Elder Ruled in Theory, Congregationally Ruled in Practice

When we first came back to Vegas, we attended a church that was elder ruled because we see this as biblical. We weren't there long for other reasons, but it was a solid enough church as evangelical churches in Vegas go. While there, however, a woman was pretty much chastising the elders for not doing more for her as her husband was away. The elder to whom she was speaking was very apologetic and told her that they would try to do whatever they could to help her out emotionally.

Now, this is what I mean by this pervasive thinking that the elders are the ministry when this is a need the other women in the congregation should be meeting, not the elders. In fact, my spidey-sense started alerting me to the fact that such things can lead to affairs and the downfall of elders.

However, what I want to note is the apologetic tone of the elders for not meeting the unbiblical expectations of the congregation. This church was supposedly elder ruled, but the elders were constantly concerned about what the congregation thought about everything. If people complained about an elder for not meeting their unbiblical expectations, that elder was rebuked for it. But why? Why does an elder need to meet the unbiblical demands and expectations of people who don't know what the Bible's demands and expectations are?

Shouldn't they be taught, even rebuked, instead, as adding to God's Word? Shouldn't they be encouraged to submit to authority rather than to think that they are the judges of that authority? Shouldn't the theoretical idea of elder rule actually be practically applied?

If elders are constantly trying to appease people who are upset, people who complain, people who want this or that color carpet, to meet here and not there, to sing this song and not that one, etc., isn't that essentially what congregational rule is?

In this regard, elders are just figureheads, the guys employed by the congregation to do their bidding and make the ministry most enjoyable and pleasing to them, but the point of elder rule is not that the elders get to do things the way that they want instead, but because they, as studied men of God's Word, know what direction the church should be going, and know what the elders should be doing. In other words, they know the biblical expectations God has for them and for the church better than the congregation. Hence, they are not to listen to the people when the people think this or that about the ministry of the church, but to God.

I had a friend who was a pastor who had people constantly come into his office to deal with issues about the building, music, who should be teaching, etc. He was so overwhelmed by it his real ministry failed. Our culture does not know what submission to authority looks like. We don't have good models for it in our culture. Hence, it really is left to the elders to teach it to them both in theory and in practice by not allowing them to move us by their opinions but to seek God's Word and use these times when the congregation will attempt to usurp authority in the various ways that they do, and they will, as teaching opportunities of what an elder ruled church actually looks like.

Gone are the days when we can just say we are elder ruled and everyone knows what that looks like. It is necessary to display our theories in practice by communicating biblical ideas of authority through word and deed.