1 Timothy 5:17-25

Not everyone is qualified to be an ordained minister. Paul warned Timothy not to ordain ministers (laying on hands) too quickly. Paul knew that unrighteous people sometimes hide in church. The sins of some such people are obvious and easy to spot, while other people hide their misdeeds very carefully and have left the area before anyone discovers their wickedness. In the same ways, even though a righteous man does not do his good deeds with fanfare, time will reveal them.

If Timothy ordained ministers too quickly, he ran the risk of ordaining people with secret sins. When a church ordains a minister without checking their qualifications with due diligence, they share in that person’s sins when they come into the public awareness. Righteousness is often about maintaining a right balance between opposing necessities. Timothy had to balance the necessity of properly vetting ministerial candidates with the need of ministers to have the endorsement of the church. Paul warned that Timothy should not allow favoritism to shortcut the proper process.

I belong to a church denomination. That does not mean that I believe everyone must belong to my church to be a Christian. Many righteous Christians do not belong to any denomination, but rather attend independent or non-denominational churches. I bring this up, not because I want to make an argument for or against any single denomination, or denominations in general. Rather I bring it up to point out that the way a denomination handles the issue of ordaining ministers is different from the way that a local church that is not affiliated handles the same issue. Denominations have the benefit of centralized recordkeeping and it is harder for false prophets to move from one church to another undetected. This truth means that unaffiliated churches have an extra responsibility to vet their ministerial staff.

A church must protect the weak and vulnerable in the congregation. Background checks on pastoral candidates may not feel right, but the purity of the church in a wicked world requires it.