“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
Therefore an overseer must be…” (1 Timothy 3:1-2a).
How would you finish the following statement?
The most important characteristics, skills, and abilities of a pastor are …
There are many different things that we can list and many directions we can go with a statement like that. In fact, maybe the truth of the matter is that we want our pastors to have every conceivably good and fitting trait and ability for any possible situation. While there may be many characteristics and many gifts that we would desire a pastor to have, I’m curious to reflect on what traits top your list. Are there any identifiable patterns or groupings that can be found within your list of desired attributes? Is there a particular mold that you are trying to fill? Is there even a particular pastor from your past that you are thinking of that you wish all pastors could be just like him?
I don’t know how insightful this reflection is for you, but it has been for me, especially as Calvary’s Call Committee continues its work seeking an additional associate pastor. We are in the middle of working through a list of 16 different pastors. We have narrowed the list some, but we still have more narrowing to do. We’ve read about who they are. We’ve studied their answers to a broad range of theological and practical questions. We’ve even begun looking at some of their sermons. Through all this, it strikes me how unique, how different, and how diverse each pastor is. Our church body is blessed with many gifted, faithful, and dedicated servants, but each of them is different. Each would bring different skills, different abilities, and a different personality to their work here at Calvary. So often I think we can become so focused on getting to “the one,” the long-hoped for, the eagerly desired, best of the best, cream of the crop, the best candidate who stands out overall. But if you step back and consider it, it’s not a matter of finding “the one.” After all, I hate to break it to you, but all the candidates are imperfect, because all the candidates are humans, and therefore come with that not so unique trait of being a sinner. Instead, it is a matter of seeing the unique direction that this pastor or this pastor can help us head within our ministry. It is a matter of recognizing that each candidate brings their unique skills to complement what we have going on here at Calvary already. God doesn’t come down with a beam of light that shines upon the perfect candidate. Instead, God continues to shine the light of His grace through the lives of imperfect candidates, imperfect pastors, and imperfect people. As Paul himself put it earlier in his letter to Timothy, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
I continue to encourage you to pray for our call committee, pray for our congregation, and pray that God would continue to raise up faithful servants for God’s mission field. But above all I ask that you continue to pray that God would be at work in your life, displaying his perfect patience, his great grace, and lavish love. You may not think that you are the perfect “candidate” for the job but know that how you use your words and how you live your life is the only sermon that some people ever experience. May our lives point to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. While people we are weak, he is strong. While we are blemished, he is blameless. He is the Lord of the church and Lord of your life. Trust in him. He is the only “One” that we are truly searching for. He is the one who lives up to our hopes and dreams. Seek Christ, the Good Shepherd, to whom all other under shepherds point.
