5 Signs Someone is a Novice

Paul told Timothy that when he appointed elders into the church not to appoint novices (1 Tim. 3.6).  Some people are charismatic, charming, efficient, kind and helpful.  You should be keen to appoint people who can do the job and who know what to do and how to do it well.

But you must not appoint a novice.  Don’t appoint someone who is immature.  It can be difficult to see immaturity – a little child seems perfectly mature until he doesn’t get his own way.  A person may seem like a good church leader until they don’t get their own way.

Here are 5 sure signs that someone is immature:

1. They Don’t Know the Bible!
   1. Mature Christian leaders know the Bible.  They base their theology and doctrine and practice on the Bible, not their opinion or their ideas.  If you are going to appoint someone as an elder or leader in the church, don’t be afraid to ask them “where does the Bible talk about the resurrection of Jesus?”, please quote Romans 6.23, 2 Cor. 5.17 to me.  People should know the basic Scriptures about our faith and the foundation of our faith.
   2. When Jesus fought the devil in the desert, Jesus knew the devil.
2. They Have No Interest in Sermons and Christian Material
   1. Immature Christians do not listen to sermons and do not read Christian books.  Show me a Christian who listens to CDs of sermons and reads Christian books – that is someone who is going to be mature.
3. They Don’t Worship!
   1. They mumble and stumble around during the worship, they don’t know God, and they don’t want to!  The truth is they never worship on their own!
4. They are Utterly Inconsistent in their Worship
   1. They struggle to attend church, they turn up late week after week – it’s like church is a chore for them.  A man who loves a woman doesn’t make visiting her a chore.  If you love the Lord and are mature, then church is not a chore.
   2. Some people just fade away from church, they are not mature people.
5. They Are After a Title, Not a Job
   1. Immature people want the titles: they want you to call them pastor, they want to be the elder.  It’s amazing how many people who are hardly at church who want to be an elder!  It’s tragic how many people want you to call them “pastor” but don’t want to pastor anyone.
   2. In the Tree, we don’t give out titles, we give our job descriptions.  It soon separates the mature from the immature!