Now the overseer is to be … temperate…
Summary: As we continue examining Paul’s criteria for an overseer, we discover that there is a method to Paul’s list of things to look for in an overseer.
The next word in Paul’s job description for an overseer is “temperate.”
To be more accurate, the English translation in the NIV uses the word “temperate” for the word Paul used, which is “nēpháleos.” “Nēpháleos” is a Greek word that means “sober” in the sense of being circumspect.* However, it can also mean “abstaining from wine,” or at least from its “immoderate use.”†
If we look ahead and peek at verses three through seven, we begin to see patterns in the criteria Paul uses for overseers. If this were a modern job description, these job requirements could be divided up into five categories: Temperament, Family, Spiritual Maturity, Social Standing, and Functional Skill.
The first item under “Temperament” is that an overseer must be temperate. Then Paul lists six additional characteristics. These include:
- Self-controlled (v 2)
- Not given to drunkenness (v 3)
- Not violent, but gentle (v 3)
- Not quarrelsome (v 3)
- Not a lover of money (v 3)
- Humble (v 6)
The last item on the list is not spelled out specifically, but is strongly implied when Paul says, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited…” The opposite of conceit is humility, so that is why it has been added to the list.
These seven characteristics describe a person anybody would feel safe talking with. They also describe a person who can live the Greatest Commandment, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
These seven traits also perfectly describe Jesus. He was totally devoted to his Father in heaven. He was temperate, self-controlled to the point of going without food for forty days and nights; he drank wine but was not a drunk. He was gentle, even when he cleared the temple courts (John 2:13-17). There is no record of him hurting anyone. He only defended his Father’s house by driving out the illegal behavior.
Jesus spoke the truth but was not quarrelsome. Money was not something that held any power over him. Ultimately, at the cross, he became the definition of “humble.” As it turned out, early overseers sometimes had to do the same thing.
Application: Temperament is something we are born with, but it is also something God can develop in us by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
Food for Thought: How does this list of temperaments apply to other jobs that require supervising others?
*”G3524 – nēphalios – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NIV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 14 Apr, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3524/niv/mgnt/0-1/>.
†Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, ibid.
How does this list of temperaments apply to other jobs that require supervising others?
I can’t think of a job that requires supervising others that wouldn’t be better with a leader that had these temperaments. Whether we are talking about in the Church, professionally, or at home (parents, older siblings).
It’s interesting that when I think about this question I can’t help but remember many of the supervisors I had or saw while in the military service. It would be nice to say that all of them exhibited these temperaments, but that would not be true. I will say though that oftentimes the best supervisors were the ones that not only helped their folks comply with the baseline requirements, which would have been categorized as “fully successful,” but also helped their folks go above and beyond and achieve more than required or thought possible, taking them into “above fully successful” and “exceptional.” Sometimes it was the temperaments of the leader that made the difference in their folks being empowered or hindered. And I think that these temperaments are indicative of a leader that is a servant who counts others more significant than themselves.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
So, I think what I am trying to say here is that these temperaments of a leader are exponential to the followers. Some people can survive bad temperaments and be successful, but a leader that exhibits these temperaments sets their folks up for greater purpose and ability.
Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Chris,
Your memories of past supervisors resonated with my own. When the qualities Paul lists are present, the result is freeing and uplifting. When it is absent, the experience is not fun.
Thank you!
How does this list of temperaments apply to other jobs that require supervising others?
I’ve been in bad work environments to give a good personal perspective on supervisor temperaments but some have been enjoyable lately working with brothers in Christ. Particularly my brother Randy. Willingness to help improve others and glorifying God. Is one way of describing how things go throughout a workday.
Thank you, Tim!
What a great testimony! 🙂