1 Timothy 3:1-7--Qualifications for Overseers

1 Timothy 3:1-7
English Standard Version

Qualifications for Overseers
3 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

---

Paul is now going to give Timothy instructions on how to appoint elders (plural) to oversee the local congregations.  This is not a burden for Timothy to bear alone as God will call and equip other other men to be overseers.  This is especially important as we see the time of apostolic leadership coming to a close and the need for local church leaders to be in place to make sure that the congregations are preaching an teaching the Word of God and staying true to the gospel and to their original mission.

Such men who wish to serve as Elders must be above reproach (blameless and men of integrity).  They must not be womanizers and those who are married must be faithful in their marriage.    They should be of sound mind and judgment because they will be responsible for deciding issues of church discipline.  They ae to be self-controlled (not hot-headed or controlled by someone or something else--we'll get to the something else in a bit).  They are to be respectable, that is, acting in a way that is dignified and worthy of honor.  They should be hospitable (though they will also need to be watchful over the flock that the Good Shepherd has entrusted them with).   They should not be drunk with wine, power or greed/covetousness.

The one wishing to be an Elder should lead well in his own household before trying to lead the household of God.  It is fair to ask and examine his own life, his marriage and even his children.  While the man may not be personally to blame for their wayward children, I believe God is saying that such a man should focus first on his own family before being pulled away from his family by the needs of the church, because that can make a bad situation between parents and children or spouses worse.  Our first place as men we are called to lead and serve is in our own homes.

The one wishing to be an Elder should not be a recent convert.  There are many good reasons to be concerned about this, but Paul's concern here is throwing someone in a position of leadership right away might cause them to become proud and conceited and fall prey to the temptation of the devil in these areas.  We also want to be able to examine the potential elder to make sure he can faithfully execute the job of the office he is seeking, and that takes time.  We also want to have time to evaluate to make sure his conversion was genuine and is producing fruit, not see that fell on rocky soil that springs up quickly, but also dies off quickly because it has no root.

Lastly, though the world may hate him because he is a Christian, he should be respectable and act honorably among those of the world that he is preaching the gospel to as well.  No one from the world should be able to impugn his reputation with any accusations that will stick (and we should be careful about letting people from the inside or outside accuse an Elder and attack their character).  The Elder should not be a different person in church than he is in the world.  He is not to love the world in the sense of loving the worldview of the world, but he loves the people who are sheep without a shepherd who are lost, just like Jesus did.  He has compassion on them and speaks truth in love to them (even if it is hard truth sometimes).