John 21:15-19
How can we know if a ministry is lead by a real man of God? What makes for a good biblical pastor? What should we look for in calling a man to be a pastor of our church?
Devotion to Jesus – John 21:15-17 – Do you love me?
Love of Christ is first and foremost. If the man loves Jesus he will lead, protect, and teach His Church, His bride. If he is faithful to Christ he will be faithful to His people.
How do we test that? 2 Corinthians 4:5 – What is in a man’s heart will come out when he is given a chance to speak. Over a cross section and several topics of sermons, does he preach Christ? Is Christ or the man on display? What is his primary focus? Are his messages mostly about social issues, felt needs, politics, and earthly priorities? Do they put themselves at the center of their preaching? Is it hard to find Christ in his sermons?
Devotion to the Bible – John 21:15-17 – Feed my sheep.
The Bible must be his textbook – 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5 – His central responsibility is to feed people the Word of God because it is what builds them up (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15).
How do we discern that? Questions to ask…
Does he teach that the Bible is the rule for faith and practice?
Does he teach about the holiness of God, His wrath, eternal judgment, and hell?
Does he teach about sin and repentance?
Does he teach about justification by faith alone?
Does he teach about the full deity, substitutionary atonement, and physical resurrection of Jesus?
Does he teach about and call you to your responsibility to follow Christ, holy living, righteousness, growing in grace, sanctification, etc?
Devotion to the Church – John 21:15-17 – My lambs.
His priority is to tend and feed the church, not the world. Ephesians 4:11-12ff – His focus is to build up the body of Christ, to build up the flock in sanctification, and promote their growth in holiness (cf. Acts 20:28 / 1 Peter 5:1-3).
His priority isn’t redeeming the culture or attracting seekers who don’t believe in Christ. It isn’t that he doesn’t interact with the community at all but that he primarily involves himself with the community of Christ. Personal evangelism is important for him, but discipling is a must.
Devotion to Holiness – John 21:18-19 – Follow me.
Titus 1:5-9 / 1 Timothy 3:1-7 – character qualifications
Galatians 5:22-23 – fruit of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1 – leads a godly life, worthy to be emulated (cf. Philippians 3:17 / 1 Thessalonians 1:6 / 2 Thessalonians 3:9 / Hebrews 13:7)
Hebrews 6:12 – diligent in devotion
This isn’t about perfection; it is that a man should have all four of these criteria as the dominant direction in his life. These are some of the same things we should be concerned with for our own lives. One of the most important ways to be discerning as far as evaluating a pastor is concerned is by being diligent to pursue godliness ourselves (2 Peter 3:17-18).
Galatians 5:22-23 – fruit of the Spirit
1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1 – leads a godly life, worthy to be emulated (cf. Philippians 3:17 / 1 Thessalonians 1:6 / 2 Thessalonians 3:9 / Hebrews 13:7)
Hebrews 6:12 – diligent in devotion
This isn’t about perfection; it is that a man should have all four of these criteria as the dominant direction in his life. These are some of the same things we should be concerned with for our own lives. One of the most important ways to be discerning as far as evaluating a pastor is concerned is by being diligent to pursue godliness ourselves (2 Peter 3:17-18).
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