You’ve got to read his books. Some are books you can easily tackle. Others are complete volumes that you will take down from your shelf only to read, as needed, a chapter here and a section there.

In the book, The Academic Captivity of Theology,1 Dr. Frame divides the requirements for ministry into three categories: character, skills, and knowledge.2 He points out that most of the requirements have to do with character: husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, not conceited, thought of well by outsiders, etc.

In the category of skills, he puts management abilities, and the ability to teach. Both are mentioned by the Apostle Paul, “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household well, how will he care for God’s church?”3 Also, “Therefore an overseer must be…able to teach.”4

For the category of knowledge, Frame writes, “Knowledge is mainly a knowledge of the Gospel, the prerequisite of teaching…One must know enough to be able to preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)”

Don't be distracted by this note, but you’ll find it interesting. Frame attaches a footnote to this last point about knowledge. He says, “We may be surprised that Scripture never imposes on ministers “educational requirements” of college or university-level knowledge, the kinds of knowledge considered necessary to ministry by many present-day churches. (This does not mean Frame takes thinking lightly, but he does think that we give the wrong amount of respect and power to academia.)

I say all this to make the point that while you are aspiring, while you are waiting, you have much to do. Most of what God wants you to do is to become a better man on the inside. He wants you to grow in character. God intends to sanctify and transform you into His office-bearer. So, of first order, you should invest your time and effort and heart to love God and others.

The skills of managing your household and teaching will come somewhat naturally. You get to begin on a small scale. An apartment with one wife. One job. Maybe one child. You’d do well to be the proud owner of a used car. Get a carseat. Manage that.

Then, also, learn how to teach them. If you can teach a child, you are being an effective teacher. As they grow, so will your teaching skills. Eventually, your kids will be adults. Teaching your wife is likely going to be more difficult. She’s smarter. The subject matter is weightier. And the interaction can be filled with sin and emotion sometimes. So marry a kind, patient and forgiving woman. And don’t be too proud to learn from her.

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Here is some important advice: Don’t get a dog right away.

That’s a joke. If you like dog hair and can afford dog food and don’t mind picking up after it,5 then get a dog if you want. I remember a mentor of mine. I was in college. He had a wife, a dog, and a house. No children yet. He told me the reason he liked having a dog was because, from it, he was learning how it would be to teach and discipline a child.

He was grilling hamburgers in his driveway as he was telling me this and the dog began to bark so loudly and obnoxiously, that he yelled the dog’s name with great authority and threw a large stick at it. I asked him if that was going to be his technique as a dad. The humor was not lost on him. It was pretty funny.

If you aspire to be an elder, but then bide your time and simply build carefully from smaller to larger over the course of your life, the skills will come along with it. Don't take short cuts; build with brick not cardboard. It takes longer, but it’s better. Learn to take responsibility for all the things God has entrusted to you. And find pleasure in the fact that there is so much you are NOT responsible for, yet.

God watches. He supervises. He advances His kingdom and builds His Church. And He often says to this person and that one, “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”6

As for knowledge, yes, this takes time too. So why not increase it little-by-little, line upon line. Each day you can learn. Read the Bible and books and listen to podcasts and audiobooks and sermons; live life and worship and experience sweat and trials and celebrations, etc. Also, know this, many don’t want to learn the truth of things.7

If you do, then you’re on your way! Your greatest learning and all the increase of your knowledge has this goal: You should want to think God’s thoughts after Him.8 (In other words, you should want to see and understand God and His creation as He made it to be.)

John Frame writes, “The only kind of knowledge of Scripture that really counts is heart-knowledge. That is a knowledge of Scripture that includes understanding how to apply it to oneself. Through that, the student can teach by example as well as by word.”9

Knowledge is most sweet when you internalize it, when you know it in your heart and not just your head. It is also more readily received by the one you are trying to share it with, because they see it is meaningful to you. They know your’e not faking it, or regurgitating someone else’s words, or going through the motions. When you have taken truth into your soul as the teacher it gives your students assurance. You are teaching them because you want what is best for them.

And I should not have to tell you, neither knowledge nor wisdom can exist apart from the fear of the LORD.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Proverbs 9:10

It is too easy common for a person to make foolish short-sighted decisions. Strive to play the long game.

Share Aspire to be an Elder

Remember, the word “aspire” means stretches forward to. It means to be strongly inclined toward something, to be pulled toward it. So if that describes you, if you are inclined toward, or are being pulled toward the office of elder, then how should that translate into your daily decisions?

I’ve already spent time discussing the centrality of what Jesus called the two most important commands: to Love God first and then others. Obedience to those commands requires the investment of your whole being: body and soul. If you love Jesus, He says, “You will keep My commandments.”

So then, love requires us to mortify sin and to pursue righteousness. God wants us to obey and not disobey. It is the Holy Spirit’s intention to sanctify us with His Word, and we should make it our goal. Daily. Prayerfully.

This commitment to love, will make us better people: better workers, better neighbors, better husbands, and better fathers. And as mentioned previously, these are noble tasks. They are worth doing and improving upon.

For eg. A man who wants to be a better father will need to spend time with his children. He will become intentional about it. It will become important to him that his children are educated to read-write-speak-and do numbers; he will want teach them how to work (without complaining), and to show respect toward other people, to be kind, to apologize, to pray and worship. These things are important things for a father (and mother) to impress.

And it should go without saying, that a good father will, himself, DO the things he believes are vital for his child to learn. He will show, not just say.1 His kids will expect it, especially as they get older. There is little tolerance for parental hypocrisy. A father WILL lead by example: either a good example or a bad one. And if you want to be a good one, then you have to be intentional about the parental blueprint by which you plan to build.

In the same way, someone who aspires to be an elder will need to stretch forward to or be pulled toward the office with the use of a blueprint. The blueprint will inform him as to how to build himself. And if he is ordained into the office, then that same blueprint will remind him what responsible elders do.

Godly character traits will need to be developed in the man, but not perfected. Perfection is not possible. “Improvement” and “refinement” are better words than “perfection,” when we speak of characteristics like: sober-mindedness, self-control, respectable, hospitable, gentleness, and so forth. Improvements and refinement are words that agree with the idea of sanctification over time.

Yet there are some necessary daily decisions that a man should make in order to prepare himself for the future potential of eldership.

1. If he is going to be made responsible to “care for God’s church,” then he best work at being responsible as a manager of his own household.2

2. If he is warned against being a “lover for money,” then he will have to learn, along the way, not to spend it frivolously on selfish desires, but to use money as a tool for God’s kingdom.3

3. If he should be “able to teach,” in order to be an elder, then he should prepare himself by learning. This will involve the regular reading of God’s Word along with books by other biblical teachers. It will also involve learning to follow the rules by which God’s Word is respected. It will also be necessary to develop the skills of a teacher; the best way to do that is by practicing on people.4

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

This verse does not appear to be an open invitation. The phrase, “If anyone aspires,” is an “if,” not a should. Paul did not write, “everyone should aspire,” as if it were a Christian duty. It might stand to reason, that a godly person would want to pursue the noble task of the office of overseer.

I would want my sons to hold the office when they’re older. Yet sometimes God has different plans for His people. And it does not make them less important to God or the Church. It is also true that God uses Christian teachers in many arenas, without them ever holding office. Many women, for instance, have been effective influences for the good of the church without the authority and responsibility of the office.1

Furthermore, the “anyone who” will be quickly qualified by Paul in the next sentences to prevent the unprepared. Not everyone will be fit for the task. Character traits must be evident in the one who aspires to the office. Things like: gentleness, not loving money, being hospitable, acting as a good manager of his household, etc.2

Desiring to share the things God’s taught you is a good quality. Being a good teacher is helpful. Yet neither trait is sufficient. The office is more demanding. It involves people. It requires the controlling of yourself in time and space. You will need to be aware of other households. You will need to keep a godly perspective under difficult circumstances. You mustn’t drop the ball. There are no breaks. You will need to love.

The office of overseer (presbyter, elder) demands you invest your life for the sake of others. It is much more than preaching sermons and leading bible studies.3

So “aspiring” to be an elder might NOT be for everyone. But what does it look like in a person?

The word aspire is translated from the Greek word: ὀρέγεται (oregetai). It means stretches forward to. If anyone stretches forward to the office of elder. ὀρέγεται is also defined as to be strongly inclined toward something. It is to be pulled towards something. So, if anyone is inclined toward, or is being pulled towards the office of elder, “he desires a noble task.”

The subject of the sentence is the man who aspires to be an elder. The office is the object the man stretches to. He is pulled toward it. He would like to take on the task. He is willing to bear the office. More than willing; he is inwardly compelled.

Some men would rather push the office away. They cringe at the thought of carrying that kind of burden. “No. Thank you very much!” Yet, then one will be strongly inclined to sign up to serve with the local fire department. And another might stretch forward to work with assembly line machinery. Or a third will find he pulls toward artistic expression.

Make no mistake. I am not comparing hobbies or occupations to the church office. I am only describing the sensation of aspiration. Aspiration is a strong desire, a longing, an ambition.

Finally, any man, who aspires to such a burden-ladened task, ought to do so soberly. Eyes wide open. There may be a handful of men in your church today who aspire to be an overseer, but they are not ready for it. You may be one of them. Give it time. Keep aspiring for a couple more decades. Stick to your knitting and leave it in God’s hands.

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Before Christ, my eyes worked fine, but I couldn't see things as they really existed. My mind hardly went beyond the tips of my fingers and the things in front of my nose. Life was the way it was. What you could see and touch is what you had to work with.

Sure, Church and God and the Bible and prayer and Jesus were a part of something we did as a family, but it was simply a closet of the house. We kept it to Sunday mornings, table graces, and nighttime prayers. The house was the rest of the secular world and even out into the cosmos (for which I had little interest and no imagination).

In my childhood, I concluded that the house was so much bigger than one closet. In fact, I didn’t even need to go into the closet to get most of my things done.

But in my college years, after becoming a newborn mouse, I was starting to see it differently. I was beginning to realize that the Church, God, the Bible, prayer and Jesus were the house. Or should I say they were the foundation upon which the whole house stood and was held together.

My point is, I was learning to see things differently. And when a thing became new to me, I immediately wanted to share it with my family and friends. I loved them. What else should I have done?

In the coming pages, I want to dig around on a sentence Paul wrote to Timothy. He wrote:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.1

My hope would be that everyone reading my words would aspire to do noble things for the LORD. Of course, not everyone can become an overseer in the church. The requirements that Paul lists, after the verse above, describe characteristics that can only be recognized in the life over time. Elders should be older.

But that is OK. We’ve all got time. And plenty of other noble tasks to perform while we aspire to someday hold the office.

I reflect as I think back to the start of my Christian walk. Here are a few sobering thoughts for little mice who love God:

1. It is good when God teaches you things.

2. It is good to share those things with others.2

3. It is good to have a heart that wants what is good, even though others might not agree with all that you call good. (And, truth be told, some of those “disagreers” may be other mice from your Church community.)

4. It is good to learn that some of the things you think God taught you, are not from God. You can be wrong.

5. It is good to be a humble young man, and old man, though it is difficult.

6. It is good to grow up over time. To take the necessary time to prove responsible with the things God entrusts to you. To hold down a job. To learn. To make decisions and experience the outcomes of those decisions. To raise a family, God willing. (All of these will help you understand the challenges of micedom.)

7. It is good to aspire to be an elder, for it is a noble task.