Does Your Pastor Love Jesus?

A few questions to ask yourself if you're ever looking for a pastoral candidate:
--Is this man converted?
--Does he believe the Bible is true and inspired by God?
--Does he love Jesus?

James Montgomery Boice quotes a sermon from Gilbert Tennent (1740) where Tennent speaks about just this.   "Natural men [that is, unconverted men] have no call of God to the ministerial work.  So if a godly man finds himself in a church or denomination in which such natural men hold rule, then it is both lawful and expedient to go from there to hear godly persons."

Don't ever put yourself (or, men, your family) in the position of sitting under an unconverted mininstry. Be willing to ask the hard questions, and sometimes the obvious questions, of your pastor.  A man in my congregation ended up in our church because he asked his former pastor if he believed in God and the man said no!  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's all that uncommon.  Boice says of ministers, "Ministers are somewhat reluctant to say what they really believe because, if they do, their congregations are likely to get rid of them.  They will be out looking for another job.  But they do say what they believe in the company of other ministers."

So put your pastor (or pastoral candidate) on the spot, ask the tough questions, make sure he genuinely agrees with your statement of faith, and protect yourself and your family from the danger of an unconverted minister.

(Feed My Sheep, 27.  Reformation Trust. 2008)