3:6
We have seen that some of the qualifications seem blindingly obvious, eg not prone to drunkenness or violence, and that the reason for this is that the gospel was reaching into a pagan, godless society. So people would come from all backgrounds. So a leader was not to be a recent convert. Dramatic things can sometimes happen at conversion, with amazing changes. Sometimes they don’t, but whatever the case, it takes time for Christian character to develop, and character is an essential qualification for leadership. If someone is given too much responsibility too soon there is always a danger that pride will take home. In Deuteronomy the Israelites were warned against pride before entering the Promised Land, not to think they were being blessed because of any inherent virtue in themselves. The same dangers apply to people becoming Christians.
3:7
“A good reputation with outsiders”. The world should recognise that someone is of good character. Otherwise a person can become an easy target for slander (or true accusations). Now we need to be careful here as well, and not treat this as a “law”. In today’s society anyone who speaks up for Biblical morals will very likely branded a homophobe, bigot or similar. Ie they will not have a good reputation with outsiders in this respect. That does most definitely not mean they are unsuitable for leadership, indeed too much of the church has leaders who want a good reputation with the world in the wrong way. What it means is that we are to live lives that are worthy of respect.
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