Church Leadership

Deacons are servants. The word deacon is a transliteration of the New Testament Greek word diakonos. A transliterated word isn’t the same as a translated word. Translators “borrow” transliterated words from the source language and spell them with roughly equivalent letters in the target language. When the word diakonos appears in the New Testament it is usually, but not always, translated as servant.

Why did Paul need to tell Timothy that the work of being an overseer (pastor) is a “noble task” (1 Tim 3:1 ESV)? Similarly, why did he need to state that overseers must be above reproach (1 Tim 3:2)? It would seem that pastors in Ephesus were not above reproach and had ruined the reputation of the role of overseer. Church pastors in Ephesus had so tarnished the role that Paul needed to affirm that the job is indeed honorable. Just as dirty politicians ruin the reputation of true statesmen, pastors who are not biblically qualified ruin the reputation of the role of overseer.

The church in the United States is facing an epidemic of biblically unqualified leaders. Every week there is a new report of a pastor or church leader involved in some sort of  scandal. There are two reasons for this. First, churches are ignoring the scriptural qualifications for pastors in 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The second reason is that pastors and other church leaders are not being held accountable. I’ll address accountability when we reach 1 Timothy 5 in this blog series. For now let’s focus on the biblical qualifications for pastors. First up is the question, “May an unmarried man be a pastor?”

Christians expect pastors to wear a lot of hats. In addition to spiritual responsibilities, medium and large churches tend to cast their pastors into the role of a CEO or business expert. They expect him to formulate short and long range plans to ensure the growth and success of the church. They tend to measure success by attendance numbers and large budgets. 

Some congregations want their pastor to be a political pundit. They want him to weigh in on current events and tell us how Jesus, Peter, and Paul would vote in the next election. Smaller churches might expect pastors to clean the church building, unlock the doors and have the building ready on Sunday morning, print the bulletin, maintain the church website, etc. Suffice it to say, pastors are sometimes expected to do it all and their spiritual responsibilities are overshadowed by physical concerns. Are these the kinds of things God wants pastors to focus on?