Potential for abuse of authority exist between you and the government. To help protect against abuse of your God-given authority, I plead with elders to remember that you need to be extremely open, flexible, and considerate when it comes to matters of opinion. Don't use your authority to brush aside everyone who gets in your way. Listen to the congregation and their opinions. A good husband will listen to his wife.
Good parents listen to their child.
A good eldership will respect and listen to the congregation they serve. Brother Lewis wrote, Not one of us believes that the domineering elder is to be obeyed in all matters of his judgment. There are none of us but who would draw a line somewhere as we encounter elders who are near or far from what we understand to be the truth. It is true, the time may come when we must draw the line and say we will not submit to the elders of a given congregation. This also could be true of wives submitting to their husbands, children submitting to their parents, and citizens submitting to the government.