1 Timothy 3:1 Noble Task

1 Timothy 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying. If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.

In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 the qualifications for eldership are listed. Before he comes to that, Paul gives the second of the five faithful or trustworthy sayings that are found in the pastoral letters. (For the others, see 1 Timothy 1:15 and 4:9, 2 Timothy 2:11 and Titus 3:8). Here is a trustworthy saying, he says. He wants to underline for all who read it that If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Prior to any talk of qualifications, he wants to assert first that it is a good thing to want to be an elder or overseer. This is the sort of ambition that should be cultivated in young Christian people. Not all will be qualified, of course. Some are women; some, perhaps, have had complicated love lives or are excluded for other reasons. To want to be a leader and teacher of God's people is a noble thing, however. The following verses reveal that to want that is to want to be holy, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, sober, gentle, calm, not covetous, a good husband and father, mature, of good repute. Such things should surely be desired by all Christians, whether they become elders or overseers or not. Those who are overseers should also remember that it is a noble task and a desirable one indeed.