Hayden Mills’s Reviews > Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders > Status Update
Hayden Mills
is on page 94 of 341
His view of "able to teach" is maximilist. If an elder isnt able to effectively preach sound doctrine and exegete Scripture, he shouldnt be an elder but a deacon. Interesting.
— Aug 27, 2026 07:22AM
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Hayden’s Previous Updates
Hayden Mills
is on page 162 of 341
"The pastor who drips love of money tells his church and the world that having God is not enough"
— Sep 30, 2026 07:11AM
Hayden Mills
is on page 152 of 341
Re. when is too much when it comes to alcohol:
"In times of unexpected need or emergency, we never want to be unable to drive safely to a hospital... We never want to be unable to think clearly enough to answer serious questions about life and faith and ethics, or provide spiritual counsel to someone in need, or make the most of the teachable moment."
— Sep 21, 2026 07:09AM
"In times of unexpected need or emergency, we never want to be unable to drive safely to a hospital... We never want to be unable to think clearly enough to answer serious questions about life and faith and ethics, or provide spiritual counsel to someone in need, or make the most of the teachable moment."
Hayden Mills
is on page 142 of 341
"The greatest defense against false teaching is a local church community that knows, enjoys, and lives the word of God together, and holds its leaders accountable."
— Sep 18, 2026 07:15AM
Hayden Mills
is on page 126 of 341
"Wise, humble, self-controlled elders will learn to take every reasonable opportunity to build trust with the people rather than presume on it."
— Sep 07, 2026 11:07AM
Hayden Mills
is on page 108 of 341
"But we also earnestly need the unknown senior sages, laboring without renown in out of the way local churches, participating without occupying the positions of privilege, engaged without making the final calls, on the bus without having to be in the driver's seat."
These kinda guys are so invaluable. Im honored to know quite a few.
— Sep 03, 2026 06:29AM
These kinda guys are so invaluable. Im honored to know quite a few.
Hayden Mills
is on page 72 of 341
"A man may be able to grow into teaching and aspects of pastoral ministry and a host of other abilities while serving, but not so with humility. We are not to think of the pastorate as the crucible that might make an arrogant man humble. The pastorate is indeed a crucible and will make a genuinely humble man all the more humble, but it is not a lab for experimenting with arrogant men."
— Aug 19, 2026 07:02AM
Hayden Mills
is on page 62 of 341
"Pluralities are known for being inefficient but effective, while authoritarian structures may seem efficient but are prone to error and partiality."
"Anyone can be Prince Charming for 6 months..."
— Jul 29, 2026 12:48PM
"Anyone can be Prince Charming for 6 months..."
Hayden Mills
is on page 40 of 341
"Good pastors are first and foremost sheep. They know it and embrace it. Pastors do not comprise a fundamentally different category of Christian. They need not be world-class in their intellect, oratory, and executive skills. They are average, normal, healthy Christians, serving as examples for the flock, while among the flock, as they lead and feed the flock through teaching God's word. (24)
— Jul 24, 2026 09:55AM
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In my mind, I think what Paul is getting at most importantly there is being able to discern and refuse sound doctrine, as well as being able to explain it adequately. Not every elder is able to be a robust theologian, as the main preaching pastor should aim to be. In a sense I’m kind of in the middle. We don’t want to minimize the importance of teaching ability, while also not overtly excluding able-bodied and biblically capable men.
*basically explain sound & refute false doctrine
I think that's right. Although I would add not just understanding true and false doctrine and refuting it but discerning true and false Christian living and being able to speak into it. At least in my experience there are really good Elders who may not have a deep theological understanding, but have a deep Christian life understanding that allows them to see clearly in difficult pastoral situations.
I think the able to teach gets more at Doctrine and the other qualifications would cover what you're talking about of discerning right or false living
As much as we can I think it's important to not separate orthodoxy from orthopraxy. We've had enough of that.
Perhaps. I would have to study "able to teach" more thoroughly. I honestly am not sure. Not that I enjoy playing "reconstructionist" but I wonder if in Paul's mind he would have thought about doctrine in the way we do when he wrote "able to teach" or would have had a more wholistic understanding of "teach" as both doctrine and practice undivided from one another. That at least seems consistent with how understand Paul's overall theology in his letters. We are so likely to separate disciplines in the modern era.
I would love a first-century/early Christian account of their understanding of "able to teach" and examples of how that worked itself out in the early church.