What An Elder Must Be (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1)
Three weeks ago we began to consider the Bible’s teaching on the subject of the eldership, in preparation for our upcoming elder election. We have considered the Biblical basis for the eldership in the Old and New Testaments. And last time we learned that choosing new elders is a sacred responsibility and divine privilege entrusted to the communing members of this congregation.
Now, if we take seriously this teaching about our responsibilities and privileges, then it should lead us to seriously consider several questions. For example, we should be considering: What exactly are we looking for in an elder? What qualifies someone for the office and ministry of an elder in the church of Jesus Christ?
So today we want to answer that question: What qualifies a person for the office of an elder in the Church?
Thankfully God does not leave us to answer this question on our own. In the New Testament we learn that the way you know if a someone is qualified to be an elder is by assessing their character.
And so, in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, we are provided with lists of character qualifications for the eldership. To simplify things, we are going to consider these two lists under four areas of life in which an elder must be qualified if they are to serve as an elder. We will see that the elder must be qualified in their:
Personal Life
Home Life
Public Life
Pastoral Life
Before we begin, let me clarify two points. Firstly, context is key. In the verses just before 1 Timothy 3 we read of God’s guidance regarding those who can teach and exercise authority over the congregation. Then, in 1 Timothy 3 we learn of who should exercise these roles. 1 Timothy 3 should not be seen as a job description of the elder but instead describes the character of one who would serve in this office- a person of mature Christian character, one whose faith has had tangible impact on their behaviour.
Likewise, in Titus we see a complementary ‘virtue list’ that provides the portrait of the sort of leadership needed in the Church. The elder is to embody the fact that the Gospel results in ‘godliness’- their lives pointing to the Good Shepherd.
Secondly, as we come to God’s Word to consider the qualifications of the elder, I am going to stick with the language that has been given to us in Scripture. So, throughout our time together I will be using the male pronoun, ‘he’, as this is what the text before us uses- I want, as always, to stay faithful to God’s Word.
With all this in mind let us consider in more detail what these passages teach us about what the elder must be.
Firstly, we see that… An Elder Must be Qualified in His Personal Life.
Here we are essentially thinking about how someone leads, or shepherds, their own souls. In 1 Timothy 3 verse 2 we read:
Now the overseer must be above reproach … temperate, self-controlled…
Here we learn that an elder is to be sensible, disciplined and able to control their desires and actions.

The elder is to be a person marked by growing self-discipline, growing in conformity to God’s Word. The elder holds himself in check and seeks to be ruled by wisdom as he rules wisely and with a sense of responsibility. To put it another way: Before someone becomes responsible for ruling over God’s People, they must first demonstrate they have full power and command of themselves.
If we turn over to Titus, we read that he must not be arrogant- other translations say ‘self-willed’ or ‘self-important’. Pride is the greatest enemy of faithful ministry, which is why 1 Timothy 3 verse 6 says:
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
Christian ministry can provide many temptations to become ‘conceited’- puffed up with ‘self-importance’. A recent convert may lack the wisdom and maturity to resist these temptations and so face the same judgement as Satan.
Here, then, we are reminded that the elder must be spiritually mature and display spiritual wisdom. Elders are those who demonstrate a genuine love for the Lord- for His Word, His worship, and His People- and seek every opportunity to grow in personal holiness.
The elder must be someone who is desiring to follow Christ more closely and grow in godly character. When it comes to shepherding God’s flock character is key.
Godly character will always trump apparent competency. So we should look for those who have matured in faith (and are pursuing maturity); and we should seek out those who have developed in spiritual wisdom (and are seeking to become spiritually wise).
Then, finally, considering the elder’s personal life you’ll notice that in both Timothy and Titus, we learn that the elder must not be a drunkard- someone who displays a lack of self-control in relation to alcohol. And that connects in with the previous requirements of sober-mindedness and self-control- of a sensible, disciplined life.
These are the inner attitudes necessary for the outward habit of a life lived in an orderly way- a life that honours God and sets an example to others. The elder’s personal life- a life of order and control- is a life guided by and lived in conformity to God’s Word, guided by the Spirit and bearing the Spirit’s fruit.
Secondly, we see… An Elder Must be Qualified in His Home Life.
One theologian has noted: ‘…the home is regarded as the training ground for Christian leaders…’. So we turn next to see what God expects of elders in relation to their spouse and children.
In both our passages we see that an elder must be ‘…the husband of but one wife…’. Now, we need to clarify: this does not mean that the elder must be married (if so, then both Jesus and Paul must be excluded from leadership in the Church). Nor is the idea that a leader could never remarry if his wife had passed away or was Biblically divorced.
Perhaps the best way to understand what is meant here is to say that an elder must be a ‘…a one-woman man…’. The idea is that his love and affection is given to one woman: his wife. The elder, then, is to be someone of purity, loyalty, faithfulness and devotion- someone of unquestioned morality and an unblemished reputation in the area of sex and marriage.
The other relationship Paul requires us to evaluate to determine the eligibility of elders for office is that of parenting; 1 Timothy verses 4 and 5 say:
He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
And Titus 1 verse 6 adds:
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
Now again we need to clarify: ‘…whose children believe…’ is better translated, ‘…whose children are faithful…’. So, when we study the language used here it is clear that God is not saying that all the children of elders must be Believers. It is also clear that that God is not saying that all the children of elders must be perfect. Such an expectation would be unrealistic and unbiblical- salvation is the sovereign and gracious gift of God and all of us struggle with sin.
So what is God saying in these verses? Well, given the language that is used, it may be more accurate and helpful to say that the children of elders will display, in their overall pattern of life, that they have been discipled in the faith and have a respect for the Church. In other words, the elder will be one who has manged his home well- establishing a clear gospel foundation for family life and encouraging the spiritual wellbeing of the family- and the evidence of this is seen in his children.
So when we look at the children of potential elders, we should see evidence that their fathers have taken seriously the responsibility to lead in the home- conducting family worship, exercising consistent biblical discipline, spiritually nurturing their children, and teaching the value of obedience and respect.
We should expect that the children of elders will, at the very least, know the key truths of the faith and have an appreciation of the faith because of their father’s example and witness in the home. In the conduct and character of the children we see should see evidence that they endeavoured to establish clear gospel foundations for family life and encouraged their family in their spiritual wellbeing.
After hearing all of this we may feel, ‘Why is the quality of a man’s marriage or the conduct of his children part of what we should consider when determining a person’s fitness for the eldership? Why is it any of our business?’.
The answer, of course, is spelled out for us in 1 Timothy: If someone does not know how to manage his own household well, how will he care for God’s church?’. The Christian family is a little church, and every believing husband and father is to be it’s shepherd and overseer. And if a man does not shepherd his own home, his wife and his children, with tenderness and faithfulness and purity and wisdom, if he doesn’t pray with them and for them, if he does not preach Christ to them and open the Bible with them, if he doesn’t pastor them, what right have we to expect that he is able to shepherd the whole church? The family is the primary proving ground for Christian ministry.
Thirdly, notice that… An Elder Must be Qualified in His Public Life.
Once in 1 Timothy 3, twice over in Titus 1, Paul says an elder must be ‘…above reproach…’. Now this doesn’t mean that an elder must be completely faultless.

Instead, it means there must be nothing in the life of the leader that can reasonably be used to discredit the elder, the cause of Christ or the witness of the Church. This is a broad term for someone who lives an observably righteous life. The elder lives a life of integrity and no one could stand up and rightfully accuse them of significant sin- the elder is someone of blameless reputation and upright conduct.
In many ways, you could argue that the rest of the lists in 1 Timothy and in Titus 1 are really explaining to us what it means to be above reproach in practice. At this point it is worth reading 1 Timothy 3 verses 2 and 3 again:
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
And Titus 1 verses 7 and 8:
Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
Taking these verses together we could say that the elder’s public life and his treatment of others should produce admiration, trust and confidence- he should be someone worth following, someone people will turn to in trouble and look to as an example.
The elder leads with humility- seeking the good of God’s People and not his own agenda or reputation. The elder leads with patience and grace- he will not become irritable or impatient with difficult or demanding people. The elder will lead like Jesus- with gentleness rather than brow-beating those under his care.
The elder is not a hot-head- not prone to fits of rage. He doesn’t hold grudges. He does not take revenge. He has no appetite for unreasonable disagreement. He will not defend his own opinions at all costs. And neither is he greedy- he doesn’t have a wrong attitude to material possessions- he is not out for himself but desires to serve.
Finaly, in 1 Timothy 3 verse 7 we learn:
He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
The elder must have a good reputation with people outside the church; or, as one commentator puts it, he must have a ‘beautiful witness’. It must be clear to all who encounter an elder that they are seeking to live for the glory of God in all they do; and they should see something of the loveliness and attractiveness of Jesus Christ in their character.
Finally, notice that… An Elder Must be Qualified in His Pastoral Life.
And notice that 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that potential elders already have a pastoral life- they are already exhibiting pastoral gifts and, in some measure, engaged in ministry and service. There is a very real sense in which the work of the elder does not start after ordination to office. They ought not to become elders if they are not already eldering in some way.
And so as you pray, and you look for potential elders from among the congregation, ask yourself: ‘Are these folk eldering already? Are they shepherding? Are they teaching? Are they leading? Are they praying?.
In Titus and in Timothy there are two areas of ministry mentioned with regards to the qualifications for office. First, an elder must be ‘hospitable’, and secondly, ‘a teacher of the Word’.
Hospitality involves the generous and genuine offering of your life, your home, and yourself to others. One way to identify that in a possible elder is to observe their general disposition to others: do they have an open home and an open heart- do they make themselves available or are they ‘too busy’?
And elders ‘…must be able to teach…’; in Titus 1 verse 9 we read:
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Being able to teach starts with a firm grip of the ‘… trustworthy message…’ the truth of the faith. This means that theological ignorance, indifference to doctrine, contentment with the superficial answers to life’s big questions are disqualifying characteristics.
So, a love of sound doctrine is a necessary mark of a faithful elder, and he must love it not only for the benefit he derives from it, but in order to perform two vital ministry tasks. First, he must be able to give instruction in sound doctrine- he must have a sufficient understanding of Scripture so that he can explain it to someone in the congregation, say, in their living room at home.
The Word of God, remember, is the rod and staff by which Jesus the Good Shepherd guides and defends His sheep. And an undershepherd, a faithful elder, must know how to wield that rod and staff in the tender care of the flock of the Good Shepherd Himself.
The elder must also be able to ‘refute’ those who oppose the truth. Elders are not to allow error to flourish. So they must know sound doctrine so they can rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine.
Here we see the great value of our own Church’s confession of faith and catechisms. Elders should know the doctrinal standards of our church and cherish them as a pattern of sound teaching that guides Believers in safe paths and spiritual flourishing.

Conclusion
So, an elder must be qualified in their personal, home, public and pastoral Life. We must see in them someone of Christlike character, spiritual wisdom and maturity.
Dr. Harry Reeder, a pastor and theologian who since gone to Glory, says: ‘Elders are supposed to be thermostats and not thermometers.’. In other words, like fathers in the home, elders in the church set the spiritual temperature of the family of God- they do not simply reflect it.
In the lists of characteristics of the elder we have considered today we are taught how to identify those who are thermostats, who will raise the spiritual temperature of our congregation. So, as we pray about our elder’s election we should be asking:
‘Who is God calling to lead us into greater spiritual maturity and fruitfulness? Who is God calling to set the Spiritual temperature of our congregation and lead us into greater Christlikeness? Who is God calling to lead me and look after me as an undershepherd of the Great Shepherd?’.
Allow these thoughts and prayers to guide you on the days to come.