The Dynamic Church
3
We have arrived at chapter three of 1 Timothy, and we are looking at the features of the dynamic church. This third chapter deals with the theme of leadership. The dynamic church will have good godly leaders. Biblically the church is led by Elders and Deacons. In this chapter Paul shows how to recognise those with gifts for leadership. It’s often been said that the health of a church begins and ends with its quality of leadership. The world often judges Christianity by its leaders. It’s church leaders who end up in the news when they do something wrong. So church leadership is important and we need to get it right.
The office of Elder is covered in verses 1 to 7. The qualifications of the Elder have to do with character rather than personality or practical gifting. God isn’t necessarily looking for charismatic, dynamic people, but faithful people to lead his church. The function of the Elder is to oversee the spiritual life and direction of the church. The word Elder is the title of the office. The word overseer describes the function of the office. We read in verse 1, “If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer he desires a noble task”. This is the first way to spot a potential church leader. He will have an inclination to care for the church. He will already be involved in the life and ministry of the church. The desire to minister to God’s people will be there to be seen. There will be evidence of a real concern for people and their spiritual needs.
Paul lists the requirements for the overseer. He says in verse 2, “Now the overseer must be beyond reproach”. This is fundamental to the office. This doesn’t mean that the overseer will be perfect, but he will be honest and full of integrity. Paul also says in verse 2 he must be, “the husband of one wife”. This shows that the overseer should be male. This confirms what we noted in the last chapter about the different role relationships between men and women in church life. Headship, authority, and leadership are given by God to men. Therefore, it is to be expected that the position of overseer is to be held by a man. This is because it’s a position of responsibility involving leadership in the church.
I know this is a controversial subject today, but I think we need to note the language of scripture and apply it as accurately as we can. The overseer must be an example of God's will in marriage. God wants one man and one woman to marry and share their lives together. Polygamy was practised in Paul’s day. So Paul says in verse 2 the overseer must be “the husband of one wife”. In other words, the overseer will be a male committed to the divine plan for marriage. Verse 2 goes on to show that the overseer will be temperate, which means he will be watchful over his life and habits and will avoid sinful indulgence like gluttony and drunkenness. He will be respectable so his behaviour will be glorifying to God. The overseer will be hospitable. His home will be open to all, and he will be welcoming to the people of God. He’ll be gentle and non-argumentative. He won’t live for money. Beware of anyone who seeks position in church to make money out of God’s people. He will also manage his own home life well. Paul makes the point in verse 5, “if anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church”. The overseer shouldn’t be a new convert. Paul gives the reason for this. He says in verse 6, “he may become conceited and fall under the same judgement as the devil”. Taking a position of leadership can cause a new convert to think too highly of himself. The overseer needs to be a man of great humility.
The qualifications for the Deacon are found in verses 8 to 13. The qualifications are similar to those of the overseer because again character is more important. The role of the Deacon in different from that of the overseer or Elder. The Deacon is called to take care of the practical needs of the church. This relieves the Elders to concentrate entirely on the spiritual ministry of shepherding the church through preaching, teaching and prayer. The idea of the Deacon is first seen in Acts chapter 6 verses 1 to 7. The Grecian Jews complained that they were being neglected in favour of the Hebrew Jews in the daily distribution of food. We read in verses 2 and 3, “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, `It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom`”. So the model for what was to be known later as the office of Deacon was born. Like the Elder, the Deacon is to be male, because the office of Deacon involves aspects of authority and leadership even though it’s a more practical type of leadership.
So we note the same requirement as for the overseer. We read in verse 12, “A Deacon must be the husband of one wife”. Verse 11 says, “In the same way their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in everything”. Some wonder why it is that the character of the Deacons wives should be listed and not those of the Elders, especially as the duties of the Elders are, relatively speaking, more important than that of the Deacons. The Deacons wives are mentioned separately from the office of deacon because holding an office in the church is an expression of leadership and authority reserved for men. Their character is mentioned because they are able to assist their husbands in their office in what is a very practical ministry. They are able to help in the “waiting on tables”. The wives of overseers would be much more restricted in helping their husbands because of the implications of the greater spiritual authority and rule exercised by them. This rule would include the shaping, guidance, and direction of the people of God.
Paul has written all of this for the reason he gives in verse 15. He says, “If I am delayed, you will know how to conduct themselves in God’s household”. God’s pattern must be followed. The dynamic church does this and experiences God’s blessing. The ability to do it comes from the Lord himself. Paul says in verse 16, “The mystery of godliness is great”. The” mystery of godliness” is the revealed secret of godly living. The basis of this is the person and work of Jesus because without him we can do nothing. Paul shows this in the rest of verse 16. He uses what is probably an ancient Christian creedal statement. He says of Jesus, “He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken to glory”. The way to live a godly life, and do the will of God, is by availing yourself of all that Christ has done for you and all that he has for you. This becomes available to us because of his death burial and resurrection. Make sure you choose good leaders for your church and then support them in prayer and commitment.
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