God has set in place a leadership structure in the church. He has placed Elders as overseers to lead the congregation. Titus and Timothy both lay out the requirements for the call to leadership. When churches follow these guidelines, they are not only in the will of God but on the path to sound leadership who will guide the church to where He is leading it.
Titus 1:6-7
An elder must be blameless: the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless: not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money,
Letter to His Students
The books of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus make up what is called the Pastoral Epistles. They are letters written by the Apostle Paul to his two students. Leadership in the church is the common theme among all three books. With both of them being young they lacked the experience of leading a church and Paul is imparting to them what is needed. To both Timothy and Titus, he sends requirements for leadership in the church. They were to use these to raise up elders who would be overseers of the church they pastored.
Heavy Responsibility
Leadership is a heavy responsibility. As a church, it is essential that we don’t trust just anyone with the role. In the office of elder, several requirements must be met. They mustn’t be young or immature in the faith, and they need to be self-controlled. They must have their house under control. A line that has stirred debate is “a husband of one wife.” Some argue if this means you couldn’t have more than one wife (which was common then) or does it say you couldn’t be divorced? I think it means both, but especially the latter.
Blameless
Paul uses the term blameless twice in this passage. Blameless is one who doesn’t give into the urge to sin, and no one can bring a charge of wrongdoing against them. They can’t be charged with arrogance and anger. A leader is to be humble and mature. They aren’t given over to drunkenness and money isn’t their god. They live a life of quiet discipline.
Serve Unto the Lord
Serving as an Elder is an excellent opportunity to be used by the Lord. If you meet the requirements and God has placed a call to leadership on you, then I suggest you walk through that door. The church needs more Godly men who will step up and be an example to the rest of the church.