Page 37 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

I Timothy 3 – Leadership in the Church

Connect…

Here are some interesting statistics about pastors in the church in the US:

• 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Many pastors' children do not attend
church now because of what the church has done to their parents.
• 65% of pastors feel their family lives in a "glass house" and fear they are not good enough to meet
expectations.
• 66% of church members expect a minister and family to live at a higher moral standard than themselves.
• 90% of pastors report the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like
before they entered the ministry.
• 95% of pastors report not praying daily or regularly with their spouse.
• 75% of pastors report significant stress-related crises at least once in their ministry.
• 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses have felt unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors at
least one or more times in their ministry.
• 54% of pastors find the role of a pastor overwhelming.
• 80% of pastors expect conflict within their church.
• 70% of pastors do not have someone they consider to be a close friend.
• The average tenure of a pastor at a church is between three and four years!

It’s a difficult position being a pastor, and even more so if the pastor is not qualified for the position. That’s why
Paul took so much time informing both Timothy and Titus of the qualifications of becoming a pastor. Today we
are going to look at those qualifications…

The Lesson ...

1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Since these two chapters are very similar, we will look at both of them at the same time.

1 Timothy 3:1-13.

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an
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overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife sober-minded, self-controlled,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of
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money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if
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someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not
be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the
devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of
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the devil.

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