Extract from What to look for in a pastor, Brian Biedebach, © Day One Publications 2011, used with permission.
This article appeared in the Aug/Sept issue of ReachOut
Chapter 3: The Character of the Man
Spiritual leaders are not elected, appointed, or created by synods or church assemblies. God alone makes them. One does not become a spiritual leader by merely filling an office, taking coursework in the subject, or resolving in one’s own will to do the task. A person must qualify to be a spiritual leader.
J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership
Thus far, I have written primarily about certain gifts and responsibilities. I purposely started with those chapters because many churches typically don’t think about the man’s gifts and responsibilities as much as they think through the qualifications of the man. From the outset of this chapter, then, I must make it clear that the character qualities of your pastor are of primary importance as you select the right man for your congregation. Indeed, if he is not qualified biblically, he is useless to you as a shepherd-teacher. While you may be familiar with these biblical qualifications from 1Timothy 3 and Titus 1, I urge you not to skip over this section of the book. For the better you understand these qualifications, the easier it will be for you to interview and select potential candidates.
Some may question whether this is really an important issue for church members. It is obvious that it is important for church leaders, but why is it so important for church members? The answer is simple: if the leaders are the only ones who know the qualifications, the members will never know for themselves if the leaders are really qualified. An elder board that goes off-track needs to be held accountable by godly members of the congregation. Furthermore, if the members do not know what the biblical qualifications are, how will they know if their church is hiring a qualified man? Many churches are so out of touch with these qualifications that many members are confused regarding some conclusions that should be obvious to them.
A few years ago, the well-known pastor of the largest church in a city where I was pastoring divorced his wife for no biblical reason. Three months later he announced his engagement to another woman in the congregation. Less than a year later, they were married. To this day, he continues to pastor with the approval of his church leaders and members. During all this time, Christians, even those from my own congregation, were asking the question, “Doesn’t this disqualify him for ministry?” I was surprised that people were even asking the question. In this chapter, we will see that the Bible’s response to that situation is clear.
There are other questions that are relevant to a leader’s qualifications. Since I started training for the pastorate, people have told me, “You’d better be careful: pastors’ kids can be quite rebellious.” My children are under the age of four. It is not uncommon to see them (and hear them) rebel against my wife and me. Does that disqualify me for ministry? What if one of them becomes a rebellious teenager? What about pastors’ children who are grown and at least in their twenties or thirties but do not confess Christ? Can that disqualify a man from being an elder? There are many issues associated with qualified leadership, and I have tried to cover the most relevant in this chapter.[i]
God has a high standard for the leaders of His church. Many churches today are either ignorant about them or deny that they exist. Nothing damages Christ’s work as much as when a church ignores His instructions regarding leadership. For if the leaders of the church are straying spiritually, doctrinally, or morally, you can be sure that the church will not be far behind.
It was for this reason that Paul left Titus on the island of Crete. In fact, Paul’s pattern of ministry began with him preaching to convert Jews in a synagogue. If some of them came to Christ, or if they started to stone him, he would move on and preach to the Gentiles, leading many of them to Christ. Next Paul would spend time with the young believers, nurturing them and encouraging them in the faith. Finally, before moving on, he would typically provide them with loving, mature, spiritual leaders. An example of these last steps can be found in Acts 14:
After they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:21–23)
The receptivity and the maturity of the congregation would often determine how long Paul would need to stay. If the church was under attack, or taking a long time to respond to God’s Word, Paul would often leave one of his travelling companions to strengthen it while he moved on. That is clearly what was going on in Crete with Titus. In Titus 1:5–9, Titus was given two priorities that help us understand why God’s standard for church leadership is so high. Titus was instructed to straighten out problems within the church, and to appoint qualified elders to lead the church.
Prior to leaving Titus in Crete, Paul had remained on the island to sort out some of the problems. But there were problems that still remained. So Paul left Titus and instructed him to set in order the things that were left unfinished (Titus 1:5). The Greek verb translated ‘set in order’ is the same word from which we get ‘orthodontist’. An ‘orthodontist’ sets teeth in order and an ‘orthopaedic surgeon’ sets broken bones, but Titus was instructed to ‘set in order’ or ‘straighten out’ certain problems within the church. From the content of the letter to Titus, we see that these problems included both doctrinal issues (1:10–11) and behavioural problems (1:16). It is critically important for a pulpit committee to understand this concept, because if your church is currently in the midst of heavy doctrinal issues or dealing with severe behavioural problems, now may not be the right time to look for a pastor. Instead, your church may very likely need someone like Titus—an interim pastor. When a congregation tries to appoint a new pastor too quickly, it can be one of the primary reasons why the new man fails to lead the church properly.[ii]
A second priority for Titus was to appoint qualified elders (1:5b–9). Appointing qualified elders would certainly help to straighten out problems, so these two priorities are obviously related. Some churches may find it easier to establish elderships than others. Notice that Paul says he commanded Titus to establish elders “in every city” (1:5). This suggests that much of the island had been evangelized by Paul and that a number of local churches had been established. It is also significant that, since his list of qualifications sets the standard for the leaders, most of these qualifications (perhaps with the exception of “able … to exhort in sound doctrine …”) are the ideal for every believer. In verses 6–9 of Titus 1, Paul mentions four areas of qualification for every Christian who desires to serve as an overseer.
The author then develops his material as follows:
- Spiritual Reputation
- Marital Fidelity
- Faithful Parenting
- Sum Characterization
- He is not self-willed
- He is not quick-tempered
- He is not addicted to wine
- He is not violent—not ‘pugnacious’
- He is not greedy for money
- He is hospitable
- He is a lover of what is good
- He is sober-minded—‘sensible’
- He is just
- He is holy—‘devout’
- He is self-controlled
- He is committed to exhortation
- Closing Remarks on Qualification
[i] For a more in-depth study of these issues, I highly recommend Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership (Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth, 1995).
[ii] For those committees that might benefit from an interim pastor, one resource that may be helpful is Roger S. Nicholson, (ed.), Temporary Shepherds: A Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry (Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute, 1998).
