From 1 Timothy 3, here's the list of qualifications for Overseers - for those who should be leading the church
- Above reproach
- Faithful to his wife
- Temperate
- Self-controlled
- Respectable
- Hospitable
- Able to teach (which we'll come back to next time)
- Not given to drunkenness
- Not violent but gentle
- Not quarrelsome
- Not a lover of money.
- He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
- He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
- He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
When I look at that list, I realize that they all focus on what people inside the church think of a particular person. The attributes are all those which you would expect to be important to Christians, and when you're looking for people to lead and influence he life of the church, there aren't any surprises there,
