1 Timothy 3:1-16

Leadership within the church is a serious matter, and, in many cases, one of the most desperate needs in churches today.  The church has been so influenced by the society in which we live it becomes harder and harder to find qualified leaders to carry the work of the ministry forward.  Unfortunately, this lack of qualified leaders has resulted in many churches ignoring the biblical qualifications for their leaders out of desperation for anyone who will do the job.  We must make it our aim to prepare godly leaders in our families and seek to meet the biblical qualifications that the work of the church might move forward for the glory of God in a way that obeys the Word.  Here is a very quick and brief summary of what I consider to be the three essential qualifications for leaders.
DESIRE: This is often overlooked in the process of selecting leaders.  Many times men shrink away from positions of leadership for a wide variety of reasons.  I think that it is essential that our leaders really want to be leaders and view leading the work of God as a great honor and privilege not a duty or a drudgery that someone “has to do.”  Paul calls this an excellent work, but it is a work that requires excellent men who want to serve the Lord with all their hearts and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices in their lives and of their time in order to be effective leaders for the glory of God.
DISCIPLINE: We must demonstrate discipline in every area of our lives.  We must have good reputations, be honest, men of integrity that others can follow without fear of being led astray.  We must be faithful in both big and small things.  Our finances must be in order and we must not be controlled by any external substance like alcohol, drug or even foods.  We must be able to control our attitudes and actions under the guidance of the Spirit in accord with the Word of God.  We will have failures in many of these areas, but the pattern of our lives must be seen as being disciplined in all of these areas that the work of God might move forward under our leadership.
DEVOTION: The ministry, more than any other position, requires that we be devoted to our families.  We can be great doctors and at the same time be terrible husbands.  We can be great business men and at the same time be terrible fathers.  However, in order to be great leaders in the church we must be great husbands and fathers.  We must be absolutely faithful and devoted to our wives, never allowing any other woman to compete with our affections for her whether it be on a physical or emotional level.  We must be loving fathers that instruct our children clearly and require that they follow the teachings of Scripture in their lives.  If we are unfaithful in our homes we will also be unfaithful in the church.  It is a difficult thing to balance our ministries and our families but it is absolutely necessary or we will end up losing both our families and our ministries.

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