Passing the Test - 1 Timothy 3 - 10/18/08
Join me in turning to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 3. Timothy is towards the end of the New Testament, in the second half of the Bible. We have been going through this book together.
This time of year can be a scary time for kids in school, because now after several weeks in school, they have received homework, that have had a number of quizzes, and now they start taking TESTS! You might shrug off the homework and quizzes, but the tests determine whether you pass or fail. Tests are important to show how we are doing. And we take tests all our life, not just in school.
I have a test for you today to take. If you have a pen or pencil and scrap of paper, get it out right now. I have a couple questions for you to consider. Everybody ready? Question #1.
1. How many outs are there in an inning of baseball?
2. Some months have 30 days, some have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?
3. In which US state is it against the law for a man to marry his widow’s sister?
4. If you walked into a dark room in the winter with a match, and the room had a kerosene lamp, an oil healter, and a wood-burning stove, which would you light first?
5. If you went to bed at 8 o’clock AM and set the alarm to get up at 9 oclock the next morning, how many hours would you sleep?
6. A farmer had 17 sheep; all but 9 died. How many does he have left?
----------------
1. How many outs are there in an inning of baseball? Six, three for each team.
2. Some months have 30 days, some have 31 days. How many months have 28 days? 12 - all of them have 28 days!
3. In which US state is it against the law for a man to marry his widow’s sister? In every state it is illegal for a dead man to marry
4. If you walked into a dark room in the winter with a match, and the room had a kerosene lamp, an oil healter, and a wood-burning stove, which would you light first? The match
5. If you went to bed at 8 o’clock AM and set the alarm to get up at 9 oclock the next morning, how many hours would you sleep? 1 hour - the alarm will go off in 1 hour
6. A farmer had 17 sheep; all but 9 died. How many does he have left? Nine
Hopefully, you all passed the test. The reality is that all through life we face tests of various kinds. We are in an election season right now, and I hope you are putting the candidates to the test. Don’t just vote for whoever you think looks attractive or has a nice smile. Check them out to see what they believe in. How do their positions match God’s word? Even on a local level, don’t pick a candidate based on the number of yard signs you see. There are some candidates that are in my party that have a lot of signs that I am not planning on voting for. Put the candidates to the test.
And even in the church, we need to give people tests. I came across a cute reading I’d like to share with you.
PARABLES READING. This just goes to show that in the church, we need to test our leaders! That’s what we want to talk about today in 1 Timothy 3. We saw that this is a letter from the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his young protegé. Paul left Timothy at Ephesus to straighten out the problems in the church there. Ephesus was a city filled with idol worship, sexual immorality, and false teachings.
Timothy, though, is a young man and sometimes people in the church did not follow his leadership and give him the respect he deserved. Timothy was timid and shy. He sometimes was sickly, or at least was so troubled by the problems in the church that his stomach bothered him. The tension in the church had him to the point of giving up. But Paul gives him a letter to encourage him to keep on going.
We saw Paul give three commands to Timothy in chapter 1:
1. Teach Sound Doctrine 2. Preach the Gospel 3. Defend the Faith
We looked last week at chapter 2. What pleases God? We saw last week that God is pleased when men are PRAYING! And God is pleased when women are PROPER! Today, we go on to chapter 3 and see that God is pleased when leaders are PURE! And God gives us tests to evaluate our leaders by. Let’s read the chapter. Read chapter 3 & pray!
Down in verse 14, Paul gives the background for this section. He writes, Although I hope to come to you soon - I think what he is saying is that he had hoped to have come sooner than he is. Paul wanted to come and help Timothy, but he knows he may not make it there soon, so he writes this section. And then he tells the purpose for the section: I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Paul is writing this section so we, today, in Owosso in 2008 will know how we should live in the church. And what is that goal, that lifestyle? We see the answer in verse 16: Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great. We can summarize our goal in one word: Godliness. Or really, God - like-ness. Godliness is really seeking to be like God. God tells us several times in the Bible: Be holy as I am holy. We are called to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. So, when we think about what pleases God - praying men, proper women, and pure leaders - this is how we become like Christ. In the church, we want godliness: to live like Jesus.
We understand that the church is unique in that it is both an organism and an organization. As an organism, we are a body, and God is the one who will cause us to grow. We don’t manufacture spiritual growth. We don’t just seek to be a church of a certain size. God chooses which gifts we receive. But we are also an organization, with different individual roles to fill. And here in this chapter, Paul reminds us that God has designed for the church to have different leaders in the church. He mentions two groups here: overseers and deacons.
The first role is called the overseer. The word used is literally the work bishop. We sometimes avoid the term because of the denomination sense the term has today. But in Paul’s day, the role of bishop, or overseer, was the individual or individuals who watched over the affairs of the church. It is the same role as the term “pastor” - which emphasized the care given to the congregation. It is the same role as an “elder” which referred to the spiritual maturity of the one offering that leadership. Several terms to refer to the same role.
This term bishop, or episkopos in the greek, carries the idea of one who supervises, protects, guards, and keeps watch. In the church it referred to the elders who had the responsibility of leading, instructing, and shepherding the people.
The second role mentioned here is that of the deacon. The word literally refers to one who serves. The role of the deacon is to care for the physical, practical needs of those in the congregation. We see the role starting in Acts 6, and these godly, spirit-filled men were chosen to free the apostles to lead.
In our church today, we seek to follow this example, by having a group of elders, spiritually mature men who lead the church, and a group of deacons, those who assist the church by caring for the practical needs of the congregation. But for both these positions, Paul says there is some testing to be done. We want to make sure we have the best leaders in God’s church.
So, let’s look quickly at some of the qualifications: We aren’t going to deal with these qualifications extensively: many of you have studied this passage before, and we could spend weeks looking at each term. But let’s look briefly at them. Notice the first issue is that of
1. Desire - If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. I don’t think that this is just an introduction, but a starting qualification. God looks for those who have a heart to serve. Being in leadership in the church is often a thankless, emotionally draining job. And God looks for those who have a desire to serve in that area.
Many pastors struggle because of the high demands and expectations placed upon them. So many people want to have a perfect pastor. He preaches only 12 minutes, and expounds the deep truths of the scripture. He frequently condemns sin, but never upsets anyone. He works on his sermons from 8 AM to 10 PM, and then helps clean the church. He makes $100 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, and gives $150 a week to the poor. He is 28 years of age, and has been preaching for 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens. He makes 15 daily calls to parish families, visits shut-ins and the hospitalized, prays over the sick and needs of the congregation constantly, spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched, and is always in his office when needed. He knows every member of the congregation intimately, but never gets too close to anyone so as to avoid criticism.
And the reality is that no one EVER lives up to those unrealistic expectations. One pastor search committee sent back the following report: Of the candidates investigated by the committee, only one was found to have the necessary qualities. The list contains the names of the candidates and comments on each, should you be interested in investigating them further for future pastoral placements.
Noah - He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts. Prone to unrealistic building projects.
Moses - He is a modest and meek man, but he has communication problems and stutters; and his former congregation says he loses his temper over trivial things. Some say he faced a murder charge, and he had an inter-racial marriage.
Abraham - He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out. References report he offered to share his own wife with another man.
David - He has an unacceptable moral character, having had an affair with his neighbor’s wife. He might have been considered for minister of music had he not fallen.
Solomon - He has a reputation for wisdom but fails to practice what he preaches. Great preacher but our parsonage would never hold all those wives.
Elijah - He is prone to depression, and is known to fold under pressure.
Hosea - His family life is in a shambles. Divorced, and remarried to a prostitute.
Jeremiah - He is emotionally unstable, alarmist, negative; some say a real pain in the neck.
Amos - Too backward and unpolished; comes from a farming background. With some seminary training he might have promise; Better off picking figs.
John - He says he is a Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie. Would not feel comfortable around him at a church potluck supper. He has a weird diet and provokes denominational leaders.
Peter - Has a bad temper, even has been known to curse in public. He was heard to have even denied Christ publicly.
Paul - We found him to lack tact. He is too harsh. His appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far too long.
Timothy - He has potential, but is much too young for the position.
Jesus - Has had popular times, but once when his church grew to 5,000 he managed to offend them all and his church dwindled down to 12 people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And of course, he’s single.
There is one strong possibility however:
Judas - His references are solid; conservative; good connections; knows how to handle money. We all agreed that he is just the man we are looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior Pastor. He just might fit in!
There are a lot of expectations on pastors. And to succeed in the position, a person needs to have a god-given desire to serve in that capacity. Statistics are staggering about how stressful pastoring can be. Listen to a few numbers:
80% of pastors believe that ministry has negatively affected their families.
33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their families.
75% report a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job.
70% say they have a lower self-image now than when they started.
40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month
70% do not have somebody they consider a close friend
50% have considered leaving the ministry in the last three months.
50% of those who go into fulltime ministry drop out in five years.
One magazine reports that between 1,400 and 1,600 Christian leaders leave ministry every month.
As I thought back to my church and youth group, I thought about numbers of young men who claimed to be called into Christian ministry. In a church of 500, with numbers of young men claiming the call to preach, I know of 3 who are in ministry today. Stan Attick, one of the men who was a mentor to me and who went off to Hyles Anderson College, is today working for a railroad company. Dave Scholling, works for a company in Chicago; Tom Eisenhauer is a doctor in SC; Craig Cassatt joined the navy and never found his way into ministry; Keith Klingler left Bible College to start a lawn service; Rick Roth left Bible College to work in a printing press; Spencer Hinerman left Bible College to make furniture; and the list goes on and on and on.
It takes a desire in the heart of a man to resist the lure of big money and to stick with it faithfully with all the pressures that come upon a pastor. many men never make it. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11 - Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
The first test of a church leader is desire. We never want to get to the point where we choose our elders and deacons because they don’t say NO. We want those who have a desire in their hearts, who are passionate about serving God. Your leaders need encouragement! But often what they get is criticism! The family was driving home from church and the dad was complaining about the pastor’s sermon; the mom was criticizing the music; little brother was complaining about the length of the service; little sister piped up and said, I thought it was a pretty good show for a buck!
Encourage your church leaders! Don’t tear them down, lift them up!
The second group of qualities needed are CHARACTER issues: for elders and deacons, there is a list of several qualities. Notice that they are external qualities, but the externals reflect internal character. We can’t see into a person’s heart; but we can look at their life and see their internal values reflected.
The husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. Down in verse 9 for deacons - sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
It is important that your church leaders have a deep-rooted character that shows itself in every area. We won’t look at specific terms today, but remember it does say we are to TEST the leaders to assure the church they are men of good character. Notice verse 10! They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
The third quality expected is REPUTATION. Leaders need desire, character, and a good reputation. This repuation starts with FAMILY. It doesn’t matter how good a man is at church if his home life is a shambles. Serving in a church leadership capacity is not like a job - we clock in and clock out. It is a 24/7/365 job. And the best test of a man’s reputation is whether his leadership has affected his family.
The second area of reputation is with the UNSAVED: Verse 7 - He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. The NLT states, Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not fall into the Devil’s trap and be disgraced. We want our church leaders to carry that consistent example into the community. And third, that reputation is tested over TIME. This is not something to put on for a month to be appointed to an office. This is an ongoing lifestyle of godly reputation.
So, wrapping this up, God is pleased with pure leaders who set an example in godliness. Paul mentions in verse 16, talking about godliness, the example of Jesus Christ, the perfect example for us to follow. In our church, we want to have godly leaders - elders and deacons who pass the test.
But today, in closing I ask you to consider what YOU can do, even if you aren’t a church leader. You say, this is nice, pastor, but I’m not an elder or a deacon, what does this mean to me?
Application:
1. Respect the leadership of the church - In verse 4 & 8, we see the elders and deacons are worthy of respect. So we need to offer our respect. Paul writes to the Thessalonian church, Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Ronda’s dad spent several years leading the United Brethren in Christ denomination, and one of his greatest struggles was dealing with Christians who had no respect for authority. We live in an age where people think they can do whatever and say whatever they want. But God calls us to a higher standard. We need to show respect to our leaders.
What if a church leader is doing something wrong? The Bible answers that as well. Matthew 18 - If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
Gossip and slander have no part in the church. If you have a concern about me, share it to me. If you have a concern with another church leader, or even a member of the church in no leadership position at all, you need to go to that person privately. Don’t share it with anyone else. The matter is between you and your brother or sister. Show them from scripture why you feel they are sinning.
But especially with church leaders, God sets the bar very high. We are told in 1 Timothy, Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Once your church leaders are approved and pass the test, give them your support, give them the benefit of the doubt. God feels very strongly about supporting the leaders he places in the church.
If you can’t support the leaders of this church, it is far better to find another church you can support than to spread gossip and bring church dissension. The first thing we can all do is respect the leadership of the church.
2. Pray for the leadership of the church - There is a saying, don’t pray for a perfect pastor, pray for the one you have. I realize that I have areas of personal weakness, as well as all of your elders and deacons. And we need your prayers. Back in the start of chapter 2, Paul calls for prayer for all that are in authority in the church.
Instead of picking up the phone to tell someone else that you weren’t happy with a decision that was made, talk to your heavenly father and tell Him what is on your heart. Pray for your leaders to grow in godliness. We are human too. We need your prayers.
3. Encourage others to follow God’s call on their lives - there are many who might be called of God who face discouragement or fear and never step up to the plate. Your encouragement might be just what another Christian brother or sister needs to use their gifts in serving God.
4. Assist the leadership of the church - God has given each of us gifts to use for the good of the whole church. When you don’t use your gifts, you cripple the whole church. The role of pastor is not to do everything myself, but to help you use your gifts in serving God. Many times people say, Oh, the Pastor will do that!
5. Make yourself available for leadership - Be open to whether God might want to use you in a greater capacity in the church. Make sure your life is a godly example of desire, character, and reputation so that you could be considered for leadership.
May God help us this week to grow in unity in the church as we pray for and support our leaders.
Let’s pray.
