Biblical Qualifications of an Elder or Pastor

From Mark Driscoll's Blog:

17 Qualifications of an Elder-Pastor from 1 Timothy 3:1–7

Relation to God

* A man – masculine leader

* Above reproach – without any character defect

* Able to teach – effective Bible communicator

* Not a new convert – mature Christian

Relation to Family

* Husband of one wife – one-woman man, sexually pure (this does not require a man to be married, as Paul, Timothy, Jesus, and widowed men could qualify)

* Has obedient children – successful father

* Manages family well – provides for, leads, organizes, loves

Relation to Self

* Temperate – mentally and emotionally stable

* Self-controlled – disciplined life of sound decision-making

* Not given to drunkenness – without addictions

* Not a lover of money – financially content and upright

Relation to Others

* Respectable – worth following and imitating

* Hospitable – welcomes strangers, especially non-Christians for evangelism

* Not violent – even-tempered

* Gentle – kind, gracious, loving

* Not contentious – peaceable, not quarrelsome or divisive

* Good reputation with outsiders – respected by non-Christians

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