Day 24. Who can be a pastor?

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

This saying is trustworthy:“If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” ² An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,³ not addicted to wine, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy—⁴ one who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. ⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil. ⁷ Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.

Why this devotion topic? Sunday, August 2^nd we are meeting and hearing a man preach who may become our new pastor at Thompsontown Baptist Church. What kind of a person can become a pastor? Obviously they have to be a Christian, but today we will look at the qualities of a man who is truly qualified to lead and teach the church that belongs to Jesus Christ.

Background of the passage: Who is Timothy? Answer: a young man. He was probably a little over 30 years old at this time since 15 years had passed from the time Paul first met him in his hometown of Lystra (Acts 16:1-3) In the passage above, Paul is giving Timothy instructions on how to continue serving the newly forming church in the city of Ephesus. Timothy had been traveling as a friend and co-worker for Christ with Paul for years at this point, and Paul sent him as a representative in his place to assist the people in the church at Ephesus. During this portion of the letter he is laying down some important qualities that a man should have in order to be appointed as a pastor in the church.

Pastors are servant leaders in the church. We know that this is what Paul is referring to because he says if anyone aspires to be an “overseer” which is translated from the Greek word episkopē. This means to have an official position of oversight and is sometimes referred to as being a bishop (Philippians 1:1;Titus 1:7 King James Version). We would call this person a pastor. According to Paul being a pastor is a “noble work” or “good work.” Guiding the church through teaching, leading by example, correcting, counseling; these are all good things that pastors do in their work for the Lord as they serve and lead the people in the church.

Here are the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 for pastors:

Pastors must be Blameless. This isn’t to say that the pastor can never ever make any mistake no matter how small. The Greek word here refers to being accused of being a lawbreaker. Some translations say that a pastor must be “above reproach.” This just means he doesn’t need correction in order to be living right. If someone accused him of something it wouldn’t hold up in court. Everything else on the list of requirements falls under this broad idea of being “Blameless.”

Husband of one wife. A pastor must be a faithful husband. This does not mean that a pastor can only have one wife in his lifetime. For example if a pastor's wife dies, and he marries a second wife, that has nothing to do with this statement. It means he must remain faithful to the wife he has. The Greek phrase for this is “one-woman man” indicating that pastors must be living a sexually pure lifestyle. Can single men be pastors? There is no indication that they cannot, assuming they remain sexually pure. The word for “husband” or “man” (Greek word anēr) here refers to a mature male. So pastors are supposed to be men. Man up boys.

Self-controlled. The original word here is likely a metaphor used by Paul. He is stating that men who desire to be or are pastors must be clear-thinking and alert.

Sensible. The pastor must be able to tell the difference between urgent matters and unimportant ones, spending time and resources on the important matters.

Respectable. This qualification is referring to the “order” in the man’s own life. If a man is out of order or lives a life with chaos and fighting and screaming and yelling, that is going to effect the order in the church.

Hospitable. Pastors must be willing to welcome others. The Greek word for hospitable means “love of strangers.” The pastor must love his neighbor as himself, and model this behavior for the church he leads.

Able Teacher. Ephesians 4:11 lists the position of pastor as pastor/teacher. Pastors must be able to teach the truth of the Bible to the church they lead and serve. Knowing this truth is the only way we are able to grow together to be more like Jesus, and it is the primary job of the pastor.

Not addicted to wine. This is pretty self-explanatory right?

Not a bully but gentle. Pastors are NEVER called to force things on others. They must sometimes make difficult decisions that others don’t agree with, however they don’t use physical force or bullying to make things happen.

Not quarrelsome. Peaceful. Some people stir up trouble, a pastor cannot be this way.

Not greedy. 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.” A pastor cannot compromise his ministry or the truth of the Bible for financial gain. Pastors must be motivated by love for others not money.

Manages his own household competently. Pastors must be managers of God’s house, the church. If they cannot manage their own family, they will have difficulty being managers in God’s family.

Having his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) Do pastors have to have children? In short, no. This phrase in the Greek language comes from a military term meaning submission or falling in rank under an authority. This doesn’t mean that pastors force their children into submission. It means his children submit to his leadership.

He must not be a new convert. He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil. In short, being a pastor takes a lot of humility which comes from walking faithfully in obedience to Jesus. Pastors should be capable men, knowledgeable regarding God’s word. There is a temptation to become prideful. Pride, or self-admiration, led to the Devils fall.

Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap. If no one outside the church respects you, how can you expect them to listen to the Gospel message from you? This is the problem with having a bad reputation among unbelievers. Pastors will already disagree with the world on many issues about morals and Biblical truth, they must be respectable so that people will hear the truths that faithful men of God are able to influence them with. Public disgrace of the pastor of a church will ruin their ability to minister to their community.

Think about this. We don’t have to be a pastor or even desire to be one in order to strive to possess these types of attributes. What is one attribute of a Biblical pastor that you should ask God to help you change in your life today?