So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. – 1 Thessalonians 2:8
Okay, which is better for an elder candidate . . . a successful business owner with great business savvy or a laborer of humble means with character worth imitating? Which is better, finding a volunteer to fill a need or patiently waiting for the right person to come along? The call to eldership requires first and foremost godly character with skills only secondary according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. And the call to eldership is not for volunteers, but for those who are inwardly compelled to serve. This internal call must be tested by the external call… a recognition by the church (church member election) that this man is called to be an elder. Hear the wisdom of a dead presbyterian, Thomas Murphy, a Presbyterian Minister in the 19th century: “Great care should be taken in selecting persons for this responsible office that they be men well known, tried, and proved to be of the proper spirit. Before they are ordained to a calling so sacred it should be indubitable that they are men of suitable intelligence, who will keep themselves well informed about the interests of the cause of Christ; men who will exercise brotherly charity and study the peace and the church; men of patience, who for Christ’s sake, will bear with much that is trying in conducting the complicated interests committed to them; men who are willing to deny self in order that they may honor the Master; men of good repute, who have confidence of the whole community for real godliness; and men who can be looked up to as examples and confided in as following in the footsteps of Christ. Very much the peace, prosperity, usefulness, comfort, and honor of the church depend upon the character of its elders.” – Pastoral Theology: The Pastor in the Various Duties of His Office, p. 496.
