The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
Given to hospitality ...  In the times during which Paul was writing, there were not many inns of the type available today; and many Christians were required to travel, some being displaced from their homes by persecutions, and others traveling in the spread of the gospel or the service of the church.  Elders were to be chosen from that class of Christians who opened their doors to fellow-saints in need or distress. Little reference is made here, if any, to the type of hospitality that says, "Come over to my house and have a good time; and later we can go over to yours for the same purpose."  White is probably correct in supposing that "The duty of the elders was closely connected with the maintenance of external relations, which was their principal function."[19]