Called to Lead the Church (3:1)

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It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. (3:1)

Paul moves from discussing the congregation (2:1-15) to dealing with the pastors. The ministry, effectiveness, and testimony of any church is largely a reflection of its leaders. The principle of Hosea 4:9, “And it will be, like people, like priest” is still true. People do not normally rise above the level of their leaders. So important is it that those who lead the church be highly qualified spiritually that the detailed list of their specific qualifications is given twice in Paul’s letters, here and in Titus 1. Church leadership is at the core of New Testament teaching, since the Lord came into this world to build the church (Matt. 16:18).

There is an inseparable link between the character of a church and the quality of its leadership. Leaders must set a godly example for the church to follow. Our Lord said in Luke 6:40, “Everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” Paul urged the Corinthians to “be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:16; cf. 1 Cor. 11:1). To the Philippians he wrote, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things” (Phil. 4:9).

The church at Ephesus had been blessed with leadership of the highest caliber. It was founded by Paul, who ministered there for three years (Acts 20:31). During that time he trained a core of godly leaders (Acts 20:17ff.) to lead the church after he left. As he foresaw, however, false leaders arose after his departure from Ephesus (Acts 20:29-30). After his release from his first Roman imprisonment, Paul returned to Ephesus and dealt with two prominent ones (1:20). Leaving Timothy to deal with the rest and the other issues in the church, he set out for Macedonia (1:3). Not long afterward, he wrote this letter to Timothy, directing him with a strategy to correct and build up the Ephesian church. At the heart of that task was the crucial need to reestablish a godly leadership. Choosing the right elders was to be done by measuring men against a divinely inspired checklist of qualifications.

The qualifications Paul gives in 3:2-7 are set against the backdrop of the unqualified leaders in Ephesus. He places God’s standards against what the Ephesians had allowed the leadership to degenerate into. Some of the leaders were teaching false doctrine (1:3; 4:1-3, 7; 6:3-5), turning aside to “fruitless discussion” (1:6). They misused the law and misunderstood the gospel (1:7-11). Some were women (2:12), though that was forbidden by God’s Word. Others were guilty of sin, and needed public rebuke (5:20).

All the qualifications he lists are spiritual virtues, character traits that mark godly teachers and leaders. He says nothing about the duties of the leaders, but is concerned only with their spirituality, morality, and virtue as the necessary foundation to duty. The duties were clear, the qualifications needed to be clarified. All who serve as overseers or elders in the church must measure up to these standards, or face public discipline (5:20-24).

Before discussing the individual qualifications against which all pastors are to be measured, however, Paul gives some helpful insight into the call to spiritual leadership. This opening verse suggests six facets related to the call to ministry: It is an important calling, a limited calling, a compelling calling, a responsible calling, a worthy calling, and a demanding calling.

AN IMPORTANT CALLING

It is a trustworthy statement: (3:1a)

As noted in chapter 3 of this volume, the phrase a trustworthy statement is unique to the Pastoral Epistles, appearing five times (cf. 1:15; 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8). Each time, it introduces a basic truth of great importance and familiarity among believers. A trustworthy statement is an obvious, self-evident truth that doesn’t need proof. Because the phrase appears only late in Paul’s ministry, it probably indicates axioms that had become creeds. While the trustworthy statement in this passage is about the issue of the call to the ministry, the others refer to doctrinal matters. Including this truth with those essential elements of Christian dogma shows the importance placed on the role of leadership by the early church. It was and is a serious and sacred trust.

In Paul’s day the pastorate was not entered into lightly. Today people enter the ministry for a variety of reasons, not all of them commendable. Some are in it for the money, others for job security, prestige and respect, the privilege of working with Christians, or other unacceptable motivations. In the early church, however, conditions were very different. There was little money to be made, since the churches were poor and few Christians were rich. The ministry was not a position of prestige in society, since Christians, and especially preachers, were despised outcasts (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26). And since the church was a frequent target of persecution, those in leadership roles risked their lives.

The record of the developing church constantly affirms the importance of spiritual leadership. On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas “appointed elders for them in every church” (Acts 14:23). Elders, along with the apostles, presided at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:2,4, 6, 22, 23). As already noted, Paul had appointed elders at Ephesus (Acts 20:17, 28). Paul addressed the book of Philippians to “to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons” (Phil. 1:1). He wrote to the Thessalonians, “We request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12-13). In a similar vein the writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers to “obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). Peter wrote

Since godly leaders have always been the backbone of the church, it is essential that they be qualified. In an unsuccessful church, the issue is all too often not poor programs or uncommitted people, but substandard leadership. Godly leaders are not produced by Bible colleges or seminaries; they merely give them the tools with which to work. Nor do pulpit committees or ordination councils make men fit for the ministry; they merely have the responsibility to recognize those who already are. Only the Holy Spirit can produce a true spiritual leader.

When Saul failed to be a godly king over Israel God sought out David, “a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). In Ezekiel 22:30 God cries out, “I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” George Liddell wrote,

That is the kind of man God seeks to lead His redeemed people. Such men are “those who are willing to suffer for the sake of objectives great enough to demand their wholehearted obedience” (Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 20).

Such a man was Samuel Logan Brengle, one of the early leaders of the Salvation Army. He wrote,

The call to lead the church is so important that only the noblest need apply.

A LIMITED CALLING

if any man (3:1b)

Church leadership is not for everyone. An essential requirement for a church leader is that he be a man. The indefinite pronoun tis (any) should be taken here as masculine, in agreement with the masculine form of the adjectives in verses 2-6. Also, a woman could hardly be a “one-woman man” (v. 2), nor did women in that day head households (w. 5-6). Paul here applies the truth he taught in 2:11-15: women are not to be the leaders in the church. As already noted in chapter 7 of this volume, they have a vitally important role in the church, the home, and in society. That role, however, does not include leadership over God’s people.

A COMPELLING CALLING

aspires … desires (3:1c, g)

Those who seek the office of overseer must have a Spirit-given, compelling desire for it. Aspires is from oregō, a rare word, appearing only here, 1 Timothy 6:10, and Hebrews 11:16 in the New Testament. It means “to reach out after,” or “to stretch out oneself to grasp something.” The term does not speak of internal motives, but only describes the external act. Here it describes someone who is taking steps to become an overseer.

Desires is from epithumeō, which means “a passionate compulsion,” in this context for good rather than for evil. In contrast to oregō, this verb refers to the inward feeling of desire. Taken together, the two terms describe the man who outwardly pursues the ministry because of a driving compulsion on the inside.

Some men seek spiritual oversight in the church because people they respect have encouraged them to do so. Others pursue it because they have decided the ministry is their best option. They love the Lord and His church, so they attend Bible college or seminary to prepare for service. Because they are not driven by an internal passion for the ministry, however, it can become a mere academic exercise for them.

On the other hand, some have a great passion for the ministry, but lack self-control and devotion to priorities for preparation. They can’t seem to get their lives disciplined enough to get on track to achieve their desire.

The man truly called to the ministry is marked by both an inward consuming passion and a disciplined outward pursuit. For him the ministry is not the best option, it is the only option. There is nothing else he could do with his life that would fulfill him. Accordingly, he works diligently to prepare himself to be qualified for service. While some may be called later in life, from that point on nothing else will do.

As already noted, some seek the office of overseer for wrong motives, such as money, power, or prestige. The true motive for seeking the ministry was described by Patrick Fairbairn: “The seeking here intended … must be of the proper kind, not the prompting of a carnal ambition, but the aspiration of a heart which has itself experienced the grace of God, and which longs to see others coming to participate in the heavenly gift” (Pastoral Epistles [Minneapolis: James & Klock, 1976], 136). It is not the office the truly called seek, but the work itself. Samuel Brengle wrote that “the final estimate of men shows that history cares not for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart” (C. W. Hall, Samuel Logan Brengle [New York: The Salvation Army, 1933], 274).

Simply put, ambition for office corrupts, desire for service purifies. Our Lord described the true character of spiritual service in Mark 10:42-44:

In a striking sermon known as “The Sermon of the Plow,” the noted English Reformer Hugh Latimer blasted the passionless, self-promoting clergy of his day:

The church must be led by men of passion who are compelled to the ministry.

A RESPONSIBLE CALLING

the office of overseer (3:1d)

Having oversight of the church is no small task, but rather a sobering responsibility. Hebrews 13:17 warns that leaders must give an account to God for how faithfully they have led, while James adds that because they teach they face a stricter judgment (James 3:1). Overseer translates episkopos, the term rendered bishop by the Authorized Version. In our day “bishop” has been encumbered with much ecclesiastical trapping. In the New Testament, however, the terms “bishop” (or overseer) referred to the same role as pastor and elder (cf. Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-2).

Some have suggested that episkopos derives its sense from the city administrator, inspector, or financial manager of Greek culture. Its New Testament usage, however, more closely parallels that of the Essene Jews of the Qumran community. The overseers among the Essenes preached, taught, presided, exercised care and authority, and enforced discipline. Those functions more closely mirror that of the New Testament overseer than the more narrow use of the term in Greek culture.

What are the responsibilities of the overseer? They are to rule (1 Tim. 5:17), to preach and teach (1 Tim. 5:17), to pray for the sick (James 5:14), to care for the church (1 Peter 5:1-2), to be examples for others to follow (1 Peter 5:1-2), to set church policy (Acts 15:22ff.), and to ordain other leaders (1 Tim. 4:14).

A WORTHY CALLING

it is a fine work (3:1e)

The ministry is a fine (kalos), noble, honorable, excellent, high-quality work. It is a most worthy and glorious calling, as godly men have always recognized. The fourteenth-century English reformer John Wycliffe wrote,

The seventeenth-century American Puritan Cotton Mather agreed:

The twentieth-century English preacher Will Sangster wrote of the ministry:

The work of preaching and leading the church, which our Lord purchased with His blood, is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.

A DEMANDING CALLING

work (3:10

Those looking for an easy time will not find it in the ministry. The ministry is work, a demanding, lifelong task. Paul commanded Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). He reminded the Thessalonians to “appreciate those who diligently labor [from kopiaō —“to work to the point of exhaustion”] among you, and have charge over you in the Lord” (1 Thess. 5:12). Paul told the Colossians, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:28-29). The ministry is no nine-to-five occupation that one can walk away from and forget each evening. Its work is neverending and dependent on maximum effort and the power of Christ at work in the man.

The work of the ministry is such a serious undertaking that no man may enter it based solely on his own desire. Anyone who would lead the church must be set apart to that responsibility by the church when it clearly recognizes his giftedness, virtue, and service, by the standards given in verses 2-7. The sign that this recognition had occurred and a man had been set apart for the ministry in the early church was the laying on of hands (cf. 1 Tim. 4:14). The symbolism comes from the Old Testament, where the one offering a sacrifice identified with it by laying his hands on it. By laying hands on a candidate for the ministry, church leaders showed their unity and solidarity with him. They also gave him their commendation, support, and affirmation.

Paul strongly cautioned Timothy not to “lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of others” (1 Tim. 5:22). Those who ordain an unworthy man to the ministry share the responsibility for his sin. The early church took ordination very seriously. In Acts 13:2 and 14:23 we read that prayer and fasting accompanied the setting apart of men for the ministry. It was done in the early years by the apostles (Acts 14:23) and later by the elders of each congregation.

So spiritual oversight begins with a divine calling. Men, driven by an inner passion, actively seek to serve the church. The congregation either affirms or rejects that calling based on how the man’s life measures up to the standards the Holy Spirit has delineated in 3:2-7.