When the football team is on the field, who has it easier to make the plays just right? The quarterback on the field or the armchair quarterback at home? It’s a lot easier to sit at home and rail on the quarterback for missing the throw or misreading the defense than it is to actually be the quarterback on the field making the throws and reading the defense.
The same is true in the church. When the elders are seeking to shepherd the Lord’s church, who has it easier to make the decisions just right? The elders on the field and in the thick of it or the armchair Christian at home? It’s a lot easier to sit at home and take potshots at the elders for making what is perceived to be a bad decision than it is to actually be the elders on the field making those decisions. Plus, the elders often (and almost always) have information that no one else has and have the eternal responsibility on their shoulders for the decisions.
So, do you “prey on” the elders more than you “pray on” them? One of those has a Biblical mandate (1 Thess. 5:11-18; Heb. 13:17; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 5:19).