Declarations and Sacrifices

Elders are good worshipers. Leaders, by definition, do things just at least a bit little better than their followers.

Words are cheap. You can say anything. And, if you can keep your distance no one will ever know the difference.

Some sinners are good at this, for a while. Eventually, they will be found out. No secret stays secret forever. I recently found out that a man who many respected had sexually molested his daughter when she was between 6 and 13 years old. He passed away and was remembered quite magnanimously at his funeral. Few outside the family ever knew.

It's relatively easy to give the appearance of being a good worshiper. Attendance is the key. Just make sure you're seen just about every Sunday.

Of course, just because you're in the room when a worship service is going on doesn't mean you're worshiping. Focusing on what God is saying to you is the most important thing. That requires humility, discipline and the ability to hear the voice of God clearly.

Just because you're not in the room doesn't mean you're not worshiping. But you'd better be someplace worshiping. And, just because you're not seen doesn't mean your not worshiping, either, right?

Implied in hearing the voice of God is acting on what you hear. An elder is someone who hears God and responds. Actions are sometimes private and sometimes public. They are sometimes small and sometimes very large.

One of my favorite elders from a previous church taught the 4th grade Sunday School class for years. If you didn't have a 4th grader you probably never would have known. He's the elder that successfully taught most of his students to have quiet times.

When God calls a man out he has a choice. A man who chooses to obey no matter what it costs him is a man who is qualifying himself to be an elder. Humbly, not seeking rewards, attention or the limelight even though giving hours and lots of emotional energy by investing in 10-year olds is pretty cool.

A man who does what God calls him out to do will have some stories to tell, too. They'll be stories of how God brought peace in the middle of a tumultuous time. They'll be stories of how God provided financially when there was no apparent way that there would be enough. They'll be stories of lives changing, marriages reconciling, standing in the gap, and being strong when others would collapse.

Worship involves giving God things of real value. You have nothing more valuable than your life. And, once you've given you life to God then, from time to time he'll ask you for your "Isaac", too. And, when God does something big, declare it loudly and publicly.

So, an elder gives a little bit more than most. Much of it is given in private. An, elder has some pretty good stories to tell, too. But, because they tend to be humble you'll have to ask.

When's the last time you asked an elder about what he's seen God do?