Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. ~ 1 Timothy 3:2
The number one overall theme in 1 Timothy is leadership, something that was lacking in the church at Ephesus. There were some who were teaching false doctrine, fables and genealogies that didn’t edify anybody, and
weren’t even godly. There were some who wanted to be teachers of the law of Moses, but they had no idea about the purpose of the law.
In the church at Ephesus, there were some women trying to undermine God's
pattern of leadership given us in His word. There were all kinds of people who were
trying to rise to leadership because of money, position and prestige.
In all of the epistles of Paul, he addresses the matter of false
teaching from the false leaders. False teaching is a very important matter because how we view God is the most important thing in our lives. The antidote of the false is the true. So, in today's text the Apostle turns our attention to the truth.
In this one verse the Apostle gives us seven qualifications of the effective leader. Paul writes, "Now the overseer is to be above reproach."
The first
qualification for those who lead is being above reproach or
blamelessness. The Greek word for "is to be"
is dei which is better translated "must." It is an absolute necessity that this man be above reproach or blameless.
Coupled with this idea of blamelessness is
the Greek word einai which is a present participle of the verb "to
be." He must be in a present state of blamelessness. This does not mean that
he has never committed a sin in his whole life. It does not mean that, in
the past, there wasn’t something that was wrong. What it does means is, in
the present, he is blameless. And, everything else that comes
after this first requirement defines what is meant by blameless.
Now, to be above reproach means to not be able
to be held or taken hold of. In other words, you
can’t grab him as if he had done something deserving of apprehension. He is beyond accusation.
There’s nothing to accuse him of. He must be a man whose life
is not marred by some sin, some vice, some evil, be it a habit, or be
it an incident, or be it an attitude. It could be anything that will
cause him to be accused. He is to be beyond accusation.
Now, this
does not mean he is perfect or there
will not be times when he fails or when he does something wrong. It does mean that his failure will not be his lifestyle. It does mean there is not a public sin in his life, to which everybody
could point and accuse him of accordingly. There is no
issue in his life that is an ongoing problem of sin which would cause others to blame him and thus distract from the truth.
The second qualification of a leader is; he must be “faithful to his wife.” The Apostle Paul is not addressing his marital status. He is pointing out that a man's ability to be a one-woman
man qualifies him to be a leader. The leader must not be sexually
promiscuous, he must not be an adulterer.
The third qualification for a leader is that he must be temperate which means unmixed with wine or wineless. In Proverbs 20:1 we read, "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise." In Ephesus at that time drunken orgies were part of the culture. The Temple of Diana of the Ephesians was replete with drinking of alcohol. A leader is to be temperate which is to be alert, watchful, vigilant, clearheaded. He
never allows himself to be put in the position to get intoxicated.
The fourth qualification is he must be self-controlled. The leader is the
person who knows how to order his priorities. This word carries with it the idea of a man with a sure and steady mind, who is not rash,
but who is very thoughtful in
his judgments.
The fifth characteristic is he is respectable. He has the ability to be viewed as responsible. Others see the
discipline of his heart and mind in the discipline of his duties and his
actions. He is trusted to be responsible with the care of others.
The sixth characteristic is he is hospitable. The Greek word the Apostle used here is
philoxenos which means lover of the stranger. In Hebrews 13:2 we read, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
The example the writer of Hebrews uses is Abraham and Sarah,
who in being gracious to serve a meal to three strangers found out,
when looking back, that the strangers were none other than God and two angels come in the form of men.
The seventh characteristic of an overseer is he is able to teach. This is the only qualification given
in the entire list related specifically to the function of an overseer. It means skilled in
teaching. It is used only here and in 2 Timothy 2:24. Only those two times is it used. He is to be a skilled teacher. This is the thing that sets elders apart from deacons. There is a marked skill in teaching
that goes along with the other qualifications. The man is highly qualified who has the skill of
teaching.
