As I mentioned yesterday, with my fellow-elders, we’re making an ongoing study of the elder and his work. What better to study then, than a book of the same name The Elder and His Work by David Dickson (you can read it online free).

David Dickson was an elder in the Free Church of Scotland in the mid-late 1800′s and wrote this book for his fellow elders. The book was reprinted multiple times and he allowed later editions to be adapted to fit the American context also.

I made many notes on the book as I read it which you can access here (Word/PDF). But we’ve been using it at church, together with 1 Timothy 3:1-7, primarily to start putting together an elder’s checklist to guide us in our regular duties. Our aim has been to produce something that we can use to continually remind ourselves of the basics of our task and to keep one another accountable in our service. This is what we’ve come up with so far (also here in Word/PDF):

I. SHEPHERD

1. Visit each family in the district once every 18-24 months

Aim for one scheduled home visit every 3 weeks (our five districts have about 25 families/homes in each)

2. Review district list every week to identify specific needs including

• New member
• Bereavement
• Birth
• Marriage
• Illness
• Questions
• Problems
• Mentoring
• Exam time
• Old age

Depending on circumstances, specific needs may be met by:

• Home visit
• Hospital/Nursing home visit
• Phone call
• Coffee/lunch
• Hospitality
• Email
• Social interaction at church

Aim for at least one of these “specific need contacts” every three weeks.

3. Aim to know the spiritual state and condition of each individual.

II. PRAY

• Private prayer for families and individuals on district list every month (average of one family per day)
• Regular attendance at congregational prayer meetings

III. GOVERN

1. Attend monthly elder meetings and joint meetings with deacons.

2. Assist and advise fellow-elders in discussions and decisions.

3. Arrange for holy administration of the sacraments

4. Administer church discipline

• Follow due biblical process especially Matthew 18:
• Identify and admonish the disorderly
• Act against the impenitent and receive the penitent

5. Help with administration

IV. WATCH

1. Watch the ministers of the Word

Using preaching review form, assess the doctrine and life of the ministers of the Word with a view to:

• Encouragement
• Correction

Identify where ministers of the Word may need help in delegating responsibilities to others so that they can give themselves more fully to the ministry of the Word and prayer.

2. Watch the congregation

Observe the congregation to see who is present/absent, active/passive, engaged/disengaged.

3. Watch the families

Ensure family worship is practiced and children are receiving Christian education.

V. TEACH

The elder should be growing in:

• Christian knowledge and wisdom
• Teaching ability

In order that they may be equipped to teach in areas of special gifting, including:

• Pulpit
• Sunday School
• Catechism Class
• Fellowship evening
• Bible Studies
• Vacation Bible School
• Church Camp
• Evangelism
• Book studies
• Distribution of good books

 VI. WELCOME

Be on the look out for new families and individuals coming to church.

Offer hospitality to individuals/families/groups of families.

VII. LEAD

Pro-active rather than reactive leadership with a willingness to take on new responsibilities

• Vision for future direction, role, and needs of the congregation.
• Mission and evangelism
• Identifying, encouraging, training future leaders and service opportunities.

In this video, Dr. Eric Johnson of Southern Seminary, gives some historical examples of depression going right back to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

The Richard Baxter book he refers to is The Cure of Melancholy and Overmuch Sorrow. You can read it online here.

You can see other short FAQ videos from the Christians Get Depressed Too video series here or view five feature length documentaries here.

I and my fellow elders at Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church have been focusing on elder training over the past couple of months. Part of that involved preaching on 1 Timothy 3v1-7, a sermon that ended up with 10 points (not usually recommended!):

1. The vital importance of these verses: This saying is trustworthy

This passage is the second “faithful saying” and is introduced with the same words as the amazing statement of soteriology in 1 Tim. 1:15, emphasizing the importance of ecclesiology.

2. The huge responsibility in these verses: the position of an overseer

Paul uses “shepherd,” “elder,” and “bishop/overseer” interchangeably indicating that they are three different words for the one office.  To “oversee” includes observation, analysis, discernment, guiding, guarding, etc.

3. The powerful and pure desire in these verses: If anyone aspires to the office…

This is a strong desire but also a commended desire because it is not motivated by selfishness and pride but by a desire to serve Christ and His church.

4. The worthy work in these verses: a noble task

It is work; it involves labor, sweat, toil, and effort. But it is noble (lit. “beautiful”) work.

5. The uncompromising imperative in these verses: the elder must be

Given the importance and worth of this work, there are rigorous qualifications to be imposed. It’s not “Ideally…If possible…We’d prefer…” It’s a “must.” An imperative. An uncompromising standard.

6. The beautiful self-control in these verses: blameless

After insisting that the elder must be “above-reproach,” “blameless (lit “unassailable”) Paul moves to Christian morality in general with a strong emphasis on Spirit-given self-control or self-discipline:

• Self controlled in sexual matters: husband of one wife
• Self-controlled in behavior: vigilant, temperate:
• Self-controlled in thinking: sober-minded
• Self-controlled with money: not covetous
• Self-controlled in the use of addictive substances: not given to much wine:
• Self-controlled in conflict: not violent

7. The useful service in these verses: hospitable, able to teach

His holy character comes out in holy service of others:

• The elder is hospitable: warm, welcoming to others, invites people to enjoy food and fellowship in his home
• The elder is able to teach: able to communicate appropriate information in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time

8. The testing ground in these verses: manage his own household well

Due to parallels, a man’s home is a testing place for his role in the church. One indicates suitability for the other.

9. The fearful danger in these verses: not a recent convert

Choosing elders is a serious business with serious consequences if we get it wrong – both for the church and the person. That’s why we must avoid electing new converts or any with limited spiritual maturity.

10. The evangelistic impact of these verses: well-thought of by outsiders

Who we elect to office communicates so much to the world about what the church and the Gospel is all about, that it should be considered a major part of our evangelistic message to the world. The list of elders’ qualifications have two similar bookends: “above reproach” and “well-thought of by outsiders” underlining that electing elders is an evangelistic act.

God is good. His goodness is manifest in every work of his wisdom, for he has so continued and arranged all things in the best manner, to promote the happiness of his creatures, according to their nature and capacity. Archibald Alexander.

Lots of people make a living by promoting events such as concerts, sports, conferences, and festivals. Others promote products and services. Others, like Kim Kardashian, simply promote themselves.

Tough Work

Promotion is tough work. Lots of time, energy, and money is spent trying to persuade people to buy a ticket, commit to a service, purchase a product, or worship the latest celebrity.

Selfish Work

Sometimes the promoter has the good of others at heart – he really believes in the product or service and really believes that people will benefit from it. Much of the time, though, promoters are simply out to make money for themselves and don’t really care about creating value for their clients or customers.

Doesn’t Work

Even promoters with the best of intentions sometimes find that their most sincere promises and best arrangements just don’t work out – illness cancels a concert, bad weather ruins a race, the new car is recalled, speakers bomb at the conference, gadgets break, and so on.

A lot of people just don’t like promoters. They find them pushy, selfish, money-grabbing, and “economical” with the truth.

A Different Kind of Promoter

But I want to introduce you to a promoter who is unlike any other promoter. More accurately, I want Princeton theologian Archibald Alexander to introduce you to this promoter. In A Brief Compend of Bible Truth, he wrote:

God is good. His goodness is manifest in every work of his wisdom, for he has so continued and arranged all things in the best manner, to promote the happiness of his creatures, according to their nature and capacity.

Good Promoter

As Alexander says, this promoter’s name is Good God. His good product (or is it a service? or is it a person?) is happiness and He’s poured everything into getting it out of Himself and into others. He’s still in this business after thousands of successful years and millions of satisfied customers, as He daily devotes Himself to this wonderful work.

Selfless Promoter

Although He is “pushy” and persuasive, He doesn’t do this for selfish reasons; only for the good of His creatures.

Powerful Promoter

He’s wisely and powerfully organized everything to maximize people’s happiness, His arrangements really coming to a climax about 2000 years ago when He put together an awesome event in which His Son became sin, and through which sinners became righteous.

Active Promoter

And He continues to call men and women to happiness in and through His Son, knowing that we of all His creatures have the ideal nature and greatest capacity for this supreme happiness, a capacity and nature that He will one day transform and enlarge enough to take in the happiness of heaven forever without bursting.

What’s not to like about this promoter and this promotion?

You can buy the Kindle version of Archibald’s Brief Compend of Biblical Truth for $0.99.

On Monday, I explained how God used the tragic death of a man with schizophrenia to fund research into the connections between mental illness and Christian faith.

The Study of Acute Mental Illness and Christian Faith was conducted by LifeWay Research and its objectives were:

1. To equip family members and churches to care for loved ones suffering from acute mental illness, by expanding the understanding of what these persons experience, applying what Scripture says about essentials of faith, and sharing positive contributions that can be made in these individual’s spiritual lives

2. To help family members and churches discern the spiritual state of loved ones suffering from mental illness.

Over the next few weeks, I want to start sharing some of the results of the research and hope the bullet point style of presentation will make the material useful for personal education and also helpful for discussion groups.

The following summary findings were the result of hour-long interviews with fifteen Christian mental health professionals whose practice includes regular treatment of those who have schizophrenia, severe depression, and bipolar disorders.

Mental Health Experts on Shame and Stigma

• People with mental illness or their families deal with a large amount of shame and social stigma around the illnesses.
• People assume the person has “done” something to cause it.
• Honest conversations that bring clarity to the topic are needed.
• Conversations about mental illness need to change in frequency and in tone.

Mental Health Experts on the Family

• Parents of children with mental illness deal with a substantial amount of denial and grief.
• Questions about suffering are common.
• To move forward, parents have to learn to dream new dreams for their child and their families.
• Key tools for families.
  • Establish realistic time frames.
  • Understand illness isn’t going to just “disappear.”
  • Let go of others’ expectations.
  • Make room in their lives to deal with the illness.
  • Establish boundaries that lead to success.
  • Understand that it’s not about them.

Mental Health Experts on the Church & Community

• People with mental illness turn to the church first for help.
• Church has an opportunity to be a place of healing.
• Pastor’s reactions to people struggling with mental illness are varied.
• Pastors need to understand their own limitations.
• Walking with the mentally ill can benefit the congregation, not just the individual.
• Prepare for the cyclical nature of it and potential relapses.
• Pastors are most likely to change their view on mental illness once they are personally impacted by it. 

Mental Health Experts on Faith & Maturity

• Patients may forget to tell a mental health caregiver about struggles with their faith because they are more focused on the surface issues of the illness.
• Labeling a mental illness as a “spiritual issue” only is not helpful and it can be detrimental.
• Some manic episodes can appear to be signs of devotion or sacrifice.
• Social support and community in the local church is important for personal spiritual growth.
• Be realistic about how much spiritual growth or progress is to be expected of loved ones dealing with mental illness.
• In most cases, the illness needs stabilizing before spiritual growth will take place.
• Strong faith does not make a mental illness go away. People who deal with mental illness tend to be more honest about their relationship with God.
• Before sharing their illness with others, it is important for the individual to feel they are in a safe church or group.
• Unhealthy faith expressions can actually be a symptom of mental illness. Look for behaviors outside the norm of the group.

Tools Recommended by Mental Health Experts

• Education was the most commonly mentioned needed resource.
• Individuals, families, churches, pastors all need clarity on
  • The basics of mental illness.
  • Signs of what to look for.
  • Knowing how to respond if they suspect someone has a mental illness.
  • Ways to be supportive without being overwhelmed.

For discussion about limitations of the term “mental illness” you can read The Problem with “Mental Illness” and Double Dangers: Maximizing and Minimizing Mental Illness.