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The Character of a Pastor

John MacArthur

In Titus 1, Paul provided a good opportunity to discuss the character traits necessary for one who holds the pastoral office in a local church. He must be a man with the highest of morals in his sexual behavior, including a wholesome relationship with his wife. Second, he must also be one who has proven his leadership capabilities in his own family. He must be successful in ministering to his own children spiritually as well as otherwise. Third, he must demonstrate nobility in his attitude and conduct by being free from self-will, quick temperedness, addiction to wine, pugnaciousness, and a fondness for sordid gain. He must have the positive qualities of hospitality, a love for the good, sensibleness, justice, purity, and self-control.

There are many trends in the church today, and I have tried to address them often from the pulpit and in the books I write.¹ The book of Titus addresses one of the most disturbing trends I’ve noticed: the disregard of God’s guidelines for what kind of man He wants shepherding His sheep. Titus 1:9 tells what God wants the pastor to do, but first and foremost, verses 6–8 tell who he is to be:

Above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled.²

That is God’s standard for any pastor’s character and is thus the primary consideration in preparing for pastoral ministry.³

“Above reproach” (, anengklētos) twice describes the effect of a godly life (1:6–7). Literally, the pastor will “not be called in” or, in other words, the pastor will be “blameless” or “above reproach.” It should be consistently characteristic of his life as one who assumes the stewardship of God’s ministry (v. 7). This term applies to deacons in 1 Timothy 3:10, thus bringing it into close association with (anepilēmptos), the word used of overseers in 1 Timothy 3:2.⁴

“Above reproach” cannot refer to sinless perfection, because no human being could ever qualify for the office in that case,⁵ but it is a high and mature standard that speaks of being a consistent example. It is God’s demand that His steward live in such a holy manner that his preaching would never be in contradiction of his lifestyle, that the pastor’s indiscretions never bring shame on the ministry, and that the shepherd’s hypocrisy not undermine the flock’s confidence in the ministry of God.

“Above reproach” is the overarching quality of the pastor. The remainder of the list is a detailed examination of each component of that characteristic, developing what it means to be above reproach. The components fall into three groups: sexual morality, proven family leadership, and nobility in attitude and conduct.

SEXUAL MORALITY

One contemporary trend that is cause for great concern is the shocking moral sins pastors commit only to step back into ministry as soon as the publicity cools down. I have received inquiries from other churches wondering if our church has written guidelines or a workbook for restoring fallen pastors to their pulpits. We have to tell people we do not have any such thing because we believe the Bible clearly teaches that once a man fails in the area of sexual morality, he is unqualified for pastoral ministry any longer. Certainly we want him restored to the Lord and to the fellowship, but biblical qualifications for one who preaches God’s Word and is identified as pastor, overseer, or elder exclude him from that role in a church that is pleasing God.

For the most part, evangelical Christianity during the last century focused on the battle for doctrinal purity—and it should have—but we are losing the battle for moral purity. We have people with the right theology who are living impure lives. God’s standard cannot be lowered for the sake of sympathy. It does not need to be, because we can be loving, forgiving, gracious, merciful, and kind without compromising what God says about the character of the men He wants leading His church. All battles for the integrity of Scripture are ultimately in vain if the church’s preachers are corrupt and the sheep no longer follow their shepherds as models of holiness. The church must have leaders who are above reproach. Anything less is an abomination to God and spells disaster for the life of the church.

The first character qualification in Titus that spells out what it means for a pastor to be above reproach is that he be “the husband of one wife” (Titus 1:6). A literal translation of the Greek expression is “a one-woman man.” This is not talking about polygamy, a sin that is forbidden for everyone, not just pastors.

Some people think “the husband of one wife” means that if the pastor has been widowed and remarried, he is disqualified. Romans 7:1–6 makes it clear, however, that if a man’s wife dies, he is no longer bound by that union. So that cannot be the meaning here. Others therefore conclude “the husband of one wife” means the pastor must be married, not single. The emphatic position of the word for one argues against that, though. If Paul wanted to talk about being married as opposed to being single, he could have said pastors have to be married or be the husband of a wife.

Paul, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, deliberately used the phrase meaning “a one-woman man.” I think there are two aspects to it, the first having implications with regard to divorce. The Word teaches that the Lord hates divorce (Mal. 2:16), even though He makes provision for it in certain circumstances. It is never God’s ideal, however, and it could be that a pastor was to be chosen from men who even before their salvation had not been divorced, so that their lives were the proper model of God’s marital ideal. Prior wives or offspring would, then, have no opportunity to compromise, confuse, or attack the credibility of the highest office in the church and destroy the reputation of the man by saying things about him.

Certainly the task of building godly marriages and strong families in the church necessitated the most impeccable marriage history in the pastor’s life. A man who had never been divorced but had been married singularly to the same woman would be the kind of premium example God would want of one man and one woman together in harmony for life.

That is just a starting point, however. There are a lot of men who have had only one wife but are not one-woman men (Matt. 5:27–28). They are the husband of one but the lover of two or three more. In its primary aspect, a one-woman man simply means a man who is devoted to the woman who is his wife. His eyes and heart remain focused on her. The issue is not just to avoid getting a divorce at all costs. It is that of continuing faithfulness to one’s wife.

This world overflows with sexual sin, and Paul directed the church to find as leaders men who have impeccable reputations. Is the man under consideration without blame in that he has been and now is loyal to the woman who is his wife? Does he have a sexual career in his past that has perhaps come to a screeching halt lately, but most everybody around town knows about it? This is not a man who can stand up and say, “Here, beloved, is God’s divine model.” The issue is moral character, not marital status.

The pastor must have a reputation of being sexually pure. If he is married, he is devoted to his one wife, not scandalized by past mistresses, illegitimate children, or present adulteries. He loves and desires only one woman and has been faithful to her.

This is the kind of man God is looking for to set up as the model in His church. That does not mean such men are better than others, that they are more spiritual, more gifted, or more used of God than other men. It does mean, however, that they fit the unique role. No one else is suitable according to God’s Word.

Many would ask, “What about David and Solomon?” First Kings 15:5 says, “David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite” (emphasis added). That was when he committed sexual sin with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. Of David’s son, who followed his father’s lead in that area, Scripture says, “Among the many nations there was no king like him, he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin” (Neh. 13:26, emphasis added). There was an exception clause in the lives of both kings. They were qualified as kings, but not as pastors.

Sexual sin disqualifies any man from being a pastor. The apostle Paul remained keenly aware of that fact, saying, “I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). That is strong terminology. Paul maintained rigorous self-discipline to avoid being disqualified from pastoral ministry. He knew that any kind of sexual sin brings lifelong reproach.

PROVEN FAMILY LEADERSHIP

Sexual sin defiles the flock of God. The pastor or shepherd, far from defiling the flock, is to care for it with the love of a mother and father. That is the pastoral portrait Paul painted: “We proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children . . . just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children” (1 Thess. 2:7, 11). Since the pastor is to be a leader of the Lord’s church and a loving parent to the family of God, what better way can he qualify than by proving his spiritual leadership in his own family?

If you want to know whether a man lives an exemplary life, whether he is consistent, whether he can teach and model the truth, and whether he can lead people to salvation, to holiness, and to serve God, then look at the most intimate relationships in his life and see if he can do it there. Look at his family and you will find the people who know him best, who scrutinize him most closely. Ask them about the kind of man he is.

There are many fathers who work hard. Some also manage their households well but do not lead their children to Christ and a life of godliness. These men are not potential candidates as pastors. Since spiritual leadership is a parenting process where the pastor or elder must be able to lead his people by his life as well as his precepts, the church needs to look at some proving ground where they can see that kind of leadership already visible in his life. That proving ground is the home.

It is important to clarify three points:

1. It may be that you as a father have made a good and righteous effort to lead your children to faith in Christ, but you have not seen the fruit that you would desire. You are not responsible for your child’s rejection of the truth, but neither would you be qualified to be a pastor.
2. Scripture does not bar a single man from being a pastor. The apostle Paul was probably single as best we can tell.
3. There is nothing in Scripture that would prevent a childless man from being a pastor.

When there is not a marriage or children, the church must look at other experiences as evidences of a man’s spiritual leadership. If indeed he has been faithful as a spiritual leader in other arenas, the virtue of his life being abundantly evident, then he should be considered for pastoral ministry.

For most men, however, the family is the arena in which spiritual leadership can be evaluated. If a man has children who believe and who are not involved in dissipation and rebellion, they will not bring scandal upon his good name and the integrity of God’s church. Imagine the shame if a man stood in the pulpit and said, “Thus says the Lord: This is how to live; this is God’s high standard; this is what God expects of you; this is how to pass godliness from one generation to the next,” but people could look at his life and say, “Wait a minute, you’ve got wild, uncontrolled children who live in rebellion and reject the gospel. Why are you telling us how to please God?” It questions the integrity of his message. It minimizes the credibility of his ministry and thus reduces its impact.

Paul said that you want to make sure you select men who have a good reputation outside the church as well as inside, who will never be discredited by an unbelieving, wayward child. Some people question this interpretation, saying, “Titus 1:6 can’t mean a pastor has to have converted children because that’s up to God’s sovereignty. If God doesn’t choose to elect your children, then you’re in real trouble.” Frankly, that is an unbiblical and fatalistic approach that fails to consider the impact of a godly life or the believer’s personal responsibility for evangelism. Scripture repeatedly teaches that a godly life leads people to salvation. Election is God’s own business and something for which we give Him glory, but it is not a consideration in our spiritual living and witness.

If in my home I am committed to living a godly, virtuous life of integrity, and by it to proclaim the truth of the saving gospel, there is every reason to believe God in His grace will use that to redeem my children. It may not always happen, but for the man who would stand in the pulpit as a model and not be scandalized by some activity on the part of his children, it is necessary. And God, who calls the pastor to ministry in the first place, makes it possible.

Another footnote regarding the home relates to the pastor’s wife. Although Titus 1 mentions the pastor’s children, it does not mention his wife. I think it is fair to assume she also is a believer. In 1 Corinthians 9:5 Paul, speaking about himself and fellow pastors, said, “Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife?” Anyone in Christian ministry has the right to be married, but not to just anyone. Scripture is unequivocally specific that a believer is to marry only another believer. That is the main point of 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” In marriage where the two partners are a believer and an unbeliever, the harmony does not exist that can create the spiritual power and energy of a godly family. It just is not there.

So the text in Titus assumes a believing wife to whom the pastor is totally devoted and children who also follow along in the faith. A truly godly life is the most powerful tool God has in saving sinners. How can a pastor lead people to faith in Christ and holiness unless he can show them the power of his faith in his life? One of the principal missions of the pastor is to teach the church how to raise a godly generation. How can he teach this if he cannot do it himself?

The man whom God calls to pastoral ministry must have “children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion” (Titus 1:6). Context suggests that Paul was speaking of adult children; there aren’t too many dissipated, debauched young children. The terms more accurately reflect adult life.

Further, elders by definition were older men who tended to have older children. If Paul wanted to talk about little children, he could have used the specific Greek term teknion. If he wanted to talk about babies, he could have used brephos. Instead he used a general word for sons and daughters.

The New American Standard Bible speaks of “children who believe.” The King James Version, however, translates the same phrase “faithful children.” Some therefore conclude that all Titus 1 is saying is that pastors’ children must be faithful in the sense of being obedient to their parents, but not necessarily believers in Christ. That, however, is not an accurate understanding of the text, since it is only small children who are under their parents’ authority. As we have just surmised, this text speaks about adult children. More specifically, Paul referred to faithful adult children who were not going to scandalize their father’s ministry by their unruly lifestyle.

What if your children do not fit into this category because they are not old enough to believe? Another section of Scripture describing pastors covers younger children: 1 Timothy 3:4 says the pastor “must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity.” In context, that is a reference to small children, not adult children. A pastor can have children of any age, but whatever age they are, they must not bring reproach on him if he is to remain qualified for pastoral ministry.

The Greek word translated “believe,” (pista) means exactly that. Its opposite, apistos, means “not to believe,” “disbelief,” or “unbelief.” So from the simplicity of the word, it is best to see Titus 1:6 as a reference to believing children, not faithful children.

The word translated “dissipation” is asōtia. It is used in association with drunkenness, revelry, and pagan festivals in Ephesians 5:18. It literally means “saving nothing,” just throwing oneself away in an indulgent lifestyle. The second term describing the opposite of believing children is “rebellion,” which characterizes those who are out of control, wild, and unruly. The pastor’s children are to live obediently under their father’s control when they are small, following their father’s faith until it emerges as their own faith. At that point they must live a faithful Christian life, not a wild, rebellious, out-of-control, wasteful life. If they do not, besides the damage they do to themselves, they disqualify their father from pastoral ministry.

In summary, a man qualified to be a pastor exhibits the leadership and integrity of life to lead people to salvation and service to God by having done it or being in the process of doing it in his own home. He should be known as having children who believe as they are able to comprehend the truths of Scripture and who live according to its principles, having a simple faith that emerges into a saving faith at some point. Those children become important proof of his spiritual leadership.

I think back on my little ones as they were growing up. Their initial faith was a simple affirmation of the things precious to father and mother, and it later matured into saving faith. That is God’s ordained pattern for the pastor’s family. Such a man is not necessarily better than other Christian men, but he is uniquely suited to the ministry. Other godly, faithful, loyal men may have children who are wayward. That does not hinder their relationship to the Lord, because they are not ultimately responsible for what their children choose to do, but neither does it qualify them for the role of pastoral leadership.

Those who do qualify as pastors have received a special and abundant portion of God’s grace because of the uniqueness of their task. To God alone belongs the glory and credit for whatever has happened in their lives to qualify them for their ministry.

NOBILITY IN ATTITUDE AND CONDUCT

This is the third and final aspect of what it means for a pastor to be above reproach as God’s steward. Titus 1:7–8 gives two lists of general characteristics, one list of five negatives and the other of six positives. They speak of nobility in attitude and conduct, nobility in the sense of being above the world’s standards. The implication is that the pastor is a cut above the rest in attitude and conduct and worthy of being imitated. The man marked by these qualities has the character you would expect of one who possesses a high sexual morality and is a proven family leader. As a result he will have power, not only the power of God because of the holiness of his life, but credibility, honor, respect, admiration, and love that will endow him with respect as a leader. This is the kind of man who will effectively lead the church.

The Negatives

Not Self-Willed. The term used in the Greek text is particularly strong. It means the opposite of having a self-loving arrogance, of being consumed with yourself, seeking your own way, satisfaction, and gratification to the point of disregarding others. A pastor should not be a person who could be called headstrong or stubborn.

False teachers are described as “daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties” (2 Pet. 2:10). They are so bold in their arrogance that they venture where angels fear to tread. They do not have the sense to realize the forces they are dealing with. Their egotism makes them so arrogant that they will let nothing stand in their way. They have no regard for the power and authority of any other.

In the world’s system, the first thing people look for in a leader is someone who is a strong and aggressive natural leader. However, that is opposite of the kind of person who is effective in leading the church. This is not to imply that the godly pastor is not strong or without convictions. The point is that the church who selects a man because of his strong natural leadership ability will find that what drives him is not a concern for God and His truth but a sense of ego fulfillment and a need to be in charge. When things do not go the way he wants them to go, it is very frustrating for him and everyone else in the church.

No one dominated by self is fit for pastoral ministry. I think Jesus said it best in Matthew 20:25–26: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you [as a leader] shall be your servant.” The man who is chosen for pastoral leadership must not be self-willed. He has to give space for other people’s ideas and direction. Most of all, he needs to seek out the mind and heart of God and to do only what God wants done in His church.

Not Quick Tempered. Recently I was talking with people who were telling me the problems with their church. After listening to them I said, “You’re obviously very upset with your pastor. What is it about him that causes you such concern?” They responded that he gets angry all the time. I asked them to give me an example. They said, “In a meeting he’s apt to blow up and then stomp out of the room. What should we do?”

The obvious answer in light of Titus 1:7 is they should get another pastor, because the one they have is not qualified. The word translated “quick tempered” comes from orgē, which refers to wrath or anger. This is the only place the word is used in the New Testament. It speaks of a smoldering anger that resides under the surface. Everyone is going to lose it now and then and get upset about something, but this is different. It characterizes a person with what we would call a temper. It is a nurtured hostility maintained in the heart that frequently erupts. Paul probably had something like this in mind when he said, “The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all . . . [and] patient when wronged” (2 Tim. 2:24). When things do not go the way the pastor wants them to, he should retain his composure inside and out.

James 1:20 sums up the matter: “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Anger produces nothing of value in spiritual leadership. The man God ordained to pastoral ministry will not be angry, hostile, quarrelsome, or fuming on the inside, because he is not getting his way. He is a man who can take no for an answer. He is willing to let another man’s decision preempt his. He can turn responsibilities over to people who do them in ways that he might not think best. He can allow people around him to fail until they learn to succeed, because he does not tie up his ego in everything they do. As a result, he maintains an attitude of joy in his heart and is consistently kind and patient.

Not Addicted to Wine. This third point translates the Greek word paroinon, which literally means “to be alongside wine.” This pastoral requirement is repeated in 1 Timothy 3:3, as well as in Titus 2:3, where it gives a qualification of older women who assist younger women in an official capacity in the church. Anyone in any kind of Christian leadership needs to be alert and clearheaded.

Does this mean that pastors in New Testament times never drank any wine at all? No, wine was the common drink back then. You could not drink the water without risking infection. Even today in countries where adequate refrigeration and water purification do not exist, the first thing you are told when you visit is, “Don’t drink the water.”

Any kind of juice standing in the heat will ferment. People of ancient times were well aware of that, so they took a number of precautions to avoid intoxication. The first was to mix wine with water, as much as eight parts of water to one part of wine. This served more as a disinfectant for the water than a recipe for a tasty drink, because mixed eight to one, there was not much taste there. You could not get drunk on it because your stomach could not hold what it would take to intoxicate you since the combination included so much water.

The second thing they commonly did was to boil the wine. That kind of wine is probably associated with the Hebrew word yayin, the main word for wine in the Old Testament. Within the very word itself is the concept of bubbling up, perhaps more a commentary on the preparatory process of boiling rather than the bubbly that is characteristic of some wines. When the wine was boiled down, the alcohol would evaporate, and what was left was a thick paste. Often the people would spread it on bread to use as a jam, as we do today. This thick paste was stored in animal skins and could be squeezed out in its concentrated form and remixed with water to produce a reconstituted, nonalcoholic grape juice.

People in biblical times took serious precautions to avoid producing a highly intoxicating wine. Things are different today. Wine today is made straight out of the fruit and is purposely fermented. Mixing wine with water would be a cardinal sin to any wine connoisseur. Therefore, the biblical injunction for the pastor not to be addicted to wine has more relevance than ever.

Alcohol is not to be a part of the pastor’s life or have an impact on his thinking. He is not to be a drinker, one who goes to the tavern, inn, or bar—places associated with drinking where there is a potential for drunkenness and other indiscretions. He is at risk of losing control of himself and saying or doing things that are inappropriate. Especially in ancient times, taverns and inns were places of debauchery and iniquity. No man whose life centers around places of drunkenness is fit to be a pastor or an elder.

Apparently, in the early church those who knew the Lord drank wine mixed with water or the reconstituted grape juice. In addition, Paul had to tell Timothy to take a little wine for medicinal purposes (1 Tim. 5:23), because some Christians evidently avoided anything having to do with wine. They certainly did not drink what the Bible calls “strong drink,” a term for intoxicating beverages that are not mixed at all. They did everything they could to avoid being inebriated.

The same should be true of Christians today. When you consider the purification and refrigeration techniques prevalent today, most people have no need to drink any alcoholic beverage. That is why at Grace Church, the pastors and elders avoid alcohol altogether. Beyond recognizing that it is not necessary to drink, we realize it could be harmful to more than just ourselves if we did.

In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, Paul warned against doing anything that would cause another believer to stumble. I am certain that if people thought I drank wine, they would say, “Since John MacArthur drinks wine, then certainly I can.” Some of those people might lose control, do something irresponsible that hurts other people, or even become alcoholics. I do not want that to happen, and I do not want the fear of that weighing on my conscience.

Now there may be the rare occasion when you are in a Third World country enjoying a communion service where you are served real wine. It would be appropriate to have a sip of it since it is the necessary thing to do in that environment. That is an obvious exception to the general principle of avoiding alcohol. What Paul was saying in Titus 1 is that no man who is at all irresponsible with that which can lead to drunkenness has any business being in spiritual leadership.

Leviticus 10:9 instructed priests to abstain from alcoholic beverages. Proverbs 31:4–5 gave the same instruction to princes or rulers. The principle is that anyone in a position to make significant decisions that affect a wide range of people should not be operating without full comprehension. Think how much better our churches and government would run if more leaders took this biblical injunction seriously.

Not Pugnacious. This fourth term occurs only here and in 1 Timothy 3:3. It basically speaks of someone who uses his hand, fist, a stick, or a rock to hit someone else. That was a common way people dealt with conflict in ancient times. It is not unheard of today, but most of us are more dignified than that. Perhaps people now are prone to use a subtler means of vengeance.

In 2 Corinthians 11:19 Paul said, “Bear with the foolish gladly.” He went on to illustrate what foolish people are inclined to do to you: “If he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face” (v. 20, emphasis added). Some people will hit you in the face if they are upset at you, and that is the way it is. It is something we all need to learn to live with. It is certainly something a pastor must be prepared to endure, but—perish the thought—never to inflict on anyone else. He who goes around punching people obviously does not belong in spiritual ministry.

Second Timothy 2:24–25 says that the servant of the Lord must seek to make peace, not disruption, while ministering. A spiritual leader is to resolve conflict peacefully in a godly, gentle, and humble manner.

Not Fond of Sordid Gain. This is the fifth and last negative describing what a pastor must not be. The Greek term is a compound of the words aischros (shameful) and kerdos (which refers to personal gain). It describes someone who does not care how he makes money. He lacks honesty and integrity.

This qualification does not imply there is anything wrong with paying the preacher. First Corinthians 9:14 says that “the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.” First Timothy 5:17 says that those who work hard in preaching and teaching should “be considered worthy of double honor,” an expression referring to compensation.

Preachers have a right to be paid and it is right to pay them, but those whom God calls to the ministry will not preach for that purpose. First Peter 5:2 says that true shepherds of God’s flock do not function “for sordid gain,” the same expression used in this text from Titus.

In contrast, Paul warned that false shepherds will be in it for the money. They

suppose that godliness is a means of gain. . . . Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang (1 Tim. 6:5, 9–10).

The man of God will not pursue such things. He will flee from them (1 Tim. 6:11).

Any man who is enamored by money will compromise himself and will gain somehow in a sordid way. The man who is in spiritual leadership must not be greedy or self-indulgent, because he can be so easily corrupted. He handles God’s money, therefore, he should use only the holiest of hands.

The Positives

After his list of what a pastor should not be, Titus included a comparable list of what he must be.

Hospitable. The compound word translated “hospitable” means literally “a lover of strangers.” It is an oft-repeated attribute of Christian character (Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 5:10; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9). The basic principle it teaches is that a pastor should make himself and his resources available to people he does not know. In the context of the early church, it referred primarily to other Christians.

As I mentioned earlier, taverns and inns during biblical times were despicable dens of sin and debauchery. They were very dangerous. Robbers as well as prostitutes preyed on vulnerable travelers. Yet many believers were obliged to travel for business or ministry. Some of them were on the road because they had been kicked out of their city under persecution, driven from their homes, and dispossessed of all they had. There was plenty of opportunity in the early church to open one’s home to fellow believers and meet a significant need, providing a haven from sin and perhaps even death.

Hospitality in the biblical sense is not to have your friends over for dinner. That is a kind thing to do, but note what Jesus said to those who seek to minister:

When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:12–14).

A pastor is to be a generous man. Far from loving gain, he sees whatever he has as a means for meeting the needs of those he does not even know.

Loving What Is Good. A pastor is also to be a lover of good men and good things. You can tell a lot about a man by looking at his friends and what he surrounds himself with. With whom does he associate? What does he do in his leisure time? What is precious to him? Some of the answers should be found in Philippians 4:8—whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise. The pastor’s heart responds to what is excellent.

Sensible. This third positive trait is another one of those compound words: a combination of phroneō (which refers to the thinking process) and sozō (I save). This describes a man who has saving thoughts. He is in control of his mind, and his thoughts are redeemed thoughts. They are delivered from the mundane, earthy, and base. Such a man rescues his mind out of the gutter, you might say. He also lifts his mind above what is trivial and passing. He is not a clown or a jokester, but a man with a sure and steady wisdom. He is dispassionate, careful in judgment, thoughtful, wise, and profound. Such is the fruit of a disciplined mind. This is the kind of man to be a pastor.

Just. This describes the conduct of a man who meets God’s standard. It is a legal term indicating that the divine verdict on his life is positive. He is known as a man whom God approves of, because he lives according to divine standards.

Devout. This could also be translated “holy.” It means “pure, unpolluted, free from any stain of sin.” This returns to the concept of being above reproach. In every area of the pastor’s life, what you see is exemplary. You will find no stain of sin there.

Perhaps you have been wondering, “Is anybody really like this?” Of course, no one is free from sin, but sin can be confessed and dealt with, and it does not have to scandalize the church. All Christians can live like that by God’s grace and mercy in the power of the Holy Spirit. The pastor is to be a living reminder of that great possibility.

Self-Controlled. This is the sixth and last qualification. A pastor is to have control of his life. Well-meaning people who hear of a pastor falling into sin will often say, “The poor man must not have had any accountability. If he had been accountable to others, he would have been all right.” There is a place for spiritual accountability. We all need friends, partners, and co-laborers in ministry to help us to walk before the Lord as we should. However, if a man cannot control his life when he is alone, he does not belong in the pastorate. If he is the kind of person who needs to have a committee to keep him in line, he will end up bringing grief to the church. Be assured: if a man wants to sin, he can find the time and place to do it, no matter what other humans he may be accountable to.

You cannot follow me around twenty-four hours a day. If I am so fragile that I have to have people looking over my shoulder all day, then I should not be anyone’s pastor. If there is no commitment to godliness on the inside that holds my life in check, it is fruitless for you to control me from the outside and expect me to minister to you as if I were controlled from the inside. The character of a pastor comes from the inside. I cannot think of a better ending note than that, for that is how the Spirit of God concluded the matter in this text from Titus 1:6–8.