Paul's letter addressed to Titus is entirely devoted to the theme of ordering church life on Crete, where the apostle had once preached. In touching on this theme, Paul mentions first of all bishops and presbyters, who, as can be seen, largely determined the face of the church community. The requirements set for presbyters turn out to be quite ordinary, and the chief one is righteousness: according to the apostle's word, a presbyter must be above reproach ("blameless," vv. 5-6). There is nothing surprising here if we remember that large groups of churches in one region or another, judging by the data that have come down to us thanks to the New Testament books, were apparently headed by a council of elders ("presbyters"), who were their representatives in those cases when a churchwide council gathered. The spiritual life of the local church depended greatly on them, just as the spiritual life of a particular church community depended greatly on the minister ("deacon") who headed it.
But Paul requires blamelessness, as can be seen, not only from presbyters but also from bishops, whose office was essentially purely administrative (vv. 7-9). Moreover, judging by the fact that the appointment of presbyters turns out to be directly connected with the selection of bishops, one can conclude that episcopal ministry, despite its administrative and managerial character, received great attention in the early Christian church, and candidates for episcopal positions were selected carefully, with the participation of the local church council of elders ("presbyters"). Such attention to an issue that, for spiritual life, would seem secondary was of course no accident.
And the point is not only that there are no trifles in either spiritual or church life: administrative, managerial, or legal omissions or violations, not to mention financial dishonesty or anything similar, are just as unacceptable for a church community as they are for an individual Christian. The point, above all, is that every administrative and managerial activity, especially one connected with flows of money, is a kind of spiritually dangerous work. There are jobs and kinds of work that are physically or psychologically harmful, creating increased strain on the body or the soul; in the same sense one can speak of jobs and kinds of work that are spiritually dangerous, which, while by no means sinful in themselves, require from those engaged in them special attentiveness and prudence when it comes to keeping the Torah. Such was the ministry of a bishop, who needed special spiritual vigilance in order not to stray from the path of righteousness and not to lose his salvation. For if this were to happen, such an outcome would be the most terrible thing that could happen to a church community. And not only because any event of this kind inevitably becomes a counter-witness, but also because with every such incident there is less of the Kingdom in our world, which is being transformed but has not yet been transformed.
