Abundant Joy

“…not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy.”

Here in verse 3, Paul moves on from the positive traits to four negative traits that an elder/overseer must not be. These four traits are: not an excessive drinker; not a bully; not quarrelsome; and not greedy. We will take them one at a time.

The first one is “not an excessive drinker.” Some denominations have taken this to the extreme and have made any consumption of alcohol a disqualifier for serving in leadership positions. This is a tricky one because there are verses supporting alcohol such as Psalm 104:14-15: “He causes grass to grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, producing food from the earth, wine that makes human hearts glad—
making his face shine with oil—and bread that sustains human hearts.” Jesus turned water into wine as his first miracle. And Paul tells Timothy later in this letter to “use a little wine because of your stomach and frequent illnesses.” We know that alcohol was not forbidden in the Bible although some Christians today would have you believe that.

On the other hand, there are clear biblical warnings against drunkenness and excessive use of alcohol. Starting in Genesis with Noah, we see a pattern of bad things happening when someone has had too much to drink. The Nazarites were to abstain from wine and beer. Proverbs has several warnings against overconsumption including this: “Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; Whoever goes astray because of them is not wise” (20:1). The New Testament also warns that drunkenness is a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5), and that those who practice works of the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:1-3, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin— in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.”

The last thing I will bring up on this point is that an elder/overseer is an example. If drinking alcohol in front of another believer will cause him or her to stumble, then they should not do it. Romans 14:19-21 is our guide. “So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats. It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.”

Paul next lists “not a bully but gentle.” My social media feeds have been filled lately with celebrity pastors who are being called out for their abusive behavior. They would have been immediately disqualified by Paul! This goes to the heart of almost every sin-pride. When someone’s platform gets too big, or even when they are put in a position of leadership of a church of any size, the human tendency is to think we are someone special, that we have had something to do with it. That is why Paul lists another fruit of the Spirit, gentleness, to remind us that it is the Holy Spirit who works in us. Jesus also spoke to this when He was walking with his disciples. “They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all’” (Mark 9:33-35).

The third negative trait that Paul says an elder must not be is quarrelsome. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, writes this. “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth” (2:24-25). I have written it before, and I will write it again. We live in a divided world. People argue over so many things. Not only are elders not to be quarrelsome, but that also goes for all of us believers. But that does not mean that we never talk about controversial topics or never take a stand on the truth. The verse in second Timothy says, “instructing his opponents with gentleness.” An elder’s goal is to teach truth, but to do it in a way that is not quarrelsome. This is in contrast with the teachers of the false doctrines that Paul writes about later in the letter. “If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain” (6:3-5).

And lastly, he is not to be greedy. Paul is going to expand on this later in the letter when he writes, “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (6:9-10). Ben Kirby had an Instagram account (and has now written a book) titled “Preachers N Sneakers” about celebrity pastors. The Instagram account started by poking fun at these pastors and their very expensive designer clothes. We’re talking about $3,600 Gucci jackets, $800 sneakers, and $2,500 crocodile belts, just to name a few. As his account grew, he started asking more serious questions. In a Washington Post article, he says, “I began asking, how much is too much? Is it okay to get rich off of preaching about Jesus? Is it okay to be making twice as much as the median income of your congregation?” For some celebrity pastors, it is far more than twice as much. These are good questions to ask. A pastor shouldn’t have to take a vow of poverty when he enters the profession, but he also shouldn’t take advantage of his congregation.

In the first three verses, we have covered eleven of the qualifications of the leader of a church. As you can see, it is a heavy responsibility indeed! Paul gave these instructions to Titus about overseers, and they overlap what he has written in these first three verses. I will end here. “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, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it” (Titus 1:7-9).

Grace be with you!