Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Anyone who has been round long enough can be an elder, and any elder can serve.
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Of course I am not using the term elder in an organizational context. I am using it in a functional context. If you are older and more experienced than someone else, then you are the elder, and bear more responsibility. And if you are a Christian and they are a younger Christian, then Jesus' words echo for you: "Feed My sheep. Shepherd My sheep."
At the tail end of my drinking career, I ended up with a group of teen-agers. One of them was my cousin, and he idolized me. So I was in the group. Most of them were still in high school. One of them had a car, another had a motorcycle. All of my old friends and drinking buddies were either sober & settled down, or gone, or didn't want me around any more. I had burned all my bridges and at that point was on the very fringes of society. No car, no job, no money, nothing.
But I ran into my cousin one day and they needed someone who could buy beer. And suddenly I was in a group, and I was, naturally, the elder. I had been around the block a few times and could tell some tales. So they would get money and I would make the purchase and we would go into a secluded spot and drink.
My point is that it's relative. If you are older than the next person you are the elder. You don't wait for an appointment from headquarters. Just function. God put you there. Your experience, much of it ugly and painful (remember the example of Peter!) has all been according to God's plan. Use it. "Do business until He comes".