Allen: examination by life experience

Friday, June 8, 2018
    Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711
    Commemoration of Roland Allen, Mission Strategist, 1947
Meditation:
    [An overseer] must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
    —1 Timothy 3:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We demand, as [St. Paul] did, that the candidate must be of good moral character; at least, so far as that he can produce testimonials to his good conduct. We demand, as the apostle demanded, that he must hold fast the faithful word; at least, so far as that he shall not write deliberate heresy in his examination papers, and shall profess belief in the Creed. We demand, as he demanded, that the candidate must be apt to teach; at least, so far as an examination of his verbal memory can prove that he knows what he ought to teach. But there is some difference between the “without reproach” of the apostle and our testimonials; and there is a difference between the holding fast of the faith by a man tried in the furnace of life, and the soundness in the faith of a youth fresh from a theological school; and the aptness to teach of a man of experience and social authority is not quite the same thing as the aptness to teach of a young man who h as just passed an examination in the subject-matter.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), The Case for Voluntary Clergy, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1930, included in The Ministry of the Spirit, David M. Paton, ed., London: World Dominion Press, 1960, p. 141 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 20:17,28; 1 Tim. 6:11-14; Tit. 1:5-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead those who are mature in faith into Your service. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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