Dialed In: Reaching Your Full Capacity as a Man of GodSýnishorn

The Blameless Man

In both places where the apostle Paul lists the qualifications for overseers in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9), he puts being above reproach first. Why? Because blamelessness is the summation of all the qualifications. It is the overarching theme of the dialed-in man.

My brother Tom was a cornerback on the high school football team. In one game a 225-pound running back for the opponents’ team broke free on the outside, and all he had between himself and the goal line was my skinny brother. The big back, instead of trying to evade Tom, ran right over him. My flailing little bro reached up, laid hold of the giant’s shoestring, and tripped him up—just enough to prevent a touchdown.

A literal shoestring tackle!

The Greek word often translated in 1 Timothy 3:2 as “above reproach” or “blameless” is anepilemptos, meaning “not to be laid hold of.” What if the big running back had tucked his shoestring into his cleats?

The blameless man is, as N. J. D. White put it, “one against whom it is impossible to bring any charge of wrongdoing such as could stand impartial examination.” The anepilemptos man is not open to direct assault because he is “a man against whom no criticism can be made.”

The idiom “chink in one’s armor” refers to an area of vulnerability. It has traditionally been used to refer to a weak spot in a figurative suit of armor. The blameless man has no chink in his armor, no loose shoestrings, and no Achilles’ heel. He lives above reproach.

But no one lives in such a way without first having a plan. If you try to wing it, you may end up on the shoestring end of it.

Commit to living above reproach.

If Satan were to attack you in a way that would bring harm to your marriage and embarrassment to your family, where would he pounce (Genesis 4:7; John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8)?