Imagine: you have advanced in your career to a place of responsibility. You have a budget and need to do some hiring. Who will it be? How do you choose between applicants? Imagine that you have scheduled interviews with a dozen candidates—and let’s pretend all twelve are people you know today. Can you picture 12 in your mind right now? Friends, enemies, classmates, roommates, teammates? Let’s imagine further that each is qualified. How will you choose?
Paul gives advice to Titus that may prove useful. He provides traits to look for in elders—a list churches have long applied to pastors and deacons:
“I directed you to appoint elders in every town: each must be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. For an overseer, as God’s administrator, must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it” Titus 1:5-9.
You could make a checklist:
- Blameless
- Not divorced
- Good children
- Humble
- Patient
- No addictions
- Not a bully
- Not greedy, but hospitable
- Loves what is good
- Sensible
- Righteous
- Holy
- Self-controlled
- Faithful to scripture
- Able to teach right doctrine and refute heresy.
Wow. That’s a tall order! And few managers can be that choosy in the hiring process—but again, this list is for pastors, elders, and deacons.
But this is also a great list of personal goals. Do I have all 15 traits? Do you? Or will you someday?
We should make it our ambition to master ALL of these.
God needs reliable people on His team, hard workers to whom He can entrust great responsibility.
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