No telling how many times brethren, who are working hard to worship God in truth and purity and to preach the gospel and to work in every scriptural way, have heard these words from brethren who move into their area. Wouldn’t every faithful Christian prefer to be part of a local church with qualified elders? But that is almost never the lot of those who pioneer a new work in a needy area or who are trying to “hold the fort” when qualified elders have been lost to death or moving away. These hardy souls labor and sacrifice where they live, on behalf of the lost, often with less than a strong nucleus. Help from faithful Christians would be heartily welcomed and greatly appreciated.<\/p>\n
“But, you see, you don’t have elders.” Quite right, at the moment. But where do migrating brethren think elders come from? If no one with the ability and potential ever “stays put” long enough to help a local church develop qualified elders, then no church will ever have elders except those who have struggled through the process in the past and now have elders serving. How do you suppose the brethren in the first century managed until elders were appointed? Quite often there are complaints about having experienced ungodly behavior on the part of some in business meetings where there are no elders. That might well be a reason for leaving a congregation if it will not correct the wrongdoers (Romans 16:17), but do not assume that every church without elders will be a repeat of that. It takes time for men to develop and become qualified elders, but it is worth the effort and the wait. You could make a godly difference. Step up! Take a stand! Remember, “God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness<\/em>\u00a0(cowardice and timidity)” (II Timothy 1:7).<\/p>\n Of course, we must do what we believe to be best for us and our families, but we must also “grow in grace and in knowledge<\/em>” (II Peter 3:18) to where we are not only and always on the receiving end of the strength of others.<\/p>\n We sometimes hear a lot of similar discouraging words from those who choose to worship elsewhere: “But you don’t have enough children… enough teenagers… enough eligible single people… enough whites, blacks, Hispanics… enough college grads… enough professionals… etc.” Well, I’m reminded of Acts 16:9, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us!<\/em>“<\/p>\n Oh, and by the way, if you should be one of those self-willed, strife-prone individuals who turn necessary business meetings into personal vendettas that drive faithful brethren away — REPENT!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Karl Diestelkamp via\u00a0Think on These Things, January-February-March, 2011, Volume 42, Number 1 No telling how many times brethren, who are working hard to worship God in truth and purity and to preach the gospel and to work in every scriptural way, have heard these words from brethren who move into their area. Wouldn’t every…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[123,667],"class_list":["post-55394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-elders","tag-organization-of-the-church"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-selects-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":0},"title":"Who selects elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We are stuck in the selection of elders for our church, Only one brother qualifies to be an elder. In the absence of a church eldership, who does the selecting of a faithful brother to lead the church? Please help. We very urgently need the answer. Answer: The design\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-leave-a-congregation-with-no-elders-for-one-that-has-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":1},"title":"Should I leave a congregation with no elders for one that has elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I worship at a church of Christ that has no elders. There are qualified men who do not desire the office. There is a sound church of Christ nearby that has elders. Am I putting my salvation in jeopardy? Should I move my membership? My desire is to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62667,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-elders-missing-in-so-many-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":2},"title":"Why Are Elders Missing in So Many Churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger D. Campbell We read about \"the elders of the church\" in the New Testament (James 5:14). In the Bible, \"the elders of the church\" refers to those brothers who serve as the overseers of a local flock of God (Acts 20:17, 28). They also are identified as shepherds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92122,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-never-met-an-elder-before\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":3},"title":"I Never Met an Elder Before","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Belinda, a fine young Christian from Mexico, spent six weeks of last summer with my daughter's family. Her enthusiasm, devoutness, and general spirituality were an inspiration to us all. What a delight to see one so young and so interested in so many things, yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-person-leave-a-church-that-doesnt-have-elders-or-deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":4},"title":"Should a person leave a church that doesn’t have elders or deacons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How long should a person attend a church that does not have any elders or deacons?\u00a0 What are some of the problems associated with a church not having any\u00a0elders or deacons? Answer: The follow-on question is: Are there no elders because none one currently attending is qualified, or are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28918,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-in-charge-the-preacher-or-the-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":55394,"position":5},"title":"Who is in charge, the preacher or the elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I'm forced to ask this question: between the ministers and the elders, who is in charge of a local congregation? Where that I am, there is a serious power tussle between the two. The ministers say, since they teach the men to become elders and also ordain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}