A Thought About Bishops

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?