1 Timothy 3:2-7
Message #12 ~
Modeling Leadership – Part 3
Introduction & Overview
- Last week we examined the third of our 7 aspect of
biblical eldership
- Let me review for you quickly the 7 aspects; they are:
- Servant Leadership
- Shared Leadership
- Male Leadership
- Qualified Leadership
- Non-Clerical Leadership
- Pastoral Leadership
- Proper Response to Leadership
- As you might recall we started our study looking at
servant leadership and how God has called each of us to a servant lifestyle
- We saw that leaders within the Christian community and
especially elders cannot be men that are puffed up, conceited, boastful or
proud
- Furthermore we saw that leadership must never be
heavy-handed but always buffered by a servants heart and attitudes
- We also looked at shared leadership and I wanted all of
you to take away that the consistent model of the New Testament always
favors shared leadership
- Of the 18 examples of leadership we have in the New
Testament 15 of those examples clearly demonstrate shared leadership and
the three that don’t are not to be seen as incompatible with shared
leadership
- In every area of the New Testament church we saw plurality
of leadership whether in teaching, prophesying, preaching, deacons or
elders there is always a shared leadership model present
- So that bring us to last week were we took time to look
male leadership
- In doing that we looked at a few things but first we
examined the biblical role of women and saw very clearly that what goes on
in our culture and other cultures that is degrading, dehumanizing, and
worse cannot be justified by Scripture
- We saw that men and women were above all else. were one in
Christ Jesus so there is no room for boasting from either gender
- Then we took time to examine the role of the woman in the
home
- I explained that the reason we did that instead of just
jumping into the role of the woman in the church is because the church is
actually a family according the Apostle Paul and we must model in the
church that what happens in the home and vice versa
- So we looked at the role of the woman in the home then
finally we moved on into the role of the woman in the church and
demonstrated how the New Testament passages about women’s role in church
model what we had just looked at in the home
- As we looked at these issues last week I attempted to show
the balance of the Word of God; not a picture of women always being
barefoot and in the kitchen but also a woman in proper relationship to her
husband and to the leadership of the church and not reblious
- So that bring us this week to look at the issue of
qualified leadership
Qualified Leadership
- When it comes to the issue of qualified leadership the
Scriptures are quite clear, only spiritually and morally qualified men can
be elders
- Now as we examine the Scripture there are really two
passages of Scripture that leap to the forefront
- The first is 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and the second is Titus 1:6-9;
the list are remarkably similar in that they each have the same number of
qualifications
- Paul does choose to use slightly different language or phrasing
in each passage and the lists come in a different order however their
substance is materially the same
- We see in the passage in 1 Timothy 3, which is where we
will focus today, 15 distinct qualifications of elder/overseers
- 1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the
office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore
an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of
one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a
drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity
keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone
does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's
church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may
become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders,
so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
- We want to survey those qualities today; as we cover each
point I will provide some brief comments on them but I certainly don’t
have time to address each of these points in great detail
- I do not want to imply for a moment that a thorough
understanding of these is not important to your Christian life
- However because of the short time I have left with you it
would not be feasible to cover each of these in great detail
- As I have shared and pleaded with you for the last few
weeks God doesn’t have different standards for different classes of
Christians rather we are all called to one standard
- The qualifications that Paul lays out for us today about
overseers/elders in fact are a standard we are all called to but it is a
standard that if an overseer ever allows himself to waiver on any of these
points it is causes the flag of banner of Christianity to touch the ground
and be scorned by those watching us
- Also this message is relevant to those of you who are
members here at Grace Church because as you know we are in the process of
seeking a new pastor
- You should be desiring these qualities in your own life but
you should absolutely be requiring them in the next man God brings to you
- Too many churches in America have happily accepted the
ditch on the left or the ditch on the right instead of the clear teaching
of Scripture
- The Scripture lays out a list of requirements and the
ditch on the left is to relax the standard of God
- This ditch says but this man is so smart, or has so much
money and influence within the community we want him as an elder
- Perhaps promoting someone who has been a long-time member
and is well liked by everyone but for one reason or another he doesn’t
meet the qualifications; this is a classic way to end up in the ditch on
the left
- What if you accept as an elder the man whose family is on
the brink of ruin and the children run the household because he has good
stage presence and good speaking skills again the ditch on the left
- The other ditch, the one on the right, instead of relaxing
God’s standards it adds additional requirements that are man-made
requirements
- Requirements such as schooling, education, and degrees; or
perhaps a requirement of how well he can translate Hebrew and Greek texts
- What if we have requirements that say he must be married
and he can’t be single, widowed, etc.
- Perhaps you have a mental image in your mind what a pastor
looks like, or how his voice sounds when he speaks
- Perhaps someone who can preach without ever looking down
at any notes or tells funny stories that make you laugh
- All of these are unscriptural requirements
- As Ronald Allen succinctly put it:
“The church has no right to diminish these standards for the officers of
the Church, nor does it have any right to elevate any others as though
they are then equal to these which are commanded by God himself. These and
only these stand as absolute.”
- This should come as no surprise but what God values is
neither wealth nor education, nor does he esteem success or even spiritual
gifts
- What he requires is moral and spiritual character and we
are about to examine the characteristics that make up that morally and
spiritually mature person
- As Alexander Strauch comments:
“Much of the weakness and waywardness of our churches today is directly
due to our failure to insist that church leaders meet God’s
qualifications.”
- We are going to look at the 15 requirements by breaking
them down into 3 broad categories of Good Moral Character, Good Family
Manager and Able to Teach the Word
Good Moral Character
- The fundamental requirement of all church elders is that
they be above reproach; we see this at the beginning of the lists in both
1 Timothy and also Titus
- Being above reproach means that an elder must be a man
with both a good spiritual as well as moral reputation
- This is someone who lives an irreproachable life in the
sight of other people
- In order to be considered for eldership a man must be free
of any spot or blemish on his character or his conduct otherwise his
critics would eat him alive wouldn’t they?
- They would point out what was wrong with him and have a
field day so to speak and the Word of God would be blasphemed
- Ladies and gentleman you want a model of this type of
character look at Job chapter 1 verse 1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned
away from evil.
- That should be the world’s testimony about all of our
lives and especially of our leaders; you as the congregation need to
require this of your leaders at all times while striving towards this mark
in your own lives
- Paul reminds Titus that an overseer is God’s steward; that
is the basis for the requirement of impeccable character
- Now let me ask you would you give the key to your house to
a person who was just recently released from jail for stealing?
- Would you hire a person who had been convicted of abusing
children to be your child’s nanny?
- Would you let someone you know embezzles money run the
cash register?
- Would you tell your secrets to a gossip and a busybody?
- The answer to all of these questions is of course no; well
why would we think God is any different?
- God doesn’t want men who have character deficiencies to be
the stewards in his house, entrusted with God’s possessions, God’s
treasure, God’s riches
- An elder is responsible to God for his actions and
therefore must be of flawless character
- Furthermore according to Ephesians 2 we are all part of
the household of God which is being joined and grows in a holy temple in
the Lord; a dwelling place for God
- How can such an awesome structure; a structure that is the
dwelling place of God, how can it function it its leaders lack the moral
and spiritual fiber to lead the people into worship and service
- How many of you have ever studied the Old Testament kings;
have you ever read 1 & 2 Chronicles? Remember how when Israel and
Judah had good kings the people prospered but when they had wicked kings
they sacrificed at the high places, they married foreign wives and in
general things were a mess
- The same thing is true in the church; think about the
ramifications if the list we have here in 1 Timothy wasn’t true
- Supposing an elder is contentious in violation of 1
Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:7 then the people under his leadership will learn
to be contentious
- What if an elder doesn’t grasp the importance of
hospitality as required in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 then how do you
think the people will act? The people will be cold and inhospitable as
well
- If an elder loves money and is greedy he will manipulate
the people for his selfish gain and also violate 1 Timothy 3:3 and in the
process the people will also develop a sense of greed
- If an elder is not just and devout he will be useless
when he needs to discern critical issues and as a result the people will
become unjust and worse they will become disloyal to the truth
- If an elder is not sensible, balanced and capable of
self-control then he will be known as aimless and disorganized in his
judgments; his congregation will in turn learn this from him
- The elder must be faithful to his wife and be a one woman
man otherwise his example will encourage others to be unfaithful
- He must not abuse alcohol otherwise the flock will be
permissive of this behavior as well
- He must not be a brawler again this speaks of drunkenness
and senseless or needless fighting or otherwise others will tolerate less
than God’s best in their lives as well
- Lastly an elder must hold fast to the Word; if the man of
God cannot hold fast to the Words of life how can we expect the people to
- The church in this generation needs men of moral fiber
that is unmarred by the sinful world around them
- Men who will gladly do what is right regardless of the
cost to themselves
- God’s Word requires this of leaders and we should require
it as well
- Additionally we should measure ourselves against this
standard and ask God if we have that type of character, if we don’t wee
need to do business with God and ask as the Psalmist did for a clean heart
- Right actions are always the result of a right heart; take
time to be right before Holy God
Good Family Manager
- There is an emphasis in Paul’s writing here on the
domestic life of the elder
- We see it in his relationship to his wife, his
relationship to his children and if he has their respect and also in his
ability to be hospitable
- Again remember this is the family of God; I keep coming
back to this but point but it really is central to understanding the church
- First I said we are all equal in Christ and brother and
sisters in Christ so there should be no division or hierarchy among us
- Last week I spoke about a woman in the home and how that
mirrors the church for if it didn’t it would confuse the children
- Now this week I say the same thing; the church is a family
and the man that can’t manage his family at home will certainly struggle
to manage the family of God
- Caring for and providing pastoral oversight of a church is
far more like a family than it is like a business or government
- In fact the most gifted businessman, politician or general
may in fact make a lousy elder
- Again God looks not at your accomplishments but rather on
your heart and he looks at your character
- Success in business, politics or the military don’t equate
to righteousness; however the man that can raise a family that respect him
and his children love the Lord that truly speaks volumes about that man’s
life
- This is a crucial test according to 1 Timothy 3:4
- Keep in mind this is a two part issue he must keep his
children submissive but he must do it with dignity
- Many is the man that can rule his family and keep them
submissive but he does it by being a tyrant and his family will not
respect him for it; thus he lacks the dignity component
- Likewise many is the man who has some level of respect
from his children but only because they walk all over him without
submitting to him
- In either case such a man would be disqualified from being
an elder
- Of equal if not greater importance is the relationship
that a man has with his wife
- The marriage relationship is a picture or a type of Christ
and his bride, the church
- For an elder to be unfaithful to his wife would completely
mar the picture that God wishes to paint through having faithful husbands
- Furthermore a Christian husband would naturally care for
his wife and provide for her needs as a woman; he would nourish her,
cherish her, defend her, love her, and even more
- Christian elders must do all these same things for the flock
that God has given them, if a husband is unfaithful to his wife or is
aloof to her needs and thus unable to manage his family well he is not
qualified to lead the church of God
- I must say at this point that the text does not require
the man to be married to be a elder, the man could be a widower, single or
even divorced if the divorce took place on Scriptural grounds
- However if that man has a wife he must be completely
faithful to her until death separates them
- The word here in Greek is literally a one woman man; and
while there have been those over the centuries who have tried to use this
text to say that even a widower cannot remarry that is inconsistent with
what Paul writes in other places
- For on other occasions Paul commands younger widows to
remarry such as he does a few chapters later in 1 Timothy 5
- In other places Paul comments that a marriage is binding
as long as both parties are alive however according to Romans 7:2 and I
Corinthians 7:39 a widow can remarry lawfully after her husband dies
- Additionally in order to be a Good Family Manager and
elder must also be hospitable
- Why do you think this is so important? First you need to
understand the first century; when Christians traveled either for
necessity or because of fleeing oppression they would naturally stay with
other Christians because of the sinful things that happened in he inns of
the world
- Furthermore it helped to cement bonds of friendships
between Christians from other regions when mass communication forms such
as e-mail, phone and fax were not available; so much practical good came
from it as well
- However a man who would close his door to a fellow saint
has just revealed a gaping whole in his own theology for if a man cannot
love the family of God what motivation does he have for taking the office
of overseer
- Hospitality really speaks to a love of all other brothers
and sisters that are in Christ; elders must demonstrate and radiate that
kind of agape love to all of the household of God
Able to Teach the Word
- Paul is insistent to both Timothy and Titus that an elder
must know his Bible and stand ready to teach it to others
- This implies that an elder is complete 100% committed to
the truth of God’s word and stands ready to do battle against error and
false doctrine when it is present
- This is one of the key roles of an elder and in particular
the role that we see the elders and apostles preparing to play in
Galatians 2 when we segued from Galatians to look God’s model for
leadership
- Elders must be equipped to encourage and exhort the saints
in sound doctrine
- This is separate from the spiritual gift of teaching that
we see in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12; while many elders may posses
this spiritual gift is not required to be an elder
- What is required is a knowledge of the truth that accords
with Godliness and a passion for that truth that causes you to refute
error when you hear it or see it
- Again the qualifications of elder do not require that he
can hold an audience of 1000 people awestruck for an hour while he speaks
- Rather this verse focuses on the content of what he has to
say and his personal commitment to the truth
- I quote P.T. Forsyth when I say:
“The real strength of the Church is not the amount of its work but the
quality of its faith. One man who truly knows his Bible is worth more to
the Church’s real strength than a crowd of workers who do not.”
- The church is protected not by locks on the doors or by
alarm systems; churches are not protected by denominations or by
committees; churches are protected by the Word of God
- Corruption can sneak in overnight and ruin a church but
one man who can stand up and rightly divide the Word of Truth; a man with
the character that requires that other respect him, a man whose family
loves and respects him, that man can stand in the gap as God’s man and
save a church from destruction and heresy
- Men, we must do what Paul tells Titus, we must hold fast
to the word, literally the word her in Greek means to cling to it
- Let me ask you if you had been in a shipwreck and you got
a hold of a piece of wreckage that was floating and it could save your
life how tightly would you cling to that piece of wreckage?
- That is how tight we must hold on to the Word of God; that
is our call; are you up to it men?
- Does God’s word mean that much to you? Can you say today I
am clinging to the Word?
- If you can’t I encourage you to do business with God right
now, there is nothing more important, nothing I am saying just get your
heart right with God
Disqualified Elders
- Of course it is logical to assume that if there are qualifications
for elders then it would follow that there are disqualifications for
elders
- God was gracious enough to provide the church with an
objective criteria that protects the church from prideful, deceitful,
arrogant men who seek to use the position for selfish gain
- For this reason God has said let the men be tested and if
they prove they are of the character required let them serve
- Of course while the standard is established for men who
seek the office of overseer it applies once you are in the office as well
- Men who fail to continue to live up to the standard must
be removed from the office even though this is an unpleasant matter
- Later in 1 Timothy 5:19-20 Paul gives advice on how to
deal first with an accusation of sin and also with a persistent sin
- Paul first does not allow a charge to be brought against
an elder unless at least two or three witnesses have seen him in this sin
- Why do you think this is? I will give you part of the
reason, because a spirit-filled, spirit-led elder will be busily engaged in
the muck and mire of the life of the sheep of the flock and he may find
himself dragging someone out of a bar at 11:00 at night
- If someone were to see him they may jump to the wrong
conclusion about what they are seeing so God again has provided graciously
for the protection of elders
- Additionally the work of elder may cause a man to make
some enemies along the way as he rebukes sin and calls people to
righteousness
- An elder cannot be removed because of a popular vote to
cast him out but only if he has violated a Scriptural principal and is
known to be living in sin
- If an elder has sinned it is a very serious matter and
must be dealt with publicly and never swept under the carpet or ignored
- Inwardly we are all cowards so Paul commands Timothy in 1
Timothy 5:21 to do nothing from partiality
- You see it doesn’t matter how much you like someone you
must follow through on your God-given responsibility to correct them
Conclusion
- We have covered some weighty matters in a very brief
manner and I pray that Holy Spirit would reveal even more to you about
these things we just looked at
- However if that is something you have a desire to study
and learn more I would suggest you approach one of your overseers and
share that desire with them so they can consider if there is a way to
facilitate that request either in Sunday School, on Sunday evening or
perhaps some other way
- Keep in mind what we have examined today only applies to
elders, there is no list of qualifications for evangelists, teachers, etc.
- The Scripture teaches that a new convert cannot be an
elder but it doesn’t say that they can’t be an evangelist