The fact that some people are spiritually unfit for ministry leadership may not be initially evident, so hastily appointing them to be an elder can backfire. As Paul said, “the sins of others appear later.” Of course, he doesn’t mean the elders are without sin. But a potential elder can, as time passes, show himself unfit for pastoral leadership. If a church and its leaders demonstrate more patience and thorough examination in the process of elder selection, some poor leadership choices can be avoided, and a church can be spared much grief.
Paul’s first letter to Timothy is concerned about the health and welfare of the church in Ephesus. Much of this health is connected to the leaders and those who teach there. Leaders have influence, or they wouldn’t be leaders. And unsound leaders have an unhealthy influence.
One of Timothy’s responsibilities, then, is to ensure the raising up of qualified overseers (or elders) who will lead and instruct the flock of God in Ephesus. In 1 Timothy 3:1–7, Paul writes about the qualifications for overseers, and in 5:17–25 he returns to the subject of these leaders. He speaks about remuneration for elders who teach (5:17–18), about rebuking elders who are in sin (5:19–21), and about the danger of choosing elders in a hasty manner (5:22–25). In this post I want to think about this final element—the danger of hastily choosing elders.
Paul wrote, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure” (1 Tim. 5:22).
The phrase “laying on of hands” is about the public recognition of certain men as elders. If Paul is instructing Timothy not to be involved in hastily recognizing certain men as elders, then perhaps some of the trouble in Ephesus is the result of the church acting too quickly, rather than circumspectly and patiently, in appointing particular people to positions of leadership and influence.
In the qualifications section of the letter (1 Tim. 3:1–7), Paul said that an overseer “must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (3:6). One way, then, that a church might act too quickly in appointing an elder is if such a candidate is a recent convert.
A candidate reveals his moral and shepherding fittedness (or he reveals his disqualification) over time.