#42
They are laity, not clergy – people of the pew, not people of the pulpit.
Who and what are elders? We need to know because their counterparts are urgently needed in 21stcentury churches if members are to be loved and cared for as Jesus himself would love and care for them.
First, who are elders? They are “among you,”not over you. They are laity, not clergy – people of the pew, not people of the pulpit. Look around you next Sunday as you worship, all are ministers. Some are called to the ministry of pastoral care, aka shepherding, others are called to other ministries. They are fellow members, not church professionals, not seminary trained, but Christian brothers and sisters who, like you, love their Lord, love their church, and, if they are lay pastors, love the people in their flocks.
Second, what are elders? The Greek word translated elder is presbuteros, meaning older. It’s theologically okay to think of older people’s qualities rather than age, then look for those qualities in lay pastors. After all, John, one of Jesus’ favorite disciples, was a very young man, and Peter, whom Jesus ordered, “Take care of my sheep,” could not have been much older. Let’s look at a few of the qualities the Apostle Paul looked for in elders: blameless, not a drunk, not violent, not dishonest, loves what is good, hospitable, self-controlled, upright, disciplined and holds firmly to sound doctrine. In short, elders are ordinary church members, true believers who show some signs of maturity, love God, love people, have a good reputation, and do not object to being held accountable for fulfilling their call. Jesus “handed off” (a football term) his shepherding to Peter. 30 years later, because the Church was exploding numerically and geographically, the only way Peter could be true to Jesus’ command was to hand shepherding off to pastorally gifted lay people in all the churches. This is also the only way 21st century pastors can be true to their shepherding assignment. Listen to God when you pray about being a lay pastor because he calls you and all Christians to do ministry of one kind or another. Your call may be to the ministry of shepherding – the Lay Pastors Ministry. Conventional wisdom has some people called and others not, this wisdom is not from God. Biblical wisdom has every Christian divinely called, this wisdom is from God. The Church was plagued by conventional wisdom for centuries. Around 1950 the Church, reawakened to the Biblical wisdom, began giving ministry to the people and is continuing to do so at warp speed.
COMMENTS
in relation to THE CALLED: “THE ELDERS AMONG YOU”
Richard Wright, USA, said,
There is no better picture of the role of a shepherd than the one provided by David, the shepherd-king, in Psalm 23. From his boyhood he knew the life of a shepherd. He lived out in the fields with his sheep so he came to know his sheep well. Even in the beginning of his service for Saul he still went back and forth to his flock.
David had the heart of a shepherd both for his sheep and later for his people as their shepherd-king. He risked his life when he faced a lion and later a bear to defend the flock (1 Sam. 17:34- 36). He repeatedly risked his life fighting for his people.
There are certain characteristics outlined in Psalm 23 that we need to take notice of: The shepherd provides abundant Spiritual nourishment “He makes us lie down in green pastures.” Adequate spiritual food is the primary reason for needing a shepherd. Lying down suggests eating to satisfaction then resting and being blessed. The sheep that lie down in green pastures have all they need The shepherd leads constantly to Spiritual refreshment Every Christian needs special times of Spiritual refreshment. “He leads me beside quiet waters . . .” speaks of Gods provision of constant opportunities of spiritual thirst to be quenched. It is normal for a Christian to long for more and more of God The shepherd aids Spiritual restoration.
It is a fact of church life that from time to time that we all need Spiritual restoration. Satan is ever present to tempt us to spiritual negligence, to cool off and relax spiritually, or to yield to the temptations of the world.
The shepherd watches for the enemies attack, signs of discouragement, weakness, or temptation and gently restores by love and forgiveness. The shepherd must give guidance to the flock Just as counseling is the primary role of the Holy Spirit, so counseling is an important aspect of the shepherd’s role in ministry. The Greek work parakletos, which Jesus used as a name for the Holy Spirit is translated as Comforter, Helper, or Counselor. It fact, some Bible translations prefer “Counselor.”
The Holy Spirit is given to us to guide us into all truth (John 16:13) and in many others ways. The Holy Spirit loves to lead each Christian (Romans 8:14) The shepherd must be with their people in times of need Just as David knew that God his Shepherd was near him (“you are with me”-Ps. 23: 4), people need to know that their shepherd is available and ready to share in their hour of need Pastor Tammy and I count it a blessing to be in ministry with the “Chief Shepherd” Jesus, at Central. We desire to be a constant blessing to you and simply want to show you the Love of God. But we are not the only shepherds at Central. We have an ongoing ministry of “Care Shepherds” that have flocks to watch over as they care for others. This group has been in existence since Pastor Joe Green was here several years ago. Kathy Hall and Gayle Miller have been a great inspiration and leaders for this group for many years now. Inspired by the book, “Can The Pastor Do It Alone?” by Melvin J. Steinbron this ministry is of great support to Central and we are so thankful for all the care shepherds that faithfully commit to this ministry.
This coming Sunday we will have an installation service at the 11:00am worship hour. The care shepherds who have recently completed their training as well as those who are currently serving as care shepherds will be commissioned for service. You will see them ushering, greeting, and serving among you. Be in prayer for them. If you would like more information about this ministry please contact Kathy Hall or Gayle Miller. Again, Pastor Tammy and I would like to say thank you to all the Care Shepherds at Central. We are appreciative for all the contacts they make each year, for helping with meals when a member “graduates” to heaven, and just being the hands of Jesus at Central.
Thank you for doing as Jesus mandated to Peter, “Peter do you love me? Feed my sheep—care for my sheep!” When you and I care for others it means we love Jesus! Do you love him?
Byeong, Melvin University, says:
How do you see lay people in your church? especially their calling-ness and also see The Calling part of Training Manual (Ch.4.)
Lay Pastors Ministry & PACE :Lay Pastors Ministry is a big view in terms of ministry. Let’s say PACE in simple form. We say SIBKIS sometimes; See It Big, Keep It Simple. LPM talks everything but PACE talks only caring of lay pastors, just job description. There are many distinctions between PACE and LPM. PACE talks about one to one caring, but LPM is group caring. The reason is that PACE is one to one relationship, but PACE is related to the whole congregation of the church. To say to related means, there are many one-to-one relationships in the church; There should be a distinguish leadership; have to have a distinctive system; larger meaning and vision in there. As we see just its definition, PACE is limited in relationship, LPM is whole culture and direction, and expressed its system. In the other hand, PACE is the task of laity, and LPM is the pastor’s job to do. The first book of Melvin is for PACE, second book is for LPM. Two books are different and each one is perfect picture, but once we see together, just as two pictures on the wall, those two books looks good and make synergy. It gives us more large energy, structural energy culture, big vision will be made.
One-to-one relationship is PACE. Do you want to make with it some products, then you need LPM, which means not individually separated one but should be a “common ministry.” Then LPM system covers for it and we will get result which means effective as we expected.
ADDITIONAL COMMENT
by BYEONG
Pastoring or Pestering: Caring can be called “Pastoring” in the pastoral language, and there is another similar word, “Pestering,” which means “bothering.” But both have similar pronunciations: [Festoring] vs. [Festering]. Pastoring vs. Pestering. These two questions are about “Am I taking care of them?” or “Am I bothering them?” These two English words look very similar but have completely different meanings.
We talk a lot about caring in church. There is also a saying in the Bible, “Take care of my sheep.” However, they say that there are cases where they bother them when they say they are taking care of them. For example, some people ask too much about other people’s privacy, with the saying, “The more I know about you, the better I can take care of you.” But it seems to give the impression of tiring and bothering the other person by another asking, “when did you get married?” “How many children do you have?” “Why they were so late?” and “why they were fast.” This is actually Pestering, but not Pastoring at all. It’s like police’s interrogation to the criminal. It’s not caring, it’s bullying, and damaging.
In one case, a small group said they would pray for a new believer and asked her to sit around and let her come up with a her prayer request. That’s why the young woman opened up various private lives under the prayer request. And they all prayed for it together and finished well. By the way, the following Sunday, her private life spread to the whole congregation. Probably, someone talked about her privacy here and there. This is not caring at all, it is damaging.
This is also one of the most emphasized training in the Clinical Pastoral Education(CPE). It’s called “confidentiality,” which means what we’ve heard about their privacy is not to be disclosed to the other people. It’s okay to open up what’s already publicly known, but don’t open up what you’ve talked you about in a very privately. That should not to be opened up even between couples at home. It’s like a sealed private letter. When we get a job at a company, they ask a resume including transcripts of the school. And can the company trust the contents in the envelope if there are any traces of opening it up?
What we heard personally means to handle it so carefully, and it means to keep it to ourselves alone. Even such content is far from being written on the paper anywhere.
It’s so good to think that you’re helping and taking care of others, but if you think and act from your own perspective, it’s rather bothering. These days, I use a lot of group chatting rooms in Kakaotalk, and I have participated in the group chat room of my elementary school classmates in Korea, but there is time difference between Korea and Kenya, so it was uncomfortable because it was 3 a.m. in Kenya if 9 am in Korea. In the end, I said I am sorry and withdrew it.
After three or four times of these experience, I came to think very carefully about joining the group chat. I am also being very careful of it because after a few experiences like this, I realize that continuing to send Kakaotalk to anyone, in the end, it might be bothering the person.
In many other cases, we put pastoring ahead with the idea of “care,” but in fact, there are too many and often cases of bullying, that’s pestering. We’re so grateful for the care of others, but I think we should think carefully about whether it’s bothering them or not.
좋은 인성
생명보험에 가입하는 사람들의 95%가 보험내용 자체보다도 보험설계사의 인성 (personalities)에 감동되어 가입한다는 통계가 있다.
어떤 사람은 쎄일즈를 잘하지만 그렇지 않은 사람도 많다. 사실 그런 쎄일즈, 즉 보험에 가입한다든지, 물건을 사기를 주저하는 경우가 많다. 나도 그런류에 속한다고 볼 수 있다.
나는 신학생 때에 아르바이트로 쎄일즈를 해본 경험이 있다. 책 장사를 해보았고, 물건을 팔아본 적도 있다. 학비를 벌어보고자 했다. 그 방면에는 경험이 전혀 없었다. 결국, 하나도 못 팔았다. 전혀 모르는 사람에게 뭘 판다는 것은 매우 힘든 다는 것을 깨닫게 되었다.
우리가 잘 아는 말로 “관계성(rapport)”이 중요하다는 것을 상기시켜준다고 본다. 상호이해, 신뢰, 합치라는 의미도 담겨있다. 멜빈대학교의 설립에 동기부여 해주신 멜빈목사님도 평신도목회자들에게 보내는 편지에서 이것에 대해 쓰신 적이 있다. 그분이 말하는 good rapport란 상호간 마음을 열어주는 도구라고 했는데, 하모니, 조화, 친숙함, 더 나아가 유사성이라는 표현까지 하셨다.
남을 기분 나쁘게 하는 성격, 다른 사람의 권리는 아랑곳하지 않는 성격, 항상 반대만 하는 성격, 늘 불화를 만드는 성격. 이런 성격으로는 실패할 확률이 다분하다고 한다. 반면에 다른 사람과 협상을 잘하고, 조화를 이루는 사람들은 성공할 확률이 높다는 것이다. 즉 성격, 성품을 개발하는 것이 퍽 중요하다는 것이다.
나는 스티븐 코비의 책을 몇 번 반복해서 읽었다. 그가 말하는 결론은 성품(Characters)에 관한 것이었다. 이것을 강조하기 위해 많은 측면에서, 많은 예화를 들었다.
좋은 성품은 개발될 수 있을까! 가능하다고 본다. 성격은 안 변해도 성품, 태도는 바뀔 수 있다고 본다. 공부, 훈련하는 이유 중의 하나도 이것이라 본다. 대개 남에게 안 좋은 성격을 가진 분들을 보면, 원래는 안 그랬는데 상황과 환경 탓에 그렇게 된 것을 발견하게 된다. 물론 학생들에게 자주 쓰는 말이지만 Teachable란 말 있지 않은가! 가르쳐서 될 사람인가, 또는 가르침을 잘 받아들이는 가로 사용되는 개념이다. 팀에서 리더를 뽑을 때도 F.A.T라는 머리글자를 쓰는데 Faithful, Available, 그리고 Teachable이다.
그러면 좋은 성품이 왜 그리도 중요한가? 우선 본인, 자신에게 매우 유익하다. 그렇지 않은 경우가 종종 있는데, 본인이 자기 자신에게 상처를 매우 주게 된다. 그러니까 그것이 자연스럽게 타인과의 관계에서도 나타나게 되니 이중적인 상처를 주게 된다. 더 나아가 그 이상의 일 처리나 모든 관계성에서 왜곡된 표현, 처신을 보여주게 되니 삼중, 사중으로 고통받는 사람들이 늘어난다. 우리가 사람들에게 도움이 되며 살아야 하는데 오히려 해를 주면서 살아가니 얼마나 슬픈 일인가!
