Why Does Character Matter in Ministry?

God is powerful, loving, and jealous for the glory of His great name. In Isaiah 44:23–24, the Lord calls Himself “Redeemer” and announces that He has saved His people and that He “will be glorified in Israel.” Indeed, God is uniquely glorified through the salvation of sinners.

Why, then, aren’t more sinners being saved? Why aren’t more gospel-preaching churches across the land bursting at the seams? Why aren’t more congregations filled with men, women, and children who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness? In short, where is the spiritual revival Christians long to see?

The lack of revival among Christ’s people and the lack of holiness among Christ’s leaders often accompany one another.

To be sure, there are other factors at work. Churches watering down the gospel won’t see many true conversions. Pastors embracing entertainment won’t bring congregations to tears. Christian leaders neglecting repentance will find few real converts.

However, it is simultaneously true that preachers who neglect their own character should not expect to see revival in their churches. God, in His sovereign wisdom, has shown that when it comes to the growth of His church, the moral righteousness of her leaders matters.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

What about Jonah? He had to be dragged kicking and screaming to Nineveh, and yet a whole city came to saving faith. What about Jeremiah? This godly man preached his heart out only to face the rejection of an entire nation—a nation that knew better. What about Peter? That flawed Apostle preached a mighty sermon at Pentecost in Jerusalem, and thousands came to saving faith. And, finally, what about our sinless Savior Himself? He lived a perfect life only to experience rejection, not revival.

Examples like these prove that what Jonah proclaimed is true: “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9). The simple truth is that we cannot engineer revival. No amount of sound doctrine, faithful preaching, and sterling character guarantees the conversion of a single soul. God is sovereign over salvation and that is the beginning and the end of it. The names of all who will be saved tomorrow are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life today. God’s elect will come to saving faith in His perfect timing.

And yet . . .

And yet, our great God has ordained both the ends and the means of salvation. In more than one passage in the New Testament, the elders are exhorted to holiness for the sake of the church. Pastors should not expect a fruitful ministry if they are not examples of a faithful ministry.

Consider Peter’s instruction to the elders in 1 Peter 5:2–3:

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Why must these shepherds be examples to the flock? Isn’t it enough for a preacher to say true and right things? No. Does it really matter what he does in the privacy of his home? Yes, it really does matter.

It is no wonder, then, that the Apostle Paul told Timothy that the very salvation of his audience depended on his life and his doctrine: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16). Of course, Paul knew that salvation belongs to the Lord. And yet, in God’s mysterious providence, the vessel through which the gospel is proclaimed must be pure.

“A holy minister is an awful weapon.”

The Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne came to faith following the untimely death of his older brother. He graduated divinity school in 1835 with the sense that he must run hard after the Lord for as many days as he was given. “Life is vanishing fast,” he wrote not long before becoming the minister of St. Peter’s Dundee, “make haste for eternity.” Eternity came sooner than expected. He died at the age of twenty-nine, but not before he learned the importance of personal holiness.

M’Cheyne urged his fellow pastors to be examples to their flocks. He exhorted them to watch their life and doctrine:

Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. Seek advance of personal holiness. It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God’s Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin.¹

God doesn’t only care about what we say; He also cares about who we are. We ought not be surprised if the Lord removes His hand of blessing on a ministry when a Christian leader’s conscience is cloudy and his heart foolishly mired in patterns of sin.

No, we cannot engineer revival with sound doctrine and holy living, but neither should we expect revival without them.