1 Timothy 3:1 – The ideal work of the supervisor

Faithful is the saying: “If anyone is craving the supervision, he is desiring an ideal work.”

We encounter the statement “faithfull is the saying” three times in this letter (see 1:15 and 4:9). It underlines the contrast between Paul’s teaching and everything Timothy had to oppose (1:4). Opposed to false doctrine and myths is “the faithfull saying.”

The translation word ‘supervision’ is the rendering of the Greek word ‘episkopé’ and indicates the work of an ‘supervisor’ (episkopos). A supervisor is expected to provide oversight or supervision. When Paul addresses the seniors of Ephesus on the beach of Miletus, he tells them that the holy spirit had appointed them as supervisors to shepherd the ecclesia of God (Acts 20:28). As a shepherd watches over the flock and tends and feeds it, so the supervisor watches over the ekklesia of God (compare also 1 Peter 5:1). In Titus 1 we read that Paul had left Titus on the island of Crete to appoint seniors as supervisors in every city as “God’s steward” (Tit.1:5). The job of the supervisor is to oversee the preaching work. For in the ekklesia the trustworthy word would sound and nothing else. That is the ideal work of the supervisor.

Delen: