Sublime

Luther was an expert in the law of God, and every day he was in terror as he looked in the mirror of the law and examined his life against God’s righteousness. We are not in terror, because we have blocked out the view of God’s righteousness. We judge ourselves on a curve, measuring ourselves against others. We never judge ourselves according to

The justified pastor—the man justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to God’s glory alone, who happens to be a pastor—when taken on his good day or bad day, ministry high or ministry low, will be received with gladness and welcome. Clothed in the righteousness of him in whom you trust, how can you be turned away? You will not

Do we love God and others enough to drop the pretense and just be ourselves? Only the gospel simultaneously provides the humility and the confidence the pastor needs to be his real self. The pastorate is no place for image-managing, for worrying about our own PR. In any event, if everybody likes you, something’s wrong, and if everybody hates you,

Andy Stanley, Johnny Carson, Howard Hendricks, Ronald Reagan, Billy Graham,

“Mature” is a big-picture label encompassing most of the other qualifications, similar to the adjective “holy.” What Paul is instructing in his list of qualifications, and what Peter is commanding in 1 Peter 5:1–11, is that elders exemplify the namesake “elder.” Grown-ups will lead the church. Not necessarily old people, but grown-ups. Grown-ups

Melvin Maxwell, Bill Hybels, John Wooden, Oswald Sanders, Jesus Christ,