Requirements For The Overseer

INTRO

We’re continuing to work through Paul’s first letter to Timothy with instructions for how Timothy is to pastor the church in Ephesus. Shepherding is hard work. Our phrase for the book of 1 Timothy is Our Mediator. Christ, Our Mediator, through His death and resurrection, allows us to come to the Father in prayer (1 Timothy 2:5–6). In chapter 3, Paul provides Timothy with instructions for who can serve as lay leadership within the church. The lay leadership of deacons and elders is necessary if Timothy is to succeed as pastor of the church and the church is to fulfill its call in Ephesus. As we work through this passage, I want you to pull back and look at those in your congregation. Ask yourself if your church is following the requirements Paul set out for Timothy. Paul wanted the elders and deacons to be installed so his work would not be corrupted (1 Timothy 3). Paul was establishing a team, another layer of people, to help protect the congregation from false teachers.

TEACHING

1 Timothy 3:1-7: In verse 1, Paul names the position of overseer, a term synonymous with pastor or bishop (or elder as stated in Titus 1). Nelson’s Commentary explains the overseer is “the person who oversees a congregation.”¹ Then deacons are described (vv. 8–13) and are given the responsibility of overseeing “the internal affairs of the church.”² It is a type of Acts 6:4 model. Paul emphasized an overseer was one who “desires a noble work” (v. 1b) and provided 15 requirements for an overseer/pastor (vv. 2–7). These can seem to be a bit ritualistic, and they are definitely hard to live up to.³ All these have been adapted from Constable.

1. Above reproach: Constable explains the overseer “should possess no observable flaw in his character or conduct. That is, there should be no cause for justifiable criticism, now or in his past, that anyone could use to discredit him and bring reproach on the name of Christ and the church.”
2. Husband of one wife: This requirement has been interpreted four ways: he is required to marry; he can only be married once; he must be monogamous, so only married to one person at a time; and he must be “a moral husband”. Paul seems to have been writing about someone’s current condition, not his past.
3. Temperate: “Sober, vigilant, clear-headed, and well-balanced.”
4. Prudent: “Self-controlled . . . sensible…such a man, such a bishop, will not speak rashly, will be a person of sound judgment, will be master of himself, and of his situation.”⁴
5. Respectable: “Orderly, of good behavior, dignified and decent in his conduct.”
6. Hospitable: “One who opens his home to the early church. This was an especially essential quality in the early church, since there were few public accommodations for traveling ministers and much need[ed] to take in needy Christians temporarily.” It is from the Greek word meaning “loving the stranger.”
7. Able to teach: “Apt, qualified, and competent to explain and defend the truth of God,” requiring “ministry skill or gift.”
8. Not addicted to wine: “Not a brawler, playboy, slave of drink, or drunkard.”
9. Not pugnacious or violent: He is not to be “a person who resorts to physical or verbal violence to vent his anger or to settle disputes.”
10. Gentle: “Patient and forbearing.”
11. Uncontentious: “A person who is not quarrelsome . . . not a fighter or a brawler.”
12. Free from the love of money: The disqualifier is the love for not possession of money. “This means the candidate’s attitude toward material wealth ought to be one of healthy detachment.”⁵
13. Manages his own household well: “Has control of his family” (Proverbs 24:3–4; 27:23; Ephesians 6:4; Titus 1:6).
14. Not a new convert: “Evidence that he can function as an elder . . . without becoming ‘conceited’. . . ‘blinded’ or ‘beclouded.’” Does the new convert reflect the other fourteen characteristics?
15. A good reputation outside the church: To be above reproach with and before nonbelievers.

1 Timothy 3:8–13: There’s another list in these verses of 12 requirements for deacons. The deacons are the doers—they get the work done in the church to allow pastors to oversee the spiritual matters of the church.

CLOSING

We did not have time to look at the rest of this chapter, but I encourage you to prayerfully read through it and ask God to show you the importance of each in the work of the church.