English Standard Version
The impact of unethical church leadership is massive. Unfortunately, story after story comes out regarding poor decisions that have been made by church leadership where power has been abused. It's terrible to read... to see the initial tragedy, and then it so often is made worse by the church trying to cover things up, by short-sighted decisions that are made to try and save power or image. It erodes the church's authority, and I know there are countless people who will never darken a door of a church because of leadership scandals in the church.
So Paul leads with qualifications for elders and overseers. It's easy to say that parts of this list may belong to a different era, but the idea of elders being above reproach is important -- leaders in the church need to be people who are trustworthy. They don't have to be perfect. I'd certainly fail that test. But lovers of good, disciplined, upright -- these traits are important, to set an example as well as grant authority in their teaching.
May we be wise in choosing the leaders of the congregations, that the church may be strengthened and that God may be glorified through their leadership.
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