The Tysons', Missionary Evangelist
Helping struggling churches in remote areas
Urging missionaries and churches to stand fast in the Last Days

QUALIFICATIONS FOR PASTORS

Keeping the church properly organized
Titus 1:5- "Set in order".

                                                                   

The epistle of Titus was written by the Apostle Paul and addressed to a young preacher named Titus; who was one of Paul's converts to Christ. God would never leave the newly instituted New Testament body of believers, (The Church) without a "Shop Manual" to maintain it; much like an automobile manufacturer prints a shop manual giving a step by step outline for keeping the mechanism in order. Titus 1:5- "That thou should set in order things that are wanting". 

Titus chapter one deals primarily with two very important subjects:

1- QUALIFICATIONS FOR PASTORS AND DEACONS.
 Titus 1:6-9 and also 1 Timothy 3:2-13.

2- KEEPING FALSE TEACHERS OUT OF AUTHORITY.
Titus 1:10-16.

Concerning the qualifications of those who are to oversee the House of God. A Bishop (Presbestos) is the same Greek word used for Pastor. God through the Apostle Paul produced a written manuscript for the Church as a guide in selecting those who would lead a congregation of believers. I might mention at this point that there are many congregations who do not have a Biblically qualified Pastor residing over it.

1- QUALIFICATIONS FOR PASTORS:

(1)- Introduction to the book of Titus.
Titus 1:4-"To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour".
(2)- The purpose of the letter.
Titus 1:5-"For this cause left I the in Crete, that the shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:"
(3)- Qualifications for Pastors are listed.
Titus 1:6-"If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly".
Titus 1:7-"For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;"
Titus 1:8-"But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;"
Titus 1:9-"Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers".

We want to discuss in this sermon, 5 Biblical qualifications for Pastors, Missionaries or any other ordained Minister.

(1)- A Pastor must be born again.
John 3:3- "Ye must be born again".
A spiritless person who doesn't know the Lord in the free pardon of sin can not get instructions from God to lead a church group. The bible tells us, "If the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch". Matthew 15:14.

(2)- A Pastor must have a call from God.
Acts 13:2- "The Holy Ghost said, seperate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them".

(3)- A Pastor must be the husband of one wife.
1 Timothy 3:2- "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife".
The Greek word for One is mee'-ah which means only One! The only one he ever had.

(4)- A Pastor must have Dedicated children.
Titus 1:6- "having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly".

(5)- A Pastor must have a testimony worthy of his leadership role.
I Timothy 3:2-7 list 13 specific things a pastor must have to be qualified.
(1)- blameless, which means unrebukeable in character.
(2)- the husband of one wife, which means his first and only one.
(3)- vigilant, sober which means an abstainer of wine curbing one's desires.
(4)- of good behaviour, given to hospitality, which means modest and generous to guest.
(5)- apt to teach, which means skillful in teaching.
(6)- no striker, which means not a bruiser ready for a blow, one ready for a fist fight.
(7)- not greedy of filthy lucre; which relates to money matters.
(8)- but patient, which means fair, mild and gentle.
(9)- not a brawler, which means an abstainer from fighting- not a hot head.
(10)- not covetous; which means not loving money or the possessions of others.
(11)- One that ruleth well his own house, meaning his wife and children are in subjection.
(12)- Not a novice, which means not a new convert.
(13)- He must have a good report of them which are without;

 Titus 1:7-9 list 7 things A bishop-(Pastor)- must have to be qualified.
(1)- blameless, the husband of one wife,
(2)- blameless, as the steward of God; which means unreproveable.
(3)- not self willed, which means not self pleasing- not arrogant.
(4)- not soon angry, which means not prone to anger.
(5)- not given to wine, which means not a drunkard.
(6)- no striker; which means not a bruiser or one ready to throw a blow.
(7)- not given to filthy lucre"; which means greedy for money.
QUALIFICATIONS THAT NEED MORE ELABORATION:
(1)- THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE IS ONE POINT THAT NEEDS ELABORATION.

The Pastor MUST be the Husband of One wife- Not one at a time as some try to get away with. 1 Timothy 3:2- "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife",

One is the Greek word mee'-ah which means "Only One". It means the only one he ever had! This teaching is not talking about multiple wives either. Jesus verifies that God made one man for one woman for life. Mark 10:6-9 -"But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder". (This passage is addressed to every child of God).
If a man has a living wife whom he left or divorced; he can not scriptually pastor a church. One of the highly recognized preachers of our day got a divorce from his wife and addressed the congregation in the beginning that he could no longer be their pastor because  the divorce disqualified him for the position. With this I agree and God's word confirms it, Luke 16:18- "whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultry: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultry". (This passage is addressed to every child of God)- However in short order someone ask him to remain their pastor and used the reasoning that God in His mercy and Grace forgives all sin. With that I agree as well but the consequence for sin is not taken away and a ministry is invalid in the sight of God where a divorce is present. This man is still pastoring his church and he now has other people believing it is all right with God to serve in any capacity as long as you only have one wife at a time. They also teach that a marriage does not count if one is divorced before they are saved. As previously stated; God forgives all sin but he does not remove the consequence for all sin. The only way out for an ordained minister where the partner has been unfaithful is to remain unmarried or reconciled to his wife and likewise if a Christian woman is separated from her husband the only way out is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:11- "But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife". (This passage is addressed not only to Pastors and Deacons but to every child of God).

The Greek for "remain" unmarried is men'-o which means to continue and to endure that position.

A christian woman or man for that matter is bound by the law to stay married to the same person while that person is alive but even if their partner is dead they are to marry only other christians!
1 Corinthians 7:39- "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord".

(2)- BEING BORN AGAIN IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE.

A Bishop or Pastor Must be Born again: If the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into the ditch as the scripture tells us in Luke 6:39- "Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch"?

This is not secondary but primary in God's sight. One who has not the indwelling of The Holy Spirit can not get guidance and instructions from the Lord for the congregation. There was a pastor some years ago who had a visiting preacher address the congregation who geared his sermon on "Knowing that you are born again". The pastor suddenly realized that he wasn't certain if he died at that very moment he would go to heaven and at the invitation he proceeded to the altar and settled the matter. After the service an old deacon who knew more scripture than most pastors came up to the pastor and ask for his resignation. The pastor was puzzled and ask why? The deacon's reply was: The bible qualification is- 1 timothy 3:6- "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil". Do you see how qualifications can get you in trouble when mistakes are made ?

(3)- A WIFE IN SUBJECTION IS AN ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATION FOR PASTORS.
1 Timothy 3:5- "For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God"?
Many pastor's wives rule the house and some of us need to read the sermon by the late Dr. R.G. Lee titled, "Mousy Papas and Bossy wives". 1 Peter 3:1- "Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands"; (This passage is not only for Pastor's wives but to all christian wives). I know that this is a subject where women get angry with the Preacher and walk out but they are in all reality walking out on God!

(4)- DEDICATED CHILDREN IS AN ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATION FOR PASTORS. 
Titus 1:6-The Pastor must have children who keep themselves in line with God's word As long as they live in the same household or the pastor isn't qualified.

Titus 1:6-"having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly". I have seen some pastors children who would make the devil himself blush. Some have a loud boom box in their cars with some of the most vile ungodly music you ever heard resonating from it's speakers. What about those body pearcings! An ear ring in boy's ears and girls with their tongues pierced or their nostrils pierced and some even have a gold pin in their naval. What is going to happen next? God said in His word that his people should not pierce their bodies and judgment would accompany any who did so. Then there are those awful Tattoos young people seem to think they can't live without. Lev.19:28 God said it is a sin to mark your body which is a pagan ritual relating to worship of the dead.
What does God say about tattoo's and piercings: Lev. 19:28-"Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD". Those God awful tongue piercings with a gold pin through it are an abomination to the Lord as well as Naval piercings and Yes those awful nose piercings imply that you don't care about spiritual things and your body is not an instrument of Holiness as the Lord instructs!

A pastor is responsible for his household and as long as children remain at home he is to teach them to honor God with their bodies as well as with their minds. After the children are grown and move out to start their own life, I think the obligation of the father is removed and God starts dealing with them separately. If you remember the story of the Prophet Eli in the Old Testament; God killed him for not keeping his two boys in line and I believe God has established a principal that fathers will give an account for children who live under their roof.

(5)- A CHRIST HONORING TESTIMONY IS ESSENTIAL FOR PASTORS.

Titus 1:7-"For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;"
Titus 1:8-"But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;"
Titus 1:9-"Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers".

2- KEEPING FALSE TEACHERS AWAY FROM GOD'S PEOPLE.

(1)- STOPPING FALSE TEACHERS FROM DECEIVING THE CONGREGATION.
Titus 1:10-"For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:" Titus 1:11- "Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake". Filthy lucre is personal gain and
I have witnessed much of that from pastors and preachers who are lining their pockets at the expense of not getting the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.

(2)- STOPPING FALSE TEACHERS FROM HOLDING LEADERSHIP POSITIONS.
In verse 10 the text shifts from qualifications to exhortation about letting false teachers gain leadership positions and to keep them away from the flock of believers lest they become deceived and fall into perversion. I want to say at this point that there are many people in fundamental churches who have allowed a deceiver to lead them astray. For instance the King James Bible has been abandoned in multitudes of pastorates in order to try and get a mostly spiritless constituency to understand what no one will ever be able to understand until they are truly born again and are growing in the grace and knowledge of God's word. The bible tells us that the natural man comprehendeth not the things of God, "neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned". I Cor. 2:14.

During my first pastorate at Wrangell, Alaska we found many unscriptual things lurking in the shadows among which- no stand was taken on what translation of scripture to use. I began preaching on the reasons we accept no other translation than the 1611 KJV. We also placed into the church minutes a declaration that our church recognizes no other version and will not allow another translation to be used from the pulpit. If for no other reason you should stay with the KJV; it is because literally multitudes have come to know Christ as their personal Saviour through preaching from it's pages. I have no problem understanding the "Old English" wording and I cherish the poetic ring to the passages I have hidden in my heart.

The early church met much opposition from Jewish converts who continually wanted to mix the old testament law of Moses with new testament doctrine and Paul wrote the book of Titus to warn believers against letting false doctrine infiltrate the ranks of Christianity. Many of those Jews were former Rabbi or teachers of Judaism. They had just enough Biblical knowledge to get everybody confused and many of them tried to keep the New Testament Church under Judaism. It is not Grace plus The Old Testament Law as some imply but the  grace of God plus nothing and minus nothing as the writings of Paul so vividly describe in Ephesians 2:6-9.


In Conclusion:

The New Testament body of believers should be properly organized with biblically qualified pastors and deacons. If it isn't so, you can forget about asking God to bless your church because he would have to put his stamp of approval on sin in order to do so.

If you are one of the trouble makers who always seem to oppose what God is doing; you have two options. You might be saved but I doubt it. If you are saved, you need to spend some time on your knees seeking God's forgiveness and looking for direction in your life. If you are one of those who see everything from a negative standpoint; you most likely need to be born again. If you will examine your heart and go back to the time you were being dealt with by the Holy Spirit and you repented of your sin and ask Jesus into your heart to abide forever; you will know what you need to do. I was born again by the Grace of God over 35 years ago and I have heard preachers speak on knowing your heart and knowing that you are born again which  would cause me to do as the scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:5- "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates"? Please do this before you think you have the authority to make leadership decisions in the body of Christ!

After you know without a shadow of doubt that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you can study God's Word and grow thereby until you are qualified for a leadership position.

By James T. Tyson Sr.