Who Are You When Only Your Family Is Looking?

Body

“I have often heard it said that character is who you are when no one is looking…. But as I considered the character of an elder, I also found myself challenged with this: Character is who you are when only your family is looking.” - Challies

Discussion

Do Outsiders Still Matter? An Overlooked Qualification for Pastors

Body

“ ‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.’… Yet here, in 1 Timothy 3:7, as the culminating qualification for the church’s lead office, we hear that pastor-elders must be well thought of by outsiders.” - Desiring God

Discussion

Pastors Answer: Does an Affair Disqualify You From Ministry?

Body

“ ‘Pastors’ Views on Moral Failures,’ conducted by Nashville-based LifeWay Research…’There is widespread disagreement from pastors across denominations, church size, age, race, and education levels to quickly restoring pastors who commit adultery to public ministry positions.’” - Church Leaders

Discussion

Is Pastoral “Desire” a Qualification for Ministry?

Reposted, with permission, from DBTS Blog.

The question of a pastoral “call to ministry,” reminiscent of God’s call of biblical prophets and apostles, has long been a issue with which ordination councils have been concerned. Many operate on the assumption that no one aspiring to the ministry may proceed without such a “call.”

Discussion

Beware Objective Standards Where Only Subjective Ones Are Provided

Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding the qualifications for leadership in the church (specifically for elders in 3:1-7) are vitally important. They are also not as simple as we might sometimes prefer. We generally prefer things to be neat and clean—objective and quantifiable. So it is not unusual to see the standards of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 received as a checklist which can be mindlessly applied as if black and white, requiring no judgment or wisdom.

However, Paul’s words are not intended to be received or applied in that manner. Instead, of the sixteen specific qualifications mentioned by Paul, all of them are decidedly subjective rather than objective. There is certainly one assumed qualification, that the elder be a he (tis, “anyone” in the masculine). That is the only objective characteristic described in the entire passage.

But as for the sixteen qualifications Paul lists, they are not so simple as is the gender issue.

Sixteen Qualifications

Discussion