1This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer desires a good work. 2The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5(for how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule his own house take care of God’s assembly?) 6not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money, 9holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10Let them also first be tested; then let them serve if they are blameless. 11Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things. 12Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13For those who have served well gain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
14These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly, 15but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great:
God was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
and received up in glory.
Word Study: Bishop (Gk. ἐπίσκοπος, episkopos). (3:1; Acts 20:28; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet 2:25) Strong’s 1984
This word is only used five times in the NT. It is a compound noun formed from ἐπί (epi), “on, over,” and σκοπός (skopos), “goal, mark.” The cognate verb σκοπέω (skopeo) means to “pay careful attention, notice.” “Overseer” is a good literal translation of ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos). It can be used to mean “guardian” or “overseer, supervisor.” It is sometimes translated “bishop.” In this context of church leadership, it is used as a technical term and refers to oversight and supervision, all with a view to properly accomplishing the goal set before the church. This word may not be precisely synonymous with the word “elder” in the NT, but there is at least a great deal of overlap in the use of the two words (1 Tim 5:9; 1 Pet 5:1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1). Elders (overseers) and deacons have very similar qualifications for office, except elders are to be apt to teach and need to be able to defend against theological error. Deacons are not required to have the depth of theological understanding required of elders (1 Tim 3:9; Tit 1:9-13). As such, the main distinction between the two offices is gifting: elders must have speaking gifts, deacons serving gifts (1 Pet 4:10, 11). –SS