1 Timothy 3:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Observe, however, that here also he says: not from among the newly converted. The expression "let these also first be tested" means the same as what he said about bishops. Thus he shows the inner connection, since there is nothing intermediate here. Therefore he used there also the expression "not newly converted." Is it not unreasonable that in a private house a newly purchased slave is not entrusted with any household task before long testing proves his disposition, yet in the Church of God one who has entered from outside is immediately placed among the most honorable?

Just as, concerning the bishop, I required that he not be newly baptized, so I require that these also not be admitted to service without first being tested. Only after sufficient testing should they serve, once they prove to be blameless. Likewise, no one will entrust a newly purchased slave with any managerial office before time shows him fit for it.

No one could rightly be appointed a minister in the Church if the Apostle, in the place where he says, "if anyone is blameless" (Tit. 1:6), had said, "if anyone is sinless." Nor could anyone be appointed if, where he says "if they are without reproach," he had said, "if they are sinless." For many faithful who have received baptism are without reproach. Yet I would not say of anyone in this life that he is without sin (compare Jn. 8:7), no matter how much the Pelagians may rage and protest that I say this. This is not because any sin remains that would not be forgiven in baptism. Rather, it is because the sins forgiven daily to those who pray as befits the faithful and act mercifully do not daily allow us, while we remain in the weakness proper to this life, to become such.

Their life must first be tested, and only then should they be counted worthy of spiritual grace.

"And let these also first be tested." They must show experience in word and life in the lower ranks. Just as a bishop and presbyter must not be from among the newly instructed, so also a deacon. "Then let them serve, being blameless." That is, they must always remain persons of irreproachable conduct.

"Deacons likewise must be pure," that is, must be so, "not double-tongued, not given to much wine," and so forth (1 Tim. 3:8-13). He regards the moral qualities required for worthy deacons as necessary also for the episcopal and presbyteral rank. Speaking about deacons, he omits only teachability. But he adds that they must hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. According to the explanation of Blessed Theophylact, this means that deacons must keep the right dogma and have a blameless life. He also adds that they should be tested before their appointment, and that those who have served well should then be counted worthy of higher degrees. "Women likewise must be pure, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things" (1 Tim. 3:11).

The instructions concerning deacons are still more accommodating. Of them are especially required silence, reliability in keeping secrets, that they not drink much wine, and that they not be inclined to love of gain. They too must not be recent converts, and they must be tested for moral fitness for service in the Church. According to St. John Chrysostom's explanation, "not double-tongued" means not wicked and not crafty. "For nothing makes a man so dishonorable as wickedness, and nothing brings such harm to the Church as craftiness." The Apostle may have commanded deacons to be "not given to much wine" because they were generally in charge of the economic side, including wine. They were also in charge of all offerings, including monetary ones.

Deacons, whose chief duty was to care for the poor, went from one house to another. They therefore must not say one thing in one place and another elsewhere, that is, be double-tongued. They must not irritate the poor by their own lack of restraint, and must not be lovers of gain, lest they become thieves of the gifts entrusted to them. In general, their conscience must be pure. In it, as in a treasury, the faith must be preserved in complete integrity. In this way they would be inaccessible to the seductions of false teachers. At the same time, the Apostle gives a brief instruction concerning deaconesses as well. Deacons who fulfill the Apostle's prescriptions exactly acquire good standing among the faithful, that is, they obtain a good degree. They themselves begin to act with full boldness, which faith in Christ gives them, and are not troubled by any attacks.

"And let these also," that is, being such, or having been recognized as such, holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience and the other good qualities shown above, "first be tested." Let them undergo a test in which they show that all the visible good in them lies deep in the heart. It must be the feature of an established character, not something apparent and accidental. Perhaps they were especially subject to this testing with regard to their ability to carry out the works of the diaconate. Were they prudent, orderly, and attentive? Many who possess good qualities of heart are quite unskilled in managing external affairs. This requirement of testing is equivalent to what he says below: "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily" (1 Tim. 5:22).