In the ministry, personal qualifications do not determine promotion. God's ways are different from the world, and as the Lord encourages us to aspire, He will not give us promotions will cause us to expire.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 1 Timothy 3:1ESV
Another translation says 'If anyone aspires to be a leader.' So, let's take the word in the general sense, pointing to whatever high position we'd like to be in.
High aspirations are good, but they aren't granted us right away. God looks at the heart, and really, in the ministry, the condition of our heart is the only asset that we have. God does not promote a person because of looks. He doesn't give a person a position based on talent or skill. The Lord chooses people whose hearts are right before Him.
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7ESV
The purpose is protection.
Let's look at 1 Timothy chapter 3 further.
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 1 Timothy 3:2-5ESV
God's standards are high. If you read the passage again, you can see that no man is all those things right away, so what God does is He takes His people through a process to refine them that they may qualify not according to the world's standards but according to His righteousness. Character comes first. If you read that passage again, you can notice that abilities and talents are not mentioned. There's no "Must be talented." Or, "Must be highly skilled." The first disciples that Jesus chose were not people in position but fishermen, and He turned them into highly respected apostles. So, you see, impressive resumés are not what'll get us promoted.
Don't set aside the importance of skill though because God is glorified in the giftings that He gives us. He gives us talents so that we can use them to give glory to His name and not for our own selfish gains. But just because we can sing does not mean that He'll turn us into a worship leader overnight. Just because we can preach does not mean He'll let us preach right away. There's a serious danger to instant promotion.
He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:6ESV
I've been in the ministry for about three years now and I've had no major breaks positionally. I have work, but minimal. God uses me, but He does not do so to the extent that the work could destroy me. Three years fall under what Paul speaks of as a 'recent convert.' And I know that if God gave me a huge promotion early in ministry, I'd be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. He withholds from me for my own sake because I'm still prone to pride and if it manages to trap me, I could go to hell for it. God doesn't want me to go there, He wants me safe with Him, so He shields me. Pride is what turned Lucifer into Satan, so it's no small thing. God doesn't want that for me, and I don't want it either. I'd rather wait some more and be transformed along the way than become a mega-preacher overnight.
It's good to aspire, but it's better if we go through God's process before we become what we are called to be. God employs us for our desire, but he promotes us for our heart.
Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:7ESV
One afternoon, my brother was asking me about being a pastor. Then I told him about it, that God appoints the pastor and man does not appoint himself. He then told me about someone in the neighborhood who had a reputation for being greedy and self-centered who was appointed to be a pastor by a church because this guy had money. The reputation of this man-appointed pastor was so bad that people said nothing good about him. In your own opinion, will God be glorified?
In conclusion, if we want to finish strong in the Lord, we must be willing to submit unto God's process so that He can mold our character into one that will not be destroyed by pride, so that in the end, we can say what Paul said.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7ESV
