mean that she had been married once. A Christian woman could not have had a plurality

of husbands. It could well be that the lax views on divorce which obtained at this time

could have resulted in a man having a number of wives living, such as we often see in the

entertainment and society world of today, thus bringing the sacred state of marriage in

God's sight into disrepute.

The next virtues might be better rendered `temperate, self-controlled, well-behaved,

hospitable, competent to teach'. The first three are linked and describe an orderly life.

The importance of hospitality will be better appreciated when we consider the stress Paul

lays on the overseer's command of his family and home. A `striker' represents a violent,

pugnacious person and a `brawler' one who was contentious. The opposite of this is

epieikes, a gracious, kindly and considerate person, who is not a money grubber.

The Apostle now looks upon the home; in fact all the Christian qualifications here are

reflected in the home-life. the would-be overseer must be one who exercises wise, but

firm control over his family. Slipshod paternal discipline disqualified him from rule in

the assembly of God's people and the reason the Apostle gives is unanswerable. If a man

fails in a lesser sphere, he is not likely to succeed in a larger one. If he cannot control and

lead his own household wisely, how can he take care of the church of God? (verse 5).

Moreover, there was another important reason. The early church met in a believer's

home. Three times in the N.T. we have the phrase the "church in the house", there

being no buildings specially erected at this time for meeting and worship (Rom. 16: 5;

I Cor. 16: 19; Philemon 2). We can now understand the importance of hospitality and a

well controlled household. One can easily imagine the problems that would have arisen

in a home where there was a lack of warm hospitality and a disorderly, undisciplined

family. On the other hand what greater honour was there for a Christian home than to be

the meeting place of the church of God where His Word honoured and proclaimed,

members of His Body built up in the faith and encouraged in their daily lives, and the

warmth of true Christian fellowship experienced?

Taking the subject further, Paul insists that the aspirant to the office of overseer must

not be a novice, which means both immaturity of age and recent experience of conversion

and salvation. Rapid promotion of such meant running the risk of pride creeping in and

so committing the sin that brought about the fall of Satan (verse 6).

Not only this, a good report from non-Christians (`those that are without') was needed.

On the surface this may have appeared to be impossible, remembering the antipathy

shown towards Christianity in the pagan world. Yet those outside usually have a good

idea of the sincerity and genuineness of a person's character and faith, and it was

essential that an overseer had the respect of those living in his neighbourhood.

The Apostle Paul now deals with the office of a deacon. The earliest reference to

deacons is found in Acts 6:, where they were concerned in the distribution of the

church's charities and with the `ways and means' of its outward maintenance. They were