Wise Nomination Committee

WISE NOMINATION COMMITTEE God will make something out of nothing. When Jesus choose His first batch of disciples, the twelve disciples were ordinary men. God used them in an extraordinary manner. The twelve consist of fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionist. The Gospels record the constant failings, struggles, and doubts of these twelve men who followed Jesus Christ. The leaders that Jesus himself nominated to be his “council members” were ordinary sinners. How do the church appoint its’ council members today? The church have their own set of criteria or rules to “judge” the nominated council members. Sadly, they did not follow the scripture. The first criteria the nomination committee should bear in mind is written in Matthew 7 : 1 – 2 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Literally, it means the nomination committee cannot judge an eligible candidate based on his or her personal life. They should only be interested in the leadership qualities. The second criteria is in Roman 3 : 10 – 12 As it is written : "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Basically it mean that none of us is worthy to do His job. The third criteria which is most important is found in Roman 3 : 23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In the eye of God, all of us are equal. We (including the nomination committee) are trash and rubbish in His sight. However, all of us are saved and entitled to serve Him by His grace. AFTER selecting the candidate by considering the three criteria above, the only advice that the church entitle to give to the candidate is in Titus 1 : 7 – 9 “Since

an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is selfcontrolled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Titus 1 : 7 – 9 is a personal matter between the candidate and God. The church can only monitor the candidate by his or her performance. The church cannot play God by using Titus 1 : 7 – 9 as a selection criteria.