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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?

This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” (1 Tim. 3:1 CSB)

Does it strike you as odd that Paul needed to tell the Christians in Ephesus that overseeing a congregation is a noble work? The fact that Paul wrote these words to Timothy suggests that corrupt church leaders in Ephesus had soiled the reputation of the role of overseer. Perhaps they had so tarnished the image of the role that respectable Christians didn’t want the job! They may have feared ruining their good name by being in that position. 

Christians from different church traditions use various terms to describe the role of the person who leads, oversees, or shepherds their congregations. Sometimes these descriptions can refer to the person behind the pulpit, or they may apply to positions within a church leadership hierarchy. More often than not, we use them as titles. However, we use these words differently than the New Testament does.