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21 More Traits of Trustworthy Churches and Leaders

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21 Traits of Trustworthy Churches and Leaders | Hope For Life

This is the second half of a two-part series.

[ Part One: Top 13 Traits Of Trustworthy Churches and Leaders ]

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
– Acts 20:27-32

As we noted in Part One:

While everyone claims to represent the true Jesus, what specifically tells us that they are truly loving, helpful, and Christlike, or not?

Popularity is usually (but not always) a huge warning sign, rather than a good thing (cp. Matt 7:13ff; Lk 6:26). Therefore, with the goal of being strengthened and blessed—while also avoiding error and harm—we will continue to examine the marks of ideal churches, ministries, and Christian leaders.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
– 2 Timothy 2:15

21 More Traits Of A Good Church, Ministry, Or Christian Leader

In addition to the Top 13 Traits, we’ve put together a “bonus list” of twenty-one more traits which are also vital in helping us discern and decide what church to go to, who we should learn from, and who we might be able to trust – or not. This is intended to add to your understanding and equipping from Part One

As you read the following traits, assess whatever pastor, church, ministry, or leader you have in mind on a scale of 0 to 10 in each area. Please make sure you are objective in your assessment, especially when it comes to those you might know personally, or already like or dislike. Also, to enhance your personal equipping and discernment, look up the various Scriptures that support these indispensable realities of life and true Christianity.

1. TRUSTWORTHINESS

How trustworthy they are, as proved, not by what they say, but by how their actions match their words—all based on the Word. A special quality here is this one thing: how well they follow through on what they say they will do, and what they say they believe.

Their trustworthiness is also revealed by how they do not compromise biblical principles—or give in to and conform to the world and its “wisdom.” Not only are they entirely truthful, they consistently live in and speak the truth—and are the same person inside and out, no matter who they are around.

(e.g., Ex 18:21; Prov 8:13; 27:6; Zech 8:16-18; Matt 25:14-27; 1 Cor 4:1-2; 1 Tim 3:2; 4:12-16; 6:20-21; 2 Tim 2:15; Ti 1:6-9; 1 Pet 5:2-3; 1 Jn 3:18; 3 Jn 1:4)

*For more, see: Trustworthy People: How To Spot One + How To Be One

2. PRAYER

How much and how well they genuinely pray—which reflects their dependency on God. While prayer is implied and stated in the aforementioned qualities—and in the ones to follow—prayer is worth specifically stating here. When it comes to praying, their prayer is 100% distinct from the mystical prayer and techniques of other religions—including the New Age, the Occult, and eastern spirituality—which, sadly, has gained a huge foothold inside of the Church.

(Rom 12:12; Phil 4:6-7; Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:17)

3. MYSTICISM

How much they study, believe in, rely on, teach, and practice mysticism—and the various teachings and practices that come with this (e.g., the Enneagram; books like Jesus Calling; contemplative prayer; yoga; “soaking prayer”). Or, as a very good sign, how much they expose and specifically warn others about these unbiblical and harmful ideas. This includes all counterfeits of biblical meditation, such as guided meditation, mindfulness, Lectio Divina, centering prayer, breath prayers, “silence and solitude,” etc.

4. SUBJECTIVITY

How much they rely on—or, instead, avoid and warn of—subjectivity and subjective sources, particularly feelings, mysticism, and the world’s wisdom. To be clear, not all subjectivity is wrong. For example, feelings can have great value, but only when properly understood. However, at a minimum, subjectivity is frequently very misleading. The main problem here is the dependence on these—especially in contrast to depending on God’s Word and the next trait.

(cp. Is 8:19-20; Jer 2:13; Acts 17:11)

5. OBJECTIVITY

How much and how well they rely on objectivity and objective sources—particularly the written Word of God.

(Rom 15:4; Acts 17:11; Is 8:20)

6. ENCOURAGING OTHERS IN THE WORD

How much, and how well they openly and directly encourage others to study, know, pray about, delight in, meditate on, believe in, depend on, and live out God’s written Word. This includes exhorting others to not depend too much on a church, ministry, or leader, or on subjective sources.

(Deut 11:18-21; 32:47; Josh 1:8-9; Ps 1:1-3; 19:7-11; 119:2, 18; 130:5-6; Lk 8:15, 21; 11:28; Rom 15:4; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 2:13; 1 Tim 4:12-16; 2 Tim 3:15-4:5; 2 Pet 1:3-4)

7. THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE

How well they are aware of, take on, directly fight against, and equip themselves and others regarding the current spirit of the age that is waging war against God, His Word, biblical Christianity, and all of humanity. Examples of this today include: postmodernism; woke-ism/Marxism/leftism/socialism; humanism/humanistic psychology; New Age ideas and practices (e.g., mysticism).

(Prov 24:11-12; 1 Cor 2:6-15; 2 Cor 2:11; 11:3-4; Eph 4:14; 5:6-11; 1 Tim 6:20-21; 2 Tim 3:1-7; 4:1-4; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Jn 4:1-6)

8. JUSTICE

How well they value true justice—especially eternal justice (Is 53:5; Matt 12:36; Jn 3:16-18; 5:24; Acts 17:31; Rom 14:10-12; Gal 3:13; Col 2:14; Ti 2:14; Heb 9:27; Rev 20:11-15). There is no shortage of those who claim to be for justice, however, an absolute requirement for valuing true justice is to also necessarily and passionately avoid, expose, and explicitly warn about counterfeit justice (e.g., reproductive justice; social justice, which is often code for socialism/Marxism; see “The Spirit Of The Age). A huge red flag is when they focus on temporal justice (which is often counterfeit justice), while being weak in or wrong about eternal justice (Jn 3:36; Heb 10:26-31; Jude 1:14-15; Rev 22:12).

9. FALSE GOSPELS

How much, how well, and how openly they expose, “reprove,” and explicitly warn of specific false gospels. For example: works-based salvation; the social gospel; liberation theology; universalism (everyone goes to heaven); a gospel that does not accurately address sin and its consequences.

(Gal 1:6-9; Eph 5:11; 2 Cor 11:3-4; Ti 1:9-14; Jude 1:4)

10. FALSE CHRISTS

How much, how well, and how openly they expose, reprove, and explicitly warn of specific false Christs. This especially includes a “Jesus” who is New Agey, woke, world-approved, and does not challenge people regarding their sin and error—both of which represent the greatest dangers to humans.

(Matt 7:13ff; 24:4-5, 23-25; 2 Cor 11:3-4; Eph 5:6-11; Ti 1:9-14)

11. FALSE TEACHERS

How much and how well they openly expose, “reprove,” and explicitly warn about specific error, false teachings, “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and false teachers—especially those inside the Church.

(Ezek 33:5-7; Mk 12:24; Acts 17:11; 20:28-31; Eph 5:6-11; Ti 1:9-14; 2 Pet 2:1ff; Jude 1:3ff)

12. STANDING AGAINST THE WORLD

How much and how well they expose, avoid, and openly stand against the world and its “wisdom” and ways.

(Rom 12:2; 1 Cor 2:6-15; Jas 4:4-5; 1 Jn 4:5-6)

13. COMPROMISING WITH THE WORLD

How much they have compromised with and appease the world.

(Jn 15:18-21; Jas 1:27; 4:4-5; 1 Jn 2:15-17; 4:5-; 5:19)

14. COVERT COMPROMISE

How much they endorse and promote people (and their books and ideas) who have compromised with the world and its ways, and who present other false teachings, false Christs, and false gospels (e.g., the social gospel). In other words, many say they are against certain error and false teachings, however, they directly or indirectly support and spread these harmful ideas by promoting these individuals and their books.

(cp. Neh 13:4-9; Gal 1:6-9; Gal 5:1-10; 2 Cor 11:3-4)

15. PERSONAL SIN

How well they handle sin in their own life, and sin in their church or ministry. For example: true accountability; true repentance; never minimizing sin; no partiality; applying both grace and truth, as well as giving or allowing any appropriate consequences. When sin and error are handled poorly, this produces an environment where predators and other “wolves in sheep’s clothing” live and thrive—which then causes untold amounts of damage both inside and outside of the Church.

(Gal 6:1-2; Prov 28:13; 2 Cor 7:10-11; cp. Prov 24:24-25)

16. BIBLICAL RECONCILIATION

How well they teach, are equipped in, and truly apply biblical reconciliation—between individuals, and between God and individuals. This includes how well they understand, teach, and live out the essential components of true reconciliation, such as:

  • being objective in conflict
  • speaking the truth in love
  • receiving the truth in love
  • godly sorrow
  • full and specific confession
  • not settling for evasive and insincere confession or repentance
  • full forgiveness
  • a contrite heart
  • true repentance
  • rebuilding trust, particularly through actual repentance
  • knowing the difference between forgiveness and trust
  • not enabling, particularly by minimizing, excusing, or accepting sin

While there are some amazing churches and Christian individuals who truly help others in this area, many, if not most churches, pastors, and leaders handle this very poorly—so much so that they cause a great deal of damage, even to the point where people not only leave their church, but leave the Church altogether. Handling this well can be exceptionally challenging, given the many complexities in life and relationships.

(Prov 28:13; Ps 51:17; Matt 5:23-24; Mk 1:15; 11:25; Lk 3:8ff; Acts 3:26; 26:18-20; 2 Cor 5:18-21; 7:10-11; 1 Jn 1:5-2:2)

17. THE WORLD’S WISDOM

How much they study, believe in, rely on, teach, and counsel with “the wisdom of this world.” This frequently includes humanism/humanistic psychology.

(1 Cor 1:18ff; 2:6-15; 3:18-20; Eph 4:14; Col 2:8)

18. PROPHECY

How much, how accurately, and how well they teach on prophecy in Scripture and, therefore, teach all of the Bible—and how well they objectively interpret these passages (as opposed to subjective interpretations). Between one-fourth and one third of Scripture is prophecy, which includes eschatology (the study of the end times). However, many intentionally avoid teaching or even reading this vital area of life—and they discourage others from doing so—which is at least a quarter of the Bible.

Similar to prophecy in Scripture, they warn of those who practice personal predictive prophecy. There are many who claim God told them that certain things are going to happen, but these things rarely if ever take place. However, according to God’s Word, this makes them false prophets (even if they get just one prophecy wrong)—yet they still claim to be prophets, while never apologizing for any false prophecies or lies they have spread. God also warns of those who might predict something that actually does happen (Satan is a great counterfeiter), yet they teach falsehoods. In this we are actually being tested by God (Deut 13:1-5).

19. CORRECTABLE

How well they receive correction. For example, how well they: take full responsibility; truly and contritely confess specific sin, wrongdoing, or error; are truly held accountable; and do not merely ask for and depend solely on forgiveness, but truly and openly repent, which produces actual corrections and the “fruit of repentance” (Prov 12:1; 13:18; 15:12, 31-32; 28:13; Lk 3:8ff).

To be clear, just because they genuinely disagree with an attempted correction does not mean they do not receive correction well. Not all “correction” is correct. Nevertheless, we can learn a great deal about people by how they respond to correction, whether it is accurate or not. Unfortunately, when it comes to popular Christians and churches, it is exceedingly rare to see them contritely and openly admit error, folly, and sin. Popularity and biblical truth rarely, if ever, walk together (Matt 7:13-14; Lk 6:26).

20. SALT + LIGHT

How much and how well they are salt and light to those around them—particularly in their community, city, church, and country. This involves what is often referred to as politics—which always includes morals, values, beliefs, and ideologies. And these either mesh with or clash with, and even oppose biblical Christianity, such as Marxism/leftism/socialism.

They seek to protect, bless, and love their neighbors in numerous pivotal areas of life, such as:

  • the freedom to live out and share one’s faith
  • exposing and fighting against tyranny
  • exposing and fighting against government overreach
  • exposing and fighting against oppressive, harmful, and anti-life policies and laws
  • exposing and fighting against anti-Christian, anti-gospel policies and regulations

(Prov 24:11-12; Matt 5:13-16; 16:18; Mk 12:30-31; Jas 5:19-20)

21. HUMILITY

How humble they are—and how focused on God and others—as opposed to being prideful, stubborn, authoritarian, and self-focused, which is often revealed when they talk a lot about themselves, in the ways they (subtly or overtly) draw attention to themselves, and do not receive correction well.

(Phil 2:3-4; Jas 3:15-17; 4:6, 10; 1 Pet 5:1-6)

We have much more on all these topics at: Hope For Life Resources

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
– 1 Peter 5:2-3

Questions To Think About

  • When assessed with the traits listed above, how well did your church do (or potential church)?
  • When it comes to any pastors or Christian leaders who come to mind, how do they rate?
  • How do you rate personally?
  • Which areas do you most desire to grow in? Why those areas?

When Good Goes Bad

You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
– Galatians 5:7-9

We have all witnessed churches, ministries, and church leaders go from good to bad. But how does this happen?

First of all, it never happens overnight. While some were never good to begin with, others go through a subtle process of decline.

How so? In short, a “little leaven” is allowed in, and this eventually takes over and spreads throughout (i.e., “the whole lump”). In other words, the big failures we see are usually the end result of small-but-consistent compromises that fly under the radar. Therefore, these tiny transgressions are harder to detect.

Making this even more difficult, these subtle compromises often happen in areas that are often considered to be minor issues or secondary matters. As a result, there is less diligence in addressing or combating these errors—and these then bleed into the more important areas.

Here are some key examples of how these seemingly smaller problems ultimately lead to catastrophes in churches, ministries, and individuals. One common pattern here is when what they say does not match what they actually do:

  1. They give lip-service to the need for discernment, yet they dismiss those who actually discern and warn of problems and errors. And, despite what they might say, they do not, in actuality, develop their biblical discernment (cp. Heb 5:14; 1 Thess 5:21-22; Acts 17:11)
  2. They talk about not conforming to the world, while also increasingly appearing like and living like much of the world. And they rarely, if ever, hold the line against embracing the world’s ways (cp. Rom 12:2; Jas 4:4; 1 Jn 4:5-6)
  3. They are concerned about error, yet they embrace mysticism in one or more ways—and they read or approve of books that promote mysticism and outcomes of mysticism (e.g., Practicing The Way; Jesus Calling; The Purpose Driven Life; The Enneagram)
  4. They have some level of love for truth, God, and God’s Word, however, this is increasingly replaced by goals that might seem good, but are deceptive and destructive. For example: church growth (e.g., “big numbers = success”); pragmatism (seeking whatever “works” over seeking what is right and biblical); using unbiblical ideas as “helpful tools;” seeking unity for unity’s sake; embracing man-made mystical techniques to get closer to God, to have a direct experience with God, and to hear directly from God
  5. They care a lot, but they do not overtly expose and warn of the attacks on God’s Word, His true followers, and all of humanity (e.g., woke-ism/leftism/socialism/Marxism; see our books: Making Sense Of The Madness and The War From Hell)
  6. They have a desire to win the world for Jesus, but, in order to achieve this, they believe they need to gain the approval and respect of the world—therefore, they end up becoming more and more like the world, and less like the true Jesus (1 Jn 2:15-17; 4:5-6; 5:19) [See: 7 Deadly Errors Destroying and Refining the Church]
  7. The may warn about sin, yet they are weak in handling of sin—and this is often due to poor theology, and from mirroring the world’s counterfeit love (Jer 23:14, 22; Jude 1:4ff)
  8. They truly desire to strengthen, comfort, and help others, but they rely on man’s wisdom, particularly in counseling, while neglecting God’s Word of life (Ps 1:1-3; 1 Cor 3:18-20; Col 2:8; cp. Heb 4:12; 2 Pet 1:3-4)
  9. They want to enhance the impact of their ministry, however—instead of increasingly understanding and relying on God and His sufficient Word—they embrace popular books and movements, and what popular leaders are doing (Matt 7:13-14)
  10. They have a desire to protect others from harm, however, they do not ardently and biblically oppose the spirit of the age. And this often leads to compromising with and yielding to this deadly error, and, therefore, to harming others (Ps 1:1-3; 1 Cor 2:6; Eph 4:14)
  11. They have compassion, but they increasingly rely on subjectivity—while also lacking objectivity, discernment, and dependence on objective sources, particularly God’s written Word (cp. Rom 10:2)
  12. They desire and seek unity, but they unify with those who are in error, which undercuts God’s desired unity, which is unifying on truth, true love, and God’s Word of truth (cp. 1 Cor 6:14ff; 15:33; 2 Jn 1:7-11)
  13. They have some concern for truth, but they rely on “fine-sounding arguments” (Col 2:4) and faulty rationalizations for their embrace of questionable, if not overtly erroneous, ideology (e.g., “No one’s perfect.” “All truth is God’s truth.” “Just eat the good stuff and spit out the bones.”)
  14. They give lip-service to the importance of God’s Word, however, as proved by their actions and teachings, they do not truly esteem the Word. As a result, the Word is trumped by man’s wisdom and their own ideas (Matt 15:1-9)

Notice how this particular deception happens: they might get the first part right (at best)—and this, by itself, convinces themselves they are in the right—however, they get the other part(s) wrong. Yet, they are either unaware of this, or they lack sufficient concern.

  • Which of the above have you observed in a church or Christian leader?

So, how can we spot problems that might be more subtle in nature? This takes ardent discernment, while also not merely trusting the people involved. This also requires time and effort in passionately vetting what you see and hear through God’s written Word (cp. Acts 17:11).

Sadly, very few church leaders do this.

What Can We Do? What Should We Do?

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
– Acts 17:11 [NASB]

All of the biblical traits listed in this document are clear in and of themselves. However, it is not always obvious when it comes to how they actually apply to people and churches. There is no shortage of ministries and individuals who might present these outwardly, but, in reality, can be very misleading. While some intentionally practice this duplicity, others have blind spots, and are perhaps self-deceived to some degree.

Overall, however, both groups can be spotted by this one huge problem they have in common: they consistently resist correction.

In addition, and combined with this, they often rely on self-deceiving platitudes to defend their erroneous ways, saying things like:

  • “Yeah, it’s not fully biblical, but we can use it as a tool.”
  • “All I know is that it works—and it has helped me and others.”
  • “How can something so popular and so well-received be wrong?”
  • “You’re just jealous.”
  • “No one’s perfect.”
  • “All truth is God’s truth.”
  • “Don’t listen to them, they’re just heresy-hunters and modern-day Pharisees.”
  • “Don’t put God in a box!”
  • “You’re just a sin-sniffer.”*

*My wife recently heard this last one from a friend, who was labeled this by her pastor after she tried to warn him of huge warning signs on social media regarding another pastor.

Another troubling issue here is that of supply and demand—and of support—all of which is interconnected. The less biblical discernment there is among Christians, the less demand and support there will be for churches, ministries, and leaders who are truly biblical. This is absolutely the state of the world we live in today.

Even worse, this dearth of discernment has created a huge supply of unbiblical and world-approved churches and church leaders. What is more, these are increasingly supported by those who lack discernment, which, in turn, has further increased the demand for and supply of these misleading and harmful individuals and groups (cp. Matt 7:13-14).

Sadly, when we examine the current downward trajectory of discernment, it is clear that this death-spiral is only going to get worse. On the other hand, this can radically improve, but only if more and more people love others by ardently discerning according to God’s written Word. However, while that would be an amazing start, they also need to take actions based on what they do discern.

Some examples of these loving actions include:

  • Openly warning others about specific error in the Church, and the specific problems in ministries and church leaders (Eph 5:6)—and doing this lovingly, accurately, and respectfully (Eph 4:15; 1 Pet 3:15) [In contrast, beware of: Destructive Discerners]
  • Never joining, supporting, or compromising with Christians who compromise—while also exhorting these same individuals (Gal 2:4-5; 2 Jn 1:7-11)
  • Consistently contending for the true faith—with grace, truth, and love (Jude 1:3ff)
  • Examining their own beliefs—all according to God’s Word (Acts 17:11; Is 8:19-20)—and making any necessary corrections (Ps 139:23-24; Matt 7:1-5)
  • Helping others come out of error and sin (Prov 24:11-12; Jas 5:19-20)
  • “Voting with their feet”—which means leaving and not supporting unbiblical individuals and groups, and, instead, attending and supporting those who are truly biblical, pleasing to God, and helpful to others (e.g., 2 Tim 2:22; 3:15-4:5)

Unfortunately, while unbiblical churches, ministries, and leaders are progressively praised and promoted—the ones who are faithful not only lack support, they are often under attack (e.g., 2 Cor 2:15-16; 2 Tim 3:12). Even worse, those who are clearly in error—and those who masquerade as loving and godly—draw most of the support.

What, then, is the solution here? Simply put: more prayer, more dependence on God’s written Word, and more and more prayerful and accurate discernment (e.g., 1 Kgs 3:9; Phil 1:9-11; 1 Thess 5:21-22; Heb 5:14; Acts 17:11). Therefore, please make sure you are diligently and lovingly being discerning about everything—especially churches, ministries, and leaders in the Church—and the articles and books they produce and promote.

While the 30+ traits here and in Part One will greatly assist you, always make sure you are robustly relying on God and His precise Word of truth. This is how the “more noble-minded” Bereans treated and assessed the preeminent leader of the Church at the time (Acts 17:11). They did not just believe what the Apostle Paul said. Rather, they eagerly examined God’s written Word every day to determine for themselves if what Paul said was true and biblical, or not. We should certainly follow their example, not only for ourselves, but out of love for God and others.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
– Philippians 1:9-11

Mark was recently interviewed regarding how to respond biblically to the shock and emotions of dealing with a pastor or leader’s serious sin or failure. > WATCH OR LISTEN HERE

 

Hope For Life Biblical Counseling & Equipping is a non-profit ministry based in the Central Valley of California. We have always been fully committed to providing biblical counseling at no cost to anyone in need, along with classes, books, and other equipping resources for the local community and the worldwide body of Christ as a whole.

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