Blog
“The Portrait of the Elder”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford
For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and its companion text in Titus 1:5-9 described as “the qualifications of the elder”. With the best of intentions, brethren have combined the two lists and turned them into a checklist. If a check mark is missing, a man isn’t qualified.
Not coincidentally, this has led to a focus on the qualifications that appear most objective and binary. Is the prospective elder the husband of one wife? Does he have faithful children? Is he able to teach (by preaching sermons or teaching adult Bible classes)? The man with a wedding ring, dunked kids on a pew someplace, and a spot on the teaching roster is presumptively qualified. We say much less about whether a man is sensible or not quarrelsome.
As straightforward as this approach sounds, it isn’t what the Scriptures call for. This is evident from the fact that the 1 Timothy list and the Titus list aren’t identical, yet Paul wants both Timothy and Titus to appoint elders according to the lists they’ve got.
Most notably, “faithful children” (THE qualification in the eyes of the American church) does not appear on Timothy’s list. Its counterpart in 1 Timothy applies only to the control of children who are still under a man’s roof. Thus, Timothy would have appointed elders in Ephesus without considering at all the qualification we consider most important.
Either the Holy Spirit missed something vital, or we are missing something vital.
It is far better to read these passages not as a list of qualifications but as two portraits of what an elder should look like. They are not identical, but they paint a picture of the same kind of man—a man who is above reproach. “Above reproach” isn’t an initial qualification in these texts; it’s a subject heading. Paul is giving us some things to ponder as we consider whether a man lives up to God’s standard for an elder.
This approach accomplishes two things. First, it introduces spiritual content into every item on the list. The mere fact of being married proves nothing about a man’s irreproachability. However, when we consider his devotion and his commitment to his wife (the literal Greek here is “the man of one woman”), that does speak to whether he is above reproach or not.
Second, it requires us to confront the judgment-call nature of many of Paul’s criteria, which in turn points us to the holistic judgment call that he wants us to make. Consider the “hospitable” criterion (which, unlike “faithful children”, appears in both lists). Obviously, a man who isn’t hospitable at all shouldn’t be considered. However, some elder candidates are moderately hospitable, while others are spectacularly hospitable. As we are evaluating our men, “How much?” is an even more important question than “Whether?”
This allows us to take into account both strengths and weaknesses in our elder-assessment process. No man is going to be perfect in everything, but his sparkling conduct in one area may compensate for a less impressive performance in another. Maybe he doesn’t set the world on fire as a Bible-class teacher, but most Christians in the congregation are so used to being in his home that they come in without knocking. All in all, he still measures up to the “above reproach” standard.
Portrait versus checklist is a big change in mindset for many brethren, but it’s a change we need to make to follow the Lord’s intent more closely. When so many congregations suffer under the “leadership” of men’s meetings (which aren’t in the Bible at all), it’s a shame when we reject men whom the Holy Spirit would consider elder material. However, when we apply the Scriptures rightly, as many congregations as possible will have the oversight God desires.
