Other ears might hear “above reproach” as a really low bar, meaning that I don’t need to have some taint on my public reputation. For many people, that’s not very difficult, and they think this is a really low bar and attainable.

Exemplary Christians

For many Christians—and pastors included—when you take a first look or a fresh look at the elder qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1, there can be a little bit of surprise that the first one mentioned is not that he’s a Christian and regenerate. Paul assumes that. It’s not some other attribute which we might consider central to pastoral ministry. Rather, it’s this umbrella term, and it might be a strange term to many of us: “above reproach.”

What does it mean to be “above reproach”? Some ears, maybe tender consciences, hear “above reproach” and think that’s unattainable. Maybe they think of it as a kind of blamelessness or even an utter sinlessness. That’s not what “above reproach” means. “Above reproach” is a very outward-oriented, public-facing qualification. It gets set right at the beginning of the list of elder qualifications—the public nature of the office.

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