“Let no one despise you for your youth…” (1 Tim. 4:12a).

I am a young pastor (26 years old) and have found that my peers in ministry often throw this verse around in order to justify themselves when any type of criticism comes their way. Rather than heeding advice from those older and wiser, they let wise input bounce right off with this verse in mind. They think, “The church elders are just looking down on me because I’m young, but scripture says I shouldn’t let them despise me, so I’m right, they’re wrong.” This attitude is so dangerous and feeds arrogance like nothing else. As a young pastor, the balance to this passage is knowing the difference between legitimate criticism and illegitimate criticism, heeding what’s said with wisdom and respectfully disregarding what’s not.

Posted on December 13, 2006