Jesus is our Good Shepherd Who cares for and feeds His flock. Unfortunately, not all elders are good leaders who imitate Christ. The Scriptures contain more than one example of leaders who failed in their responsibilities toward the people of God. They treated them with cruelty and brutality; they neglected them and selfishly served themselves. They did not lead the sheep to green pastures; and they did not seek the lost lambs, like Jesus does.
The Lord Jesus is our true and perfect Shepherd Who cares for His people perfectly! And when we elect an elder in the church, we must look for a man who loves Christ and loves His sheep. A leader in the Church must keep watch over his own life, and he must remember that the Holy Spirit has given him this office; he has not earned it by his own good merits. He must recognize that the Church is God's, not his own; and he must keep his focus on Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
A good elder will recognize each of Christ's people as the one lamb who is of such unestimable worth to Him that He gave His own life to redeem them, and he will do his best to imitate the Savior and show the same kind of love to the sheep! |