Title: Qualification of a Pastor/Overseer/Bishop
This is the 4 areas a person should meet as a standard in becoming a pastor.
(Note that there some qualities that can overlap other areas)
Spiritually Qualified
Must not be a recent convert, must know how to manage his own family well. A Pastor should be mature enough to pastor a flock. Able to stand and handle with the truth even if the flock is hard headed. A pastor must be able to handle the flock and not the flock handles the pastor.
He must be able to handle his family well. Though there are lots of children of ministers that are notorious, biblically speaking, a pastor should be able to handle his family which includes his children. A simple logical view was pointed out by Paul that if cannot handle his own family; he cannot handle his flock as well. This would imply that the flock is more difficult to handle than our own family. Remember Eli the priest who took care of Samuel. He was not able to handle his children so he was held accountable by God.
Morally Qualified
Not a lover of money, a husband but of one wife, have a good reputation with outsiders. A pastor should have a good moral standing. Obviously, he will have to teach to obey the Lord and he is supposed to live with what he teaches. It will be ironic if he will be teaching against immorality while he lives an immoral life. There are two deadly sins of a pastor (I called it deadly, because if a pastor is engage in either of the two or both, his ministry will die and will cease to exist. Not all but in most cases.). The first one is illicit affairs which includes adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality and sometimes, even divorce. The second one is the love (or lust) of money which covers greediness and extreme high standard of living.
Our moral living also affects our reputation. If ministers live an immoral life, we cannot be qualified to teach the Bible. If a pastor lives an immoral life, how then will he able to teach against immorality?
Doctrinally Qualified
Able to teach, must not be a recent convert. A pastor is expected to have learned his doctrinal stand or we can call it the teachings that have taught in the Bible. A pastor is at the same time teacher. No teacher should be teaching what he does not know. A teacher ought to teach only what he knows and what he lives.
It will be difficult for a recent convert to teach doctrines where he himself has not learned Biblical teachings. On the other hand, one should not wait a year to be able to teach. Note that Paul did not specify a time that new converts should refrain from teaching. I think that it will still depend on the spiritual maturity of a person.
What we do is to disciple immediately new converts allowing them to involve themselves in the ministries of the church. They will not be the main leader but we need to teach them immediately how to lead by making an example. We call this apprenticeship. This is the only way that we can produce people who were not the same as most Christians who just go to the church and then go home.
The Lighthouse Christian Ministry is committed to produce a breed of believers that does not just go to the church, but also reaching out, reaching the lost people for Christ because we believe that this is what should we become. It’s not a matter of job; it’s not a matter of social standing in the society, but a matter of faith and commitment as a believer.
Socially Qualified
Above reproach, a husband but of one wife, temperate, self controlled, respectable hospitable, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, have a good reputation with outsiders. These qualities are more on works. Good works is not a requirement for salvation but it is important in exemplifying it. Being above reproach is should be our mark as Christians.
The outsiders measure our Christianity by our works. If we don’t exemplify good works it means that we don’t have a testimony. And if we don’t have a testimony, then it is impossible for us to bring someone to Christ.
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