Qualities of a Godly Leader—part 1 Moral Qualities (3:2-3)
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An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. (3:2-3)
Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery was perhaps Britain’s greatest military leader during World War II. He was thus eminently qualified to list the qualities necessary to a leader in war. According to Montgomery, such a leader should see the big picture and not become bogged down in details. He must not be petty. He must choose men well. He should trust those under him and let them get on with their jobs without interference. He must have the power of clear decision. He should inspire confidence. Finally, he must have a proper sense of religious truth and acknowledge it to his troops (Bernard L. Montgomery, Memoirs of Field-Marshal Montgomery [Cleveland: World, 1958], 74-83).
From a different perspective John R. Mott, a world leader in student circles in the early part of this century, gave the following list: Does he do little things well? Has he learned the meaning of priorities? How does he use his leisure? Has he intensity? Has he learned to take advantage of momentum? Has he the power of growth? What is his attitude toward discouragements? How does he face impossible situations? What are his weakest points? (Basil Matthews, John R. Mott: World Citizen [New York: Harper & Brothers, 1934], 332-98).
THE OVERARCHING REQUIREMENT OF A GODLY LEADER
An overseer, then, must be above reproach,(3:2a)
Those lists, and many others like them, contain qualities every church overseer should possess. But pasturing God’s people demands far more because the issue is not just leadership, but moral and spiritual example. Summing up that realm of requirement, Paul demands that an overseer in the church of Jesus Christ must be above reproach. The Greek particle de (must) emphasizes that this is an absolute necessity. A life without blame is the overarching requirement for leadership in the church.
Few have stated that truth as eloquently as the godly Richard Baxter, a pastor in the Puritan movement of seventeenth-century England:
Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine, and lest you lay such stumbling-blocks before the blind, as may be the occasion of their ruin; lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues; and be the greatest hinderers of the success of your own labours…One proud, surly, lordly word, one needless contention, one covetous action, may cut the throat of many a sermon, and blast the fruit of all that you have been doing.
Take heed to yourselves, lest you live in those sins which you preach against in others, and lest you be guilty of that which daily you condemn. Will you make it your work to magnify God, and, when you have done, dishonour him as much as others? Will you proclaim Christ’s governing power, and yet contemn it, and rebel yourselves? Will you preach his laws, and wilfully break them? If sin be evil, why do you live in it? if it be not, why do you dissuade men from it? If it be dangerous, how dare you venture on it? if it be not, why do you tell men so? If God’s threatenings be true, why do you not fear them? if they be false, why do you needlessly trouble men with them, and put them into such frights without a cause? Do you ‘know the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death;’ and yet will you do them? ‘Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery,’ or be drunk, or covetous, art thou such thyself? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?’ What! shall the same tongue speak evil that speakest against evil? Shall those lips censure, and slander, and backbite your neighbour, that cry down these and the like things in others? Take heed to yourselves, lest you cry down sin, and yet do not overcome it; lest, while you seek to bring it down in others, you bow to it, and become its slaves yourselves: ‘For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage.’ ‘To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.’ O brethren! it is easier to chide at sin, than to overcome it. (The Reformed Pastor [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1979], 63, 67-68)
Anepil ēmptos (above reproach) means “not able to be held.” The man who is above reproach cannot be arrested and held as if he were a criminal; there is nothing for which to accuse him. In Titus 1:6, the same idea of being above reproach is conveyed, but a different term (anengklōtos—“unreprovable”) is used. The present participle einai (be) indicates he is in a present state of being above reproach. Obviously, it does not mean he has not committed sins in his life. What it does mean is that his life has not been marred by some obvious sinful defect in character which would preclude him setting the highest standard for godly conduct. He must be a model for the congregation to follow (cf. Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:9; Heb. 13:7; 1 Peter 5:3). He also must not give the enemies of the church reason to attack its reputation.
Pastors must take great care to remain above reproach for several reasons. First, they are the special targets of Satan, and he will assault them with more severe temptation than others. Those on the front lines of the spiritual battle will bear the brunt of satanic opposition.
Second, their fall has a greater potential for harm. Satan knows that when a shepherd falls, the effect on the sheep is devastating.
Third, leaders’ greater knowledge of the truth, and accountability to live it, brings greater chastening when they sin.
Fourth, elders’ sins are more hypocritical than others’ because they preach against the very sins they commit.
Leaders need an abundance of God’s grace and power because of their greater responsibility and visibility.
To protect themselves leaders must spend in-depth time in the study of God’s Word. They must be “constantly nourished on the words of the faith [Scripture] and of the sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6). The psalmist wrote, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Ps. 119:11). A leader must continuously expose his life to the light of the Word of God. He must also be a man of prayer, and be accountable to others in spiritual fellowship.
The church is called to be committed to maintaining leadership that is godly. The church is responsible to measure men by the standard of above reproach. The all too common practice today is to forgive a leader who sins and immediately restore him to his ministry. The church, like God, must not hesitate to forgive those who truly repent. To immediately restore them to the ministry, however, lowers the standard that God expects leaders to follow. And since leaders serve as the pattern of holiness and virtue for the congregation, the standard for the entire church is lowered.
In 3:2-7, Paul lists four areas in which a man aspiring to church leadership may be evaluated as to whether he is above reproach. These have to do with his moral character, home life, spiritual maturity, and public reputation.
THE MORAL CHARACTER OF A GODLY LEADER
the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. (3:2b-3)
In spelling out specifically what it means to be above reproach, Paul lists qualities of the overseer’s character.
The overseer or elder must first be above reproach in relation to women. He must be the husband of one wife. The Greek text literally reads “a one-woman man.” Paul is not referring to a leader’s marital status, as the absence of the definite article in the original indicates. Rather, the issue is his moral, sexual behavior. Many men married only once are not one-woman men. Many with one wife are unfaithful to that wife. While remaining married to one woman is commendable, it is no indication or guarantee of moral purity.
Some may wonder why Paul begins his list with this quality. He does so because it is in this area, above all others, where leaders seem most prone to fall. The failure to be a one-woman man has put more men out of the ministry than any other sin. It is thus a matter of grave concern.
Various interpretations have been offered that evade the meaning of this standard. Some have argued that its intent is to forbid polygamy. A man could not, however, even be a member of the church if he was a polygamist, let alone a leader. If that were all Paul meant, it would be an unnecessary prohibition. Further, polygamy was not an issue in Ephesus. It was uncommon in Roman society, in part because sexual encounters outside of marriage as well as divorces were easily obtainable. Nor was polygamy a feature of first-century Jewish society.
Others maintain that Paul here forbids remarriage after the death of a spouse. As already noted, however, this standard, like all the rest, refers to moral character, not marital status. Further, the Scriptures permit and honor second marriages under the proper circumstances. Paul expected younger widows to remarry and raise a family (1 Tim. 5:14), and widows could be described as one-man women (5:9). In 1 Corinthians 7:39 he wrote, “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”
Still others hold that this qualification excludes divorced men from spiritual leadership. That again ignores the fact that Paul is not here referring to marital status. Nor does the Bible forbid all remarriage after a divorce. In Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:9, our Lord permitted remarriage when a divorce was caused by adultery. Paul gave a second occasion when remarriage is permitted, when the unbelieving spouse initiates the divorce (1 Cor. 7:15). While God hates all divorce (Mai. 2:16), He is gracious to the innocent party in those two situations. (For a complete exposition of the relevant passages on divorce, see Matthew 1-7, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1985], and I Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1984.) Since remarriage in and of itself is not a sin, it is not necessarily a blight on a man’s character. If divorce resulted from a man’s inability to lead his family (v. 5), however, then it is a disqualification.
Nor does Paul intend to exclude single men from the ministry. If that was his point here, he would have disqualified himself, since he was single (1 Cor. 7:8).
A one-woman man is a man devoted in his heart and mind to the woman who is his wife. He loves, desires, and thinks only of her. He maintains sexual purity in both his thought life and his conduct. That qualification was especially important in Ephesus, where sexual evil was rampant. Many, if not most, of the congregation had at one time or another fallen prey to sexual evil. If that was before a man came to Christ, it wasn’t a problem (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). If it happened after his conversion, even before he assumed a leadership role, it was a problem. If it happened after he assumed a leadership role, it was a definite disqualification. Those same standards apply to men in positions of spiritual leadership today. Scripture makes clear that sexual sin is a reproach that never goes away. Proverbs 6:32-33 says of the adulterer, “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out.” Paul also indicates that failure to keep the body pure and controlled results in being disqualified for preaching (1 Cor. 9:27).
A leader in God’s church must also be temperate. Nōphalios (temperate) literally means “wineless,” or “unmixed with wine.” While it is true that wine “makes man’s heart glad” (Ps. 104:15), it also has the potential for great harm. That is why it was commonly diluted with water in biblical times. Even so, it retained its potential for harm to those who drank it unmixed or to excess. Proverbs 20:1 warns, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” Proverbs 23:29-35 graphically describes one snared by wine:
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. “They struck me, but I did not become ill; they beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”
Noah (Gen. 9:20-27) and Amnon (2 Sam. 13:28-29) are examples of those affected by wine.
Leviticus 10:9 forbids priests from drinking wine when performing their priestly duties. Those taking a Nazirite vow also could not drink wine (Num. 6:3). Kings and other rulers were to abstain from drinking (Prov. 31:4), because it could dull their senses and affect their judgment.
In a metaphorical sense, nōphalios means “alert,” “watchful,” “vigilant,” or “clear-headed.” That may be its primary sense in this passage. A leader must be one who thinks clearly. He must possess the inner strength to refrain from any excess that would dull his alertness. William Hendriksen writes, “His pleasures are not primarily those of the senses … but those of the soul” (New Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981], 122). Temperate men are desperately needed in today’s church. They will be to her what the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32 were to Israel, “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.”
Third, a leader in the church must be prudent. This quality is the result of being temperate. The prudent man is well-disciplined, and knows how to correctly order his priorities. He is a person who is serious about spiritual things. That does not mean he is cold and humorless, but that he views the world through God’s eyes. The realities that the world is lost, disobedient to God, and bound for hell leave little room for frivolity in his ministry. Such a man has a sure and steady mind. He is not rash in judgment, but thoughtful, earnest, and cautious. He follows Paul’s counsel in Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” His mind will be controlled by God’s truth, not the whims of the flesh. Jesus Christ will reign supreme over every area of his life.
Fourth, an overseer must be respectable. Kosmios (respectable) carries the idea of “orderly.” A man prudent in mind will have a respectable, or orderly life. His well-disciplined mind leads to a well-disciplined life. “The ministry is no place for the man whose life is a continual confusion of unaccomplished plans and unorganized activities” (Homer A. Kent, Jr., The Pastoral Epistles [Winona Lake, Ind.: BMH Books, 1982], 127). As noted in chapter 7 of this volume, the word kosmos, from which kosmios derives, is the opposite of “chaos.” A spiritual leader must not have a chaotic, but an orderly lifestyle. If he cannot order his own life, how can he bring order to the church (v. 5)?
Fifth, church leaders must be hospitable. That word translates philoxenos, a compound word from the Greek words for “to love,” and “strangers.” The word thus literally means “to love strangers.” It is a frequently commanded Christian virtue (cf. Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9). It does not refer to entertaining friends, but showing hospitality to strangers. Our Lord said in Luke 14:12,
When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Persecution, poverty, orphans, widows, and traveling Christians made hospitality essential in New Testament times. They had no hotels or motels, and the inns were notoriously evil. Often they were brothels, or places where travelers were robbed or beaten. William Barclay wrote of them,
In the ancient world, inns were notoriously bad. In one of Aristophane ‘s plays Heracles asks his companion where they will lodge for the night; and the answer is: “Where the fleas are fewest.” Plato speaks of the inn-keeper being like a pirate who holds his guests to ransom. Inns tended to be dirty and expensive and, above all, immoral. The ancient world had a system of what were called Guest Friendships. Over generations families had arrangements to give each other accommodations and hospitality. Often the members of the families came in the end to be unknown to each other by sight and identified themselves by means of what were called tallies. The stranger seeking accommodation would produce one half of some object; the host would possess the other half of the tally; and when the two halves fitted each other the host knew that he had found his guest, and the guest knew that the host was indeed the ancestral friend of his household.
In the Christian church there were wandering teachers and preachers who needed hospitality. There were also many slaves with no homes of their own to whom it was a great privilege to have the right of entry to a Christian home. It was of the greatest blessing that Christians should have Christian homes ever open to them in which they could meet people like-minded to themselves. (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975], 82; italics in original)
The door of the Christian home, as well as the heart of the Christian family, ought to be open to all who come in need. That is especially true of the overseer. Elders are not elevated to a place where they are unapproachable. They are to be available. A pastor’s life and home are to be open so that his true character is manifest to all who come there, friend or stranger.
The overseer in the church must be able to teach. Here is the only qualification that relates specifically to his giftedness and function. Didaktikos (able to teach) appears only here and in 2 Timothy 2:24 in the New Testament. An elder must be a highly skilled teacher, who works hard in his studies and proclamation (cf. 5:17). That is the one qualification that sets him apart from the deacons. Since, as noted below, the primary duty of the overseer is to preach and teach the Word of God, being gifted for that is crucial.
Some may wonder why Paul includes this qualification in the midst of a list of moral qualities. He does so because effective teaching is woven into the moral character of the teacher. What a man is cannot be divorced from what he says. “He that means as he speaks,” writes Richard Baxter, “will surely do as he speaks” (The Reformed Pastor, 63).
To preach and teach God’s Word is the primary task of elders (1 Tim. 4:6, 11, 13, 16; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:15, 24; Titus 2:1). It was for that purpose that they were given to the church (Eph. 4:11-14). While all believers are responsible to pass on the truths they have learned in God’s Word, not all have gifts for preaching and teaching (1 Cor. 12:29). Those who aspire to pastoral duty, however, must be so gifted.
What criteria identify a man as a skilled teacher?
First, as noted above, a skilled teacher must have the gift of teaching. It is not that natural ability that makes one a good teacher; the gift of teaching is the Spirit-given enablement to teach effectively the truths of God’s Word. Timothy had the gift of teaching (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6).
Second, a skilled teacher must have a deep understanding of doctrine. “A good servant of Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:6, “[is] constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of… sound doctrine.” Richard Baxter writes,
He must not be himself a babe in knowledge, that will teach men all those mysterious things which must be known in order to salvation. O what qualifications are necessary for a man who hath such a charge upon him as we have! How many difficulties in divinity to be solved! and these, too, about the fundamental principles of religion! How many obscure texts of Scripture to be expounded! How many duties to be performed, wherein ourselves and others may miscarry, if in the matter, and manner, and end, we be not well informed! How many sins to be avoided, which, without understanding and foresight, cannot be done! What a number of sly and subtle temptations must we open to our people’s eyes, that they may escape them! How many weighty and yet intricate cases of conscience have we almost daily to resolve! And can so much work, and such work as this, be done by raw, unqualified men? (The Reformed Pastor, 68-69)
The deeper the reservoir of doctrinal knowledge a man has, the more skilled and applicable will be his teaching.
Third, a skilled teacher must have an attitude of humility. To teach the truth with an arrogant attitude would only serve to undermine the very truths being taught. Paul reminded Timothy that “the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:24-25).
Fourth, a skilled teacher is marked by a life of holiness. Paul exhorted Timothy to “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7), and to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:11). He must be credible and live what he teaches. Paul exhorted Timothy to “in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:12). The teacher must be the prototype of what he asks his people to be.
Fifth, a skilled teacher must be a diligent student of Scripture. In the familiar passage in 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul writes, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.”
Sixth, a skilled teacher must avoid error. This criterion is closely related to numbers three and five listed above. It is tragic when men, seeking preparation for the ministry, attend a school that doesn’t honor God’s Word. While they may survive with the basics of their faith intact, they will almost invariably lose their convictions. Paul repeatedly warned Timothy to avoid false doctrine (1 Tim. 4:7; 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16), wise counsel for us as well.
Finally, a skilled teacher must have strong courage and consistent convictions. He must not abandon the truth and shipwreck his faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:18-19; 4:11, 13). At the close of his ministry, he should be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).
Another requirement for one who desires to be an elder is that he not be addicted to wine. This quality is not concerned with whether or not he gets drunk. Obviously, someone given to drunkenness would in no way be qualified for the ministry. An elder who is not addicted to wine is a man who does not have a reputation as a drinker. He doesn’t frequent bars or involve himself in the scenes associated with drinking.
The Bible points out the tragic consequences when leaders are drinkers. Isaiah blasted the spiritual leaders of Israel for this very sin: “And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; they reel while having visions, they totter when rendering judgment” (Isa. 28:7). Isaiah 56:9-12 adds,
All you beasts of the field, all you beasts in the forest, come to eat. His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing. All of them are dumb dogs unable to bark, dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; and the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain, to the last one. “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; and tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”
A man who is a drinker has no place in the ministry. He is a poor example, and will surely be the cause of serious sin and disaster in the lives of others who follow his example as drinkers, justifying their indulgence because of their leader. A leader must be a man whose associations are radically different from those of the world, and whose example leads others to righteous conduct, not sin.
In ancient times most people consumed wine, since it was the staple liquid to drink. The water was impure, and mixing the wine with water not only significantly diluted the alcohol content, but purified the water. A mixture of eight parts water to one part wine was common, so as to avoid any dissipating effect. Timothy was even reluctant to take the mixed wine, so as not to set an example that could cause someone to stumble. Thus, he was committed to abstinence, and Paul had to tell him, “no longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (5:23). Drinking only water was contributing to his poor health.
Nor may an elder be pugnacious. Mō plōktōs (pugnacious) literally means “not a giver of blows,” or “not a striker.” A leader in the church must not be one who reacts to difficulty with physical violence. He must not settle disputes with blows. He must react to situations calmly, coolly, and gently (cf. 2 Tim. 2:24-25).
Instead of being pugnacious, a leader must be gentle. Epieikōs (gentle) describes the person who is considerate, genial, forbearing, and gracious, who easily pardons human failure. Such a person remembers good, not evil. He does not keep a list of all the wrongs done to him, or hold a grudge. Many men leave the ministry because they can’t accept criticism. A leader, when wronged, must have no thought of retaliation.
Uncontentious translates amachos, which means “peaceful,” or “reluctant to fight.” It refers not so much to physical violence as to a quarrelsome person. To have a contentious person in leadership will result in disunity and disharmony, seriously hindering the effectiveness of that leadership team.
Finally, a leader must be free from the love of money. It is a perverse corruption of the ministry to be in it for money. Love of money is what is at the heart of all motivation for false teachers (cf. 1 Thess. 2:5; 1 Peter 5:2; 2 Peter 2:1-3, 14; Jude 16, etc.). Paul reminded Timothy that
godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang. (1 Tim. 6:6-10)
Paul was free from the love of money. He assured the Ephesian elders that, during his three years of ministry in their city, he had “coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes” (Acts 20:33; cf. 1 Cor. 9:1-16; 2 Cor. 11:9; 12:15-16; 1 Thess. 2:5). A leader must not be greedy, stingy, or financially ambitious. “The earth-bound desires of a covetous spirit always clip the wings of faith and love” (Geoffery B. Wilson, The Pastoral Epistles [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1982], 50).
Those aspiring to an overseer’s role in the church must be measured against these moral qualities before they are ordained to serve. May God give us morally qualified men to lead the church through these dark times.