This passage addresses one of the most disturbing trends in many churches today: the lowering of God’s standards for what kind of men He wants as shepherds of His flock. We must clearly state that there should be no difference in qualifications between the elder and pastor because the Bible makes no distinction between the elder and pastor. They are one and the same as far as God and the Bible are concerned. Here is God’s standard for any elder’s character and is thus the primary consideration in preparing for eldership: “Blameless”. Literally, the elder will be “above reproach.” It should be consistently characteristic of his life. “Blameless” is the overarching quality of the elder. The remainder of the list is a detailed examination of each component of that characteristic, explaining what it means to be above reproach.