Now notice the qualifications for spiritual leadership (verses 6-9). What is God’s standard in this matter?
I. A spiritual leader should be of blameless reputation.
In verse 6 and 7 we read that a leader must be blameless, but what is meant by the use of this word? It does not mean perfect, otherwise there would be no leaders! If we turn to 1 Tim.3:7, which is a parallel passage, we shall find a helpful exposition of the word. To be qualified for spiritual leadership a man must have a clean testimony in the church and before the world. He must be a man of unimpeachable virtue.
II. A spiritual leader should be of unquestioned moral integrity.
Verse 6 says that he must be the husband of one wife. This does not mean that he must marry only once ; it means he must not be a polygamist , as were some of the Cretans to whom Paul was writing. A leader must be of unquestioned moral integrity with no suspicion of any wrong relationship or impropriety of any kind. No-one should be given any position in the church whose marriage relationship is questionable or whose attitude towards the opposite sex is careless.
III. A spiritual leader should bring up his children to fear God.
Verse 6 goes on : having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly – that is, not likely to be accused of loose living or law-breaking. Turn to again to the parallel passage in 1 Tim. 3:4,5 – if a man has not sought to train his family diligently to love and serve the Lord, how can he be qualified to help the children of God in the church to love and to serve Him? His training of his children will qualify him for special ministry in the church. If he has not succeeded in securing the conversion of his children and of seeing them not go on with the Lord, he must at any rate have sought their spiritual welfare by prayer and good example.
IV. A spiritual leader should be of obvious spiritual grace and discipline.
In verse 7 there are five negatives , all of which tell us that a leader is qualified by what he does not do. In the language of Col. 3:8,9 , he is to ” put off ” certain things. What are they ( verse 7 )?
1. ” Not self-willed ” – not ministering to self – look up Matthew 20:26-28.
2. ” Not soon angry ” – not aggressive or explosive. Our temperaments need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
3. ” Not given to wine ” – a leader must be temperate,strong conviction regarding alcohol – look up 1 Cor. 10:23.
4. ” No striker ” – he must not be quarrelsome or contentious. What a bad testimony it is when an office-bearer is undisciplined.
5. ” Not given to filthy lucre ” -not covetous. A man’s character can often be judged by his attitude towards money and earthly goods.
Tomorrow we shall look at the last three qualifications of a spiritual leader.