As a relatively new lay elder in my church, I often get the sense that I don’t know what I’m doing. I can know all the “seminary answers,” name-drop all the latest Christian books, and have all the credentials and degrees, but I still feel like I’m winging it. Like an imposter.

How do I answer a weighty question at the end of the service while I’m trying to ensure my children don’t run out into the street? How do I know when to speak up in an elders’ meeting about an important topic even as I struggle with the fear of man? How do I prioritize the ministry of the Word and prayer—and all the attendant care for needs of the church—with a demanding full-time job, parenting four young children, and keeping a modicum of productivity in my scholarship and writing?

Serving as an elder is a constantly humbling reality. But more than logistics and planning, it’s the subterranean spiritual realities that I contend with on a daily basis—and all this even as I wrestle with my sin and weakness. With Paul I say, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16).

In a recent article for TGC, Ryan Curia, a new elder himself, considers how Luke 14 is full of insight for new elders: We should speak less and listen more, we should learn context and assume the best, and we should remember our roles. In short, he encourages new elders to take the “low seat.” He writes,

“Taking the low seat doesn’t mean ignoring biblical conviction or becoming a ‘yes man.’ It means choosing humility rather than grasping for honor. It means seeing your fellow elders as gifts, not rivals. It means remembering that the church belongs to Christ and acknowledging the price he paid for her.”

A year in as an elder, I get the sense that maybe, just maybe, I might do some spiritual good. If so, it’ll be because I’m growing in my awareness of how utterly dependent I am on the Chief Shepherd to help me, a poor undershepherd, grow in my reliance on him to care for his sheep. It’ll be because I’m learning to take the low seat. And I guess that’s the best place to be.