Qualifications:  Humility

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Paul spells out the reason for not appointing a man who is a recent convert in v.6. “Lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil”. The New International Version expresses it this way—“he may become conceited and fall under the same judgement as the devil”. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking “I have arrived”, believing that one can do things in one’s own strength and by one’s own abilities. That is the danger of having little or no experience. Paul uses a word here that literally means “to wrap up in smoke”. There is nothing very substantial about smoke! A person who becomes puffed up with pride is a very insubstantial person, who is incapable of leading a church. Indeed, it is our duty to guard against such a situation. We, as church members, have our own responsibility in this—to make sure that a man whom we may call to be pastor is not spiritually compromised because he himself is not ready to take on that responsibility. The cause of Satan’s fall was pride. And look what trouble he has stirred up for us ever since! So in order to prevent a potentially difficult and disastrous situation, we must take care not to appoint a mere beginner as an elder or pastor. The onus is on us.

Remember Paul on his first missionary journey? He did not appoint elders in every church—until he revisited the churches (Acts 14:23). And Timothy himself was not immediately ordained after his conversion. He was brought to know the Lord on Paul’s first missionary journey, but he was not ordained until later (on the second missionary journey at the very least).

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