1 Timothy 3:9 (ESV) — They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear
conscience.
NOTE: Whereas the
elder is required to be able to teach, the deacon is only required to exercise
a clear conscience in regard to the faith, meaning he believes but might not
understand the mysteries nor even be able to explain the mysteries. But the key
thing is that he accepts the truth of scripture as God's word. There certainly
is a difference between elder and deacon. Currently, in my church, only the
Pastors are elders and the lay leaders are either ministers or deacons. I
actually like the system used in other evangelical elder-led churches. The lay
elders run the church with the Senior Pastor as a fellow elder. The other
pastors report to the senior pastor, although in my mind, they are elders too.
I think the reason they are not part of the elder board is there might be
tension between the Pastors. The elders, all but one are lay leaders, are free
of any burden to support a position because of monetary reasons, since they all
have jobs outside the church. The fascinating thing is that I have never met a
group of men so united in spirit as when I have served as an elder. I have seen
it three times in the ten years or so I did serve as an elder. It is an amazing
thing.
PRAYER: Father, I
realize there is no one way to organize the church. Whether the elders are all
Pastors or the elders include lay leaders is really not a point to disagree
about. The key thing is that we follow the Spirit in unity.
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