4 Crucial Qualifications for Church Leadership

“[An elder must be] hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” – Titus 1:8

When we think of a church leader, we often think of someone who knows the Bible or theology well. These are crucial—yet far from sufficient.

In his letters to Timothy and Titus, the missionary and church leader Paul outlines the qualifications for officers in the church, those officially ordained to lead the people of God. His lists give us a picture of what a Christian leader should be. They apply first to officers, but they also describe what all Christian leaders—and really, all Christians—should aspire to.

These qualifications are primarily moral. They describe a person’s character and their way of relating to God and others. Based on Paul’s lists, I want to highlight four key traits: a welcomer of outsiders, pious, community-minded, and self-controlled. Let’s explore each in turn.

Welcomer of Outsiders

The Greek word behind “hospitable” literally means lover of foreigners. It is the opposite of fear or suspicion toward people who are different from us. Our English word “hospitality” can make this sound like simply having friends over. But someone can be very “hospitable” in that sense while never welcoming outsiders.

Jesus expresses this distinction clearly in Matthew 5:

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (vv. 46–47)

Everyone greets their friends. Christian leaders must go further. They must welcome the outsider.

In Titus 1:8, this is the first virtue in the list—and that is fitting. Christianity is, at its core, a faith centered on God’s welcome of outsiders.

In practice, this means noticing those who are new or alone and taking the initiative to move toward them. It means thinking not only about those who are present but about those who are not yet there. It means walking across the room toward the newcomer instead of remaining with familiar faces.

This is what welcoming the outsider looks like.

Diagnostic questions: How do you do at welcoming outsiders? Would others say this characterizes you? How could you grow in this area?

Pious

I prefer the word pious here rather than “godly” or “holy.” In Greek, these words carry the sense of fellowship with and devotion to God. In English, “holiness” and “godliness” can sound like mere moral conformity or private rule-keeping. But pious captures the idea of reverence, duty, and relationship—particularly toward God.

The heart of piety is expressed beautifully in Psalm 27:4:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Piety is personal devotion to God, but it has a corporate dimension. You love both public and private worship. You delight in God’s presence and enjoy communion with Him.

This means that a Christian leader must be deeply connected to God, because leadership is ultimately about Him. Public and private worship are not mere duties but deep joys. Christian leaders engage in them because they love God.

It is easy to be busy in church and lose God. It is easy to turn ministry into an idol. But that is not Christian leadership. Real leadership is rooted in our own enjoyment of God and our desire to lead others into the same joy.

If it isn’t pious, it isn’t helping.

Diagnostic questions: Do I enjoy worship? Do I seek God when I’m not “on duty”? Do I have a plan for ordering my daily life around communion with Him?

Community-minded

The Greek word often translated “righteous” or “just” is not primarily about an individual moral code. It describes living well in relationship to others.

This is more than treating people kindly in one-on-one interactions. It means pursuing the good of the whole community. Paul expresses this community-mindedness clearly in 1 Corinthians 10:23–24:

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful.
“All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

Observe what this means:

• We think about more than whether something is merely lawful.
• We think about whether it is helpful.
• We think about whether it is helpful not only for us but for our neighbor.
• We aim at the common good, not just our personal good.

A Christian leader thinks about what will help the entire community flourish. That is why he is called a steward. His concern is not his own preferences but what benefits all under his care.

So many church conflicts come from the absence of this virtue (James 3:13–4:2). People cling to their preferences rather than pursuing the good of all. The community-minded leader looks past his own desires and actively seeks the flourishing of his neighbors.

This is a major part of a church officer’s calling.

Diagnostic questions: When you enter a room, do you primarily think about what you need to do and getting comfortable or with those in the room? How could you think more of all those in the room in your communities? How could you grow in seeking the common good?

Self-Controlled

One of the most important qualifications for Christian leadership is being clear-headed, disciplined, and self-controlled. This means ordering your thoughts, emotions, time, money, home, and pleasures well.

Crucially, self-control is not an end in itself. It flows from the other virtues. If you are committed to welcoming outsiders, blessing the community, and communing with God, you will naturally begin putting your life in order.

Self-control is purposeful. Paul says:

“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air” (1 Cor. 9:25–26).

Notice:

• Athletes discipline themselves for a purpose.
• That is how we should think of Christian discipline.
• We pursue what helps us “win the prize”: enjoying God and advancing His cause.
• We avoid not only the sinful but the unhelpful—“beating the air.”

The self-controlled leader has high purposes and therefore lets go of distractions. He sacrifices preferences and comforts for the sake of others. As Paul said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22b).

Diagnostic questions: How are you doing in discipline and self-control? How might a bigger vision help bring order to your life? What help do you need to avoid harmful or useless patterns?

Conclusion

A while ago, I asked a pastor about his process for nominating new officers. He said one of his questions was: What has this person done for the church lately? At first, I thought it sounded overly church-centered.

But after studying Titus 1, I realized this is exactly the sort of question Paul would ask. Church leadership is not merely about knowledge but about doing good for the community. That is the mindset we want in Christian leaders—especially officers. We want people who think about the good of the whole body, not merely their own good. And we want people who don’t just think about it but do it.

As Jesus said, “If you know these things, blessed are you, if you do them.”