Shayla: How can I be called to the ministry if I am still imperfect?

Meforshim:

The Bible is clear in its injunction to carefully consider who we set aside for ministry.

• 1 Timothy 5:22 HCSB Don't be too quick to lay hands on anyone, and don't share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

We should carefully examine ourselves and be humble in our estimation of our abilities and qualifications.

• James 3:1-2 HCSB Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment; 2 for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who is also able to control his whole body.

However, God does not demand sinless perfection. He inspired John to say,

• 1 John 1:8-10 HCSB If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, "We have not sinned," we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

One of the qualifications of an elder is that he not be a new convert.

• 1 Timothy 3:6 HCSB He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil.

However, before listing the qualifications of elders, Paul told Titus to appoint elders in Crete. Everyone there were new converts! They had all just recently been pagan polytheists! They didn’t even have the advantage that a Jew had of being aware of the Old Testament Scriptures.

• Titus 1:5 HCSB The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town:

Therefore, the qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are goals, not absolutes. If they were absolutes, no one would ever qualify. This is not an unfamiliar principle. After all, didn’t God say that He wants us to be holy?

• Ephesians 1:4 HCSB for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love
• 1 Peter 1:15-16 HCSB but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

Yet according to 1 John, to say that we are sinless is to lie. And the apostle Paul himself said,

• Philippians 3:12-14 HCSB Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

An elder must possess all the characteristics of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. However, the degree to which they are possessed will be different from person to person. We are not discredited until the rightful authorities say we are. We are not out until the Scriptures clearly teach that we are finished. Just keep working to improve yourself, your family and your knowledge of the Scriptures. When you are ready, the Holy Spirit will let the Church know and you will be formally called. Until then, keep reaching forward to what is ahead and pursue as your goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.