This is the second portion of the Ordination document I wrote for my Pastoral Education class. The qualifications for Pastoral Ministry are taken from Titus 1:5-9
1."Desire of the position of elder"
•This has been the constant desire of my heart since God saved me. God has placed within me a desire to minister to others with His Word. I attempted to pursue other avenues of career, but there has been no other passion which has surpassed that of the desire to minister to God’s Church with the Bible. It has been a constant and driving force, and whenever I am able to use the Word to minister to others, it is such a spiritually charging and motivating thing that it only intensifies the desire for ministry.
2.“above reproach”
•I believe that this sums up the list which follows, so I will deal with each of these character qualities and ministry giftedness qualities individually.
3.“the husband of one wife”
•I have been married for approximately 4 ½ years. In this period of time, I have been physically faithful to my wife. Before I was saved, I was unfaithful to her by the use of pornography to fulfill sexual desires. Since I have been saved, God has graciously spared me from falling back into this deceptive trap apart from a few stumbles. God has been gracious to me, and I don’t deserve the forgiveness extended by either Him or my wife.
4.“sober-minded”
•This is probably the Pastoral characteristic which is most lacking in my personal life. I struggle to be “sober-minded” for very long; I am constantly attempting to make jokes and make light of situations which may or may not require me to have a serious attitude. I struggle to maintain a serious attitude while spending time with those to whom I am ministering. I think this is helpful a lot of times, because it is good to laugh, but it is unnecessary to laugh all the time—even inappropriate at some times. I plan on taking a more observant look at my attitude and actions while I am around those to whom I should be ministering, and that I am not putting off a “jokester” persona.
5.“self-controlled”
•This is another area in which I struggle to be consistent. I am normally able to discipline myself to perform good habits (i.e. Bible reading, prayer) by God’s grace. However, I have trouble controlling myself when it comes to my fleshly desires. I too often give over because of feelings of strong temptation, when in reality it is a failure to pursue the filling of the Spirit. I will overeat, or be drawn to lust after another woman because I just don’t feel like fighting it or I feel physically tired. I hope to fight this laziness by relying more on the means of grace, making them a higher daily priority, and setting up physical barriers to keep myself accountable—both to myself before God, and to any accountability partners whom I ask to help me stay obedient.
6.“respectable”
•My life is kept fairly orderly fashion. I attempt to maintain a fairly ordered life, because I have many responsibilities and personally, I know that if I do not keep my life “according to schedule,” I will miss opportunities to finish things or accomplish things that I need to finish. This is actually one of the physical measures which help me to keep from laziness. Keeping an orderly schedule helps me to keep my life as productive as possible. With the help of my wife, we set weekly schedules to keep ourselves as orderly as possible.
7.“hospitable”
•My wife and I are fairly hospitable. We do not often have people over for dinner (because of my wife’s current work situation), but we do make sure to welcome people into our house whenever possible. We entertain family and Church friends on a fairly regular basis. We prepare meals for an elderly man who lives in our neighborhood on a nightly basis. We also help members of our family (physical and Church) with whatever they ask for, as long as we are able.
8.“able to teach”
•From what I have heard, I have the ability to teach. I have been told that I need to include more “down to earth” practical information within my teaching lessons, but I have heard from several people that I have the ability to teach God’s Word with clarity and with an emphasis on doctrine. I desire that those to whom I am given the responsibility of teaching would understand the deeper issues of theology behind the text which I am teaching.
9.“not a drunkard”
•I do not have a particular susceptibility to alcohol. I have consumed alcohol before, but I have not been drawn into consuming it on a regular (or even irregular) basis. I tend to stay away from drinking alcohol as much as I can help it, because of what I know about my weaknesses in the flesh. I do not want myself to become vulnerable to the deceptive charm of alcohol and drunkenness, so I stay away from drinking alcohol in nearly all possible occasions.
10.“not violent but gentle”
•I am not a very hostile person by God’s grace. I was a man who would be very vengeful, but God’s grace has rescued me from this lifestyle. I do not seek to “get even” if others speak critically of me; I can generally take criticism in a gracious manner, and not seek to insult or retaliate against the person in return.
11.“not quarrelsome”
•I am not a man to pick fights. I will attempt to engage in debates with others when I feel it necessary, but normally I do not attempt to “pick” fights over things that are not important. Sometimes this is to a fault, because I will overlook things that are important for the sake of “not being quarrelsome” when there is actual truth and error on the line. I have been learning to balance the timing and evaluate the importance of issues which need discussion.
12.“not a lover of money”
•Particularly related to ministry, I am not concerned with making a lot of money. I would, of course like to make enough money to support my family, but I am not looking to own extravagant things or make extravagant travel plans because of my job in the ministry. Nor do I plan on compromising truth for the sake of more money (i.e. a wealthy member of the church).
13.“must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive”
•This is an issue that my wife and I have been working on over the past few years. We have been attempting to raise our children in the “fear and admonition of the Lord” through family devotions, Gospel-centered discipline, and Gospel-centered instruction. Our children are not perfectly obedient or submissive yet (particularly our oldest son who was born before both my wife and myself were saved), but we are attempting to teach them the importance of understanding their sins before God and not just their sins against their parents.
14.“must not be a recent convert”
•This is a fairly hard qualification to respond to, because it is somewhat relative. I have not been saved for a “long time” in the sense that some would use the word, but I have been saved for almost 5 years, and have grown in my knowledge of doctrine and theology (by God’s grace, of course) at a fairly rapid rate thanks to God’s grace in listening to men who can exposit the Scripture rightly and teach the doctrine that lies behind it. So, relatively, I am a “recent convert,” but I know more than a new-born would know.
15.“must be well thought of by outsiders”
•Those whom I know outside of the Church have generally had a kind impression of me. I am not an overbearing person, and I do not generally fight to get my way “or the highway”, and therefore I gain the respect of some of the people I know outside of the Church.
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