Being “godly” is not the same thing as being “qualified”

I am so grateful for the men God has called to serve as elders at San Gabriel Union Church.  I am just as grateful for the many men he has not called to serve as elders.  Let me explain. I am asked regularly about the process involved in becoming an elder at SGUC.  Time and again the questions asked reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to serve as an elder.   What is that misunderstanding?   That justification equals qualification or maybe even more precisely, that godliness is equal to qualification. It is clear in the New Testament that God’s design for the New Testament church  is for a very specifically qualified group of men to function as elders in the local body.  The Bible draws lines between godly believers and qualified elders.  Certainly, justification and evidence of ongoing sanctification are minimum expectations for those who would serve as elders, but the qualifications for eldership move beyond these fundamental areas.  The list of qualifications is quite long and specific, and probes into the most personal corners of one’s life (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1).  The list also includes qualifications that are not about character, but about giftedness.  This is important. God has gifted each man and woman in the body uniquely (Romans 12:3– 8; 1 Corinthians 12 – 14) and when God calls a man to serve as an elder, he not only equips him with the qualities to serve but with the gifts necessary to function in his office.  Not all believers are called to serve as elders because God has not gifted all believers with the gifts to serve as elders. Why is this so important? It reminds us from the start that those who are called, qualified and gifted are only called, qualified and gifted because of the grace of God.  God is the one who deserves all of the glory – elders are simply one more gracious gift from God to His church.  We unintentionally undermine the process God has established and the various manifestations of God’s grace if we confuse the categories of godliness and qualifications. So, I am grateful for the godly men who serve as elders but I am just as grateful for the many godly men and women whom God has not equipped to be elders, but who serve Him and His church in so many diverse ways, all to the praise of His glory. – Pastor Steve