QUALIFICATIONS—ABILITY

The main qualification that we will look at in this chapter is "Apt to teach." "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;" 1 Tim. 3:2.

"Apt to teach" (didaktikos didaktikos) is defined as:

Kubo – skillful in teaching.

Vine – skilled in teaching.

Thayer – apt and skillful in teaching.

Green – apt or qualified to teach.

This does not mean to appoint a man and sooner or later he is "apt to try and teach." It means a person who is capable as a teacher. This can only be known by having seen the man in a teaching capacity.

The only other passage where it is found is in 2 Tim. 2:24-26: "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,…"

Paul writes to Titus in Titus 1:9: "holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict."

Exhort (parakaleo parakalew) is defined as:

Vine – primarily, to call to a person, denotes (a) to call on, entreat; (b) to admonish, exhort, to urge one to pursue some course of conduct (always prospective, looking to the future, in contrast to the meaning to comfort, which is retrospective, having to do with trial experienced).

Thayer – I. to call to one’s side, call for, summon. II. to address aid, speak to, (call to, call on), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.

Kubo – summon, request, entreat.

Zodiates – to call to one’s side, hence aid. Used for every kind of calling to a person which is intended to produce a particular effect; comfort, exhort, desire, call for beseech.

Convict (elegcho elegcw) is defined as:

Vine – (a) to convict, confute, refute, usually with the suggestion of putting to the convicted person to shame.

Thayer – to convict, refute, confute, generally with a suggestion of the shame of the person convicted…used of the exposure and confutation of false teachers of christianity, Tit. 1:9, 13.

Zodhiates – to reprove with conviction upon the offender.

Kubo – convict, reprove.

The reason why an elder is to have this ability is found in the following passages:

Titus 1:9-11 – "holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain."

Acts 20:29-30 – "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw the disciples after themselves."

One of the duties of a shepherd was to feed and protect the flock. Likewise a spiritual shepherd (elder) is to feed and protect the spiritual flock (church). "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Acts 20:28. "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not be constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;" 1 Pt. 5:2.

Another interesting verse along this line is found in Eph. 4:11: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers". "the omission of the article from teachers seems to indicate that pastors and teachers are included under one class. The two belong together. No man is fit to be a pastor who cannot also teach, and the teacher needs the knowledge which pastoral experience gives." (Vincent) "The pastors and teachers are those who are elsewhere called elders (presbyters) or bishops (overseers) (Acts 20:17; Titus 1:5-7). These men are the overseers and teachers of individual congregations, and there should be more than one such pastor in each church (Acts 14:23). The absence of the article "the" before teachers in the Greek text, plus the fact that it is connected with pastors by a different conjunction than is use to separate the other offices, seems to indicate that the pastors and teachers are the same office viewed from two different aspects, namely from the teaching and shepherding aspects." (Bible Study Textbook Series) "The third tous de makes one class of "shepherds and teachers," i.e., pastors of local congregations who were commonly called "elders" (the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:17) and termed episkopoi, "overseers" (our "bishops"), by Paul himself in Acts 20:28 when he tells "to shepherd the church of God." In Jn. 21:15, etc., Jesus use both "pasture" and "shepherd" my sheep. The latter is wider and includes the former, but the former is important enough to be mentioned separately. It is the feeding by means of teaching, hence "teachers" is the second term added by Paul. In 1 Tim. 5:17 note the elders "presiding well—especially laboring in word and teaching." (Lenski) "Pastors and teachers are best considered one group." (Hendriksen) These commentators as well as others indicate that Paul is saying "pastors who are teachers."

To be able to teach will mean that one will have to study the Bible ("holding fast the faithful word…by sound doctrine" – Titus 1:9), old issues (they have a habit of reappearing dressed up in new clothing), the current and future problems (so that the problems will not carry away the members of the congregation). Also it means that he will do some practicing from time to time.

From passages like Mt. 28:19-20; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1:13; 1 Tim. 6:3; 2 Thess. 2:15 show that all Christians are to teach to the best of their ability.

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