“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money: (1 Timothy 3:2-3).
Well-seasoned and reasonable: how many ways does it say what type of person an overseer ought to be? How strange that so many treat their overseer as just another regular person. If they truly embody these things, think of what it takes to remain temperate and balanced in the face of those who are anything but these things. This is a trustworthy list and you do well to look through this lens in making determinations.
Lord, I often go with the culture and do not give a second thought to the reality of what needs to happen for a fellowship to be healthy and whole. Lead me Lord to apply Your word to the reality I live in and see things through Your eyes. Guide me, Lord, in the way You know I need to live so that I may now and always abide in You and You in me. Thank You for giving wise advice.
Lord Jesus, You are all of these things and more. If I am to become like You – as Your Word says I shall – then teach me these things so that they will not just be the qualifications of others, but mine as well. Guide me in the way of everlasting life and teach me to live as You would have me live. Teach me the cardinal virtues; prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance and how to live by them in private, public, and all the time. Amen.
