Called to Presence: An Elder Commissioning

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We are today doing a couple special things. We are commissioning new elders, bringing in some new leaders among us in our church. And we are sending some leaders out. We are not kicking them out. We are sending them out. And so there’s commissioning happening in two directions here. We’re commissioning some new elders to stay and be rooted in this place.

And we are commissioning, sending out with our blessing, Jim and Joan Lasché to be even more intentional—if you could imagine, if that’s possible—to be more intentional, more present among the UNM students, international students.

So I want to say a few words about elders. This won’t be everything to say about elders, right? It won’t be everything you need to know, but just to frame what we’re doing here and how elders are to lead and why God has gifted us leaders.

So here in First Peter 5—this is one of the many passages that speak to church leadership. Ephesians 4, Colossians 3 is another. First Peter says this:

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, the one who will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them, not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be. Not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

So I want to declare this good news to us, that…

God has gifted his church with leaders who lead in the way of Jesus—not from above us, not domineering, but from among us.

One of the most profound stories I ever heard—it was a church in Texas I was a pastor at briefly. And there was a guy named Mark Weibel there, and he was a longtime elder at this church. And a guy from the church, he pointed to him and he said, “Jesse, I love that man. I love that man.”

And he said, “You know, at one time my wife got incredibly sick in the middle of the night. I didn’t know what to do. I was beside myself. I was terrified. I was scared. And we were driving to the hospital, and I called Mark because I knew he would answer. And he answered the phone, and I told him, ‘My wife’s sick. We’re headed to the hospital.’ And the only words Mark spoke was, ‘I’ll be there. I’ll be there.’”

He didn’t give advice. He didn’t give, like, a plan. He didn’t even say, “Hey, I’ll see you in the morning. Let me know how it goes,” right, so I can get my beauty rest. He said, “I’ll be there.”

It was unquestioned. It was like presence. He understood his role to be presence. “I’ll be there with you. I’ll be there for you. I’ll suffer with you.”

And this is a story that kind of captures the heart of an elder, the heart of leadership within the church. It’s a gift of God to give leaders who would lead in the way of Jesus.

Non-coercive. I’ve been here for about a year, so you’ve heard this many times. I like to emphasize this. Jesus’ leadership is non-coercive, non-controlling, non-manipulative, right? It is a co-suffering leadership, not from above—a power that operates domineering from above—but a power that comes from underneath and lifts up, doesn’t push down.

It doesn’t say, “Hey, follow me.” It says, “Hey, let’s go together. I live this life with you. I share your burdens with you. I rejoice with those who rejoice. I weep with those who weep. I lead like this Good Shepherd.”

And so God has gifted his church with people that will continue to lead in the Spirit of Jesus. That’s what elders are to be.

So a couple quick points. First, from First Peter 5 we just read: elders lead from among, not from above, right?

Peter uses some really interesting words, and I think they’re intentional. Peter’s exhortation is kind of non-hierarchical, non-superior language. It’s humble, kind of egalitarian language. He says first, “To the elders among you,” right? Not to the elites distant from you, right? But to the elders among you.

And then Peter says, “I appeal as a fellow elder.” Now, Peter’s got some street cred, right? He walked with Jesus. He did some amazing things. But he’s, “I’m one of you. You’re elders among these people, and I am a fellow elder.”

And then I think this is important: “a witness of Christ’s sufferings.”

What do we have before us as our exemplar, as our example, as we lead? We are followers. Every leader is a follower of Jesus.

And who is this Jesus? Who is this Good Shepherd represented in just a moment, right? It is the one who suffered. He led, and his leadership led to the cross—an emptying, not counting equality with God something to be grasped and held onto and clung to and lorded over.

But he emptied himself, becoming a servant even to the point of death. So this is the way a leader is to lead: from among, co-suffering, non-coercive, non-controlling, non-domineering love, as witnesses both with their eyes fixed on their suffering Savior, but also those who witness—their life is a witness to the kind of God we serve.

And then he goes on to explain, right, these elders, they are not to lead under compulsion. We’re not forcing anybody. This would be a desire that God gives to someone. So we’re not just looking for people with integrity. We’re not just looking for people that have it all together or whatever. It’s character, but it’s also calling, right? It’s a calling that the Holy Spirit says, “Hey, I want you to do this.” And people are saying, “Yes, I want this,” not for money, but eagerly, not domineering, but as examples.

As examples.

So the next one, Ephesians 4:11, right? Leadership that makes itself unnecessary. The elders will never be unnecessary, but what we’re saying here is, look at this verse:

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” Why? “To equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

Okay, so you guys are—we’re in a pastor search process right now. We are not looking for someone to hire to do the work of the church, all right? You don’t pay them to do the work of the church. He is a leader among leaders. And this is the same for elders: a leader among the people, a fellow sheep, right, following the Shepherd and equipping us to do the work of the ministry.

All right, so it’s a leadership that makes itself unnecessary in the sense that it is not collecting power. It’s not collecting responsibilities. It is giving them away. It is equipping people, training people, encouraging people, praying for people to do the work of the church.

So when this guy answered the phone in the middle of the night and says, “I’ll be there,” right, that’s not meant to describe a permanent arrangement where only elders show up in crisis. It’s meant to be contagious, teaching the whole church how to be present to each other, to serve one another.

I don’t have time to share the story. Never mind. I just had a great story come to mind. But I’ll tell you in the foyer if you ask, right?

Colossians 3:12. This other passage, Colossians 3:12 through 17, this character of an elder is communal or common, not elevated.

All right, so you see there’s this description in Colossians of the kind of character that a Jesus follower should have:

“As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

And it goes on.

Do you notice this list? This exhortation is to the church, and you are called holy, right? You are called dearly loved, and you are called to clothe yourselves with these wonderful virtues, right? Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, which are the fruit of the Spirit, right? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness—all of these things.

So what sometimes we get wrong in the church is that we think elders, pastors, leaders are like the Navy SEALs of the church, right? They’re the special forces, and only they are called to this elite. They’re the only ones—you have to have, like, the super-compassionate ones. They’re the ones who are humble. They are the ones that have—no. This is to lead among, as one. This is what we’re supposed to do. This is who Jesus followers are.

And elders are saying, “I will be an example of what we are all to be.”

All right, and that is a high calling. But there are no special forces in the kingdom of God. There’s no elites. We’re all called to follow Jesus.

So Ben and William today, Ben Young and William Cain, are being commissioned. They’re not being called to a higher standard than the rest of us. They aren’t supposed to be the special forces or the elite. They’re being asked to be examples of what it looks like to be clothed with the character that all followers of Jesus are to have, all right?

And they’re not above encouragement. They’re not above criticism. They’re not above critique, right? We’re walking with Jesus. We’re following the Chief Shepherd. We’re witnesses of a suffering Savior.

So a shepherd walks among the sheep, right? And the shepherd is exposed to the same weather, the same wolves, the same uneven ground as the sheep.

So Peter isn’t asking Ben and William or the rest of the elders or the pastoral staff here—he’s not only asking them to manage the church. He’s asking them to walk among it.

So God has gifted this church with leaders who lead in the way of Jesus, not from above, but from among us.

These co-suffering Savior servants.

And I’ll tell you what, I’ve been a part of this church on and off since I was 12 years old. I am 46 years old. What is the math on that? 34 years? And so it’s been a while.

I’ve seen a lot of elders in this place. And I will tell you, I think this church has been blessed with leaders who lead from among, who understand power is not something to hold over people, but it is something to steward and lift up people.

Of course, it hasn’t been perfect through the years because we are fallen human beings. But overall, this church has been gifted. And the men that currently serve as elders—it’s been a beautiful privilege. I just want to say what happens behind the scenes. 

These men are men of integrity. There are people that show up when, you know, they do it willingly, but it’s not always preferable, right? Like no one wants to be on a Zoom call at 5:30 any afternoon, necessarily. But we’re praying. They’re praying. They love you. They care about the direction of this church. They care about the marriages. They care about your children. They care about the mission of this church. They care about this neighborhood. They care about the nations. They care about students.

They care about what this church cares about. And they are stepping in, leading this church. And so we need to pray for them. Pray that they would bear witness, right, to their Chief Shepherd, to our Chief Shepherd, as servants and so as a people.

So we’re going to commission these elders in a little bit. And part of this, you’re going to have a role to play. We’re not just passive, all right? The elders are going to agree to lead in this way and to serve this church. And you are going to say, “I affirm these men. I will follow these men as they follow Christ.” And so this is a two-way street.

Now, there is kind of, in our day and age, we have a little bit of a, I would say, a leadership crisis, a phobia of leadership. And sometimes I’m thinking allegiance to leadership, it seems to go two ways. Like, we’re hungry for good leaders. And sometimes that causes us to completely reject all leadership and say, “Well, not follow.” And other ways, it causes us to blindly follow any kind of leader that will take some charge. And unfortunately, we see both in the church, in our culture today.

So the temptation, especially for those who are burned out by top-down church structures, is that, well, distrust leadership. Or another one is we swing hard the other direction and we’re like, “Take it. You know, lead me. Do it. You do it all. You show up at the hospital. You keep the vision on track. You do the work of the ministry.”

So this is an invitation as we commission these elders. It’s also our commissioning. It’s God inviting us to be someone’s “I’ll be there,” okay? To be someone’s presence. To be present to one another. To bear one another’s burdens. To bridge all differences with love. Our vision statement, right? Because that’s what the office is supposed to multiply.

The elders are equipping us to do the work of the ministry. And so we’re inviting folks to lead us as we all lead Christ.