Musings on Spiritual Matters

There is always a debate going on about the character trait that are listed about an elder in the Bible.  Is it a list, is it qualifications, is it qualities, you get the picture.  These are characteristics for men who desire the role of elder in a local Body of Christ.  But sometimes once a man is in the eldership these qualities can be used against him.  People can throw darts at the men because they feel that he is not patient enough or hospitable enough.  The list can continue, but you get the point.  I personally have one qualification that I look for in an elder.  I want to know if he has a good heart.  This is it.  I have found that if a elder has a good heart everything else seem to look after itself.  But what is a good heart?  A good heart to me is the desire to do the right thing according to the word of God.  The elder desire to do right, not what is political, not what fits his agenda, not what is acceptable to the people, but the elder that has the good heart is looking to please Christ and do that which is Biblically right.  Throughout my ministry, I have disagreed with the direction and the decisions of an eldership, but throughout my ministry I have worked with elders that have always had a good heart.  I never questioned the heart of the men because they always had a good heart.  The men desired to do right.  We might have had a difference in opinion, but I never had to worry about the motivation of the elders.  The elders at Waynesboro and Castle Rock are men with good hearts and they makes all the difference in the world in working with them.  Give me elders with good hearts and we will have a great relationship for years to come.  Thank you Waynesboro elders and thank you Castle Rock elders for being men with great hearts!

Related posts:

1. Preacher-Elder Relationships
2. One Elder and the Hiring Process
3. Open Question Night with Elders
4. Resigned From Waynesboro
5. Reflections on A Year With Castle Rock

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This entry was posted by Matthew on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.