What Are the Biblical Standards for Spiritual Leaders?

The Bible explicitly and implicitly delineates certain standards that must be met before one can assume leadership roles over the people of YHVH. Israelites should know what the Word of Elohim demands of leaders, and should expect leaders to meet those biblical standards. If they don’t, Israel should reject such individuals.

These standards must apply to leaders over and within congregations. Many individuals who are in ministry are not associated with a congregation, so it may be questioned whether these standards should apply to them as well. It seems self-evident that the same biblical standards that apply to leaders within a congregational context should also apply to itinerate minsters, while not connected to or holding leadership in a local congregation, yet they minister to local congregations, and therefore, are perceived to be leaders and elders within greater Israel by those they teach. Therefore, we take the approach that these ministry standards apply to all leaders within the spiritual body of Yeshua whether they are connected to a local body or not. The body of Yeshua is a interconnected, and all must be playing by the same rules, and be held to the same standards. 

We draw, furthermore, from the whole counsel of YHVH’s Word (i.e., Genesis to Revelation) guidelines for leadership qualifications. YHVH’s standards of righteousness for his leaders has not changed over the ages, for he has not changed. His character is inviolate and immutable, and what he requires of those whom he has appointed as servants over his people has not changed and is based on his character, which defines his standards of righteousness.

Prevalent Non-biblical Standards for Leadership

Within the Christian church and, as an offshoot of that, within the Messianic or Hebrew Roots Movements, there are many non-biblical standards that, in the eyes of many people, qualify a person for leadership roles within the body of Yeshua. These “qualification,” in fact, may or may not meet YHVH’s standards of leadership. Some of these “qualification” include:

  • Self-appointment resulting in the formation of a “successful” ministry. 
  • The use of ecclesiastical titles, the earning of academic degrees. 
  • Popularity among men. 
  • Oratory and public presentation skills.
  • Professional-looking packaging of persons, ministries, websites and materials to merchandize. 
  • The size of one’s following, mailing list, ministry, or all the material trappings associated with the ministry.
  • Length of time in the ministry.
  • Acceptance among peers and within the church.
  • Financial or material success.
  • The number of books published, the number electronic media one has been on. 

The Bible nowhere indicates that any of these criteria necessarily qualify one to be in a leadership role. In fact, the biblical record clearly shows that usually the more popular (among men) and successful (by worldly standards) religious leaders were, in fact, more unpopular with YHVH. Yeshua, for example, when addressing the religious leaders of his day, emphatically stated that that which is highly esteemed (uplifted, eminent, exalted, influential or honorable) of men is an abomination (or a foul thing, detestable or idolatrous) in the sight of Elohim (Luke 16:15). Why is this? Because YHVH looks at the heart of man, not on the outward appearance of things (1 Sam 16:7; Isa 29:13; Matt 15:8). YHVH sees the true content of a man’s character, which is often hidden under the false facade of appearance.

Biblical Standards of Leadership

What are some of the more obvious biblical standards that must be applied to all spiritual leaders? Those leaders who reject any of these criteria, we reject them as not meeting the biblical standards of leadership. The following is a list of criteria that one must meet in order to meet the qualifications of biblical leadership. 

He must be saved (must have been converted from the kingdom of darkness to that of light and be born from above of the Spirit of Elohim) and be in a vital one-on-one relationship with Yeshua, and have a public testimony and the spiritual fruits in his life to verify his right standing before YHVH Elohim in this regard.

He must have been called into the ministry by YHVH Elohim. This calling will be recognized by other spiritual leaders who know the individual and who can confirm the reality of the divine calling upon his life. This call will be substantiated by spiritual fruits resulting in the expansion of YHVH’s kingdom on this earth (Matt 7:15–20).

Leaders must adhere to several main tenets of the biblical faith, which are salvational issues. If one cannot, before his Creator, attest to these basics tenets of biblical faith, then we must reject him as being a YHVH-ordained leader. For one to teach against these tenets of biblical truth, we believe, makes one a false teacher and places one in jeopardy of either losing one’s salvation, or having never been the recipient of salvation in the first place. These tenets of our faith are: 

  • The Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) is the inspired Word of Elohim.
  • The Torah is for all redeemed Israelites (that includes all Jews and non-Jews) — past, present and future.
  • Yeshua the Messiah 
  • Yeshua is YHVH Elohim incarnate
  • Yeshua is the Son of YHVH Elohim the Father
  • Yeshua was born of a virgin, he lived
  • Yeshua died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected
  • Man is saved by the grace of Elohim through faith in Yeshua, as evidenced by the good works of Torah-obedience, and the fruit of the Spirit of Elohim. 

Moreover, leaders must meet all the qualifications of elders as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:2–7 and Titus 1:5–9. These include,

  • He must be married.
  • He must be a father.
  • He must be shepherding his family righteously and in righteousness.
  • He mustn’t be making his full or primary living or income from the ministry, nor should their wives be supporting them financially. (This follows the example of Moses, Joshua, the Levites and Paul.)
  • He must have an excellent reputation in the secular community.
  • He mustn’t be a novice in the Word of Elohim and in the Torah. He needs to have gone through at least five Torah cycles (following the example of the Levites who trained for five years) before becoming a teacher of others. If this is not possible, then he needs to be being mentored and trained by someone who meets the qualifications of eldership. This was the case with Yeshua’s disciples who trained under Yeshua for only three-and-one-half years. However, it must be noted that in the Jewish culture of that time, boys were trained in the Torah from an early age onward, which would have already been the case before the disciples became Yeshua’s students. His training would have been analogous to post doctoral studies.

Leaders must have gone through a period of preparation and training for ministry. This is the biblical model, and it cannot be circumvented. Following the Torah’s criteria for Levitical apprenticeship, a leader-in-training must spend at least five years under the tutelage of another biblically Torah-obedeint leader (or leaders). By the time this training was complete, he would have been at least 30 years of age before becoming a leader (Num 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:24). This was the age at which Yeshua started his ministry. After having passed this probationary period, leaders were still to remain accountable to other, older leaders who acted like spiritual fathers and elder-counselors in Israel (over the age of 50).

Leaders must have a mature and walking-it-out understanding of Torah, and be able to teach and expound on it with knowledge, wisdom and understanding (from life experience). It was the duty of the Levites to teach the Torah to the Israelites, while the kings of Israel were to know Torah, including writing out the whole Torah verbatim, and then to rule Israel by it. Now, leaders in the congregation of the saints are preparing to be kings and priests ruling and reigning with Yeshua in his millennial kingdom, thus it is essential that they thoroughly understand Torah in preparation for this auspicious responsibility. 

Their lives and ministries must show evidence or fruit that they understand righteousness (are tzadiqah) like the sons of Zaddok (Ezek 44:7, 9), that they adhere to righteous standards in their homes, families, business dealings and in their ministries.

Leaders must know the difference between what the Bible defines as the holy and the profane and the clean and the unclean (Ezek 22:6; 44:23), and be able to judge accordingly and righteously in all matters (Ezek 44:23–24).

Leaders who manifest any spiritual similitude to Ahab, Jezebel, Korah, or Balaam are not of YHVH and must be rejected.

Leaders must be rejected who teach any egregious, false doctrines, who preach another gospel, another Messiah Yeshua, who cause divisions, factions, separation, offences contrary to biblical truth, who are greedy for material gain, who preach for filthy lucre, who are covetous of other’s ministries, and who are insubordinate to YHVH-ordained spiritual leadership (Rom 16:16; Tit 3:10; 2 Thess 3:6; 2 Tim 3:5; 1 Cor 5:5, 11).

Congregations or ministries must be rejected where women are functionally in charge and male leadership, eldership or oversight is outright or de facto non-existent. Woman have a vital place in ministry, and their gifts and role should not be diminished in any way. They simply need to follow biblical protocols that clearly stipulated that they work under male eldership. The only exception to this would be the role of the prophetess providing she meets all the qualifications of a true Torah-obedient prophet of YHVH.

Unless one fits the biblical qualifications of a prophet, there is no place in YHVH’s biblical model for “one-man ministries.” All leaders, inside and outside the local congregation need to be accountable to several other leaders who themselves meet the biblical qualifications for leadership in the redeemed Israelite community. In this way, the body of Yeshua is protected from false teachers, and young leaders are mentored and raised up, and learn from the wisdom and experience of older leaders. Also, in this way, spiritual errors can be quickly corrected before they get out of hand and the sheep of YHVH are led astray spiritually.

There are no examples in the Scriptures where YHVH’s servant-leaders ever asked for money or took offerings (for their personal benefit) from those they taught. Those who consider themselves to be “in the ministry” need to learn to walk by faith, not ask for money, and to let YHVH provide for all their needs. In addition to their ministry activities, they need to have a secular job to support themselves and their families. They must minister only as YHVH supports them financially through the freewill love offerings of his people. There are no biblical examples of ministers every soliciting funds from those they serve. This is in line with The Didicahe—The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles, which was written circa A.D. 100 making it probably the oldest and most reliable non-canonical writing from the post-apostolic era that we have. In chapter 14 of this work, we read that any itinerate biblical teacher or prophet who asked for money for himself, was to be categorically rejected as a false teacher or prophet.

Divorce and remarriage is very rampant in the modern church including in the so-called Messianic or Hebrew Roots Movement. Sadly, some Messianic teachers or leaders are probably living in adultery, since they have been previously divorced without biblical grounds while they were a born-again believer. To allow such an individual to teach in the congregation is to bring sin into the camp. We must be very cautious about this. 

A ministry leader must not be one of which it can be said that he is one who sows discord among brethren, which is an abomination to YHVH (Ps 6:16–19).

What About Existing Ministries?

What about leaders who already have ministries in place but who do not fit all of the biblical qualifications for leadership? Are they to be rejected? Not necessarily.

There are almost always exceptions to the rules. The world is not an ideal place, and neither is the spiritual body of Yeshua! Furthermore, YHVH is sovereign and can do whatever he wants with whom he wants whenever he wants.  After all, he used Balaam’s donkey, and people like Balaam, Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus as his servants to do his work. John the Baptist even proclaimed that YHVH could raise up stones to be his spiritual children, and Yeshua declared that YHVH could make the rocks cry out in declarations of praise for the Almighty. If this be the case, than the sovereign YHVH can use anyone, anywhere and anytime to accomplish his work. The Bible is full of examples of individuals who seemed unfit to be used as vessels for YHVH, yet he nevertheless raised them up and commissioned them to do great things for him. A serious problem arises, however, when very few leaders fit the biblical qualifications for leadership, and most are an “exception to the rule!” What do we do then? What happens when the harvest is great and the workers are few?

To be sure, there can be no exception to the rules in certain key areas, however. Common sense and a basic understanding of the Scriptures dictates this. These areas include:

  • Leaders must adhere to the main tenets of the biblical faith, which are salvational issues (as noted above).
  • They cannot be teaching “another gospel,” be a false teacher or prophet as defined by the Scriptures.
  • They cannot have major character flaws such as being a sexual deviant, a criminal, a devil-worshiper an addict, a violent person and the like.

If a ministry leader fits these basic qualifications, but, for example, he or she has not been properly mentored, are they to be rejected? Not necessarily. In this case, it seems that the instructions of Yeshua should come into play: judge the tree by its fruits. While warning his disciples against false prophets who would come in sheep’s clothing, he admonished them to evaluate the fruits of the person’s ministry to determine the leader’s validity (Matt 7:15–20).

What About New Leaders Just Being Raised Up?

The current Messianic or Hebrew Roots Movement are very young, informal, disorganized, unstructured organizationally, and are very grassroots in nature. YHVH is raising up many new leaders who find themselves leading home Bible study groups and the like, which often eventually evolve into congregations. Many times those who have little or no ministry experience, no previous mentoring, no accountability, and very little biblical training suddenly find themselves thrust into leading congregations or starting ministries. This is not necessarily a bad thing, for the needs of people are hopefully being met to one degree or another. These new leaders are often boldly stepping into difficult areas to fill needs that no one else is meeting. Often, in their geographical area, there are no other congregations or qualified leaders. What is to be done with these individuals? How are they to be mentored? To whom are they to be accountable?

These are difficult questions to answer, and each situation is unique. This much can be said: New leaders that YHVH is raising up need to be encouraged to seek the loving oversight of older, experienced and more mature elders in the spiritual body of Yeshua, who will mentor, train and raise them up, even if done so by long distance. This is better than nothing, and with the advent of modern instant communications, it is entirely possible. In-person mentoring is preferable, but sometimes logistically not possible. We can only do the best that we can do to meet the biblical standards, and we have to leave the rest in YHVH’s hands.

Other Considerations Regarding Qualifications for Leaders

  • Leaders cannot be hirelings or in it for self-serving purposes as Yeshua defines it in John 10:7–16.
  • Leaders must fit the qualifications of being a true shepherd after YHVH’s heart as defined in Ezekiel 34.
  • Leaders must be those who seek first the kingdom of Elohim and his righteousness (and not material gain) in all areas of their lives (Matt 6:24, 33).
  • Leaders must be teachers of the Word of Elohim, have faith and righteous conduct worth emulating by those they lead. This means they need to be spiritually mature in the Word, in their faith, and in holiness (Heb 13:7).
  • Leaders must be able to preach and teach the word of Elohim whenever called to do so, be able to rebuke, exhort and reprove in patience according to the Word of Elohim(1 Tim 3:2).
  • A leader’s ministry must be characterized by reconciliation (1 Cor 5:18).
  • A leader must not be ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16), but preach the message of the cross consistently and without compromise (1 Cor 1:23). 

YHVH’s Condemns Certain Leaders

Leaders must be careful to avoid the characteristics for which YHVH condemns false leaders. These include…

  • Leaders who have a head-knowledge understanding of the Torah, but who don’t know Elohim intimately (Jer 2:8).
  • Leaders who rule by their own means, or on their own authority or who are self appointed (Jer 5:31).
  • Leaders who are profane (polluted by worldly values) and walk in wickedness (Jer 23:11).
  • Leaders who commit adultery, are liars, who strengthen the hands of evil doers (who do not stand up for what is right, who do not hold others biblically accountable, who allow those who do not meet the qualifications of biblical leadership to hold positions of leadership, Jer 23:14).
  • Leaders who reject the knowledge of Torah, YHVH will reject (Hos 4:6).
  • Leaders who teach what the people want to hear or teach things which accommodate the lusts of the people and fail to expose sin. (Hos 4:8–9; 1 Tim 4:3).
  • Leaders who are hirelings and preach for money (Mic 3:11).
 

3 thoughts on “What Are the Biblical Standards for Spiritual Leaders?

  1. Excellent Teachings!
    Covers All Areas.
    Thanks P.Natan.
    Mat YHVH grants you more Knowledge,Understandingknowledge,Understanding & Widom

  2. Natan,
    Is this a typo when you wrote that an elder must be married? Paul says an elder should have one wife only, which is different than saying he has to be married. Paul himself wasn’t married and in 1 Cor 7:8 he says “I wish everyone were like me (unmarried?)”.
    Shalom, Sonja

    • No typo. How can an elder have one wife and have his family in order if he is not married as per 1 Tim 3:2–5? I failed to mention that if one’s wife dies, that shouldn’t exclude them from eldership. I should also mention that when one’s children are raised and out of one’s home, they are no longer part of his household, so an elder should not be held accountable for what they do after that. Think of it this way. Doesn’t it make sense that an elder should be married? That way, his attention is not being divided looking for a wife while eldering, nor will the single women be seeking after him. Were this the case, think of the problems it could cause for the congregation. When I was pastoring, several single women still pursued me with my wife co-leading at my side. Image the division, strife and competition among the single women in the congregation it would have caused had I not been married? No. I totally understand Paul’s instructions here from a practical sense.

Share your thoughts...