Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Qualified Leadership

Angry, hot-headed men hurt people. So an elder must not have a dictatorial spirit or be quick-tempered, pugnacious, or self-willed. Fi nally, an elder must not be a new Christian. He must be a spiritually mature, humble, time-proven disciple of Jesus Christ. When examining candidates for eldership, most churches address these personal moral qualities only superficially if at all. John H. Armstrong, editor of Reformation and Revival Journal and author of Can Fallen Pastors Be Restored?, expresses his frustration with the lack of concern churches demonstrate when questioning candidates’ personal moral qualities. He writes: In all my years of service on councils and committees I have rarely heard a candidate asked: “What about your life morally?” We might discuss a man’s marriage, and that often in a rather shallow manner. Almost never did I hear the candidate asked, “Are you sexually pure, at this time, before God?”. .. We simply do not probe the issue of proven character and personal purity very deeply. In an age where sexual misconduct is common, both in the culture and in the church at large, I am compelled to ask, “Why do we never ask these kinds of questions before we ordain a man?” We live in a time where the statistics suggest that habits in the church are not that different from those in the general population. . .. In these professional examination procedures we may ask a dozen doctrinally oriented questions, for every one ethical and moral question. I am not demeaning doctrinal questions, for far too many pastors are fuzzy and unclear in this area as well, but why do we almost totally ignore the areas of sex, money, and power? Is it not in these areas that most of the ethical and moral failures will surface?9

Armstrong further comments:

Some years ago I was asked to chair a committee for my evangelical denomination where the duties included pre examining men for ordination before the council was convened. . .. Our job was to test, to question, and then to recommend. We examined a good number of men each year. More than half of

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