Egoless Elders

A Sense of Self-importance

“Who do you think you are?” My pastor’s words stung my soul. I was a new Christian, in my mid-twenties, and…full of myself. I had been to war. I had recently married, and was now finishing college. More important to me, I had just been appointed to serve as a deacon in our little community church. Yet, with a twinkle in his eye, a wry grin, and a simple question, he boldly challenged my arrogant self-will. I’m guessing, but I think three things produce worldly wisdom: any amount of intelligence, any level of experience and…an over-riding sense of self-importance. At least that’s what I brought into play back then.

Others might have encouraged my youthful zeal, thinking it spiritual. Serving the Lord in self-effort can seem spiritual to those less discerning. Thank God He brought someone into my life to firmly yet gently set me straight from the start! Don’t get me wrong, I still make plenty of poor decisions, but now I know why and, more importantly, I know how to make spiritual adjustments by walking and rejoicing in the Spirit. I’ll never forget what this personable pastor said next, “God is not impressed with your best idea, nor is He interested in what you see as the right way of doing things.” And he proved it from Scripture, “…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise….” It appears so foolish to the world to walk in childlike faith in all gentleness and lowliness while rejoicing whatever the outcome may be.

It seemed so senseless to me back then to say we can trust neither our ideas nor our ways. So I asked him how in the world we could determine what God wants us to do. He simply explained—from that passage—that God teaches believers, Spirit to spirit, how to have the mind of Christ. There are smart people, there are seasoned people, and there are spiritual people. Rarely do all three come together in one person; and never without the Spirit of God. Native intelligence and worldly experience can confound the process of determining the mind of Christ. Moreover—and I’m guessing again—smart and seasoned people are most commonly sought to fill the office of elder. Can church people confuse worldly wisdom with spirituality? Look around…what say you?

Education and Experience

Those highly educated more readily favor the “best idea” and their eagerness to implement such ideas can even convince them they have the mind of Christ. Sadly, it’s quite likely that a board of elders could easily accept the best idea while completely missing the Lord’s leading. What is true of smart people is also true of seasoned seniors. They also face problems when seeking the mind of Christ. Those with a lot of experience become convinced they know the “right way” to do things and they are so eager to spare others from the problems they encountered in order to gain their experience, they would oddly offer them direction but spare them the trials that build the character needed to seek wisdom from God.

Yet the ideas and experiences of the worldly wise are no match for issues arising from everyday life in the local church. Pooling ideas in search of the best or filtering situations through human experience in hope of determining the right course of action, not only leads to long discussions and endless strife among elders, but pushes the mind of Christ far from their consciousness. Working with God requires walking with God. The Lord’s ideas always include His involvement, and His ways are always situation specific. No amount of cosmic intelligence or human experience is equal to that!

Recall the account of Ahithophel. His counsel seemed to the leaders of the people like the “oracle of God,” and—humanly speaking—it was sound advice but the Lord Himself “purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel.” It was in fact the best idea around but his murderous plan was far from the will of God. God remains unimpressed with man’s best ideas! Moreover, recall the proverbs of Solomon, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” God remains uninterested in the way that seems right to a man.

But if elders lay aside their intelligence and experience, what’s left…choosing a senseless idea or the wrong way of doing things? Obviously not, though following God’s directions may seem senseless or wrong to the worldly wise! God’s directive for Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan to cure his leprosy seems so senseless. God’s directive for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac seems so wrong. It seems easy for some today to dismiss the Bible, thinking modern man is somehow smarter or people of old were simply naive.

Nevertheless, the Bible cautions, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD.” If God cares neither for man’s ideas nor his ways, how do we discern His leading? To reiterate, discernment requires the mind of Christ…and we get that by comparing spiritual things with things spiritual as the Spirit of God teaches. Such “spirit-comparing” requires hiding God’s Word in our hearts and meditating on it, so we can cross-reference the truth when the Spirit prompts in prayer.

Distinguishing Sources of Wisdom

How then can we distinguish man’s wisdom from God’s wisdom? Scripture states plainly that earthly wisdom starts with self-seeking and ends with strife. Conversely, heavenly wisdom stems from personal purity and produces peace. If you detect self-seeking, you can expect strife, and if you detect purity, you can expect peace. In short, godly wisdom does good deeds in deference to others. “Is anyone wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his works are in the meekness of wisdom.”

Now then, those highly educated with vast experience should not feel discouraged or disqualified. Intelligence and experience are not really the problem. The subtlety of combining these things with a sense of self-importance is the problem. Those who have intelligence and experience are often like the child who holds a hammer looking for something to pound. Those who come to consider such things as spiritual rubbish, as Paul did, will cry out for the wisdom from above, which God pledges to give generously without shame for asking. This begins when we cease confusing worldly wisdom with the mind of Christ as the Spirit of God convicts us.

So, personally, I’m glad a courageous pastor confronted my self-seeking ways in my younger years. I’m grateful he challenged me to seek the mind of Christ and reject confidence in human intelligence and experience. It’s been nearly forty years now since the day God mightily used that man in my life. Yet I still do not inherently have enough experience or intelligence to grasp the significance of what God is doing in the moment; I still have enough arrogance to be captivated by worldly wisdom; and I still need to be challenged by godly men to seek the mind of Christ. How great would be the cost to the church if elders carry the baggage of ruling by worldly wisdom into their meetings?