Does an unbelieving child disqualify and elder?
The Legendary Teaching on Titus 1:6
We have a huge problem in our churches: men who are clearly unqualified to serve as pastors. First Timothy 3 and Titus 1 both list the qualifications for being a pastor. And if someone does not meet these qualifications, it is improper and unbiblical for them to serve in this way. One verse in particular illustrates the dire situation our churches are in with these unqualified men leading them: “If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” (Titus 1:6 ESV). This verse has five requirements to be a pastor, but I want to focus on one: “his children are believers.” Learn more at www.hopecollege.com
This phrase automatically disqualifies anyone from being a pastor if they have a child who is not a Christian. Why would Paul say you can’t be a pastor if your children aren’t saved? Because pastors are supposed to lead by example. If you put a man in the position of leading a church and his children are not saved, then you are communicating that evangelizing your children must not be that important because it’s not that important to him. Also, if this man truly did meet all the other qualifications listed in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, why are his children not saved? Maybe he is actually a different person in his home than he is in public. Maybe when the doors to his house are closed, he is quick to be angry. Paul put this qualification here for a reason, and as Bible-believing Christians we need to obey the Scripture and all its commands.
Introduction: Unraveling the Legend
Several Bible translations besides the ESV indicate that a pastor’s children must be saved. However, I believe this particular application was a misinterpretation of Titus 1:6.
Introduction: Unraveling the Legend
Several Bible translations besides the ESV indicate that a pastor’s children must be saved. However, I believe this particular application was a misinterpretation of Titus 1:6.
- NASB “having children who believe”
- NIV "a man whose children believe”
- NLT “his children must be believers”
The Parallel Passage to Titus 1:6: 1 Timothy 3:4–5
Before we dig deeper into Titus 1:6, read the parallel passage in 1 Timothy 3:4–5: “One who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?)”
Verse 4 begins by explaining the underlying principle to a man’s relationship with his children and how it relates to being qualified as a pastor: he must manage his household well. The verb translated as manage means “to so influence others as to cause them to follow a recommended course of action” and “to guide, to direct, to lead.”
It can be easy to stand up and tell others what they should do. But an effective leader is successful in exhorting others to do what they think is right, wise, and biblical—in other words, an effective leader. When he exhorts his followers to do something, they typically do it. He doesn’t have to be perfect but competent, which here means a “high standard of excellence.”
That is what happens with good leadership. You give advice, you exhort, and followers give heed to it—not every time but characteristically. Notice the rhetorical question in verse 5, “If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?” Paul is expecting his readers to recognize that if someone is a poor leader in his house, he will be a poor leader in God’s house. Being a good leader in the home is the “training ground” for being a good leader in the church.
In the description of children in this passage, Paul tells Timothy that a pastor’s children must be under control with all dignity. “Under control” translates a phrase that means “in submission” or “in obedience.”180 The idea is that they should be generally submissive, obedient children. Again, this is not a call for perfection; it does not mean a man is not qualified to be a pastor if his child is periodically rebellious.
That is what happens with good leadership. You give advice, you exhort, and followers give heed to it—not every time but characteristically. Notice the rhetorical question in verse 5, “If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?” Paul is expecting his readers to recognize that if someone is a poor leader in his house, he will be a poor leader in God’s house. Being a good leader in the home is the “training ground” for being a good leader in the church.
In the description of children in this passage, Paul tells Timothy that a pastor’s children must be under control with all dignity. “Under control” translates a phrase that means “in submission” or “in obedience.”180 The idea is that they should be generally submissive, obedient children. Again, this is not a call for perfection; it does not mean a man is not qualified to be a pastor if his child is periodically rebellious.
The question is: what is the pattern of the child’s life? Are his children characteristically obedient and submissive, or are they typically challenging the authority of their father, and are they disobedient? The idea of “with all dignity” is that the father takes the task of leading his family seriously.181 When you analyze some of these qualifications, it is a pretty high standard. Many fathers might have their children under control, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is because of the father, does it? Another parent is involved in the process: the mother. If the father does not take the task of parenting seriously, that is a problem. And many men could have wonderful children because their wives are spectacular. That does not mean they are necessarily qualified if they don’t take the task of parenting seriously.
Nothing in Paul’s letter to Timothy about the qualifications of an elder states that the children must be saved. Now let’s return to Titus 1:6.
Titus 1:6 Examined
The ESV says, “His children are believers,” but a footnote in the ESV says, “Or are faithful.” In other words, this is another way this verse could be translated. That would change the meaning significantly! So the translators of the ESV recognized that this phrase could be understood in two ways. Notice some other translations of Titus 1:6. I mentioned above three translations that agree with the main text of the ESV, but the KJV, NKJV, and HCSB translate this as “having faithful children,” and the NET Bible is similar: “with faithful children.” The translations are fairly divided. The HCSB also has a footnote saying, “Or believing.” They basically did the opposite of the ESV. They put “faithful” in the text and in the footnote put “believing,” while the ESV put “believers” in the text and in the footnote put “are faithful.” Why have some translations gone with “faithful” rather than “believers”?
The Greek word translated in this verse has two primary meanings: (1) trustworthy or faithful, and (2) trusting or one who trusts, like a believer.182 A few verses later Paul uses the same Greek word to mean “faithful” or “trustworthy”: “Holding to the faithful message as taught” (Titus 1:9, emphasis added). Also in 1 Timothy 3:11, in another passage dealing with qualifications, this same Greek word is used, and it means “faithful:” “faithful in everything” (1 Tim 3:11, emphasis added).
Nothing in Paul’s letter to Timothy about the qualifications of an elder states that the children must be saved. Now let’s return to Titus 1:6.
Titus 1:6 Examined
The ESV says, “His children are believers,” but a footnote in the ESV says, “Or are faithful.” In other words, this is another way this verse could be translated. That would change the meaning significantly! So the translators of the ESV recognized that this phrase could be understood in two ways. Notice some other translations of Titus 1:6. I mentioned above three translations that agree with the main text of the ESV, but the KJV, NKJV, and HCSB translate this as “having faithful children,” and the NET Bible is similar: “with faithful children.” The translations are fairly divided. The HCSB also has a footnote saying, “Or believing.” They basically did the opposite of the ESV. They put “faithful” in the text and in the footnote put “believing,” while the ESV put “believers” in the text and in the footnote put “are faithful.” Why have some translations gone with “faithful” rather than “believers”?
The Greek word translated in this verse has two primary meanings: (1) trustworthy or faithful, and (2) trusting or one who trusts, like a believer.182 A few verses later Paul uses the same Greek word to mean “faithful” or “trustworthy”: “Holding to the faithful message as taught” (Titus 1:9, emphasis added). Also in 1 Timothy 3:11, in another passage dealing with qualifications, this same Greek word is used, and it means “faithful:” “faithful in everything” (1 Tim 3:11, emphasis added).
Finally, in 1 Timothy 6 that same word means “believing”: “Those who have believing masters” (1 Tim 6:2, emphasis added). The word can have either meaning, and that is why the translations are wrestling with how to translate it. The question is not, what can it mean? The question is, what does it mean in Titus 1:6? The Greek provides these two options, but other factors are going to have to help us reach a confident decision.
The context in Titus 1 is fairly ambiguous because it is simply a list of qualifications. It’s not a story being told that can help us know whether the description is of those who are Christians or those who are faithful. We don’t have enough of a context when we have only a list of descriptions since it is an ambiguous context, we need to rely on something else bbesidesthe immediate literary context to figure out what the word means.
Returning to the Parallel: A Closer Look
Therefore, let’s compare Titus 1:6 to 1 Timothy 3:4, because they contain similar statements. The literal translations of the opening of each of these phrases is essentially the same because they contain the same Greek words: “having children” (the same verb for “having” and the same word for “children”).
The context in Titus 1 is fairly ambiguous because it is simply a list of qualifications. It’s not a story being told that can help us know whether the description is of those who are Christians or those who are faithful. We don’t have enough of a context when we have only a list of descriptions since it is an ambiguous context, we need to rely on something else bbesidesthe immediate literary context to figure out what the word means.
Returning to the Parallel: A Closer Look
Therefore, let’s compare Titus 1:6 to 1 Timothy 3:4, because they contain similar statements. The literal translations of the opening of each of these phrases is essentially the same because they contain the same Greek words: “having children” (the same verb for “having” and the same word for “children”).
Since these two passages are similar, with the qualifications and the same Greek words introducing the clauses, it would be odd for the qualifications to be significantly different. Think of it this way: why would Paul have a radically strict standard for Titus’s context but then have a little more lenient standard for Timothy’s context? Would anything in either Titus or 1 Timothy justify Paul’s putting a different standard for Titus’s church than the church addressed in 1 Timothy? I haven’t found anything; I haven’t seen any good arguments that have tried to answer that question.
Paul says the pastor’s children must be submissive or obedient, under control, and it gives no other clarification about the children in 1 Timothy 3:4. But in Titus 1:6, he uses a term that is admittedly vague, meaning either “faithful” or “believers.” It is a term he uses with various meanings in different contexts.
Paul says the pastor’s children must be submissive or obedient, under control, and it gives no other clarification about the children in 1 Timothy 3:4. But in Titus 1:6, he uses a term that is admittedly vague, meaning either “faithful” or “believers.” It is a term he uses with various meanings in different contexts.
Therefore, since Paul used an ambiguous term in Titus 1:6, he clarified what he was looking for in pastors’ children at the end of verse 6: “Children not accused of wildness or rebellion.” He wants to make sure the children are not involved in reckless behavior, a word typically translated as debauchery or wildness. The second description of the pastor’s children is even more interesting. It referred to someone who was unable to be controlled.183 It is usually translated with the words rebellious or disobedient. Does the idea of control sound familiar? Remember 1 Timothy 3:4: “Having his children under control”? It is not the same word, but it communicates the same concept.
If Paul were trying to say to Titus that pastors’ children needed to be saved, I would have expected him to clarify this ambiguous Greek word differently, something like, “those who have experienced the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” That is what Titus 3:5 says when it describes those who are saved. Instead, he describes rebellious, disobedient children clarifying what he meant by that ambiguous Greek word.
Application
One of the interesting things about the lists in Titus 1 and in 1 Timothy 3 is that the characteristics mentioned do not constitute what I would call a “super Christian.” The lists actually describe what any Christian man should be with only one exception: the qualification of being “able to teach.” Even though the main intent of these passages is to explain the qualifications to be a pastor, it is still a great list for every man to look at and ask, “Do I meet these qualifications?” And if not, then maybe you need to work on that area some more.
Second, the main point of this passage is that pastors must meet these qualifications. One of the stereotypes of pastors’ kids is that they are the worst children in the church.
If Paul were trying to say to Titus that pastors’ children needed to be saved, I would have expected him to clarify this ambiguous Greek word differently, something like, “those who have experienced the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” That is what Titus 3:5 says when it describes those who are saved. Instead, he describes rebellious, disobedient children clarifying what he meant by that ambiguous Greek word.
Application
One of the interesting things about the lists in Titus 1 and in 1 Timothy 3 is that the characteristics mentioned do not constitute what I would call a “super Christian.” The lists actually describe what any Christian man should be with only one exception: the qualification of being “able to teach.” Even though the main intent of these passages is to explain the qualifications to be a pastor, it is still a great list for every man to look at and ask, “Do I meet these qualifications?” And if not, then maybe you need to work on that area some more.
Second, the main point of this passage is that pastors must meet these qualifications. One of the stereotypes of pastors’ kids is that they are the worst children in the church.
This is a horrible stereotype! If a pastor has a child and that child is under his authority and is rebellious against the father’s authority, some hard questions need to be asked of this man. I do recognize something could be physically or mentally wrong with a child that makes behavior appear rebellious. Many different aspects of the particular situation need to be considered. That is why questions need to be asked. But the questions, as hard, as awkward, and as painful as they may be, need to be addressed. Is this man qualified or not? The underlying principle Paul is getting at is about being a good leader people can follow. So if a man can’t get his children to follow him, we should ask what is going on in the home that has caused this. We want to be careful that we don’t quickly adopt a judgmental attitude, but we also want to be careful that we don’t just ignore what this passage is teaching.
Annotated Bibliography
Commentaries
Knight, George W., III. The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
Annotated Bibliography
Commentaries
Knight, George W., III. The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
Hendriksen, William, and Simon J. Kistemaker. Exposition of Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews. New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.
Journal Articles
Grubbs, Norris. “The Truth About Elders and Their Children: Believing or Behaving in Titus 1:6?” Faith & Mission 22, no. 2 (2005): 3–15.
Grubbs reviews the evidence for both primary positions. This article assumes a working knowledge of the Greek language and evaluates the evidence in a technical manner; the article is therefore accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of Greek.
Websites
Taylor, Justin. “Unbelief in an Elder’s Children.” Desiring God. February 1, 2007. Accessed June 23, 2014. www.desiringgod.org/articles/unbelief-in-an-elders-children.
________. “You Asked: Does an Unbelieving Child Disqualify an Elder?” The Gospel Coalition: Bible and Theology. November 2, 2011. Accessed June 23, 2014. www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/you-asked-does-an-unbelieving-child-disqualify-an-elder.
Journal Articles
Grubbs, Norris. “The Truth About Elders and Their Children: Believing or Behaving in Titus 1:6?” Faith & Mission 22, no. 2 (2005): 3–15.
Grubbs reviews the evidence for both primary positions. This article assumes a working knowledge of the Greek language and evaluates the evidence in a technical manner; the article is therefore accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of Greek.
Websites
Taylor, Justin. “Unbelief in an Elder’s Children.” Desiring God. February 1, 2007. Accessed June 23, 2014. www.desiringgod.org/articles/unbelief-in-an-elders-children.
________. “You Asked: Does an Unbelieving Child Disqualify an Elder?” The Gospel Coalition: Bible and Theology. November 2, 2011. Accessed June 23, 2014. www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/you-asked-does-an-unbelieving-child-disqualify-an-elder.
