Lesson 20 How the Congregation Is Organized

[Click for transcript]|[Elders Take the Lead! (Luke 8:1)]
[Text: Geoffrey W. Jackson. Governing Body]
Geoffrey: While meditating on the text this morning, I was reminded of an experience I had many years ago as a missionary. At the time, I was studying with a young man who was training to be a pastor in his church. This man had got to the point where he started to attend all our meetings while at the same time still attending his church gatherings. The church, obviously, was very disturbed about the fact that he was coming to the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and their headquarters sent in a missionary from overseas to try and rectify the situation. The young man told me what happened. He said the missionary asked him, “What is it that impresses you about Jehovah’s Witnesses?” He said, “Well, one of the things is that they do the preaching work.” The missionary replied, “Well, our church can do that too.” So, the next time they had a service, the missionary conducted the service and with great zeal and enthusiasm demanded that everyone in the church take part in the preaching work. He announced the time that they would have the group to go preaching. The young man told me quite a number of people came along. But there was just one thing missing, you guessed it, the missionary. He felt that it was enough just to encourage everybody else to do it without engaging in it himself. How different was the example of Jesus and of our hard-working elders who do take the lead with regard to the preaching work. Now let’s take our Bibles and turn to a very interesting scripture in Hebrews 13:7 and 17. Now, I’d like to highlight the beauty of the New World Translation in these two verses. You see at the beginning of verse 7: “Remember those who are taking the lead among you.” And then verse 17: “Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you.” If you look at other Bibles, whether new or old, most of them say “your leaders.” Now, obviously, the New World Translation Committee had in mind Jesus’ comments with regard to no one being a leader among us, and although it’s a different word in the Greek text, still in English we can’t help but be sensitive to that matter. And so, this accurate translation of saying “taking the lead” really summarizes, doesn’t it, what the role is of an elder. We’re not leaders, but we set the right example. Now, this accurate translation is also portrayed in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke chapter 22, and you’ll be interested to note that this is part of the revision of the New World Translation text. Luke 22:26, it now portrays accurately the fact that both expressions in Hebrew and this one here are the same word. So, Luke 22:26, it says: “You, though, are not to be that way. But let the one who is the greatest among you become as the youngest.” And then notice: “and the one taking the lead,” now this is the same expression as in the Hebrews, “as the one ministering.” So, obviously, to take the lead means to do the work, to be a minister, to be a servant, to serve others. This also reminds me, many years ago, when I worked with the translation team in the Pacific nation of Samoa. At that point, we were trying to select an accurate expression to convey this thought of “taking the lead.” And there were two words eventually that the brothers were trying to select between or choose between. One was the word ta’ita’i and the other ta’imua. Now, you don’t have to remember those words, but as a foreigner, I didn’t really understand the subtleties between the difference of the two words. So, I asked the brothers, “How can you explain to me what these two words mean?” So, one of the brothers was very eloquent. He said: “Well, just imagine a procession, a parade. “So, a ta’ita’i is the old man who sits “on the side of the road barking out the orders: “‘You should do it this way; you should do it that way.’ “The ta’imua, on the other hand, is the one right in the front of the parade taking the lead and everyone’s following him.” Which word do you think we selected? Doesn’t that summarize nicely just exactly what’s involved with being an elder? It’s not a matter of sitting on the side lines barking out orders but getting involved, setting the right example, and then others following. And this is in harmony with one Greek lexicon that describes this expression this way, it says, “The concept of leading can be expressed “by showing how to do something, “demonstrating how we ought to do it, and going ahead showing the way.” Of course, on the other hand, some religions even view the expression “elder” as a title. You’ve probably heard of them introducing themselves, “Good morning, I’m Elder Jackson.” Well, of course, none of us would want to view being an elder as a title in the sense of a position that lords it over others. And with that in mind, another subtlety to the revision is seen in 1 Timothy chapter 3, so please turn there with me, 1 Timothy 3:1. These are well-known words, particularly when brothers are considering the qualifications for elders, but you may or may not have seen the subtleties of the change here in this revision. It says now: “This statement is trustworthy: “If a man is reaching out to be an overseer, he is desirous of a fine work.” Do you remember before the original New World Translation said: ‘If someone is reaching out for the office of being an overseer?’ And that reflected and no doubt was influenced by the King James and many of the older translations that translated it that way. But when we look at the rest of the verse, we see that it’s not the office, or the position, of being an overseer that someone reaches out for; rather, it’s the work. Yes, the hard work that needs to be done by an overseer. An overseer recognizes that he needs to work hard at setting the right example, and then others will follow, rather than just telling everyone what they should do. So, when we look at these subtleties in the New World Translation, it only helps us to appreciate it even more, doesn’t it? So, with this in mind, what does our text this morning help us to keep in mind? Well, as elders, what do we need to do? Not sit on the side lines barking out orders but, rather, to take the lead, be in the forefront, do the work, and then others will follow our example, just as we follow the example of Jesus.
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