Verse 6 says, “Be humbled under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.” Verses 5 and 6 both concern humility. We need to humble ourselves because pride frustrates God’s grace from coming to us. If we are humbled, God will exalt us in due time, in the next age. Verses 1 and 4 also allude to the coming age. The present age is not the time to be exalted but the time to be humbled.
Verse 7 says, “Casting all your anxiety on Him because it matters to Him concerning you.” Because this verse is often quoted out of context, we need to see that it continues the thought in the foregoing verses. Hence, the anxiety mentioned in this verse is the anxiety that should come from our concern for the churches. As elders, we should not be anxious for our possessions or family, but we must be concerned for the church and the saints. We should not be indifferent to the condition of the church. There should be times when we are so burdened and anxious for the church that we cannot sleep. At such times, we need to learn to cast all our anxiety for the church on the Lord because He cares for the church and the elders. In 2 Corinthians 11:28 Paul writes, “There is this: the crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches.” Paul probably had no anxiety other than his concern for the church. The elders should follow this pattern.
Question: When the saints come to the elders for advice concerning a practical situation, how should we help them without lording it over them?
Answer: For an elder to rule or lord it over others is easy, spontaneous, and natural; for an elder not to rule is quite difficult. I recently noticed that even my young granddaughter likes to rule over others. Everyone’s natural man likes to rule as a king. Therefore, when a brother becomes an elder, his natural tendency is to try to rule over the church. This is true even for those who are not ambitious. We have to fight the battle to resist this tendency. Peter uses strong words and expressions concerning the elders not lording it over their allotments and girding themselves with humility. Those who are natural may be offended by these words. It is a shame if elders behave like kings and treat the saints as their servants. As an elder, we must consider ourselves as the servant of the saints.
The elders should serve the church as martyrs who are ready to give their life for the church. We should not be judges. We must love and care for the saints as fathers love their children and as shepherds care for their flocks. We must drop all the natural concepts, practices, and tendencies and see the light that there is no rank in the church. The elders serve the saints. They love and care for the church with an anxious concern for the church’s condition and the saints’ growth in life. However, they also need to cast this anxiety on the Lord, trusting in Him because He cares for the church and the elders.
Question: How should we apply this word in our localities?
Answer: The leading ones in each locality should fellowship and pray together. The advance of the Lord’s recovery can be greatly frustrated or greatly helped by the elders. The apostles are important, but the Lord’s move depends more on the elders because the elders are the ones directly responsible for the churches. The proper eldership is necessary for the Lord to go on. Practically speaking, God’s economy depends on the eldership. Even when God spoke to Israel in the Old Testament time, He often spoke directly to the elders (cf. Jer. 29:1). The apostle Paul called for and spoke to the elders of the church in Ephesus because the condition of the church in Ephesus depended largely on the elders (Acts 20:17). Therefore, the elders in the churches today should spend time to fellowship and pray together concerning their view of the eldership. Our concept is the basic factor. If our concept is proper, everything will follow.
The New Testament mentions the elders and deacons but does not give detailed instructions concerning the administration of such ones. An overly strong church administration may eliminate the serving ones’ seeking the spirit and life. First Timothy 3:1-13 and 1 Peter 5:1-7 concern the life of the serving ones. Therefore, to be an elder or deacon is not mainly a matter of administration but a matter of having a proper life. Although my practice is not to propose anything to the churches, when the church in Anaheim moved into a new building in 1976, I asked the brothers to do away with the service groups, because I saw that a hierarchy was being built up. The service of the church should not depend on the organization of such service groups. When I visited the church in Taipei in the past and saw many different forms in the service office, I asked the elders to destroy those forms. When I went to Taipei in 1975, I saw that many of the elders, deacons, deaconesses, and leaders of the home meetings were not active in their service but merely occupying administrative positions. I showed them that over a period of twenty-five years an organizational administration had gradually accumulated and pushed out the spirit and life. I suggested that many should drop their administrative positions and spend more time to seek the Lord in prayer. Hundreds resigned, and many were happy to be released. Some felt awkward at first because their position had become a crutch. However, when I visited again in 1977, the situation was very good. Nevertheless, I am concerned that an unnecessarily large administration may gradually return.