Wednesday
Wednesday
Qualifications for the Presbyterate
The reason I left you in Crete was that you might … appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Titus 1:5
Paul explains that he had left Titus in Crete because certain matters had been unfinished, chief among them being the selection and ordination of pastors (presbyter-bishops) in every town. The apostle goes on to indicate the essential qualifications that candidates must have. The most striking of these is that they must be “blameless” (vv. 6–7). This cannot mean “unblemished,” or no children of Adam could ever be eligible. The Greek word means not “without blemish” but “without blame,” that is, with an unstained reputation. Since the pastorate is a public office, candidates must have a public record. Hence the need for references or testimonials.
Paul goes on to specify three spheres in which candidates for the presbyterate would need to have an untarnished reputation. Firstly, elders must be blameless in their home life (v. 6). Reference is made both to their spouse and to their children. “The husband of but one wife” (v. 6) has been variously interpreted, but it is perhaps best understood broadly as a man of unquestioned sexual morality. As for the children, they must be believers and well behaved. The logic is clear that candidates cannot care for God’s family if they fail to care for their own.
Secondly, elders must be blameless in their character and conduct (vv. 7–8). Paul uses eleven terms—five negative (e.g., not overbearing, not quick-tempered) and six positive (e.g., hospitable, upright, devout). The leading thought throughout is that the elder must be “master of himself” (v. 8 RSV) or “self-controlled.” Thus candidates must give visible evidence in their behavior that they have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, that their new birth has led to a new life, and that the ninefold fruit of the Spirit (whose ninth fruit is self-control) has at least begun to ripen in their lives.
Thirdly, elders must be blameless in their doctrinal orthodoxy (v. 9). They must “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught” (v. 9) or (literally) according to the apostles’ teaching. For only then will they be able to exercise their two complementary ministries, namely to teach the truth and to refute those who oppose it. Indeed, Paul reveals his strategy. It is that when false teachers abound (vv. 10–16), we must multiply the number of true teachers.
For further reading: Titus 1:1–11