The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
The word "blameless" means "above reproach." W.E. Vine says, "lit., that cannot be laid hold of" (131). It spotlights the fact that there is to be nothing in the elder’s present character that would discredit the moral commitment to God. The word "blameless" seems to be an umbrella under which all of the other qualifications fall. His life is committed first to Christ. He does, as Paul advises in Acts 20:28, "take heed unto thyself." With his trust in Jesus, he goes forth in faith, practice, grace, and truth to please his Lord and is not concerned about pleasing professional "nit-pickers." If elders were afraid of making mistakes and of being criticized, they would never know the real joy of doing the work of a bishop. When they follow Jesus, they will be criticized as Jesus was. He did not please everyone, but he certainly was blameless. Never could his enemies "lay hold" on one single thing he said or did that was wrong. He pleased his Father always (Matthew 17:5). Elders, like Jesus, will be so committed to God that they will strive always to please Him. Will they make mistakes? Yes. Will God forgive them? Yes. Blameless, then, does not mean that an elder lives a perfect life; it means, rather, that he lives his life so that it squares with the moral character of our Lord himself.