Sunday Morning, August 9, 2009,
This is a true
saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a
good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of
filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 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?) Not a
novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report
of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the
snare of the devil. - 1 Timothy 3:1-7
This morning, we
discussed the scriptural qualifications of a bishop, more commonly
known as an overseer. However, before we got started, we defined
what a bishop really is. It is not as some have supposed. A
bishop is not a fancy title or a position. He is not a man that
wears a funny looking pointed hat and walks around dressed up in a
rob. He is not a person who wears his collar backwards and dresses
like mother but wants to be called Father.
A bishop is simply a
local saint who has been given the responsibility of providing
oversight of the local assembly. In most cases, he is one of several
local persons whom God has called and gifted with this
responsibility (see Acts 20:17, 28, Titus 1:5).
Paul clearly laid out
the requirements for an overseer in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and also in Titus
1:7-9. First and foremost, he must have the God-given desire to be
an overseer. Without this, all the other requirements are
meaningless. Also, he must be a man, although there are exceptions
(the culture during Bible days did not allow for women to be
involved in leadership positions).
We went over each of
the requirements and noted that with the exception of only a couple
stipulations, all of them are the same requirements that all
Christians should live by. There are no double standards; one for
leaders and one for ordinary saints. The only exceptions were that
an overseer cannot be a novice and must be apt to teach. New
converts do not qualify as overseers.
It should also be
noted that all of these requirements are listed as being in the
present, not the past. No one meets these requirements while living
a life in sin. If we were to judge people by how they lived while in
sin, no one would be qualified. This includes the requirement for
being the husband of one wife. While God hates divorce, there are
some who may have been divorced while out in sin. This in and of
itself does not disqualify them from being an overseer, however,
they must presently be a "one woman man", which is what this passage
means in the Greek language.
There was much
interaction during the meeting and we are thankful to have a clear
understanding of what God requires from our leaders and how His
church is to be properly governed.
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