21.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• God has placed the church in the world, so that the church will proclaim, show, and defend the truth of the gospel.
  - An overseer must be well thought of by people outside the church. (This is the fourteenth and final qualification in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.)
  - If an overseer does not have a good name in his community, he will
  - fall into disgrace (people will say bad things about him, and those things will be true); and
• be caught by the devil’s trap (he will do the will of Satan and bring shame on Christ’s name).
• When we look at the twenty qualifications of an elder, it is clear that
  - an elder does not have to be the most talented or most popular;
  - an elder is always under attack; and
  - the work of an elder is a good work!

21.2 – 1 Timothy 3:6-7←⤒🔗

^6. He must not be a recent convert or he may become arrogant and fall into the punishment that the devil will exact.

^7. And he must be well thought of by those outside the faith, so that he may not fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap.

© NET Bible

21.3 In the world←⤒🔗

We have finally come to the last qualification of an overseer. With this qualification we are reminded that the church of God has a calling in this world. Only a few verses later, Paul tells us what this calling is. He writes that the church is “the support and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). In other words: God has placed the church in the world, so that the church will proclaim, show, and defend the truth of the gospel.

This means that the church cannot keep itself separate from the world. Also, a Christian cannot say, “It does not matter what other people think of me. What I do is between me and God only.”

No, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” And as Paul writes in Colossians 4:5, “conduct yourselves with wisdom towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.”

Every day we have many opportunities to show the beauty of the gospel to the people around us. We must use these opportunities as well as we can. God has put us in many different places in this world. He did this so that, together, we will be the support and bulwark of the truth.

21.4 What this means for overseers←⤒🔗

An overseer must lead and help the church with her important calling in the world. That is why the last qualification is so important. This qualification is all about the overseer’s life outside the church.

With all the previous qualifications, we have seen that an overseer must be respected in the church. The church must know that their overseer is a one-woman’s-man, temperate, gentle, and so on. But the last qualification is about what the world thinks. As we read in the first part of 1 Timothy 3:7: “And he must be well thought of by those outside the faith.”

To be “well thought of” means to have a good name (a good reputation). An overseer must have a good name in his community. A church cannot say, “It does not matter what other people think about this man. We know that he is a man of God!” A man must have a good name among unbelievers too–otherwise, he cannot be an overseer.

21.5 The reason←⤒🔗

The reason for the last qualification is given in the second part of 1 Timothy 3:7: “so that he may not fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap.”

To fall into disgrace means to come under reproach. We know that the very first qualification of an overseer is that he must be “above reproach.” People must not be able to say bad things about him. When an overseer falls into disgrace, then people begin to say bad things about him (things that are true!).

Here is an example: Zayn is an overseer in his church. When the people at his work hear of this, they laugh and tease him. They say, “Are you teaching your church members how to be lazy and lie to their boss? We know you are very good at that!”

Zayn has fallen into disgrace. Even worse, he has led his church into disgrace. How can unbelievers respect the church and its message, if they do not respect the leaders of the church?

Paul’s warning goes even further. An overseer who falls into disgrace will be “caught by the devil’s trap.” Take the example of Zayn again. How might he respond to the people at work? He might become angry at their words. Or he might laugh with them. Or he might ignore them and say to himself, “I must be careful, so that the church does not find out about my life at work!”

If Zayn does any of these things, he will be “caught by the devil’s trap.” In other words, he will be doing the will of Satan (2 Timothy 2:26).

What is the will of Satan? He wants God’s people to become comfortable with sin. He wants to bring shame on the church and on Christ’s name. He wants the gospel to stay hidden from unbelievers. Sadly, he often uses church leaders to accomplish all of these things!

21.6 Some final thoughts←⤒🔗

We hope that you are now able to give a good answer to the question: “Who can become an elder?” Let us end with some final thoughts.

An elder does not have to be the most talented or the most popular.←↰⤒🔗

In this Bible study, we have looked at twenty qualifications of an overseer. Not one of them says that an overseer must be very talented, very successful, or very popular!

Think of the first overseers of the New Testament church: the apostles. In the eyes of the world, they were the “last of all.” They were poor, falsely accused, hated, and persecuted. But still they acted in a way that brought honour to God (1 Corinthians 4:9-13). Even their enemies had to admit, “These men clearly believe their own message. They clearly love God and the people around them.”

An elder is always under attack.←↰⤒🔗

Satan is the enemy of truth. Therefore, he will always attack the support and bulwark of the truth: the church. He will especially attack the leaders of the church. He will do his best to lead elders into sin.

This is very clear from the last two verses of our passage (1 Timothy 3:6-7). In both these verses, Paul reminds us of Satan and his evil plans.

This is one reason why we should choose leaders who are spiritually mature. They must be “strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10, ESV).

Also, we should continually pray for our leaders. Even the apostle Paul knew that he could do nothing without the prayers of the church (Ephesians 6:19-20).

The work of an elder is a good work!←↰⤒🔗

Finally, we come back to the very first words of 1 Timothy 3: “This saying is trustworthy: ‘If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.’”

There are many qualifications that a man must meet before he can be an elder. Why? Because his work is a good work! There are many challenges that an elder will have to face. Why? Because his work is a good work! It is work that can lead to the salvation of people and the growth of God’s church (and Satan knows that).

Has God called you to be an elder? Then rejoice and take courage. Remember that you are not only a shepherd. You are also a sheep! Christ, your Great Shepherd, is with you. He is faithful to lead you in the right paths and to strengthen you for this good work. All to the glory of his name! (Psalm 23:3).