Posting: Church Leaders Needed Based Upon These Criteria - 1 Timothy 1-3

 1 Timothy 3:2-7 (ESV)

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

This is the job posting for the “episkopē” of the church.   We would translate “episkopē” as “bishop.”  According to one word dictionary the word literally means:  

(Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary) an overseer” (epi, “over,” skopeo, “to look or watch”)

When referring to leaders of the church there are three terms that seem to be interchangeable:  Bishop, Elder and Pastor.   In Acts 20 Paul calls for the “elders” of the church (those in spiritual maturity) and tells them to “oversee” the church (look out for and watch) and to “pastor” (care for and shepherd) the church. 

In the above passage we read that Paul is telling young Timothy (the bishop, pastor and elder of the church in Ephesus) what the qualifications are for this position.   This is the proverbial job posting.    Can you imagine an organization today (even today’s church) posting these qualifications online.  The EEOC would site them for a variety of equal employment code violations.   But, God has standards for leadership.  Although our church today has certainly changed all those standards, God’s Word continues to stand.   This is what the job needs and entails.   We can try to water them down but then we disobey God’s Word to meet the standards of society vs the standards of God.   Change it all you want, but when we do we are just as disobedient to God’s Word as those who twist it to meet their needs for other areas of society’s pressure to “up-date” standards to meet the change in our human “evolution” and “wokeness.”   This is the Bible and this is the way God designed church leadership and what He will, in turn bless with spiritual blessings.