Our new church, Grace Bible Church in Ann Arbor, is currently searching for a new Senior Pastor. They handed out a survey in the bulletin yesterday asking for demographic info from the congregation as well as thoughts on what members of the congregation want in a Senior Pastor. I’m trying to organize my thoughts on that question so that my survey submission will be clear and concise. So, here goes

• Meets elder qualities as set down in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7
• Has passion to reach the lost in Ann Arbor with the gospel
• Has a specific vision to reach the lost in Ann Arbor, a pre-Christian town
• Sees the local church as having the primary responsibility for theological education and raising up leaders in the church (following the Paul/Timothy model)
• Commitment to creating and nurturing a culture of discipleship and mentoring at Grace
• Passion for planting church-planting churches
• Firmer-than-average grasp of core Christian doctrines (from Mark Dever)
• Firm grasp of doctrines distinctive to particular church (from Mark Dever)
• Firmer-than-average grasp on doctrines that are currently under cultural pressure (from Mark Dever)

I have intentionally left off educational requirements like seminary or bible school degree, for education isn’t specifically mentioned in the Bible as a quality of an elder. That doesn’t mean that an elder should be uneducated, but we shouldn’t be more strict than the bible when identifying and raising up leaders.

Pride and arrogance are probably the sins with which I most struggle. I’ve tried to rationalize it by saying that I don’t think that I’m better than other people, but I expect a lot of myself. Frankly, that’s baloney. Any time I think of myself highly, that is sin. Every time I am prideful and seek my own glory, that is sin. It’s clear as day in verses like

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall

Proverbs 29:23 - One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Mark 7:22 - And he (Jesus) said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

Those verses need to affect me, they need to convict me of my pride and arrogance. I can’t read these like they are good advice or only for other people. I need to know in my heart that these are written for me, that God is speaking to me through His word, telling me to die to self and live in Him.

These sins of pride and arrogance come to surface especially when I think of planting a church in Ann Arbor. When I hear of other churches planting, I sinfully think that they are doing what I should be doing, that they are stealing my idea. Then I am reminded that “I am the worst sinner I know” (paraphrase of 1 Timothy 1:15) as I attempt to put myself above God’s providential plan. I should rejoice that other men feel called by God to plant churches in Ann Arbor. Praise God that there will be new congregations proclaiming the gospel – the good news that Jesus, the Father Son, came in human form to freely offer salvation through repentance to a rebellious people who would otherwise be rightly condemned to hell. I need to pray for the success (faithfulness) of these other church plants and see their work as FOR God’s purposes, and not against mine.

PS – The impetus for this post was the Insight Podcast interview with Young Pastors. I was greatly encouraged by two pastors who, while being only miles apart, did not see each other as competition. The quote was something like “There are 950,000 unchurched people in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area. If their church has 900,000 in attendance, that still leaves us with 50,000 people to reach with the gospel.” What a great attitude and a stark contrast to mine, where I see other church’s work as inhibiting or preventing what I think is my work. That is me limiting God, thinking that He won’t reconcile all of Ann Arbor to Him. My prayer is that God will bring all in Ann Arbor to Him, that Ann Arbor would be known as a city devoted to God and His purposes.