Arthur and Bob

Posted by Alan Knox on Feb 15, 2011 in blog links, discipleship, elders, office, service | 4 comments

Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” has a problem. You see, in his latest post “Be Like Bob,” Arthur describes a church leader named Bob who helps a church begin serve God and serve others for themselves.

According to Arthur, the church begins to take part in living the gospel (that’s what it is, by the way), that soon Bob doesn’t do everything anymore, and he can work and support his family and others without needing monetary support from the church.

So, what is Arthur’s problem? He wants to follow a guy like Bob, but he doesn’t find many “Bob’s” in the church today. (By the way, I like following people like Bob.)

Here is how Arthur describes Bob and his work among the church:

After a year or two [of Bob equipping and training others to serve], perhaps 4 or 5 of the men of the church have advanced in maturity and are regularly ministering to the needs of the believers in this local church. The church recognizes these men as elders and they begin to shoulder an increasing load of the ministry in the church, again both to “members” and to the community in addition to their secular jobs. As the newly recognized elders help to minister and equip in the local congregation, Bob has more time freed up and is able to work his regular job on a full-time basis. Bob no longer accepts a regular salary from the church. The $400 the church had been paying Bob while he was laboring in ministering and equipping is now freed up so the local church decides to donate all of this to local and global ministries engaged in spreading the Gospel and works of mercy. Bob spends more time at his “regular” job and thus more time among unbelievers than in his office at the church.

Read Arthur’s post… compare it to what you find in Scripture. (I can find Bob in Scripture.) Compare it to what you find in the church today.

Where are all the Bob’s?