Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Timothy 3:5

"(but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)" — 1 Timothy 3:5 (ASV)

For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?—The well-ordered household, the decent, modest behaviour, the reverent, affectionate relations between parents and children, between the master and the dependents—these things are to be the test of a man’s fitness for holding high office in the public community of believers.

For, as Theodoret observes, if a man cannot rule decorously a small community (such as a family), how shall he be judged a fit person to be entrusted with administration in a broader sphere—with duties which have to do with divine things?