Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος · εἴ τις ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγεται, καλοῦ ἔργου ἐπιθυμεῖ.

This saying is trustworthy: If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

This introductory verse is loaded with language that draws the reader to picture a man full of energy and strong emotions that are directed toward fulfilling the purpose God has planned for him.

The first word in this category that jumps out is the verb ‘orego,’ ‘Aspires’ is the overwhelming choice of translation. Phillips chose the phrase, ‘sets his heart on.’ And these are both good choices. However, the Greek is more depictive, bringing to mind the strenuous action of stretching/reaching out to touch or grasp something. Think of the first baseman stretching out to catch the ball before the batter beats the throw or the wide receiver stretching out with his fingertips to pull in the quarterback’s long pass downfield. Or, perhaps more in keeping with Paul’s love of athletic metaphors and analogies, the runner stretching out/leaning forward to break the tape first or the cyclist stretching out and throwing his bike forward to cross the finish line first. These are all images that can be conjured up by the Greek verb ‘orego,’ where there is extreme effort being exerted in pursuit of a goal. I like the Phillips translation for transferring the physical sense to the spiritual – ‘if anyone sets his heart on.’

What is it that this man is to set his heart on, to long for, to yearn for, and to which he is committed to exerting extreme effort in the process? > To the office of overseer. The Greek is ‘episkopi.’ In today’s religious vernacular, this can be said to equate to the ‘episcopacy.’ But this term has taken on an administrative connotation that Paul did not intend. I say this because as a cross reference, we read in Acts 20, starting with verse 16, that from Miletus, Paul sent [a message] to Ephesus, summoning the elders ~ presbyters of the church. During his message to them, Paul encourages the elders to be on guard both for themselves and “for the flock among which the Holy Spirit has set you [as] overseers to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.” ^v28

Paul instructs Titus that he is to appoint elders in every city in Crete. As he gives the standards of conduct that these men were to meet, to include being blameless, Paul writes, “For the overseer must be blameless…as well as to be able to encourage with/by sound doctrine and to refute those who speak against it.” ^{Titus 1:1-9} In this case, it would seem that the elder/overseer, because of their firm grounding in the Word, should be able to apply the Word in perhaps casual settings to build up fellow believers and to cause unbelievers to come to terms with their unbelief.   

Peter challenges the elders “to feed God’s flock among you, overseeing ~ superintending, not out of compulsion, but willingly in accordance with God’s will…not domineering over those apportioned [to you], but being examples to the flock.” ^{1 Peter 5:1-3}

Turning to 1 Timothy 5, in verse 17 we read (of all the versions I checked, most preferred to translate the Greek ‘proestotes’ as ‘lead.’ The ESV follows the KJV ‘rule.’) So, I have decided to go with the majority opinion, but using the NIV’s translation of the first clause: “The elders who direct (i.e., to lead by presiding over) the affairs of the church well ^NIV… especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” ^NASB

So, from the passages we have taken a look at, it is clear that the offices of overseer and elder are the same. (Cf. Episkopi/Episkopos ~ Presbyteros one and the same office cf. Titus 1:5, 7; Acts 20:17 (presbyters) with 20:28 (Episkopos)). As related to their personal conduct, they are to have the same qualities of character, while in relation to the local Body of Christ in which they serve, they are responsible for its spiritual oversight, a part of which is either in the role of a teacher of the Word or to be so firmly grounded in it that they are able to be used by the Holy Spirit to communicate the Word in the form of encouragement to the fellow believer or to refute and convict an antagonist of the Gospel.

I would like to make an observation regarding what we have seen from the above passages. One of the primary aspects of being in a position of spiritual oversight is to serve as an example of Christlikeness. And to this end, the overseer/elder must constantly be on guard for attacks from the Adversary by being firmly grounded in the Word – to lead a ‘Word-centric’ lifestyle.

All of this must be done by the exertion of extreme effort, by setting the heart on fulfilling the ministry to which God has not only called but provided the power by which to do it – by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I do think that 1Timothy 5:17 does afford an interpretation that allows for distinguishing the office of ‘ruling’ elder from that of ‘teaching’ elder. While Scripture is clear that the overseer/elder is expected to be able to handle the Word of God effectively, verse 17 draws attention to the one who labors hard at preaching and teaching. The Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament’s translation is instructive in this regard: “Let the elders who have been serving well…namely, those who are laboring hard at preaching and teaching…” It may be that Mounce is showing a bias with this translation and has read into the text (eisegesis) and gone a bit far by translating the intensive adverb ‘malista’ as ‘namely,’ rather than as ‘especially,’ ‘chiefly,’ ‘most of all.’ On the other hand, though, given the verb used, the above-mentioned ‘proestotes,’ (one definition of which is ‘to care for,’ ‘pay attention to’) a colloquial paraphrase of the verse could possibly be: Those elders who focus exclusively on the hard tasks of preaching and teaching…

The point I want to make is that the chief responsibility of a senior pastor should be centered around preaching and teaching, Word-centric, as the book When the Word Leads Your Pastoral Search continually stresses. That should also be the focus of the congregation and not to create a job profile that requires him to juggle multiple hats (for some of which he may have no aptitude at all) as the job description example in Finding A Pastor, p. 108, outlines.

In the second clause of verse 1 of 1 Timothy 3, we have the verb ‘epithymei,’ which, when heard or read, evokes an understanding of strong desire or longing. The base word is ‘thymos’ ~ passion that leads to rage or wrath. The NIV translates the instance of this word in Galatians 5:20 as fits of rage, the NASB, as outbursts of anger, the ESV, as fits of anger. Of the numerous occurrences of ‘epithymei’ or ‘thymos’ in the New Testament, only four of them are used in a positive sense, one of them being here in 1 Timothy 3:1. I’m including the other three positive uses of ‘epithymei’ so we can see how the translators handled the intensive nature of verb: [Lazarus] “longing to eat/to be fed” ^{Luke 16:21NASB, NIV}; “many prophets and righteous people longed to see” ^{Matthew 13:17NASB, NIV, ESV}; “I have eagerly ^{NASB, NIV}/earnestly ^ESV desired to eat this Passover” ^{Luke 22:15}. Otherwise, ‘epithymei’ is translated quite often as ‘lust’ or a synonym such as ‘crave’ ^{1 Corinthians 10:6 NASB} or [sinful] ‘passions’ ^{Romans 6:12 ESV}. Perhaps the best-known verse in this regard is 1 John 2:15-17a:

¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes (in both instances the noun ‘epithymia’ is used) and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away and also its lusts[.] ^NASB

This verb can also have the connotation of setting one’s heart on, so there is a sense in which ‘epithymei’ and ‘orego’ are synonyms.

I do have to comment on the object of this desire in the second clause, which the ESV has translated as ‘noble task.’ The literal translation is ‘good work.’ Ephesians 2:10 came to mind, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The only problem is that the word for ‘good’ here is not the same as that in 1 Timothy 3:1. While some translations do not make a distinction, the ESV, NIV, and NASB felt it necessary to do so, with the NIV also using the phrase ‘noble task,’ while the NASB, ‘fine work.’

In this instance, it seems that the ‘good’ in 1 Timothy 3:1 could very well be a subset of the ‘good’ in Ephesians 2:10. Whereas there is a subjective nature to the good works mentioned in Ephesians 2:10, prepared beforehand for us that we should accomplish, Paul seems to be telling Timothy that it is generally recognized, within the context of the Body of Christ, as a fine, noble endeavor to want to be an overseer/elder.

What I have attempted to demonstrate by looking beyond into the meaning of ‘desire’ is to fill in what we may not readily associate with the word – strong feelings of yearningly, enthusiastically, eagerly, ardently seeking to fulfill the Biblically-mandated position of the spiritual oversight of a local congregation of believers. There is nothing inherently wrong to feel such a compulsion; albeit, the 1599 Geneva Bible does caution:

“He (i.e., Paul) speaketh not here of ambitious seeking than the which there cannot be a worse fault in the Church, but general of the mind, and disposition of man, framed and disposed to help and edify the Church of God, when and wheresoever it shall please the Lord.”

In conclusion, I would suggest that this passage is applicable in two directions: in the selection of a pastor and in the election by a congregation of elders. Both offices stipulate that these men are to be firmly grounded in the Word of God, in the case of elders, to be able to teach or to use the Word to exhort and to refute, as the case may be; the pastor, to focus on the preaching and teaching of the Word.

Whether an elder or the pastor, these men must be willing to put forth maximum effort in the fulfillment of their calling, which can only be done by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit.