1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a
bishop, he desireth a good work.
A bishop is all about the work of the ministry, not the
honor of the title.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
A bishop ought to be blameless in life and actions. A bishop cannot multiply wives but learn to
obey the Christian standard of one bride (in Christ) and one husband (a type of
Christ). A bishop is a visionary,
vigilant and observant. He is serious
about his responsibilities and walks maturely.
He is willing to disperse his wealth or gifts to others. A bishop is gracious and caring and loves to
give God’s words to others.
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy
lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
A bishop will never be a drunkard or violent or greedy of
ill-gotten gain. He is patient (even in
the midst of foolishness and mistakes), not a fighter or covetous of another’s
wealth.
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children
in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
A bishop will have serious children who understand how
important this work of God is. They will
have been taught and have learned to obey the Word of God. A bishop will never choose to surrender his
faith or beliefs to gain the acceptance of a wayward child.
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil.
It is proper for a bishop to receive the respect of others
but of utmost importance to deserve that respect. He cannot be led apart by popular opinion or
rise up and stroke his own ego for the sake of honor and pride. Pride will cause a bishop to fall as surely
as if struck by a great blow. A bishop
ought to be meek. A prideful bishop is
to be feared.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are
without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
A bishop should be honored by truthful sinners and those not
part of the church. His examples and
actions should lend great honor to the body of Christ. A bishop who does not have the honor of those
apart from the church because of his failings is snared by Satan. A bishop who is persuaded against God’s Word
is snared as well.
The final point I want to make is this one. A bishop should be willing to give all to the
gospel of Jesus and even to surrender life to protect the rest of the
body. In Islam, we have seen highly
educated teachers send suicide bombers out to die for their faith. With few exceptions those who die are some of
the least educated and more easily persuaded.
The Muslim bishops stay at home.
In Christ, our savior gave all for the love of God toward
us. As bishops and leaders, we too are
supposed to be ready to surrender all to protect the church. A minister here brought a message that made
me appreciate the power and grace of a true bishop. He reminded us that during the early church
growth, the Roman government would strike down any group that seemed to fight
against Rome. This included the
church. When someone accused the church
of crimes against the state, they would arrest all the senior leaders for
punishment. This usually included time
in the arena or in prison or just death.
This was a well known tactic. A
man in the office of a bishop knew he might be called to sacrifice his life for
the sake of an entire house church at any time.
They still answered the call.
Do you still want the office of a bishop?
