Thoughts on III John: What a good pastor should look like

III John seems to have two basic messages:

1. Support missionaries
2. Watch out for dangerous pastors

I'll focus briefly on the second.  It appears that Diophrenes was a leader in a local congregation in that he had the ability to force out members.  He was arrogant and did not recognize apostolic authority.

Unfortunately, this is not a completely rare circumstance.  I have known my fair share of arrogant people who were attracted to full-time ministry (especially youth ministry).  If you think about it, it makes sense.  How many other jobs are there where people will automatically look up to you just because of the position you hold?  How much of a rush is it to have a room full of people listening to you give a talk every week?  And of the jobs where it is possible to do this, becoming a pastor probably has the fewest hurdles.  (This is coming from a former college professor.  I had people looking up to me and they literally got tested on how well they paid attention to what I said.  I saw many of my colleagues let that get to their heads.  But it is a lot harder to become a professor than a pastor.  Sorry to all you seminary grads out there, but my Ph.D. program was significantly more difficult than your seminary courses.  I was sitting in on seminary courses when I was in high school.) 

In my view, it is important for seminaries and churches to do a better job weeding out people like this before being given a place of authority.  (If your church needs help with an issue like this, I have a friend who does some church/ministry consulting who is really good at spotting and figuring out how to deal with such individuals.)

So, what should you look for in a pastor?  In my view (and it is only my view), the best pastors are those who didn't necessarily see themselves as a pastor because they don't particularly like the limelight.  They are aware of their own failings and therefore don't feel comfortable being the spiritual leader of others.  These individuals are generally not charismatic, but have a preaching style that is more like a teacher.  They understand people and have a humility in navigating interpersonal relationships.  These are the people I think we should encourage to go to seminary.  We should encourage them because too often they do not think they would be good pastors.

If we change the model of what a good pastor looks like, then we might avoid more Diophrenes.