present status be blameless. It is not sufficient that a man was blameless, or that he will be blameless. He must be blameless at the time of his appointment to the office of elder.38 This, however, is not simply an isolated or momentary state, for this requirement “cannot be fulfilled in a short time but will only become evident over a period of several years of faithful Christian living.”39 This seems to be precisely Paul’s point in the selection of deacons: “And let these also first be tested;