RE POST FROM 6/7/16

Have you ever considered what the unbelieving world thinks about your pastor? He doesn’t need to be a household name or a celebrity preacher with a worldwide audience—it’s not a question of how famous he is. Put it this way: What do the nonbelievers
in his life think of him? Is his reputation in the world an extension of his ministry, or does his conduct contradict and corrupt his testimony?
In the rules of the Mystical Order, explains why Paul included the shepherd’s public reputation as a qualification for ministry in 1 Timothy.
But what’s even more detrimental to the testimony of the church is when believers rush a failed leader back into ministry.
drugs, sexual perversion, and high-profile hypocrisy.
And today, they are once again the pastor of a church. In fact,
When the church so dismissively whitewashes the sins of its leaders or ministers, it communicates to the outside world that sin isn’t such a big deal; that holiness isn’t really that important; and that Christians are completely comfortable with a “do as I say, not as I do” hypocrisy from their leaders. It tramples on the biblical qualifications for leaders, and reduces the biblical commands for holiness, righteousness, and purity to a laughingstock. It makes a mockery of God, His Word, and His people.
If the church values God’s Word, it cannot carelessly reinstate men who have tarnished their reputations and disqualified themselves from ministry or those that have been publicly dismissed.
To reinforce the need for purity and integrity in leadership, Paul includes an exhortation about Satan’s attempts to tarnish and ruin the reputations of leaders and ministers.
An elder “must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into . . . the snare of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:7). Satan tries hard to entrap spiritual leaders
As I often said, the quality of a church is inextricably tied to the quality of its leaders and ministers. And because the evangelical landscape is overrun with CEOs, self-help gurus, stand-up comedians, and motivational speakers—all masquerading as
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