Moment of Meditation: Not a New Convert (1 Timothy 3:6)

He should not be a recent convert, or he may feel proud and so be condemned with the devil.
(1 Timothy 3:6)

Not a New Convert

One of the greatest revelations made to many of my classmates in seminary was that I had to wait before I began seminary. There is the requirement that everyone seeking to become a pastor must have been a Lutheran for at least two years. Granted, many of my classmates were lifelong Lutherans. They didn't understand why this restriction existed.

But think about it. Would you want someone who just started going to your church last month to become your pastor? Of course not. You'd want someone to know what he's talking about. You'd want someone who fulfills all the rest of the list of prerequisites for pastors. You'd want someone who has their feet firmly planted in what they're teaching.

Not a new convert. Someone who knows what he's doing. Otherwise everything might go to his head and he might end up condemning himself and the congregation through his own pride and arrogance. The last place anyone in church wants to be is Hell. How can someone who's just learning the faith lead others? He can't. He needs first to be led and then he will be able to lead. To lead his flock to Heaven and not Hell. Amen.