Please take your Bibles in hand and turn now with me to 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 3; page 992 is you’re using one of the church Bibles. Last week you may remember Paul instructed Timothy to reestablish Biblically ordered role relationships between men and women in the church in Ephesus. In particular, he said that the exercise of church power and the leadership of public worship – prayer and preaching – ought to belong only to qualified men. But that immediately begs a question, doesn’t it? If ecclesiastical authority and the leadership of public worship are entrusted to qualified men, what are the qualifications?
Answering that question is the burden of our passage today – 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. Paul outlines for us the qualifications for what he calls the office of “overseer.” As you may know, that word is used interchangeably in the New Testament scriptures with the word “elder.” “Elders” and “overseers,” and actually “pastors,” all refer to the same office in the Scriptures. Now as you know in our own congregation here, in the providence of God, we’ve just begun the nomination period for new elders which makes this, I think, a very timely text for us. And it has been my prayer that God would bless this study of this portion of His Word to help us as we engage in the process.
We can divide the passage into two sections. First, in verses 1 through 3, Paul gives us three indispensable marks of an elder. Three indispensable marks. Then in verses 4 through 7, he provides three practical tests that we can apply in order to help us discern if someone possesses these necessary marks and qualifications. And so we need to look for three indispensable marks and we discern those three marks by applying three practical tests. Before we consider all of that together, let’s bow our heads and ask for the help of the Lord as we pray. Let us all pray.
O Lord our God, we ask now that You would open our hearts and our understanding that Christ would be, by the power of His Spirit, the preacher in our midst, applying His own Word. We ask that You would work by Your Word for our good and the glory of Jesus’ name, for whose sake we ask it all. Amen.
First Timothy chapter 3 at verse 1. This is the Word of God:
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”
Amen, and we praise God that He has spoken in His holy, inerrant Word.
We need spiritual leaders who will shepherd faithfully the flock of God here at First Presbyterian Church. But what does a good elder look like? Well let’s think first of all about the three indispensable marks of an overseer in the first three verses. The first mark that Paul mentions is “desire.” Do you see that in verse 1? Look at verse 1 please. “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” In the hearts of those whom God calls to this office, there ought to be a desire for the work. You ought to want it. There should be an ambition to hold sacred office. Of course not all ambition is good. How do you tell the difference between godly ambition and sinful ambition? Well, godly ambition wants to serve for the honor of Christ and the good of His kingdom. Sinful ambition wants the office because of the recognition it thinks it will bring. Godly ambition is others oriented. Sinful ambition aims only at self. So ask yourself, as you consider elder nominees – Does this man always want to be noticed? Does he constantly need to be affirmed and made much of and given place to? That’s not godly ambition.
The opening phrase of verse 1 is actually quite helpful in this connection. Look at verse 1 again. Do you see how Paul prefaces all the teaching that follows with the phrase, “The saying is trustworthy”? This is the second of five uses of this formula in the pastoral epistles – 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. The first time he used it, you may remember, was back in chapter 1 verse 15 where Paul declared, “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” And now by starting his discussion of the qualifications for office, by invoking this same formula, Paul intends, I think, to connect chapter 3 verse 1 back to chapter 1 verse 15. In other words, this new, trustworthy saying about desiring to be an overseer builds on and presupposes the first trustworthy saying – “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
And here’s why that’s helpful. As you look for someone whose desire for the work is noble and good, you should start not in chapter 3 verse 1 but in chapter 1 verse 15 and ask first, “Is this a man who has been mastered by the Gospel and brought to the end of himself? Can he say with the apostle Paul, ‘I am the foremost sinner. There is no boast left in me. Nothing in my hand I bring and simply to Thy cross I cling. Jesus has saved me and I am His now to do with as He wills’?” Before anything else, as you consider elder candidates, look for Gospel men – men mastered by, humbled by the bad news about themselves and the glorious good news about Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of all godly ambition. There is no desire for self promotion. The desire for sacred office is the desire to honor Christ and give one’s life for Him who died for us.
And that’s crucial, isn’t it, because if the elders are Gospel men then the church will be and will stay a Gospel church. Paul doesn’t want men who aspire to office motivated by anything other than Gospel zeal because he is anxious to ensure that the church in Ephesus remain resolutely focused on the main thing. The main thing – “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” That’s our message, and pressing it down into our hearts and proclaiming it to the world, that is our mission. And we must never waver from it. So look for Gospel men who aspire to the noble task of eldership motivated by Gospel ends because our message and our mission depend upon it. So first, there must be a desire. That’s the first mark.
The second thing to look for in elder candidates is character. In verses 2 and 3, notice how Paul begins. “An overseer must be” – that word “must” is emphatic. These are not mere aspirations or suggestions. They are non-negotiable, indispensable, necessary qualifications. And what must an overseer be? Paul says he must be “above reproach.” That is, he is to be unimpeachable in character. Not perfect, to be sure, but unimpeachable in character. And above reproach there stands really as a heading and the rest of Paul’s list fleshes out what it means to be above reproach. To be above reproach, Paul says, involves four positive character traits and then at the end of verse 2, he lists two spiritual gifts, and we’ll come back to those in a moment. Four positive character traits. And then on the other side of verse 2, four more negative traits. So four things he must be and four things he must not be in order to be above reproach.
Positively, first of all, he is to be “the husband of one wife,” or in the words of J. B. Philips’ famous paraphrase, he must be “a one-woman man.” It’s not just that he’s not to be a polygamist or a philanderer. He is to be faithful and dedicated to his bride. Winston Churchill was once at a banquet in London and the question was asked, “If you could not be who you are, who would you like to be?” And of course everyone there wanted to hear what Churchill had to say in answer to that question. And so when it was his turn, Churchill rose and said, “If I could not be who I am, I would most like to be” – and then he paused to take his wife, Clementine’s hand – “I would most like to be Lady Churchill’s second husband. He couldn’t imagine being anything other than Clementine’s husband. He was a one-woman man. How can I know if this elder candidate will treat Christ’s bride, the Church, with love and fidelity and devotion? Take a good look at his own marriage. How does he speak about, how does he speak to, how does he serve and care for his wife? Does he give himself up as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her? There ought to be an echo of the Gospel in the marriage of an elder. Is there an echo of the Gospel in your marriage?
Next, Paul says, an elder must be “sober-minded.” So “the husband of one wife, sober-minded.” That means temperate, even-keeled. Not flighty, not silly, not frivolous. And along with that, he is to be “self-controlled.” That is, he is to be a man of discipline. He works at what is most important and orders his priorities by Biblical priorities. He strives to master his desires and mortify his sin. He is able to overcome the powerful impulse toward leisure and make sacrifices for kingdom ends. And then, Paul says, he is also to be “respectable.” “That word,” says John Stott, “is the outward expression of an inward self-control.” It’s knowing how to deport one’s self appropriately in each circumstance and situation. Sober-mindedness and self-control, we might say, they drive the car; they turn the wheel. But respectable behavior describes the direction of travel of a person’s life. And so ask yourself, is this man, is he gosh and impolitic. Does he miss social cues? He is boarish and overbearing? Is he indecent in his language, inappropriate in his manner? And elder must be above reproach; that is, he is to be the husband of one wife, he is to be sober-minded, self-controlled, and respectable.
And then negatively, in verse 3, to be above reproach also means that he must “not be a drunkard.” The New International Version, I think, translates this phrase, “he must not be given to much wine.” In other words, do you always see this man with a drink in his hand? Do you get the impression that he can’t relax? He can’t enjoy a social occasion unless he’s drinking? What is his relationship to alcohol? Is he temperate and moderate and wise in its use? Is he careful not to cause other people to stumble as he exercises his own Christian liberty in this area? He must not be given to much wine. Now, notice, may he be “violent.” Instead, he must be “gentle.” And he may “not be quarrelsome.” Do you see these expressions in the text?
These qualifications, really together, contrast starkly with the temperament of the false teachers who were troubling the church in Ephesus, don’t they? Those men, they were always sliding into needless and petty squabbles. They loved nothing so much as another delicious controversy. But a faithful elder is not to be violent or quarrelsome. Rather, gentleness is to mark him out. Now that in no way implies weakness or timidity or effeminacy. He must be firm and strong and clear. But he mustn’t be fractious or contentious or litigious. Gentleness is to be his default setting. Gentleness. Is gentleness this man’s modus operandi? Is this who he is – a gentle man?
And finally, Paul says, he must not be “a lover of money.” Now in a minute we are going to come back to the end of verse 2 and see that an elder must be “hospitable.” The word for “hospitality” is “lovely.” It is “philoxenia.” Literally, “love of others; love of strangers.” But here at the end of verse 3, when Paul says he must “not be a lover of money,” this is really the contrasting word. This is the opposite of hospitality. Not “philoxenia” but “philagryon” – love of money, love of riches, love of wealth, love of stuff. The point, I think, is that you can’t love others with sacrificial hospitality and hoard your wealth, love your possessions, live for the accumulation of things at the same time. These two things are in conflict. If you really have a ministry mindset, you will leverage the material things with which God has blessed you in order to love others. But if you love money, the love of others has no room to grow. Let me say that again. If you love money, the love of others will have no room to grow.
Now that’s a pen portrait of an elder, isn’t it? But it’s really, let’s be clear, just a pen portrait of a faithful Christian. Elders are not called to a higher standard of godliness than the rest of us. They’re not. Elders are called to the same standard of godliness, but they’re expected to embody it and exemplify it. All that to say, this right here in these seven verses, this is the call of the Lord Jesus Christ on your life and mine, whether we aspire to office or not, as well as the pattern we must insist on in the lives of those who lead us as elders. Now of course, none of us embody these things perfectly, not the greatest and godliest among us. Only Jesus ever did. He is the good and perfect Shepherd. He is the only one who was like this all the time in every way. But as we rest on Christ and trust His grace, by His Word and Spirit, this is who we are becoming. This is the template and the pattern and trajectory of our sanctification. And this, Paul says, is what you are to look for in your elders. There must be a real and growing measure of all of these characteristic traits in a man’s life.
Desire. Character. Now look back at the end of verse 2 where Paul mentions gifts. Desire. Character. The third mark of an elder – gifts. An elder must be “hospitable” and he must be “able to teach.” Hospitality here has in mind not just opening your home to one another but opening your life, welcoming people we do not know well because we want to give ourselves to them in imitation of the Lord Jesus and for the sake of His kingdom. If a person is closed off, if a man is closed off, his door is always shut – he shares neither his home nor his life nor his thoughts with anyone – that man is not qualified to be an elder. It doesn’t mean that he’s always throwing block parties, you know, and inviting all his neighbors over for dinner every night. But it does mean that he takes meaningful, concrete steps to connect with people he does not yet know well in order to establish a bridge for the ministry of the Word of God. And that is Biblical hospitality.
The second gift that an elder must possess in verse 2 is an ability or an aptitude for teaching. Now if you look down at the very similar list of qualifications for deacons, this is really the one thing that must necessarily be true about elders that need not necessarily be true of deacons. A deacon may develop a gift for teaching, like Stephen in the book of Acts – a deacon who taught the Word. But elders must have an aptitude to teach. Now again, this does not mean that an elder has to be able to stand before a crowd of people and deliver an expository monologue for thirty minutes or so. But at the least it does mean that he must be thoughtful about handling the Word of God faithfully and well in all his dealings with the people of the Lord. I can think of serving elders in our church right now who do not feel able or equipped to stand and teach a Sunday school class, who are temperamentally shy and unwilling to step into the limelight. But I have seen them open the Bible with people one-on-one and do it in a way that shows they’ve thought carefully about which text to use and how best to bring the truth of God to bear upon a person’s needs and heart. And it’s a beautiful thing to see. There must be a minimum aptitude for teaching the Word of God.
One way to tell if someone is apt to teach is to notice if a man is impatient and restless under the regular Bible teaching ministry of the church. If he isn’t growing under the Word, he isn’t likely to teach the Word himself with wisdom and care. If he has no love for the Scriptures, no desire to read solid, Christian literature, to use the abundance of resources with which we have been blessed today to grow in his understanding and love for the things of God, he is not likely to be able to teach others well. So here are the three marks of an elder. Do you see them? His desire, his character, and his gifts.
But how are we to discern if a man has these marks? How can we find them and see them and spot them and identify them? Well, in the remaining verses, Paul provides three practical tests to assess a man’s qualifications. The first is the test of household leadership. The household leadership test. Look at verses 4 and 5. “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” Now Paul isn’t saying that bachelors can’t be elders or husbands who don’t have children can’t be elders. So far as we can tell, Paul himself was an unmarried man without children serving in full-time Gospel ministry. Likewise, the Lord Jesus never married. And so whatever these verses mean, it cannot disqualify Paul or Jesus Christ from serving on the session of First Presbyterian Church.
And yet, Paul really is saying that ordinarily, elders should be family men, and that their family lives will be a vital proving ground for their gifts and graces. Being an elder isn’t like being a street sweeper or working some place where all you have to do is ask, “Do you want fries with that?” Right? It’s not a case of “No previous experience required.” Under previous experience on an elder candidate’s resume, the apostle Paul really does expect to see husband and father. To get a good read on a man, look at his homelife. That’s the point. By the way, the word “manage” here – “he must manage his household well” – has two senses. It can mean “to supervise or govern” and it can mean “to nurture and care.” To supervise or nurture. And these two words, I think, together give us a clue about why the household is such a useful proving ground for eldership. Philip Ryken says, “Fatherhood brings both aspects together. The father is the leader who governs the household, but the way he does this is by caring for the needs of each family member.” Elders do this same thing in the household of God. They exercise their spiritual authority both by governing and by caring.
And notice in particular that Paul says “with all dignity” he is to “keep his children submissive.” Now “submissive” there does not imply dominion or domination, as if what Paul wants for fathers is to control and manipulate their children. The submission in view is qualified, isn’t it, by the word “dignity” – “with all dignity, keeping his children submissive.” So a godly father is not a controlling monster whose temper ensures that his children never step out of line through fear and intimidation. No, no, he relates to them in a way that is dignified and that honors the dignity of the image of God in his own children. Men who have a rage problem are often skilled at hiding it, but when their children act in ways they disapprove, not infrequently, that’s when you glimpse the Hyde lurking behind Dr. Jekyll’s smiling face. If you aspire to the office of elder, what would your children say if we were to sit down with them and ask them to describe how Daddy talks to them? What does he do when they misbehave? Have they ever seen Daddy out of control? Look at the family. This is where you will see whether a candidate for elder is a one-woman man, a man who masters himself, a man who does not resort to self-medication with alcohol to cope with life, a man who isn’t living every day in the grip of rage, a man who isn’t quarrelsome. The family will reveal if he is gentle, if he is a man who is above reproach.
Now as we look at each of these three tests, you’ll notice Paul supplies a reason why this is a useful test to use. And the reason this time, in verse 5, is that “if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?” The management, care and leadership of a man in his own home is an excellent barometer of his desires, character and gifts for leadership in the church of Jesus Christ. As you look for new elders, First Presbyterian Church, apply, first of all, the household leadership test.
The second test you will see in verse 6. It is the spiritual maturity test. “He must not be a recent convert,” Paul says. The reason this time – “he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” The word for “recent convert” is picturesque. It is actually a Greek word we sometimes still use in contemporary English. Literally, Paul says, “he may not be a neophyte. Originally, a neophyte in the Greek language was a seedling recently planted. New Christians, Paul is saying, are like freshly potted plants grown from seed. You need to keep them in a greenhouse until sufficient maturity has been reached before they can be planted out in the garden to survive the harsh winter. The challenging environment that Christians have been planted into and develop the maturity to survive – it’s not meteorological; it is spiritual. And generally speaking, young Christians, Paul says, have not yet developed the spiritual resilience that they need to withstand the temptations of pride that come with being promoted to positions of leadership prematurely. Otherwise, the danger is that the same condemnation that fell upon the devil who, in his own arrogance rebelled against God, will also fall on those who are claiming to follow Jesus but really prefer the allurements of human flattery to the quiet sacrifice of Gospel service.
Now let me pause here just a moment longer as we think about the nature of the maturity that we are looking for. Ordinarily, there is a correlation, isn’t there, between physical age and spiritual maturity. But we do need to be careful not to equate these two things as we look for new elders. After all, Timothy himself was not an older man. Chapter 4 verse 12, Paul says, “Let no one despise you for your youth., but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Paul himself planted the church in Ephesus. He spent three years as their founding pastor, longer than at any other place in his ministry. These people are very dear to him, and the problems they are facing in Ephesus are complex and serious, and yet Paul has entrusted the leadership and care of the Ephesian church so dear to him, so needy and messed up with all these complicated problems, he’s entrusted them to this young man, Timothy. So do not rule out younger men simply on the basis of age alone. I wonder if one reason – this is my own speculation – I wonder if one reason Paul selected the word “overseer” which focuses on leadership rather than the word “elder” which focuses on maturity here, was for young Timothy’s sake, given his youth and his natural sensitivities. Paul doesn’t want him misunderstanding, somehow thinking that he is deficient because he does not have gray hairs on his head yet. No, it is spiritual maturity that is the test, not merely age.
About a third of the elders serving in our own congregation right now have labored in the work for over two decades. And that kind of longevity is an enormous asset in the life of a church. And we owe those fathers and brothers a great debt of gratitude for their faithfulness. But if we want to see more of that kind of longterm, generation-spanning ministry, we actually need to elect some younger men so that they can be mentored and developed under the example of older elders and serve among us here in their turn for decades to come.
So in order to find the desire, the character and the gifts that are necessary, Paul says first use the household test. Then, use the spiritual maturity test. And then finally he says you should also use the public witness test. So the household test, the spiritual maturity test, the public witness test. Look at verse 7. “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” What do a man’s business partners, his unconverted colleagues say about him? What is his reputation in the community? Is he all smiles and piety on Sunday and a hardnosed, ruthless businessman who puts the bottom line ahead of the welfare of others Monday to Saturday? Is he untrustworthy and duplicitous in his public behavior and dealings out in the world? Is he well thought of by outsiders? What is his witness?
And the reason this matters, Paul says, is the terrible possibility of disgrace, which you’ll notice, he says, is a snare, a trap, set for us by the devil. And the disgrace in view here isn’t personal shame; it is bringing disgrace on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom an elder always represents. If you aspire to sacred office, you need to understand eldership is not a hat that you sometimes put on and sometimes don’t. You are an elder all the time. You represent Jesus Christ all the time. You are His witness in the world all the time. And how you interact and speak and behave out there when you’re not doing church business reveals whether the Gospel of grace has really penetrated all the way through your life to the very core.
And that’s a crucial point, I think, because twice now in verse 6 and again in verse 7, Paul has cast the spectre of satanic opposition over this whole discussion. When you ask a man to accept the call to serve you as an elder, you are asking him to wear a target on his back. The devil wants to ruin the witness of Christ’s church, and he takes special aim at the lives and the homes and the public witness of the men who serve as our spiritual leaders. And so I say again what I said at the beginning of this message. What we need more than proficient businessmen, more than capable legal minds, more than wise managers of people, what we need most are Gospel men. We need men who are conquered by the Lord Jesus Christ and who desire nothing more than to spend themselves in His cause and for His glory and His service. We are not trying to fill open spots on a board. God save us from trying to make up the numbers. No, we want the Lord to raise up faithful laborers for His harvest field.
So what are we looking for? We are looking for men who have a godly desire to serve. We’re looking for men with growing holiness of character. Men who are making progress in mortifying their sin and following their Savior. We are looking for men with manifest spiritual gifts, particularly in the ministries of hospitality and Bible teaching. And how are we going to find them? Use the household test and the spiritual maturity test and the public witness test. And may I say as we close, above all else, please pray, please will you pray that the Lord would not give us the elders we deserve but the elders that we need – men of God, men of gentleness, men who are above reproach. Gospel men. Let’s do that now together shall we? Let’s pray.Our God and Father, as we bow before You, we know that we deserve none of Your mercy, none of Your grace, none of Your favor. And yet we are Your sheep. We remember how the Lord Jesus, when He saw the crowds, was filled with compassion for them, for He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. We are sheep and we need shepherds, so Lord Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep, raise up elders in our midst, give wisdom to our congregation as we seek to discern the men of desire and character and gifts who will faithfully lead us and shepherd us and care for us. Do it for Your glory, that the Gospel may always be preserved as our message and our mission, that Your name might be magnified and exalted, and that we, all of us, might become more like You, Lord Jesus, under their care and faithful ministry to us. For we ask all of this in Your holy name, amen.