Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 388

Teaching Tools: Church Discipline

We turn our attention to Church Discipline in this week's edition of Teaching Tools. A subject far more enjoyable to read about and study than to experience, church discipline is an integral part of maintaining a healthy local church. Left ignored, problems and sin within a congregation can decimate a local body of believers.

From the HCSB Study Bible:

An excerpt of Mark Dever's article on Church Discipine

Two categories of church discipline describe ways a church may teach its members right living and right beliefs.

• Formative Discipline: Formative discipline is a preventative measure. It includes the positive, direct teaching of biblical truth through sermons and Sunday school lessons. It also includes modeling godliness and mentoring new believers.

• Corrective Discipline: Corrective discipline is used when trouble arises. It can include contradicting, challenging, rebuking, and excommunicating a member for unrepentance or erroneous teachings. Corrective discipline may seem controversial, but Jesus clearly taught that if a believer continues to sin despite the call to repentance, the church should treat him as if he were “an unbeliever and a tax collector” (Mt 18:17). This exclusion from church membership is generically called “church discipline.” It is also called “excommunication” because those under discipline are not permitted to participate in Communion (the Lord’s Supper).

Scriptural Accounts and Instruction:

Matthew 18:15-20 (HCSB)

15 “If your brother sins against you,go and rebuke him in private.If he listens to you, you have won your brother.16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

Related study notes:

18:19-20 A common but mistaken interpretation holds that these verses promise that God will do whatever two or more believers ask. This violates the context. There is a clear connection with the immediately preceding discussion about restoring a sinning disciple. Verses 18 and 19 relate the restoration/disciplinary actions of Jesus' disciples on earth to the decisions of the Father in heaven. The word again at the beginning of verse 19 suggests that this verse restates the principle of verse 18. The two or three mentioned in verse 20 are thus the two or three witnesses that were first mentioned in verse 16. Christ is present with His disciples when they gather and seek His leadership about troubling behavior among disciples. He will answer their prayer for the sinning believer's restoration.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (HCSB)

9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.10 I did not mean the immoral people of this •world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves.

Related video from Gene Getz and the Life Essentials Study Bible:

The Seven Purposes of Church Discipline (J. Hampton Keathley, III):

To bring glory to God and enhance the testimony of the flock. To restore, heal, and build up sinning believers (Matt. 18:15; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; Heb. 12:10-13; Gal. 6:1-2; Jam. 5:20). To produce a healthy faith, one sound in doctrine (Tit. 1:13; 1 Tim. 1:19-20). To win a soul to Christ, if the sinning person is only a professing Christian (2 Tim. 2:24-26). To silence false teachers and their influence in the church (Tit. 1:10-11). To set an example for the rest of the body and promote godly fear (1 Tim. 5:20). To protect the church against the destructive consequences that occur when churches fail to carry out church discipline.

Recommended Resource:

Those Who Must Give an Account
A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline

Hammett, John S. & Merkle, Benjamin L.

There is a surprising, even dangerous, gap in the literature on the church in the areas of church membership and church discipline. The former sets the boundaries of a leader's responsibility, and discipline is the last option of a church when members will no longer live in fellowship with their brothers and sisters in the Lord and accept the guidance of their leaders.

And so this book is written first to church leaders, offering guidance on how they should receive and minister to those for whom they will have to give an account according to Scripture. But under the view of the church upheld in these chapters, the receiving of members and discipline of members are both acts of the greater church body, and thus all members of the church share in the accountability for each other. Consequently, Those Who Must Give an Account will be of interest to all believers.

The Power of the Negative

I often turn to Brad Waggoner for leadership advice and wisdom. He serves as executive vice president of LifeWay and, previously, as dean of a graduate school of leadership. He provides me a gentle reminder from time to time on, to use his words, “the power of the negative.”

Indeed I often have to remind myself of this leadership principle.

Understanding the Principle

The principle is simple but profound: Negative reinforcement has 20 times or more power than positive reinforcement. At first glance, a leader may conclude that speaking and leading negatively is the best path since it is so powerful. To the contrary, unless used wisely, negative words and leadership can demoralize, demotivate, and destroy because of its very power.

While there is a place for negative leadership, it must be used with the greatest of care and discernment.

Examples for All of Us

We all experience the power of the negative, either as givers or recipients. See if you can identify with any of these examples:

You speak or preach somewhere and you get twenty compliments and one criticism. Upon which one do you dwell?A husband in anger tells his wife that he is tired of her. Though he has given her over a dozen compliments that week, which one does she remember?A child receives accolades for her good grades that semester. But the dad, upon discovering the child has her first failing grade, tells her “you won’t amount to anything in life at the pace you are going.” Which of the father’s words stick with the child for years if not a lifetime?One coworker points out problems in another coworker’s area. Though the praises have been equal to the criticisms, which have the greatest power?A CEO who has provided mostly steady leadership for a few years has an anger meltdown in front of his direct reports. What facet of his leadership is remembered the most?

A Time to Tear Down, A Time to Build Up

The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us clearly that there are times to be negative and times to be positive (3:3). Indeed there are times for a prophetic voice, a corrective voice, and an admonishing voice. The problem is that the writer of Ecclesiastes does not give us specific instruction on timing and frequency.

Many of us are tempted to exercise the power of the negative too frequently. When we are negative about some other person and event, we are able to look away from ourselves and our own weaknesses and failures. It’s easier to the point the finger of accusation at someone other than ourselves.

Further the power of the negative can be tempting because we often get attention when we do so. I can point to one example clearly on this blog. The article that has received the most views was a negative article I wrote on Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. I am convinced and convicted that the article was appropriate and timely. But I must ever keep in mind the power that negativity has.

The Power of the Negative and Discernment

The Apostle Paul said these words to a church 2,000 years ago, and they still apply to us today: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, HCSB). There are indeed times when a prophetic or negative word is in order. There are moments in any leader’s lives, whether a parent, pastor, or president, that the power of the negative should be exercised.

But it should be exercised with wisdom and discernment.

It would seem that the preponderance of our leadership should be one of building up and encouraging. Such leadership can change a family for the good. It can change an organization for the good.

And it might just change the world for good.

New Feature: Pastor to Pastor

I am pleased to announce my Saturday posts will be devoted to resourcing and helping pastors. Steve Drake, Director of Pastoral Relations at LifeWay, will be working with me to bring you a plethora of resources and people who will provide encouragement and insight for pastors.

One feature of the posts will include articles from pastors around the United States. These pastors will come from a variety of contexts, sizes of churches, and communities. They will include pastors of small churches, midsize churches, large churches, and megachurches. The pastors will be leaders of established churches, newly-planted churches, struggling churches, and growing churches. You will hear from these pastors on alternating Saturdays, while the other Saturdays will include perspectives from Steve Drake and me, and what we are hearing and learning from pastors.

I have a deep love and respect for pastors. I have asked the Lord to allow LifeWay and me to be used of Him in this phase of my ministry and life to be an encourager and resource provider for pastors. I pray that it will be so for His glory.

Though these Saturday posts are designed for pastors, we hope the audience will be much broader. Indeed we pray many laypersons will “listen in” and contribute to the discussions. You who are laypersons in your churches can potentially have a much deeper understanding of your pastors: the hopes they have and the challenges they face.

We inaugurate the Pastor-to-Pastor series next week with a list of questions to pastors. We are asking for your input to make certain we are speaking to your hopes dreams, and needs.

See you in a week!

Notable Voices (April 12, 2012)

Considering (and Surviving) Unhealthy Christian Organizations -- Ed Stetzer

Ed provides great insight into how to spot unhealthy Christian organizations, and what to do if you find yourself in one. I'm approached by too many ministers who find themselves in situations like this, and I pray this can start a conversation in the local church that leads to greater accountability and a greater level of mentoring and discipleship within Christian ministries.

Pastor/Minister Health Survey -- Ron Edmondson

While unrelated to Ed's posts, Ron has released the results of a survey he conducted on pastor and minister health. His findings are consistent with other research on the subject and should serve as a reminder that our pastors and ministers need our prayer and support.

The Top Stewardship Mistakes Churches Make -- Mark Brooks

I've written numerous books on the changing church and how to help churches change to the better. One aspect I've touched on briefly in my writings is stewardship. Mark's list of the top five stewardship mistakes churches make covers the bases well.

I Am Barabbas -- Michael Kelley

This thoughtful reminder from Michael Kelley that we all are like Barabbas serves as a reminder that we were all once guilty and deserving of eternal punishment. But, an innocent man was condemned in our place.

3 Things I Wish I'd Known When I was in my Teens and 20's -- Derwin Gray

Derwin reflects on what he wishes he would have known younger in life. A greater focus earlier in life on being present, being humble, and being appreciative would likely have served many of us well.

Discipleship Is Messy -- Jonathan Dodson

Jonathan outlines the trap we sometimes fall into with discipleship: making it more about works than grace. The remedy? Realizing gospel of Christ is where we are meant to find our identity, not in impressing God or others with our skill or knowledge.

I Am a Leader

I am a leader.

My first and foremost priority is to do what is right. I have an obligation to my God and to those whom I lead to do the right things first. I cannot put my own career or my own future before those decisions that are clearly God's plan.

I am a leader.

Those who serve under my leadership are people, real people with real lives. They are not numbers or means to an end. I will thus treat them with dignity. I will seek to do what's best for them and the place I lead. I will care for them with compassion. I will pray for them regularly. And when I have to make a tough decision that impacts one or more of them, I will do so with care, conviction, and compassion.

I am a leader.

God has placed me in this place of leadership for His purpose and His will. I will treat my leadership as an invaluable stewardship given to me for a season. I will not take it lightly, but seriously and with utmost care. I have been given this leadership but for a brief while. I will see every day as an opportunity to be the best steward I can be.

I am a leader.

I will lead with clarity and conviction. Those who serve under my leadership need to know the direction we are moving. They need to know why we are moving in that direction. They do not need embellished or sugarcoated discourses. They have a right and deserve to know about this place I lead. They are as much a part of it as I am.

I am a leader.

I will seek to be a better leader every day. I will be open to constructive criticism and suggestions for realignment. I will never think I always have the answers or the best answers. I will acknowledge my fallibility and failures. I will seek to be transparent and open. I will take responsibility for my actions and missteps. I will be accountable to those whom God has placed over my authority. I will grasp fully every day that, in God's strength, I can do better and do more for this place I lead.

I am a leader.

Good leadership requires courage. I will thus pray that God gives me His wisdom and His courage every day. I will make the tough decisions, even if they are not popular decisions. I will seek always to be aware that, ultimately, I should please Him and follow His will.

I am a leader.

But I have not been given this leadership responsibility to lord over others. To the contrary, I have been called to be a servant to those I lead. I have been called to a life not of pride, but humility. Indeed, I must never forget the leadership of the One who gave His life for me. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.

I am a leader.

The greatest goal I can have is to lead like Jesus. I will never be close to His example, but I can always seek to be closer. Those whom serve under my leadership deserve that I lead like that. Indeed, the only true measure of my success as a leader is that I lead like that.

Then, and only then, can I say with confidence, "I have not led in vain."

Teaching Tools: The Bible

Research:

From The Millennials

67% of Millennials rarely or never read the Bible Only 21% read the Bible once a week or more 79% rarely or never study the Bible with others Only 15% study the Bible with others at least once a week

From LifeWay Research

Bible readers in the United States personally own 3.6 copies of Scripture Three-quarters of Bible readers (74 percent) have one primary Bible that they use most of the time Eighty-four percent of readers have more than one Bible. The higher the reader's education and household income, the less likely they are to use one primary Bible most of the time 75 percent of regular Bible readers personally chose the version they use most while 19 percent had it selected for them by someone else Nine out of 10 Bible readers are satisfied with the version they use most for personal reading Regular Bible readers are often involved in other religious activities. In a typical month, 85 percent attend worship, 72 percent read religious books, 53 percent attend Sunday school or Christian education classes, 51 percent attend a small group, 50 percent read religious magazines, and 47 percent are volunteer leaders.

Historical Confessions:

From The Baptist Faith & Message

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

From The Westminster Larger Catechism

Question 3: What is the Word of God?
Answer: The holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

Question 4: How does it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?
Answer: The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God.

Question 5: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
Answer: The Scriptures principally teach,: What man is to believe concerning God, and: What duty God requires of man.

Question 6: What do the Scriptures make known of God?
Answer: The Scriptures make known: What God is, the persons in the Godhead, his decrees, and the execution of his decrees.

Question 155: How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
Answer: The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

Question 156: Is the Word of God to be read by all?
Answer: Although all are not to be permitted to read the Word publicly to the congregation, yet all sorts of people are bound to read it apart by themselves, and with their families: to which end, the holy Scriptures are to be translated out of the original into vulgar languages.

Question 157: How is the Word of God to be read?
Answer: The holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they are the very Word of God, and that he only can enable us to understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence, and attention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer.

Question 158: By whom is the Word of God to be preached?
Answer: The Word of God is to be preached only by such as are sufficiently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office.

Question 159: How is the Word of God to be preached by those that are called thereunto?
Answer: They that are called to labor in the ministry of the Word, are to preach sound doctrine, diligently, in season and out of season; plainly, not in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; faithfully, making known the whole counsel of God; wisely, applying themselves to the necessities and capacities of the hearers; zealously, with fervent love to God and the souls of his people; sincerely, aiming at his glory, and their conversion, edification, and salvation.

Question 160: What is required of those that hear the Word preached?
Answer: It is required of those that hear the Word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine: What they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.

Quoatable Quotes:

I am a creature of a day. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God. I want to know one thing: the way to heaven. God himself has condescended to teach me the way. He has written it down in a book. Oh, give me that book! At any price give me the book of God. Let me be a man of one book.--John Wesley

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means. --George Bernard Shaw

When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me." --Soren Kierkegaard

Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart! --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

We approach Scripture with minds already formed by the mass of accepted opinions and viewpoints with which we have come into contact, in both the Church and the world.…It is easy to be unaware that it has happened; it is hard even to begin to realize how profoundly tradition in this sense has moulded us. –J.I. Packer

The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian. --AW. Tozer

Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy. --R. C. Sproul

The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed. --Patrick Henry

The word of God hidden in the heart is a stubborn voice to suppress.--Billy Graham

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. --George Washington

I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book that you can by reason and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man. It is the best Book which God has given to man. --Abraham Lincoln

So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. --John Quincy Adams

The Bible is the truest utterance that ever came by alphabetic letters from the soul of man, through which, as through a window divinely opened, all men can look into the stillness of eternity, and discern in glimpses their far-distant, long-forgotten home. --Thomas Carlyle

The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is that it has stood so much bad preaching. --A.T. Robertson

When you are reading a book in a dark room, and come to a difficult part, you take it to a window to get more light. So take your Bibles to Christ. --Robert Murray M'Cheyne

To preach the Bible as 'the handbook for life,' or as the answer to every question, rather than as the revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus. For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life's dilemmas. --Michael Horton

The Bible is the written word of God, and because it is written it is confined and limited by the necessities of ink and paper and leather. The Voice of God, however, is alive and free as the sovereign God is free. 'The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' The life is in the speaking words. God's word in the Bible can have power only because it corresponds to God's Word in the universe. It is the present Voice which makes the written word powerful. Otherwise it would lie locked in slumber within the covers of a book. --A. W. Tozer

The Bible is to me the most precious thing in the world just because it tells me the story of Jesus.-- George MacDonald

Leadership and Emotional IQ

What distinguishes good leaders from great leaders? Why does one person excel in an area while another languishes, even though they have similar competencies and intellect? The difference, according to about twenty years of research, is the emotional IQ of a person.

The Leader in Thought

One of my favorite writings on emotional IQ is the classic "What Makes a Leader?" by Daniel Goleman, published in 1998 in Harvard Business Review. Goleman had earlier written Emotional Intelligence, a book published in 1995 on the same topic.

Leaders and organizations often neglect the "soft" issues related to emotional IQ. But Goleman and others demonstrate, through rigorous research, these very qualities can make or break leaders, and thus the organizations they lead. In Goleman's research, for example, he found that the emotional IQ of a leader was twice as important as cognitive IQ and competencies in relation to the success of an organization.

The Five Categories of Emotional IQ

Emotional IQ is often delineated in five categories. Each category tends to be self-descriptive.

Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives. Self-confidence. Knowing how you affect others. Self-deprecating sense of humor.

Self-Control: The avoidance of emotional outbursts. Thinking before speaking or acting. Trustworthiness and integrity. Comfort with ambiguity. Openness to change.

Motivation: A passion for work that goes beyond money or status. The propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. Optimism in the face of failure. Organizational commitment.

Empathy: The ability to understand the emotional makeup of others. Responding well to people according to their emotional reactions. Avoiding sarcasm. Avoiding condescending remarks toward others.

Social Skills: Proficiency in managing relationships. Success at building networks. Effectiveness in leading change. Persuasiveness. Expertise in building and leading teams. Basic interaction skills with others.

Emotional IQ: Born or Made?

The research suggests that a certain level of emotional IQ is genetic. But there is an abundance of evidence that indicates emotional IQ can be learned as well. One thing the researchers know for certain: Emotional IQ increases with age. We simply call the process "maturity."

But age does not guarantee a high level of emotional IQ. Often times, it must be learned with a desire to improve oneself. Also, it helps immensely to have someone who will help you "see yourself in the mirror" more clearly.

The Dearth of Emotional IQ Awareness at Many Organizations

If emotional IQ is so critical to the development of a leader and the success of an organization, why do so few organizations seem to be aware of the issue? Why do so few businesses, schools, and churches make the matter one of high priority in evaluating and recruiting leaders?

Certainly we affirm that basic cognitive IQ and competency skills are important for the development and choosing of leaders. But the evaluation of leaders is never complete without due consideration to emotional IQ. It was once thought that emotional IQ was a nice add-on to the skill sets of leaders. But today, more than ever, we are discovering it is essential for the sake of the leaders and, concurrently, for the health of the organization.

It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'

Voice of Pastor John L. Jefferson

Notable Voices (April 5, 2012)

4 Steps for Better Follow Up -- Justin Lathrop

This weekend's services will likely be the high attendance marker for churches worldwide, yet many of those guests won't return the next week. However, as I shared in my Easter resources post earlier in the week, many guests know the "what" of the local church but fail to grasp the "why." That's where follow-up and assimilation come into play. Justin Lathrop shares four quick tips for following up in business that could easily be implemented to your fit your local church context.

2012 ECPA Christian Book Awards -- ECPA

The ECPA has released its list of finalists for the book of the year. Once again, B&H has had a pair of books nominated-- The Resolution for Men and What Women Fear. Congratulations to Selma Wilson and her team.

The Giver is the Gift -- Zach Nielsen

A great reminder from Zach about the true gift we have been given. As Christians, our desire should be on the Giver, not His gifts. And the greatest news is that if we want Him, we can have Him, and nothing can ever take Him away from us.

Gossip and Slander: Poison in the Lifeblood of the Church -- Andy Davis

If you've ever served in or attended a local church, you've likely seen the destruction that gossip or slander can cause in the church. Andy Davis provides a great reminder that no church is safe and must safeguard itself from such talk in an effort to build one another up in brotherly love.

The Explicit Gospel: An Interview with Matt Chandler -- Ed Stetzer

I'm grateful for the ministry of Matt Chandler. We were blessed by his chapel message and participation last month for the Gospel Project webcast here at LifeWay as well. Matt's first book is out now, and he stopped by Ed's blog to answer some questions about The Explicit Gospel.

The Cross and Christian Blogging -- John Starke

As long as there have been blogs, there have been bloggers blogging about other bloggers. John Starke reminds us that sarcasm may sometimes be useful when blogging, but there are better ways to express regard for our internet enemies.

Seven New Trends in the Pastor Search Process

If there is anything consistent about the current state of how churches find and call pastors, it is the inconsistencies of the process for each church. It is inconsistent by denomination and by each church individually.

I have the opportunity to interact with a number of churches looking for pastors, and with pastors who are being considered by churches. Over the past few years, I've noticed changes and trends in the process. Let me highlight the seven most frequent changes I've discovered.

Social media has become a major reference to check on potential pastors. More churches and pastor search committees are looking at blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media venues of potential candidates. One search committee member told me he read four years of blogs of a pastor their church is considering. He said that he could tell a lot about the leadership and personality of a pastor by reading his articles and how he interacts with those who comment on the blogs. Two background checks are more common: criminal and credit. Most church search members will not disqualify a candidate who has some issues in his background legally or credit related. But they do want the candidate to be upfront about any issues; and they want to know how he is dealing with those issues today. More leadership questions are asked. In the past, Bible and theology rightly dominated the questions asked of a prospective pastor. Today those considering these pastors want to know more about his leadership qualities. "We had problems with two of our last three pastors," one church member wrote me. "But none of those problems had anything to do with their theology; they just had terrible leadership skills." Churches scrutinize the prospective pastor's church website. I have been surprised how much churches depend on a website to find out information about a prospective pastor. They certainly expect to hear sermon podcasts there, but they are looking for much more. Rightly or wrongly, they often evaluate the pastor by the quality and the content of the site. Fewer search committees are going to the prospective pastor's church to hear him preach. I am hearing more often that they view such a move as disruptive to that pastor and the church. They have other options available to hear him preach. Of course, they lose the advantage of seeing and hearing that pastor in his current context. Churches are depending less on traditional resources to seek prospective pastors. More are depending on informal networks to seek these pastors, rather than denominational or similar sources. More churches are asking questions about the emotional intelligence of a candidate. Is he self-aware? Is he moody or temperamental? How motivated is he? Is he empathetic? Does he have good social and interpersonal skills?

There are several other trends I am watching closely. But these seven are the dominant trends in the pastor search process. Though they are ranked in order of frequency of comment, they are really all very close in their overall importance in the ways churches seek to find and call a pastor. So the number one issue, social media and the pastor, is not that much more dominant than the number seven issue, the emotional intelligence of the prospective pastor. In fact, the issue of emotional intelligence and leadership is so important that it will be the subject of my blog next Monday.