Three Mistakes Churches Make When Judging Character

One of the most important tasks we have in ministry is to raise up and appoint new leaders. God’s mission cannot be accomplished by any one person; we constantly need new leaders to take the Gospel to places it has not yet been, and at the very least, we need to replace ourselves before we finish our work here on Earth. 

The trouble is, as anyone who can read headlines will know, Christians aren’t always the best judge of character. Sometimes it feels like the best way to determine if a prospective leader has strong character is to wait about ten years after they’re dead. Too often we discover that a respected leader has committed disqualifying sins only as their career is coming to a close, or even after it has ended. We don’t foresee moral failures because of three common mistakes we make as we raise up new leaders.

Mistake #1 Shallow Discipleship

Jesus didn’t commission the Pharisees to take the Gospel to all nations after his resurrection. He didn’t commission the Sadducees, teachers of the law, or even the masses for that matter. Instead, Jesus commissioned his disciples…to make disciples. He spent three years with his disciples, teaching, demonstrating, and overseeing them as they became more like him. By the time he left, he knew their character and that they would adhere to his teachings and die rather than renouncing him.

We don’t operate the same today. Often, there’s so much work to be done, especially in a church plant or growing church, that we fill slots with whoever is available. We lean on background checks and references to bypass sharing our lives with someone (though there’s nothing wrong with a background check). At the end of the day, we hope to stumble upon people with Godly qualities instead of discipling those qualities into them.

Even when we do attempt to disciple someone, it often looks like coffee every other week. As if kicking back for two hours per month at Starbucks is what Jesus meant by “go and make disciples.” When we limit our disciple making activities so much, it should be no surprise when we miss red flags in the lives of young leaders. Discipleship is a slow and highly relational process. We have to share our entire lives – the good, the bad, and the ugly – for others to get the most from us, and for them to reciprocate that kind of vulnerability. Trust is a two-way street, so we won’t know what parts of a leader’s life needs to be transformed by the Gospel if we only ever hang out in the shallow end of the pool.

Mistake #2 Focusing on the Wrong Redeeming Qualities

I once heard Crawford Loritts say that sometimes your gifts can take you places that your character isn’t ready for. Quite honestly, we tend to gravitate towards talented people to put into leadership positions. Now there’s nothing wrong with having expectations beyond character, but we can’t become blinded by those. Otherwise we’ll end up like Samuel, so sure that the first seven brothers were king material that he would have never picked David had it been up to him.

Before we get carried away with all of the skills and gifts someone has, we ought to check to make sure they measure up to the character qualifications that Paul outlines in 1 Timothy and Titus. Those should be constant guidelines for us. Just because someone is successful and ministry under them is expanding doesn’t mean they should be given more opportunities. The pressure to keep up the good work will only exacerbate character flaws.

Mistake #3 Focusing on the Absence of Bad Character

Even when we’re closely discipling someone and know what character traits to look for, we have a strange tendency to look for the absence of bad character rather than evidence of good character. Maybe that’s us wanting to believe the best in people. Maybe we’ve never really been taught what to work for. However, just because something isn’t evident doesn’t mean it’s not lurking beneath the surface. If you haven’t seen any evidence of a leader engaging in shady business practices, that isn’t proof that they’re honest and generous. 

Take Paul’s instruction that a deacon should be faithful to his wife as an example. If I’m considering a person for a leadership position, not having an affair isn’t really the end of the discussion. I need to take notice of how that person treats their spouse. Do they treat them with honor and respect? Are they actively loving them as Christ loves the Church? If they aren’t, they could be holding the truth back or poised for some problems in the future. Giving them more responsibility may only put them in a position where they feel that they have to fake it until they make it…and that rarely works out.

When it comes to character, I think about the story of Ruth. When Boaz meets her, he says, “​​all the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.” Boaz already knew who Ruth was because of her character. It was the talk of the town. Considering that people enjoy gossiping over flaws and failures like they enjoy watching a train wreck, she must have found herself in some tough situations where she had to make the right decision. We need to empower people like Ruth, whose positive character traits made it evident that her heart belonged to God.