Last week news broke that Bill O’Reilly was leaving the Fox News channel, shocking news to everyone concerned. Rumors swirled, some news outlets reporting that O’Reilly was fired due to a sexual harassment suite, others that advertisers began pulling from the show due to that harassment suite. Some reveled in the notion that the conservative commentator wasn’t as straight an arrow as he claimed to be, others simply could not believe that the accusations against him were true. Where the truth lies we’ll likely never know as usually cases like this end up with a settlement and a court gag order.

Why do I bring this up? Because we left off last time reviewing a list of attributes that the apostle Paul admired in others, qualities that enabled one for spiritual leadership. The first on that list (mentioned twice, in verses 6 and 7) is “blameless”. The Greek word, anegklaytos, means unreproveable, that which cannot be called into account. It does not mean “perfect” or “without sin”.

Take Jesus as an example, while he was perfect and sinless, he was also blameless and even so he was often challenged and falsely accused of wrongdoing. He silenced his accusers by asking which sin they accused him of. This silenced them, as there was nothing they could prove against the Messiah. So an elder, or any responsible Christian, isn’t devoid of being accused but is a person of sterling reputation and character. A blameless person is someone who protects their reputation not with deceit and hidden truths but by doing the right thing even when doing so is most difficult.

There are a few areas Paul particularly focuses on in regard to being blameless. The first area is in regard to family. There is much said in both Testaments about being faithful to the wife of one’s youth. Having been married only once is a sign of a person who values commitment. The character of one’s children reveals that the parent knowns how to pass along the character of love and good deeds, especially fitting for a church leader.

The next area of concern are signs of a man’s inner character. ”Arrogance” is the opposite of the humility that is meant to characterize all followers of Jesus; “anger the opposite of long-suffering; “drunkenness” the opposite of self-control; “violence” the opposite of peace-making; “greed” the opposite of charity. These are warning signs that should not be ignored.

The third area Paul discusses are signs of a man’s outer relationships. Are we welcoming to new people or strangers in our neighborhood and church? Do we go out of our way to do good to others? Do we react emotionally to false accusations, or measured and sensibly? Do we sink to our accuser’s level, or remain upright?

The final area of concern is the measure of a persons faith. Do we have a heart-felt faith full of devotion toward God and others? Are we self-controlled? How’s our theology? Are we remaining true to the foundational truths Jesus taught us?

There is a reason I’m making this personal, even though most of us are not elders in the church. There isn’t one of these characteristics that Paul and Peter do not command of all believers. Even if you do not seek to lead we are responsible to be godly. This message is for all of us.