The New Testament uses several words for church leaders; the most common are apostle, overseer, bishop, elder, and deacon. Elders/Pastors were leaders are to be the overseers in the church and Deacons are to be the servants.Paul listed several qualifications for an elder. He must live a life that cannot be spoken against, meaning he must have no flaw in his conduct that would be grounds for any kind of accusation. He must be blameless. The term serves as a general opening summary of character. A leader within the church should have a good reputation among believers. Leadership sets the tone. Let me share some of the building blocks of that reputation.
A church leader must live wisely, meaning that his life should be marked by moderation, limits, not extreme or excessive, with an absence of extravagance. We might use the term “balanced” to indicate that this leader possesses the appropriate emphasis on each of the priorities in his life.
Christian leaders must also be able to teach. One of the most important tasks of any church leader is to teach the Scriptures to those in the congregation. The leader must understand and be able to communicate the profound truths of Scripture, as well as deal with those false teachers who mishandle them.
A Christian leader must not be one who loves money. Leaders must have a proper attitude for handling finances in the church. This affects the ethical use of church funds and the administration of proper programs for raising money. It also implies that making money should not be a prime motive for a candidate seeking a church leadership position. Many would-be leaders combine love of money with a quarrelsome nature and end up quarreling in the church over money matters. Such a person should not be selected to lead.
The qualifications for both elders and deacons hinge on the man’s ability to manage his own household. It is not absolutely required that an elder be married or have children. If he does, however, he must manage his own family well.
Requiring the leaders to have a good reputation with people outside the church (that is, nonbelievers in the community) gave the church at large a good reputation in the community. Church leaders, being the most visible people in the church to the secular world, would do well to maintain the highest of standards and the best reputation. Seeing several church leaders make headlines in recent years for tax evasion, wrongful use of solicited funds, and sexual escapades certainly damages the credibility of the church.
Church leaders who follow Paul’s advice keep their church from facing unnecessary abuse. Otherwise, the result is to fall into the Devil’s trap and be disgraced with both the believers and nonbelievers. When Christian leaders have a bad reputation, it keeps nonbelievers from coming to Christ.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches and to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Your self worth is more important than your net worth. A good name is more important than how much money you’ve got in the bank. Ecclesiasties 7:1 (LB) says, “A good reputation is better than the most expensive perfume.” It’s something that’s pleasing, sweet. It also cost more than expensive perfume.
The key to a good reputation can be summed up in the word “character” – your inner attitudes, your values, your actions. There’s a difference between reputation and character. Reputation is what people think you are. Character is what you are. Reputation is how you appear to be. Character is what you actually are.
D.L. Moody said, “Character is what you are in the dark.” Character is what you are when nobody’s around. Character is what you have left when you’ve lost your reputation. It’s what’s left over. When you’ve lost everything you can lose, the only thing you have left is your character. It takes sometimes a few minutes to a few days to a few hours to build a reputation. People build reputation instantly. It takes a lifetime to build character. The key to a good reputation is having good character.
The problem is, we’re more concerned about image than character. Most people are more interested in “How do I look?… How do I appear to others? … What do other people think about me?” For many leaders, the problem with their heart is a problem in the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7 says “Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.” God looks on the inside to determine our character. James 2:1-4 talks about how it’s wrong to judge other people by their appearance. He says when a guy comes to church and he’s wearing a certain kind of clothes you tell him, “You come sit here at the front.” The poor guy you tell to sit at the back. It is wrong to judge by outward appearance. We’re to look at character.
What does that have to do with leadership? Everything. If leadership is influence, then influence is earned by respect. If you don’t have the respect of people, you’re not a leader.
Lord, draw leaders to COV. Build leaders at COV. Lord, build me into the leader that COV needs.
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