What makes a good church leader good? Or, more foundationally, what qualifies a man to be a pastor or elder? The Scriptures give a very clear indication of these criteria. Two lists of requirements are found in the letters, one to Timothy, the other to Titus. My intention, over the course of the next while, is to address the characteristics of an elder / pastor / overseer that are outlined here. I will begin with one word – νηφάλιος (nephalios), meaning “sober.”

The word in question appears in 1 Timothy 3:1–2,

1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable… (ESV)

1 Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος· εἴ τις ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγεται, καλοῦ ἔργου ἐπιθυμεῖ. 2 δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι, μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, νηφάλιον, σώφρονα, κόσμιον… (THGNT)

Specifically, the word is the first in the list of single-word descriptions in 1 Tim 3:2. It is a requirement for a church leader (overseer / elder / pastor) to be νηφάλιος (nephalios), which the ESV translates as “sober-minded.” If it is first in the list, it must be important. Let’s dig in deeper, like the Bereans did. What does this word mean?

First, literally, nephalios means “sober” or “temperate” or even “being very moderate in the drinking of an alcoholic beverage,” as one dictionary puts it (BDAG). But there is also an extended meaning, when alcohol is not literally involved. Then it means something more like “level-headed” or, as the ESV puts it, “sober-minded.” And this is the sense here. (Note that another word, paroinos – πάροινος – meaning “given to drinking too much wine,” which addresses drunkenness, specifically, appears a few steps later in the list. More on that below.) But can we say something about what is intended, more specifically?

The word nephalios appears three times in the New Testament. In Titus 2:2 it likely refers to actual restraint in use of alcoholic beverages, as it comes in a statement to older men, accompanied by a similar statement to older women, where guarding against the misuse of such drinks is explicitly spelled out (Tit 2:3). (Still, a double-meaning may be intended in Tit 2:2, in which older men would then be encouraged to be sober and, figuratively, also sober-minded.) The third instance, in 1 Tim 3:11, may be literal or figurative or both. Because both these instances (Tit 2:2 and 1 Tim 3:11) appear in lists, though, they do not help us elucidate the word’s meaning much beyond what we see in our instance in 1 Tim 3:2.

Thankfully, we see the closely related verb nephein (νήφειν) appearing in the New Testament a handful of times or so. In each instance, an extended meaning of “to be sober” is involved. (One dictionary describes the sense like this: “be free fr[om] every form of mental and spiritual ‘drunkenness’, fr[om] excess, passion, rashness, confusion, etc. be well-balanced, self-controlled” [BDAG].) So, what kind of sober-mindedness do we see prominently in the New Testament? Let’s take a closer look.

Half of the instances – three of them – are in 1 Peter (1:13, 4:7, 5:8). Let’s look at the last of these, where Peter, Jesus’ apostle, goes into some depth regarding what he is talking about (1 Pet 5:8–9):

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (ESV)

8 Νήψατε, γρηγορήσατε, ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος περιπατεῖ ζητῶν τινὰ καταπιεῖν· 9 ᾧ ἀντίστητε στερεοὶ τῇ πίστει εἰδότες τὰ αὐτὰ τῶν παθημάτων τῇ ἐν κόσμῳ ὑμῶν ἀδελφότητι ἐπιτελεῖσθαι.

There is a threat. There is great danger. The sober-minded people Peter is calling believers to be are fully aware of what the threat is, of what danger lurks. Specifically, the danger is the Devil, who is actively seeking to destroy the People of God. One must be ready for battle – to resist him.

Being sober-minded is a perspicacity of thought, replete with understanding of the times, that enables in us a readiness of action, having fully counted the cost in advance. Being sober-minded enables us to stand firm in our faith. It is not a moment of inspiration, a flash of insight regarding the world we live in and Satan’s designs in it. Rather, it is a persistent quality of mind that is achieved through consistent pursuit of God’s perspective in all matters, which comes about by judging all things by the standard of God’s Word. Sober-mindedness enables one to suffer for the faith.

Already we can say at this point – Paul, under the guidance of and in the power of the Holy Spirit, is requiring that church leaders be sober-minded. Dear brothers, if you are a church leader (or aspire to be), then do this – be fully aware of what the Enemy’s designs are in your city, where God has placed you. Be intentional. Ask yourselves – what are the sins that are common place and taken for granted (or even overlooked) because they seem “natural,” undefeatable, part of the warp and woof of society?

Our next illustrative example comes from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians (the epistle, in fact, contains two of the New Testament’s six instances). Speaking of day and night, Paul encourages the believers to live rightly, as children of light (1 Thess 5:4–6):

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (ESV)

4 Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σκότει, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμᾶς ὡς κλέπτης καταλάβῃ· 5 πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ φωτός ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ἡμέρας· οὐκ ἐσμὲν νυκτὸς οὐδὲ σκότους. 6 Ἄρα οὖν μὴ καθεύδωμεν ὡς οἱ λοιποὶ ἀλλὰ γρηγορῶμεν καὶ νήφωμεν.

Paul is countering a specific lie that has been encountered in the church there. Some have become afraid that those believers who have died before Jesus returns in glory will be lost (see 1 Thess 4:13–18). Paul assures them that those who die in the Lord will be brought back to life, when Jesus returns. Then, he goes on to say that Jesus will return when no one expects it. Many will be affirming that there is peace and security, oblivious to the true state of things. This is where Paul encourages his beloved readers to be sober-minded. They are to perceive the true state of things on the earth in a way that those who do not belong to Christ do not perceive them.

From here, Paul encourages the believers to lives of goodness and holiness. Here is where the second instance of the verb nephein occurs. Following immediately on the heels of the previous quote, Paul says (1 Thess 5:7–8):

7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (ESV)

7 οἱ γὰρ καθεύδοντες νυκτὸς καθεύδουσιν καὶ οἱ μεθυσκόμενοι νυκτὸς μεθύουσιν· 8 ἡμεῖς δὲ ἡμέρας ὄντες νήφωμεν ἐνδυσάμενοι θώρακα πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ περικεφαλαίαν ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας·

Being sober-minded enables the believers, Paul shows, to be full of faith, hope and love. In fact, it is part and parcel of using such attributes, like armour, effectively. (If someone is suited up in armour but drunk, that person is useless and the armour has no effectivity.)

For the present purposes, it will be enough for us to briefly go through the remaining three instances in the New Testament. Peter speaks of us “girding up” our mind in the same breath that he calls us to be sober-minded (1 Pet 1:13):

preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded… (ESV)

ἀναζωσάμενοι τὰς ὀσφύας τῆς διανοίας, νήφοντες…

A man girding up his loins (literally what is written here – the ESV has, more colloquially, rendered this as “preparing”) is often in preparation for war. Or, at least, it is to prepare for some rigorous, physical task. To gird up the loins of your mind is to have perspicacity and readiness for action in some crucial area. It is the type of preparation that is coupled with being sober-minded.

Brothers, consider how the seven churches of Asia, in Rev 2–3, were commended or found fault with, according to their tolerance of or resistance against the Enemy’s strategy in their locale, including especially false teachers. If you are a leader (or aspire to be), please do not remain ignorant (or indifferent) regarding the Enemy’s primary lines of attack on the churches in your city, nor indeed on the society there as a whole. Rather, being sober-minded, seek the welfare of your city (Jer 29:7).

The next instance that Peter gives is similar (1 Pet 4:7):

therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (ESV)

σωφρονήσατε οὖν καὶ νήψατε εἰς προσευχάς

Being sober-minded is coupled here with the verb sophronein (σωφρονεῖν), meaning “self-controlled” or “of sound mind” – an important concept, to which I intend to return in a future blog post, as the related adjective occurs in the lists for eldership qualifications. (Note, for now, that the former demoniac is, later, found fully clothed and “in his right mind” (Mark 5:15), where this verb sophronein appears.) The point is this: being sober-minded and of sound mind are related to one another. Right thinking leads to – or is associated with – a certain perspicacity of mind that allows for effective prayer.

Lastly, Paul, noting that the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but will pursue myths, says this to his beloved disciple, as to a son (2 Tim 4:5):

As for you, always be sober-minded… (ESV)

Σὺ δὲ νῆφε ἐν πᾶσιν…

Being sober-minded, then, allows one to not be overwhelmed, swept away in the prevailing false teachings of the day. It also enables a leader and teacher, like Timothy, to actively and effectively counteract the deluge of false teaching.

The full phrase Paul writes is this (2 Tim 4:5):

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Counteracting false teaching, especially in a day of great apostasy, will also involve, inevitably, enduring suffering. But, Paul says, speak up, dear Timothy! Fulfill the ministry given to you by God.

Now, dear leaders (and others, who are listening in or aspiring to be leaders), are you sober-minded? Or are your daily actions, larger ministry activities and overall vision guided along by a certain cloudiness of thought? It is a sobering question, no?

What are the Enemy’s schemes in this generation? How is the lion seeking to devour little ones in the Flock? What are his designs? If you have not thought this question through, you are very likely not sober-minded. If you have thought about it, have you rightly judged the times? Are you aware of the highly problematic nature of the following: murder (abortion, medical assistance in dying, drug supply to the dying), witchcraft (indigenous invocations of evil spirits), sexual perversion (all things LGBTQ), false teaching on human origins (evolution)? If yes, great! If no, you have some work to do – especially if you routinely or even intentionally avoid these topics. (Those who draw back from battle are not truly fit with God’s armour – or, if they are, they may be drunk and/or sleeping.)

If we have correctly assessed the Enemy’s schemes in our generation – and not some earlier one only – then we are ready for action. In Athens, Paul spoke directly to the issue of polytheism (Acts 17). Of course, he did it with grace and hope. Do we? (But, he certainly did not draw back from addressing the key issue in the city.) In Ephesus, Paul spoke so clearly about the issues of his day – whether the worship of Diana, goddess of Ephesus, and production of metallic idols, or the use of witchcraft – that people sought to kill him. Almost the entire city was incited against him! (Later, he described, perhaps, this episode as a wrestle with wild animals (1 Cor 15:32).) But he did not let off. Why? Because he loved. He knew God’s love for him, truly. And he loved the people of Ephesus enough to speak the truth to them.

Dear brothers, if you seek to be a good leader in the congregation that God has graciously entrusted to you, then be sober-minded. Know what the key designs of the Enemy in your city are. Then seek the Lord to give you wisdom on how to address them, graciously, yet powerfully, openly. Then, my brothers, speak up! And trust that God is with you.

Penultimately, I will leave you off with this important truth spoken by Peter (2 Peter 2:4–9):

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…

4 Εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους, 5 καὶ ἀρχαίου κόσμου οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ ὄγδοον Νῶε δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα ἐφύλαξεν κατακλυσμὸν κόσμῳ ἀσεβῶν ἐπάξας, 6 καὶ πόλεις Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόρρας τεφρώσας καταστροφῇ κατέκρινεν ὑπόδειγμα μελλόντων ἀσεβεῖν τεθεικώς, 7 καὶ δίκαιον Λὼτ καταπονούμενον ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀθέσμων ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ἀναστροφῆς ἐρύσατο· 8 βλέμματι γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῇ ὁ δίκαιος ἐνκατοικῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας ψυχὴν δικαίαν ἀνόμοις ἔργοις ἐβασάνιζεν· 9 οἶδεν κύριος εὐσεβεῖς ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι…

God knows how to preserve life – especially the lives of preachers of righteous, who do not stay silent in the congregation (as per Psa 40), even in a wicked generation. Please, be bold and very courageous (Joshua 1).

Finally, this topic raises the question: what is the proper place of wine and other alcoholic beverages for the believer, including leaders? We will turn to this question in the next blog post, on the word paroinos (πάροινος – “given to drinking too much wine” or “addicted to wine”) found in both lists of criteria for elders / pastors / overseers. Stay tuned…

(Edited ever so slightly, the day it was published).