Imperfect Elders

I'm organizing some thoughts on being an introverted elder and am starting with one basic point.

Elders are not perfect.

When a man becomes an elder, that does not automatically confer some extra measure of spiritual strength, wisdom, or love for neighbor. It does not grant supernatural ability to overcome weakness of personality and temperament. Elders remain sinners.

And, elders who are introverts will remain introverts. Being ordained doesn't confer gregariousness. Trust me. But introversion is not necessarily an imperfection. I'll have to pick up on that thought in the future, but for now it's enough to say elders are just as much "under construction" as anyone else. 


Knowing we are not perfect, I first encourage my fellow elders to accept the fact of imperfection but not the state of imperfection. We should strive to be holy (I Peter 1:15-16) to glorify our God and be an example to the flock, our fellow sheep.

Second, I encourage all to pray for your elders. Pray we would grow in those qualities we need to fulfill our office well. Pray we would pursue holiness and have strength to push through our weaknesses.

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Memorizing Scripture

Memorizing Scripture is not a popular topic. Memorization in general is not a priority of in our culture. I work in the education field and see a focus on the higher order skills such as critical thinking, evaluation, and creativity (to oversimplify) as much as possible and as early as possible in a student's life. On the one hand, well and good. I certainly want my fellow humans to engage in critical thinking and creativity. And, if you need a fact, you can look up something on Google on your smartphone in a few seconds.

However, I don't know what you would think critically about if you don't have some thoughts to begin with, some material knowledge to work on.

So yes, in our 21st century Christian life, we can pull up our Bible app and search for verses by keyword as we need them. I suggest that is very different from memorizing scripture passages. Key verses you memorize not only stay with you; they shape our thinking about our circumstances. When you are in trouble and anxious, the memory of Philippians 4:6-7 may come to mind and encourage you to prayer and trusting God's promises. Also, we have the positive example of Psalm 119:11 to hide or store God's word in our hearts to the end that we would not sin against him.

The older I get, the worse I am at memorizing (not that I was ever that good). But, I'm going to make an effort and encourage you to do the same. Don't start by trying to memorize an entire book of the Bible. Start with some key verses and work at a pace where you do learn but push toward becoming better at it. I recommend this list for some verses to start memorizing.
First 15 Bible Verses to Memorize

It Is Better to Create

I got this message from two different sources. The first is a podcast from the Circe Institute: The Commons #11. Author S. D. Smith and the hosts examine the roles of critic, curator, and creator. Their conclusion is that the latter two are more valuable than the former as the creator (at his best) works to bring new good things into the world, and the curator points others to those good things they had not seen before.

The second is from the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch. Stitch is on a destructive rampage in Lilo's room when she says "You know, you wreck everything you touch. Why not try and make something for a change?" While Stitch didn't make something good, he did turn from destruction as his main purpose. 

The problem of course is that in our fallen world, it is much easier to destroy, tear down, and critique. I write quite a bit for my job and writing is difficult to do well, whether for an academic journal, a set of technical directions, or an email. But even so, I want to bring good things into the world and so strive to write clearly.

Thinking as an elder, those three roles of critic, curator, and creator all have their place in the church. We must be warned from evil and sin by the critic, but on the flip side we must point to the many good things such as faith, holiness, worship, the sacraments, and more. And, we must participate in the creating good things. I didn't say big things, just good things. We can make a joyful noise and participate in worship. We can make a meal for another family. We can make a men's breakfast where we can work through deeper issues in our hearts. We do not need to be experts to point others to the good and make good things ourselves.

Welcome

Greetings and welcome! I'm Lee Nickles, a ruling elder at Redeemer Church (PCA) in Sylva, NC. I'm starting this new blog for two main reasons:

1. I want to improve as a writer. You have to think clearly to write clearly. So, to exercise my thinking both for my career and personally, I want to get in the habit of writing something regularly.
2. I'm both an introvert and a ruling elder in a presbyterian church. That may be unusual, but perhaps there are others out there. I hope to encourage those that are currently elders OR those that are considering a call to be an elder in how to serve even if you are introverted.

I'll probably write about lots of other things that interest me personally: the small world of reformed theology and presbyterian churches, technology, engineering, books, higher education, being a husband and dad, and more.