Page 7 - Pastoral Ministries -Student Textbook

7. Not Addicted to Wine (1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7)

As we can see “drunkenness, violence and quarreling are probably placed together in Paul’s list because they are
often found together in person who drinks strong wine. Let me share something very interesting I learned
through study. The qualities found in verse 2 (able to teach), when present, qualify a man for the office; while
the qualities of verse 3, when present, disqualify a man to serve in that office.

Addiction to wine or alcoholic drinks leads to drunkenness and the losing of one’s faculty of a sober mind. Other
scriptures that reference this topic are Romans 12. 1-3; Proverbs 20:1, Eph. 5:18 and many more.

Violence often follows intoxication and is never suitable for a pastor. He should patiently instruct and
recognizes disputes in the church as a symptom of deeper spiritual desires.

The text no doubt is referring to anyone to avoid being a stumbling block to those who are weak; surely it should
be the pastor.

8. Not Pugnacious (1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7)

A feisty person with a perennial chip on his shoulder had better wait until he can gain better control of himself
before attempting to pastor.

If we could get to the bottom of a majority of the church splits and incidents that resulted in pastors being asked
to leave churches, we would probably find that the root cause was not a theological disagreement at all but was
a case of people who just could not or who chose not to get along with each other. In many of those instances
we could trace the difficulty to a pastor with a fiery spirit who did not control his temper.

9. Gentle (1 Tim. 3:3, 2 Tim. 2:24)

How many unfortunate incidents in the church could be avoided if Christians could learn to be gentlemen and
gentlewomen?

Some pastors have all the finesse of a steam roller pushing their way through obstacles, injuring the saints as
they attempt to make changes in the church.

The world is hungry for someone who is genuinely kind and gentle.

10. Uncontentious (1 Tim. 3:3; 2 Tim 2:24)

These are people who glory in a good argument.

“A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

11. Free From the Love of Money (1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7)

If you know that God has genuinely called you to a particular
group of people, God will faithfully meet your needs.

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