This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer{Or, bishop}, he desires a good work.
If a man desire the office of a bishop: The Greek word for "desire" means to "reach or stretch out; to long after, try to obtain." The idea is to grasp something with passionate desire or longing. A young man desiring to attain his lifelong ambition will reach out and stretch his mind until the goal is reached. A man who desires to be an elder will likewise reach out with true ambition to meet the qualifications set forth in the scriptures. In Beacon Bible Expositions, Vol. 10, Sydney Martin says, "One curious criticism of verse 1, as it stands in the King James Version, is that it amounts to an incitement to carnal ambition" (123). It is true that carnal ambition may motivate the carnally minded man; but the spiritually minded man who aspires to be an elder will be motivated by love: love for Christ, the church, and the work of the church.