1 TIMOTHY 3 — LEADERS IN THE CHURCH AND THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS

Chapter 3 continues Paul's instructions on how the church should be ordered. Having addressed prayer and worship in chapter 2, he now turns to leadership. Churches in Ephesus and elsewhere were governed by groups of elders, who are also called overseers (episkopoi) or shepherds, as Acts 20:17, 28 and Titus 1:5–7 show, and they were assisted by deacons. Paul's list of qualifications is not primarily a job description for a task but a portrait of Christian character. The traits he lists are chiefly moral and relational, with only one specific ability, the ability to teach. This is striking in a culture that tended to select leaders for rhetorical skill, wealth, or social standing. The list also shows that the church was subject to public scrutiny, and the repeated concern about reputation in the community reflects the importance of the church's witness. The chapter ends with a short hymn that sums up the content of the gospel and grounds the whole discussion of church order in Christ.

The qualities required of leaders in this chapter reflect a standard that was unusual in the ancient world, where leaders in civic and religious institutions were often chosen for wealth, family, or rhetorical ability, and where moral conduct was not always a central criterion. The early church's focus on character was noted by outsiders, and it contributed to the church's growth. The structure of the church with overseers and deacons is confirmed by other early Christian writings: Philippians 1:1 mentions overseers and deacons, the Didache instructs communities to appoint bishops and deacons (Didache 15), and 1 Clement 42 says that the apostles appointed bishops and deacons in the churches. The hymn in verse 16 is an important piece of evidence for early Christian worship and belief. Whether it was composed by Paul or by earlier Christians, it presents Christ as having come in the flesh, been vindicated by the Spirit, and been taken up in glory, within about thirty years of His death. This is a remarkably high Christology in an early source. The textual variants in the first line, in which some manuscripts read "who" and others "God," are an example of the careful work of textual criticism, and they should be mentioned honestly. In neither case is the early Christian belief in Christ's divinity dependent on one word, since it is attested throughout the New Testament.