Elders — Their Qualifications (No. 1)
Text: 1 Timothy 3:1-7
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Name the Scripture's titles for the eldership and what each reveals.
- Affirm that the qualifications are attainable, since God commands the appointment.
- See that most of the qualifications are simply mature Christian character.
Thesis
The same office is named by several scriptural words — overseer, elder, shepherd, ruler, leader — and its qualifications, twenty in all from Timothy and Titus, are not impossibly high but are largely the marks of a mature Christian, attainable now as they were then.
Burden
Many stumble over the elder qualifications and much confusion surrounds them, yet The outline insists they are simple. Two errors meet here. One makes the qualifications so impossibly high that no man could ever meet them, so a church concludes it can never have elders. The other treats them so loosely that unqualified men are appointed and the office is cheapened. This outline steers between: the command to appoint elders proves that qualified men exist, for God does not require an impossibility — and most of the qualifications are nothing more than the character every Christian ought to have anyway. The burden of this lesson is to clear away the confusion so that churches will both take the qualifications seriously and expect to find men who meet them.
Introduction
Many stumble on the qualifications of elders, and much confusion has grown up over them — yet they are simple. the approaches them in four steps: the scriptural names of the office, the fact that the qualifications are attainable, the qualifications themselves, and their generally Christian character.
I. The Scriptural Names of the Office (1 Timothy 3:1)
Five words describe the one office, each revealing a facet of the work:
- Overseer / bishop (episkopos) — one who oversees (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:7; 1 Tim. 3:1; Phil. 1:1).
- Elder / presbyter (presbyteros) — a mature man (Acts 14:23; 1 Tim. 5:1, 17; Titus 1:5; 1 Pet. 5:1).
- Shepherd / pastor (poimēn) — one who tends the flock (1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2; Eph. 4:11).
- Ruler / president (proistamenos) — one who leads and presides (Rom. 12:8; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 5:17).
- Leader / guide (hēgoumenos) — one who goes before (Heb. 13:7, 17, 24).
One office, five words: he oversees, he is mature, he shepherds, he leads, he guides. "Pastor," note well, is simply one of these words for elder — not a separate clergy office.
II. The Qualifications Are Attainable (1 Timothy 3:1-7)
- Elders were appointed in New Testament times, so men possessed the qualifications then — why not now?
- The command to appoint elders implies that qualified men exist now; a command to appoint the unqualifiable would be absurd.
- God does not require an impossibility. If He commands the office, the qualifications can be met.
A church that says "no man could ever qualify" has misread the qualifications, for God would not command what cannot be done.
III. The Qualifications Themselves (Titus 1:5-9)
- First Timothy 3 gives fifteen qualifications.
- Titus 1 gives fifteen.
- Five in Timothy are not in Titus, and five in Titus are not in Timothy — so the two lists overlap and complement.
- Counting the distinct qualifications, there are twenty in all. (The full lists are set out in the companion lesson, Elders — Their Qualifications, No. 2.)
IV. The Qualifications Are Largely General Christian Character (1 Timothy 3:1-7)
- Of the twenty, most — some eighteen — are qualities every Christian ought to possess. Temperance, soberness, hospitality, gentleness, not greedy, not a brawler, ruling one's own house well — these are not exotic; they are basic Christian maturity.
- The real exceptions are "not a novice" and being married (the husband of one wife, with believing children) — qualities of seasoned, proven life that not every Christian yet has.
- So elders are drawn from the mature: being married and having reared children faithfully helps qualify a man to oversee others, for he who has shepherded a household can shepherd a flock (1 Tim. 3:4-5).
The qualifications are high but not strange — they describe a mature, proven Christian man, the kind a healthy church should be producing.
Application
Take the qualifications neither too lightly nor as impossible. They are simple — mostly the very character every Christian is called to grow into — so a church should expect to find qualified men, because God would not command the office otherwise. That truth lays a charge on every member, not just on prospective elders: the qualifications are the marks of mature discipleship, so growing toward them is growing toward Christ, whether or not you ever serve as an elder. And it lays a charge on the church: do not despair of having elders, and do not appoint the unqualified out of impatience. Recognize the men whom God's word has shaped — proven in home and life — and the office will be filled as God intended.
Conclusion
One office, five names — overseer, elder, shepherd, ruler, leader. Its twenty qualifications, from Timothy and Titus, are attainable, for God commands the appointment and requires no impossibility; and most of them are simply mature Christian character. Take them seriously, expect to meet them, and let the church produce the kind of men who can shepherd it.
Invitation
The qualifications that mark an elder begin with the new birth that makes anyone a Christian at all. Begin there today: believe on the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, confess Him, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38), and start growing into the mature character God desires in all His people. Come while we sing.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overseer | episkopos | "one who looks upon/over" | the title stresses watchful oversight | the title stresses watchful oversight; the same men are also presbyteros (mature), poimēn (shepherd), and hēgoumenos (leader) — facets of a single office, not ranks | 1 Tim. 3:1 |
| Not a novice | neophytos | "newly planted" | one of the few qualifications not shared by every Christian | one of the few qualifications not shared by every Christian; the elder must be a seasoned, proven believer, not a recent convert | 1 Tim. 3:6 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Overseer / bishop | I | Acts 20:28; Titus 1:7; 1 Tim. 3:1; Phil. 1:1 |
| Elder / presbyter | I | Acts 14:23; 1 Tim. 5:1, 17; Titus 1:5; 1 Pet. 5:1 |
| Shepherd / pastor | I | 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2; Eph. 4:11 |
| Ruler; leader | I | Rom. 12:8; 1 Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:7, 17, 24 |
| Qualifications attainable now | II | 1 Tim. 3:1-7 |
| Fifteen + fifteen = twenty | III | 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9 |
| Mostly mature Christian character | IV | 1 Tim. 3:4-7 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 54. Doctrinal audit: core-framework (the one office under five scriptural names — "pastor" being simply a word for elder, not a separate clergy office; qualifications attainable since God commands the appointment; mostly general Christian maturity, with "not a novice" and being a married father as the distinguishing exceptions); no correction. Companion to Outline 55. Style audit: OCR cleanup; "1 Tim. 4:J" corrected to 1 Tim. 3:1; Greek office-terms restored. Source note: no primary-text line; 1 Tim. 3:1-7 supplied as text and flagged. Supplied support (1 Tim. 3:4-5) flagged; Boles' own citations retained. (Boles' count of "twenty in all" is his own enumeration and is reported as his.)
