3:1–7 · Overseers or bishops: Church leadership had become problematic in Ephesus. Charges were being brought against some church officers (1 Tim. 5:17–22), and disputes had erupted about who should be teaching (1:4–7). Immature believers had unwisely been elevated to spiritual leadership (3:6; 5:22), resulting in the scenario Paul had predicted for the church at Ephesus: “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). Holding office in the church is no longer attractive to those who are genuinely qualified. Since those qualifications include being “not quarrelsome” and managing one’s own affairs rather than meddling in others’ for the sake of gain, the very people who are competent to serve have little inclination …