This is a true saying, If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work.
All Commentaries on 1 Timothy 3:1 Go To 1 Timothy 3
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Consider these three temperaments: the contemplative, the active, the contemplativeactive. A man can live the life of faith in any of these three and get to heaven. What is not indifferent is that he love truth and do what charity demands. No man must be so committed to contemplation as, in his contemplation, to give no thought to his neighbor’s needs, nor so absorbed in action as to dispense with the contemplation of God. The attraction of leisure ought not to be emptyheaded inactivity but in the quest or discovery of truth, both for his own progress and for the purpose of sharing ungrudgingly with others. Nor should the man of action love worldly position or power, for all is vanity under the sun, but only what can be properly and usefully accomplished by means of such position and power … of contributing to the eternal salvation of those committed to one’s care. Thus, as St. Paul wrote, “If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires good work.” He wanted to make clear that the office of bishop, episcopatus, implies work rather than dignity.
