men and their families have proven over the years, through their lives and testimony that they love the Lord, they love His Word, they love the gospel, they love their families, and they love their church family. We believe both have been uniquely gifted to serve, to teach, and to shepherd the church.

Both men aspire to this office. Not because of a desire for power or control or recognition, but because they love you, they pray for you, and they desire to see you grow in the likeness of Christ.

For the past year both George and Brian have been engaged with the eldership process. They have been invited to attend the monthly elder meetings, they’ve both filled out a lengthy elder application which covers questions from their personal history, family history, philosophical and theological questions.

They’ve both gone through two interviews with the elders. One was with an elder and the candidate and his spouse, the other interview covered theological and philosophy of ministry questions.

We as the elders examined them and their lives and now believe it is time for the church, that they would be called to shepherd, to examine them.

And so, with that, let me lay out for you what the process looks like moving forward.

Both Brian and George are now opening up their lives for you, the church to examine whether they meet these Biblical qualifications of an elder. And so, let me draw your attention to the handout that was given to you today.

Please take time to read through the guidelines for affirming elders. Please read through it. Note from that guideline the dangers we can fall into in evaluating an elder candidate’s life: 1) Perfectionism or 2) Judgmentalism.

There is no perfect pastor. We are imperfect people following a perfect Savior. And so, what we look for is gospel formation. In their weakness, are they resting upon the goodness of Christ and striving by God’s grace to hope and believe in the gospel? Are they seeking to put sin to death and submit to the reign of Christ over their lives?

It is not easy to open yourself up for an entire church to examine your life, and so, as you have been with me, please continue to walk in humility, grace, kindness, and love for these fellow brothers in Christ.

However, we are calling on you, the church to examine and then to affirm by your vote.

And so, we are now entering into a 21-day review of these candidates. We’re asking you the church to now spend the next three weeks in prayer and examination. If, you believe that one of these men is not meeting the Biblical qualifications for an elder, then it is your Biblical responsibility to come talk with the elders and share your concern.

We believe we have, to the best of our ability ruled out anything that would disqualify them from this office. It’s why we feel confident in presenting them now to you. However, if there is hidden sin in their lives that would disqualify them and you know, then you must share with us. It would be irresponsible for you to know this, to say nothing, and then vote against their eldership in three weeks.

Our hope and prayer has been that over the next three weeks we hear nothing from you that would disqualify either of these men and that when we come to vote together as a church on Sunday, November 7 that it would be a unanimous and exciting “yes” from the church.

This is an exciting moment for us as a church. This should be what we desire. Men, from within the church being discipled, trained, equipped, built up and then set apart by God and the church to serve and shepherd His Bride.

And so, if all goes to plan, we will gather as members again on Sunday, November 7 following the morning service to vote for both George and Brian to serve as lay elders in the church.

Would you pray with me for God to be exalted through this new season for us as a church?