The Qualifications of an Elder

Introduction

Finding pastors these days can be a difficult process sometimes taking years. And then when we find a new pastoral candidate it can be hard to decide. Do we just jump with the first one we see? Maybe if it is God’s will. Sometimes Churches make a decision about who can be an elder based on how charismatic they are, or how skilled they might be administratively. But are those really the things we should be looking for in a pastor?

Paul had trained two young men under his ministry whom he considered to be like sons to him: Timothy and Titus. Later on in their ministry, Paul would entrust them with going back to these baby churches and help bring order to the church. One of their jobs was to ordain elders in every church. So how were they supposed to decide who should and could be an elder? In both 1 Timothy and in the book of Titus, Paul gave them some qualifications for an elder. Tonight we are going to do a brief survey of these qualifications, spending a little more time on the difficult ones.

If you combine the two lists, you will find that there are about 18 things that are required of an elder. This list can be broken into three main categories:

Character

Competency

Experience

But by far the biggest category would be character. I think there is an important lesson to learn from this observation: God values character over competence and experience. They aren’t unimportant, but the character of a man is most important. So when we make decisions based on someone’s great preaching style or the way they can run a service; we have got the whole thing switched totally around. So an ordination cannot be merely about doctrinal beliefs, but the personal walk and character of the candidate. So what should we look for when evaluating whether someone can be an elder?

Above Reproach

Titus 1:6 “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”

1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

This first requirement for a pastor is actually an umbrella requirement. Everything that follows is part of what it means to be blameless. The way the sentance is structured in Greek makes this the overall requirement with the others modifying it. So what does it mean to be blameless? Does this mean that a pastor must be perfect or that he can not have a past? If that were the case, Paul himself would never have been able to be a pastor or minister of the gospel.

The word blameless means not deserving or worthy of rebuke or criticism. Obviously pastors will always be criticized but the idea behind this phrase is that he lives in such a way that he is legitimately above reproach. In Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;” Paul uses a word that means without accusation and elsewhere it is defined as above reproach.

A Pastor’s lifestyle should be morally praiseworthy to the point that there aren’t any questions about his morality. There should be no moral failings, no hypocrisy, and no scandals in his life. He is to be of such a character that people would not readily believe an accusation against him without proof.

Questions to ask: borrowed from Tim Challies

Are there any ongoing sins in your life that would bring shame to you, your family, and your local church if they were made public? Are there any parts of your life you deliberately hide from others?

Do you know what sins you are particularly prone to and do you have measures in your life to guard against the temptation to these sins?

Are you taking advantage of God’s means of grace? Are you regularly attending church and participating in the life of the church? Do you have times of private and family worship?

Do you think your life right now is pleasing to God? When it is not, are you quick to seek the forgiveness of both man and God and to display repentance by making significant changes?

If your close friends or people in your church heard charges against you, would their reaction be, “That’s not possible!” or “I knew it!”? What does this response say about you?

Devoted to his wife

Titus 1:6 “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”

1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

Polygamy

Cannot be single

Not divorced and remarried- what about if they got saved and their wife left them because she didn’t want to become a believer. What about cases of legitimate divorce? How about someone who was divorced when they were young and now they have gotten saved? Consider implications for widowers. Blameless comes in here but does time affect that

Not a widower- Verbage is also used in 1 Timothy 5:9 “Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,”

Faithful to their wife- We could get into the ins and outs of why I think this is about faithfulness more than divorce, singleness, and widowhood. I do think Polygamy is outside the bounds on this qualification, but polygamy was technically illegal in the nations who received this letter.

this phrase was a semitic idiom well-known at the time

the overall context of the passage is about character not status

Paul clearly allows for remarriage under certain circumstances, so marrying again shouldn’t disqualify you.

Early Greek Christian commentators viewed this as the interpretation- who would know the Greek better than anyone else, but a native speaker.

John MacAurthur comments on this passage:

It’s not concerning status, it is concerning character. It is not a matter of circumstance, it is a matter of his virtue. And the issue here is a man who is solely and only and totally devoted to the woman who is his wife. It is a question of his character. He is a one-woman man. Anything less is a disqualification

Now divorce could disqualify a man as not above reproach. but then you have to wrestle with the questions: what about a man who was divorced when he was lost? What about a man whose wife left him because he became a Christian?

Practical Questions:

Does your marriage serve as an example of God’s design and ideal for marriage? Are you in love with your spouse? Do you regularly pursue sexual union with your spouse? (1 Corinthians 7:3-5)

Do you regularly indulge in entertainment that displays explicit nudity or sexuality or that debases God’s design and purpose for sexuality? Or do you willingly abstain from every form of evil and refuse to make light of it? (1 Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:3)

Are there any sexual sins you have committed that you need to confess and repent of? Are there any sins you have been hiding that you need to expose? (Psalm 32:3-7)

Children must be in submission

Titus 1:6 “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”

1 Timothy 3:4–5 “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)”

This next qualification is given with a reason. A pastor should have children who are faithful. It is interesting that they are not to be accused of riot or unruly. They should not be the wild child running uncontrollably around. They must be in subjection meaning they obey. with all gravity- not through gritted teath. but the reason given is that the office of a pastor is one of management. If he cannot manage his household; then how can he manage the church.

Practical Questions:

When your family is in public, are your children out of control, or do they generally follow your lead and respond to your correction?

Fathers, do you lead your family spiritually? Are family devotions part of your routine? Mothers, do you teach and train your children, do you pray with them, do you lovingly discipline them?

A Faithful Steward

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

Related to this, the pastor should be a faithful manager of everything under his care. The word for bishop here is episkopos which means an overseer.

Humble

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

I worded the qualification in the positive, but here we are not to be stubborn and self-willed. He doesn’t have to have his way because he is humble enough to acknowledge that others might know better than he does.

Do you seek the credit and the glory of man, or are you happy to be unknown and unappreciated? Many Christians want to be thought of as servants, but not treated as servants. Is that you?

Do you have to have your way or you get easily upset?

Gentle and not Quick Tempered

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

1 Timothy 3:3 “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;” patient- gentle?

The pastor is to be gentle and not harsh with others. Neither should he easily loose his temper. Obviously anger is not the problem here: Moses was angry with Israel’s idolatry, God was angry with their spiritual adultery; but he must not be known as an angry man.

Does he easily loose his temper?

Does he ramrod everyone?

Sober

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

1 Timothy 3:3 “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”

Here we are using sober in the sense that we use it today. A Pastor must not be a drunkard. Drunkenness is a sin; so why would we recommend a man to be an elder who should really be under church discipline?

Do you have a biblically-informed position on whether or not Christians may consume alcohol? Do you abide by your position?

Peaceful

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

1 Timothy 3:3 “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”

He isn’t a violent man. when you think of him, you shouldn’t think of a man who is constantly picking a fight. In our day and age we probably should lump under this category being a troll. Josh Buise the previous president of G3 was recently found out that he had created annonymous accounts that he was using to bash and troll other pastors including some he shared a pulpit with at G3.

Financial Integrity

Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”

1 Timothy 3:3 “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”

1 Peter 5:2 “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;”

Many times pastors are accused of getting paid for more than the work that they put in. While that may be true in some cases, the average pastor puts in more hours than you think because they have to be on call and there are many things that have to be done outside of normal business hours. At the very least, they are not just working one day a week as I heard some accuse. The pastor though should not be known for Greed. The idea of filthy lucre includes unearned income. He is going to do a hard jobs work.

Does he constantly rag on money and giving?

Does he have a reputation for not working hard?

Hospitable

Titus 1:8 “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”

1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

This might be one of the most forgotten qualifications of a pastor and many a pastor would be disqualified because of it, but does a pastor have a heart for hospitality. Ministry is not merely done behind a pulpit, but in the homes and dinning rooms of the pastor and his people. Does he open his house up to others?

I think this word lover is key. Some do hospitality grudgingly, but does he truly have a heart to be with the people.

A Lover of Good Men

Titus 1:8 “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”

The word men is not in the Greek; rather the word speaks of loving anything good. This obviously would include good men. Does he have an appreciation for good things?

Self-Controlled

Titus 1:8 “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”

1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

Is he self-controlled? This can be in a variety of areas, but do people think of him as a glutton, financially a bad steward, an impulse buyer. Does he invest all his effort into the things he does?

Upright

Titus 1:8 “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”

Just impies justice. Does he treat people rightly or is he known for being unfair all the time.

Holy

Titus 1:8 “But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”

Is his life characterized by devotion to God? Does he seek to live pure and separate from the world?

Able to teach

Titus 1:9 “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

I will focus on this one a little bit more because this one separate the elders from the deacons. Really every christian should be characterized by these things except here. A pastor should have an ability to preach and teach. This doesn’t mean he is excellent at it. Really, it speaks of a knowledge of the scriptures. He cannot be a man who doesn’t know the bible well. In some circules of the IFB, this is a real problem because the preaches manifest a lack of knowledge of the teaching of the bible as a whole. The preach obvious errors because they just haven’t studied enough.

I think this also includes those who are every learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is alright for a pastor to still have questions and still be studying some things, but there are some who are skeptical of all truth. A pastor needs to be conversant in all the common matters of theology and biblical applications to life. There may be deeper questions that he has to say I don’t know, but I will find out; but he should not be constantly giving that answer.

Spiritually Mature

1 Timothy 3:6 “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”

A novice is someone who just got saved. Often times a novice has high passion and low knowledge; as they mature they gain more knowledge and are less confident because they know what they don’t know. A truly spiritually mature person has high knowledge and is properly confident in what the bible says.

There is a reason given for this one as well- pride. Elevating a young man or brand new christian too quickly just makes him proud and can lead to his downfall. I honestly believe this is what happened in the case of men like Jack Hyles. They got popular too soon and it went to their head.

Respected by the Lost

1 Timothy 3:7 “Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

They must have a good reputation with the lost. It is helpful to contact their employers and others they might be around.

An Example

1 Peter 5:3 “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

Overall, their lives should be an example that we want to follow because they follow Jesus.

Conclusion

Men, if God has placed within your heart a desire to preach and teach the word of God, that is not a wrong desire. Paul began this whole discussion by saying 1 Timothy 3:1 “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” I would encourage you in this. Being an elder does not mean you have to move away either. We will talk more about that next week. Sometimes we think if I am going to be a pastor I have to move away and find my own church; this isn’t necessarily so.

Here is what I would recommend, if that desire burns within you, first, focus on your walk with the Lord and character; second, get your house and your finances in order, third, get some training in the word so you can teach. In today’s world, you can easily take classes online from reputable schools. A man doesn’t have to have a degree to be a pastor, but he does have to know his bible well. The unfortunate truth is that you don’t know what you don’t know until you are confronted with other thoughts. There is wisdom in sitting under other godly men who have labored in the word for years to be taught. Being able to truly teach sound doctrine only comes from a man who is willing to be taught.

Finally, if this is you come see me and let’s talk. Young people, maybe this heart burns within you; I can help guide and prepare you for that life if you are willing.