Eldership: Understanding the Qualifications

The Apostle Paul gave criteria to Timothy and Titus by which men could be made Elders (Bishops, Pastors) in the congregations they worked with. The interesting thing to me is that these criteria or qualifications given to these two men are not the same and in some ways not even close. Let’s look at the differences.

A simplistic look would reveal that Timothy’s instructions contain 107 words while Titus’ instructions contain 87 words. Looking deeper into the 16 or so criteria given to Timothy only seven of these are replicated in the instructions given to Titus… one wife, sober minded, hospitality, No brawler, no striker, no love of money and faithful children. Some might say that since these are the ones held in common that perhaps they are the most important ones.

A lot of the attributes that are not exactly repeated are similar. For example, Timothy has “temperate” while Titus has “not soon angry”. However, there are some stark criteria mentioned to Timothy but missing in the instructions to Titus. For instance, the men Titus would be helping to qualify did not have to have a “good testimony from them that are without” not did they have to be “teachers”. Both attributes that Paul told Timothy but did not repeat to Titus. Hmmm.

In addition, the qualifications are different stylistically. To Titus Paul uses an antithetical device that we think of as not/but. Not self-willed… (5 things total) but given to hospitality (6 things total). This type of device creates a contrast to emphasize the positive things. It is only used once to Timothy… no brawler but gentle.

It may be that the qualifications were different because of specific problems in a given locale. Note to Titus Paul writes that the Elder must be able to “exhort and convict” (which by the way is not “teaching” but implies a high knowledge level) because of “vain talkers, deceivers, etc.” This is not mentioned to Timothy at all.

In summary, Timothy and Titus were given criteria that had some differences but which could be used independently of each other to select men in their respective congregations. Why were they different? Perhaps because of different problems in different congregations or perhaps because these criteria to select men were just generalizations to help in the process of selecting men.

Remember that most of these criteria are character driven and are not the only criteria to be used in the selection of men to become Elders… Knowledge and understanding of the mission of the church and the process by which Christians mature are critical criteria and perhaps so critical that most would realize that a man would not seek a job he didn’t understand… and therefore so obvious that they are not directly stated.