Scripture Daily

Context No. 1459 of 4322 · 1 Timothy

Context · Reflection

1 Timothy 3:1-7: in context

1This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer desires a good work. 2The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5(for how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule his own house take care of God’s assembly?) 6not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Paul lists the qualifications for one who would be an overseer in the church. He must be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drink or violence or greed, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, for how can one who cannot manage his own house care for God's church? He must not be a new convert, lest pride undo him, and he must be well thought of by those outside.

The striking thing about this list is what it is mostly made of. Reading it, one expects the qualifications for leadership to center on ability, on giftedness, on skill, on charisma; but the list is dominated instead by character. Above reproach, temperate, self-controlled, gentle, hospitable, not quarrelsome, not greedy, not violent, faithful at home, humble; almost the whole list is about the kind of person the leader is, not about what he can do. The one ability named, being able to teach, sits almost alone in a list otherwise entirely about integrity and character. This is a searching standard, and it runs against the way we usually measure leaders. We tend to look for the gifted, the impressive, the capable, the ones who can command a room or grow an organization, and to weigh character as a secondary consideration if we weigh it at all. God's measure is the reverse: the first thing, nearly the only thing, is who the person is, whether they are above reproach, self-controlled, gentle, and faithful in the small sphere of their own home before being entrusted with more. Talent without character is precisely what this list refuses. And there is wisdom in it, because leadership in the things of God is finally a matter of trustworthiness, and trustworthiness is a matter of character, not skill. The question God asks of a would-be leader is not first what can you do, but what kind of person are you.

Do I measure leaders, and myself, first by ability, charisma, and what can be accomplished, or by the standard this list sets, character before talent, whether one is above reproach, self-controlled, gentle, and faithful in the small things before being trusted with more?

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