This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer{Or, bishop}, he desires a good work.
he desireth a good work: Some look at the phrase "office of bishop" and shutter! They see not a good work but a bishop carrying a big stick. They see a one-man rule, a rod of iron rule. Many cannot see "a good work" because they think of status and superiority. Yet, Paul saw the eldership as a good work because he saw it as an office of service, not an office of superiority. We know that status and superiority very well can enter into the picture as it did in the third epistle of John, verse 9: "but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them," says John, "receiveth us not." When one "desires a good work," he desires to serve. A good senator is one who uses his office to serve the people. A good elder is one who uses his office to serve the people.