Qualification for Church Leaders

I have said it before. Keeping my regular discipline of scripture reading, prayers and writing this blog is very hard when traveling - especially traveling to Asia. Between being jet-lagged and keeping a busy schedule, it's really hard to focus on what God has been saying to me through His Word.

Anyway, I read yesterday (which is Friday in Canada - with a 12 hours difference) 1 Timothy 3 (I have provided three of my favorite translations side by side on this link), which mainly talked about the qualification for church leaders. But the bottom of the chapter always puzzles me. The title to the paragraph is "Reasons for Paul’s Instructions" and it says (1 Timothy 3:14-16):
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:

He appeared in the flesh,
    was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
    was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
    was taken up in glory.

Verse 16 (which I put in bold) just seems out of place. It suggests that true godliness (of church leaders) springs from knowing this mystery, which is described in a poem of some sort. So beyond the list of qualifications, like "above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money." etc., which seems like a very long list of lofty characters, the secret to be that leader must start with a thorough understanding of some essential elements of the faith. These elements are: Jesus' incarnation, authentication by the Spirit, something about being seen by angels and the (gospel) message reaching and trusted around the world, and ultimately, Christ's resurrection and ascension.

I did a little digging around on commentary on 1 Timothy 3:16 and really found very little. The main debate seems to center around the King James Version which renders 1 Timothy 3:16 like this:
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
Apparently the word God did not exist in the original text. Most translations (like the NIV above) just uses "He" presumably meaning Jesus.


Well, Jesus should be our mentor if we aspire to become a church leader. And it should be our greatest aspiration to serve the Lord in His church, which is God's household, the church of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. What a privilege!