²An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach …

Local church leadership must be qualified leadership of the highest character. What Paul now lays out is an itemized standard to which overseers should aspire. (An overseer is also called an elder in 1 Tim. 5:17–19 and Titus 1:5). The word “must be” indicates this is not just talking about functioning as an overseer but holding the responsibility of an overseer, that is, an office, or being recognized by the community of believers as an overseer.

Upon examining this list (together with the corresponding one in Titus 1:5–9) we observe that elders’ qualifications are simply the marks of spiritual maturity indicative for all mature believers. Indeed each of these is identified elsewhere in Scripture as a goal for all Christian development. The elders’ qualifications or required characteristics are nothing less than exemplary spiritual maturity. We also notice the absence of any required spiritual gift. To be sure, the work of an elder will be flavored by his gifting, but in all cases, it is the type of man he is that carries weight, not his specific service of ministry.

Keep in mind the Ephesian church, where Timothy resided, already had elders, so this list is best seen as the characteristics an elder should strive for, though not having yet arrived. The delineation in Paul’s letter to Titus could be described as qualifications required for recognition as an elder, for the context there is the instruction to “appoint elders” (Titus 1:5). Of course, who of us could ever say we are fully mature in our spiritual development? However, we might reasonably conclude that the elders should be farther down the road than the rest of the congregation. They are like player-coaches who are not just telling people how to live but showing them as one member of the group.

The overarching quality, the first in the list, is being “above reproach.” There can be no obvious blemish in a man’s reputation (his outward character) with either the Christian fellowship or the unsaved world around him. Second, he is to be a “one-woman kind of man” (the correct understanding of the Greek underpinning of the “husband of one wife” statement). Women feel safe around him; he is not a flirt. He is to be balanced and careful, both inwardly (“temperate”) and outwardly (“prudent”); respectable; warm toward strangers (“hospitable”); and able to teach (see Heb. 5:12)—teaching at some level, though not necessarily a gifted teacher.

Lord, thank You for giving specifics for my growth in spiritual maturity.