Pastoral Qualifications: Why Elders/Pastors Must Be Men

In looking throughout the salvation-historical stages of redemption and new creation, it is important to look at certain passages that discuss qualifications and characteristics of leadership for the church.  As God’s redemptive revelation has progressed, we have now seen that Jesus has come as the greater David and has established his eternal Kingdom.  Throughout the Old Testament we see leaders rise and fall under Gods ultimate leadership.  The three main leadership offices in the Old Testament are Prophet, Priest, and King.  Now that Jesus has come in the flesh, we see that he has fulfilled each of the three Old Testament offices in completeness.  Jesus is the true prophet, priest, and king.  In the New Testament, we see a new institution established by Jesus, the church.  Because the Bible says that man is the authority/head of the family, it is not uncommon to think that Jesus would establish the man as the head of the household of God as well.[1] Now, as we look throughout the New Testament at what a leader is supposed to be, we will examine a few specific texts.

Acts 1-2. Beginning in Acts 1, we see Jesus promising his apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit before he bodily ascends into heaven.  It is important to note that the apostles that Jesus chose to lead his church were in fact men, the foundation for New Testament church leadership.  When the apostles casted lots at the end of chapter 1 to see who would take Judas’ place as the 12^th apostle, Matthias, a man was chosen.  In Acts 2:2 we see that the Holy Spirit descend onto the apostles and they began speaking in the tongues of those who were present.  Reading on, we come to find out that Peter began to preach the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus to all those who were present.  Scripture says that two thousand were added to their numbers that day.  It is important to note a few things concerning the beginning of the church in Acts 2.  First of all, it is important to note that the twelve apostles who were chosen by Jesus to build his church were men.  Peter, the first person to give a public gospel presentation post-ascension was a man.  As we will see in 1^st Timothy 3, Titus 2, and 1^st Peter 5, the main qualification for the elder in the church is for the leader to be a man.

1^st Timothy 3. This passage of Scripture is crucial for understanding the qualification of an elder/overseer.  1^st Timothy 3:1-7 reads,

“It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.  An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from love of money.  He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.  And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

Paul begins by stating first and foremost that the office of an overseer belongs to a man.  We see in Genesis 2 and 1 Corinthians 11 that God made man the head of the woman due to the order of creation, and Paul tells us that the office of an overseer also belongs to the man.  The evangelical feminism argument again states that there is no designed leader in the church and the family.  Paul here states that if a man desires to the office of an overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.  Twice in one verse Paul refers to this office as a masculine office.  Not only does Paul define the office with a masculine pronoun but he also discusses the office holder of this office being a husband.  For the third time in two verses, Paul discusses the qualifications of the overseer as a male.

Titus 2.  Again in his letter to Titus, Paul gives the qualities and qualifications to look for in an elder.  He says in Titus 2:5-9,

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is 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, holding fast the faithful word which is an accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

Paul again defines the first quality of an overseer as a man saying, “If any man is above reproach.”  The text here that Paul is giving is strictly prescriptive as Paul lays out not only what an elder is supposed to be, but also what an elder is not supposed to be.  When it comes to the office of the elder in the church, it is clearly defined for the man.  We are to remember that men and women are in every way equal in dignity, value, and worth, but they are distinct in gender roles and function.  John Piper writes, “Over the years I have come to see from Scripture and from life that manhood and womanhood are the beautiful handiwork of a good and loving God.  He designed our differences and they are profound.  They are not mere physiological prerequisites for sexual union.  They go to the root of our personhood.”[2]

For bible-believing Christians, the foundational argument for male leadership is found in the personhood of Jesus Christ.  Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not the daughter of God.  Alexander Strauch says about Christ’s personhood,

“It was a theological necessity, absolutely essential to his person and work.  Jesus was and had to be a first-born male, “holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:23).  As the “last Adam” and “the second man,” He was the antitype of Adam, not Eve.  Therefore, he had to be male (1 Cor. 15:45, 47; Rom. 5:14).  He had to be a first-born son of David and Abraham, the true son of promise – the King, not the queen, of Israel and the Lord, not the lady, of the universe.  According to the creation order, Jesus could not be a woman because in the male-female relationship the male partner alone is invested with the headship-authority role (Gen. 2:20, 22, 23; 1 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:12), and Jesus Christ alone is Head of the Church and King of kings.  He is the model for every male leader.”[3]

Again, it is crucial to understand the manhood in the person of Jesus Christ and the model that he set forth for male leadership in the New Testament churches.

1 Peter 5:5. “You younger men, likewise be subject to your elders.”  Again here Paul discusses the office of an overseer as an office for a man.  Some might say, “The elders here could be women that the young men are being subject to.”  The following statement is not likely when you follow the rule of interpreting Scripture with Scripture.  Following a Titus 2 model, Paul tells the young men to learn to learn from their elders.  In Titus 2, Paul tells the older men to teach the younger men to learn the ‘duties’ of the church and the maturity of the faith.  It is crucial to understand that the only time the office of an elder is talked about in the New Testament is talked about under male leadership.  This concludes that the office of the New Testament overseer must be paralleled to the person of Jesus, the choosing of the 12 apostles, the qualifications given by Paul and Peter, and the creation mandate of the man as the leader of the family.  The New Testament leader must be a man.

[2]Piper, John and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, 32

[3]Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, 58-59.