The twenty-six biblical qualifications for church elders/bishops found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are a supernatural revelation given to the apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit. It is such a revealing study into Gods holiness and standards. The Lord really loves His church, and He requires that only well-qualified believers be appointed and placed in leadership positions. It is a serious error to put people in as elders, pastors, and bishops who are not qualified. Regularly, I see local churches put people in who should never be a church leader. It opens the door to accusations and the devils traps. Twice, Paul said that if you put unqualified people in as elders, the devil will get into your church (1 Timothy 3:6-7). Having said that, this book was not written to create impossible standards that no one can meet. Paul said that elders and bishops (overseers) must be blameless, not sinless. If the requirement was sinless, then none of us would qualify. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is sinless. One of the main motivations I had for writing this book was to show the three main areas of evaluation of a potential elders life. The criterion for selected leaders is absolutely critical to the life and well-being of any church or ministry. Nineteen of the qualifications involve the persons CHARACTER; five deal with his FAMILY (wife and children); and only two with his MINISTRY (abilities). I cant emphasize how important this is. Many times, pastors and churches appoint people based on ministry ability and gifting only, but if a potential candidate has certain character flaws and problems with his wife and children, it doesnt really matter how well he can teach. As one commentator writes, No intellectual power or pulpit brilliancy can atone for the lack of solid Christian virtues and a blameless life. A word about nomenclature.