Titus 1:7
“For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”
God said, “…If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (1 Timothy 3:1) There is no greater desire for anyone than for them to desire to represent Christ through the office of the pastor. However, with great privilege comes great responsibility. It is the responsibility of the one who desires that office and holds it to live a blameless life.
Why is it though, that we want the pastor to be blameless and not every Christian? The pastor is simply an example to every Christian of how they should live. In other words, if the pastor is not to be self-willed or angry, neither is the Christian. If the pastor is to be blameless in his personal life, so is the Christian. Certainly, nobody should hold the office of the pastor who is not blameless, but one of the reasons God has this requirement is so that the Christian would follow suit and live a blameless life. There are several observations I would like to show you concerning being blameless.
First, blameless does not mean sinless. There is nobody who can say they are living a sinless life. 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Because we live this life in the flesh, we will continue to fight sin. When God says, “blameless,” He simply means there is nothing hidden that can be held against you.
Second, being blameless gives you the confidence to do what God has called you to do without hesitation. Every Christian, especially the pastor and deacons, should be able to serve the LORD and have the confidence that nobody is going to find something in their life to hold against them. Satan is the “accuser” of the brethren. His reason for accusing the Christian is to take their confidence away. When you live a blameless life, you will be able to confidently do God’s work without any hesitation of what could be revealed.
Third, blameless gives you the authority to deal with sin without worrying that your skeletons will be revealed. Here is one of the biggest reasons leadership must live a blameless life. Once your followers find out that you hid something, they will now throw it back in your face when you go to correct their sin. The preacher who lives a blameless life can preach against sin with authority. The Christian who lives a blameless life can deal with sin according to the Scriptures because they don’t have anything to hide. I’ve found in many cases that those who are soft on sin do so because they have skeletons in their closet that minimizes their authority because they are afraid of those skeletons being revealed. It is much easier to deal with sin properly if you live a blameless life.
Fourth, blameless silences the critics. Verses 10-11 reveal that many people want to criticize you for your stand for truth. Friend, when you live a blameless life, you take away their ammunition. The only thing they can do at that point is to mock you.
The need for people to live blamelessly is great. Again, blameless does not mean sinless, but it does mean you are living your life in such a manner that nobody has anything they can hold against you. You may not be a pastor, but if you live a blameless life, you will find it results in the confidence to boldly proclaim truth and to call out sin.