by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
I Peter 5:1f shows an elder-flock relationship. The elders know how many people are in the flock and who is just a visitor and who is an uncommitted floater. This verse attests to the autonomy or independence of the local church. It also implies that a local church is a flock.<\/p>\n
The shepherds know the exact number they are responsible for overseeing. The implication of joining the local band or flock of disciples in Acts 9:26 shows that there must be a declared commitment to a local group to: 1) Be responsible toward a local flock, and 2) Be counted as one to whom the flock holds common responsibility.<\/p>\nIt is not right to be a floater who never commits to a local flock. This also shows that local churches were not Christians who accidentally bumped into each other from time to time, but that they purposely formed themselves into a local flock with order, organization, and common commitment.
\nWhen possible, they appointed men to oversee the flock and recognized and submitted to their care and oversight. The mutual commitment is to the elders “among you,” not to elders in another city or flock. Christians did not just “show up” at a place, and that alone constituted local flock membership. When Paul “showed up” at Jerusalem, he was not automatically accepted as a member.\n
One must declare intentions and desires, and then be accepted. It requires communication, mutual understanding, and agreement. Visitors are not members of the flock we are among. They are welcome and encouraging, but they are not the responsibility of the shepherds or the flock. They are visitors until an understanding and commitment are made. At some point, a regular visitor needs to communicate their desire to be counted as members of the flock.<\/p>\n
Don’t be a non-committed visitor. Be a member of a faithful group of disciples! Be a “one another” oriented faithful disciple of Jesus Christ!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton I Peter 5:1f shows an elder-flock relationship. The elders know how many people are in the flock and who is just a visitor and who is an uncommitted floater. This verse attests to the autonomy or independence of the local church. It also implies that a local church is a flock.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[544],"class_list":["post-89921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-membership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37831,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-membership-in-a-local-church-essential\/","url_meta":{"origin":89921,"position":0},"title":"Is membership in a local church essential?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As always,\u00a0love\u00a0your dedication to the Lord and the time you take to answer so many questions.\u00a0 I come to your site\u00a0often. It is one of my favorite resources! In regards to the recent post:\u00a0Should a divisive non-member be told not to come to worship?\u00a0One point that has been on\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":59949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/letters-of-commendation\/","url_meta":{"origin":89921,"position":1},"title":"Letters of Commendation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The question is not about coming to Christ and being added to His one universal body. The Lord adds to that church (Acts 2:47). But, the Lord does not add us to a particular local congregation. We have to \"join\" those local disciples (Acts 9:26). There\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":89345,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/protectors-of-the-flock\/","url_meta":{"origin":89921,"position":2},"title":"Protectors of the Flock","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry C. Brewer When Luke penned Paul's last words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, the Holy Spirit guided his hand in selecting a single word that graphically sums up and illustrates the work of elders. That word is, poimaino. According to McClintock and Strong, this word means,\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":56250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/five-synonyms-one-office\/","url_meta":{"origin":89921,"position":3},"title":"Five Synonyms: One Office","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Smith In the New Testament, we find at least five words that describe both the office an elder holds and the work that he does. Elder\u00a0is from the Greek word,\u00a0presbuterous. Paul told Titus to \"appoint elders in every city\" in Titus 1:5. 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Especially since we are supposed to spread the gospel to everyone.\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":19331,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-congregations-dwindle\/","url_meta":{"origin":89921,"position":5},"title":"Why Congregations Dwindle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Connie W. Adams It is not uncommon to see congregations that once were large and active in the Lord's work gradually dwindling. The natural question is, \"Why?\" I believe the following reasons must be considered. 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