The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Timothy 3:1-7,
"Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
"Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
Paul had Timothy remain in Ephesus so he could confront false teachers of the day who were misleading the folks about legalism, pedigree and other things. A part of providing for orthodox teaching and order within the fellowship was the selection of leaders. Paul provides direction to Timothy for the selection of "overseers" (elders or bishops), deaconesses and deacons. In this passage he lays out 14 guidelines for the selection of overseers:
Above reproach.
Faithful to his wife (from this it appears overseers were to be males).
Temperate.
Self-controlled.
Respectable.
Hospitable.
Able to teach.
Not given to drunkeness.
Not violent but gentle.
Not quarrelsome.
Not a lover of money.
Manage his family well, with children in obedience to him, in a manner worthy of respect.
Not a recent convert.
A good reputation with those outside the fellowship.
While being "above reproach" and "respectable" may be pretty much the same thing, as well as "temperate" and "self-controlled", we have fourteen qualities that paint a picture when taken together. Good, godly and experienced men are to provide leadership in the fellowship. These are the ones that will yield the best prospect for combating false teaching and maintaining good order in the fellowship.
I note none of these qualifications are technical in nature and cannot be measured in any kind of quantitative way (well, there is at least one exception - did you spot it?). How "respectable" is respectable? How "temperate" is temperate? Nonetheless, the whole of it brings together a picture and we know what Paul is saying here. Surely Timothy knew what Paul, and the Holy Spirit who inspired him, meant with this list.
What is obvious from this list is that, normatively speaking, God does not choose our leaders for us. Like so many other things in the church, God provides us direction and then expects us to carry out his agenda of redemption accordingly. God includes us in the things he does.
Sadly, over the years, I have seen passages such as this misused and abused. I am sure many of us have. While we understand exactly what Paul is after here, some have used this passage to promote a "legalism" within a fellowship. Some have "kind of fudged" this or that to get a favored candidate in on the elder board, or keep one, (possibly considered a threat for one reason or another), off the board.
As I noted above, these qualifications are not technical in nature generally and cannot be measured quantitatively (although one girlfriend would be enough to disqualify one as being faithful to his wife - so that one certainly is!) Most of these qualifications for overseer require a mind of wisdom in determining the appropriateness of a candidate. "Not a recent convert" certainly meant one thing to Timothy during the infancy of the church, while today we have a different perspective. The quality of "reputation" a potential overseer may have with those outside the fellowship is a prudential matter. While it certainly is good to get input from the entire fellowship on any candidate being considered as an overseer (someone may know something that should be taken into account), many of these qualifications require a mind of wisdom to evaluate a candidate.
Just a few thoughts on this passage. What fascinates me is how the Lord involves us in carrying out what he is doing in the world, including the choosing of leaders!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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