Faithful, Not Flashy

Good morning once again. I have one further announcement. Next week, we have the privilege of having Chris Stukenberg with us. Chris is the lead pastor of Park Hills Church in Freeport. He is going to be preaching and encouraging us as a church and will stick around for our lunch and financial meeting. Park Hills Church is seeking ways they can partner with and support local gospel-centered churches in reaching the northern Illinois area for Christ. I had a long meeting with Chris this past week and we were able to share our stories and our hearts for ministry. I am excited for us to all hear him together. Please come and worship with us next Sunday and then stay for the Family Feast and financial meeting. It's going to be a great time to look ahead together at the future of Hope.

With that bit of housekeeping done...

The first letter to Timothy, written by his mentor, the Apostle Paul, is largely Paul's message to Timothy about how to order and maintain a healthy church. In chapter 3 we come to what may be one of the single most important factors in this and that is to have qualified church leadership. Many churches over the years have been challenged by having less than biblically qualified leaders in their churches. This has happened in different ways in different congregations. Generally, you'll see someone appointed to a position of leadership in the church because they are really good at business, or really well known in the community, or maybe they give a lot of money to the church, or they are wealthy and the hope is that they will give a lot to the church. The problem with these types of strategic led decisions is that they are not a biblical way of choosing who will lead the church. So it is therefore not surprising that we see churches make years of poorly reasoned decisions that lead them eventually away from the biblical mission of the church. It's also with unqualified leadership that we see people not making disciples. I have served in some churches where it was even questioned if some leading the church were truly saved. This should not be so.

There is no biblical precedent for a church council, church leadership team, church life team, or what ever else men have come up with based on business strategies.

What churches must do to truly be aligned with scripture is look to scripture for the qualifications of those who should be officers in the church. Sola scripture. Only scripture. The Bible is God's Word to us. It is how He has spoken and speaks to us. It's by His Word. We must look to it to see what it says about church leadership. Today we come to a well-known passage that covers this in particular. We are going to talk about the only two offices of the church. I Timothy 3:1-13 covers both overseers and deacons. Let's pray and see what God has for us today.

PRAY

Paul had just spent time dealing with some of the issues in corporate worship which had to deal with women not operating in roles they were not designed for to now laying out who should have the authority to teach in the church and who is appointed to serve the church.

Upon a first reading of these verses, you will likely notice that what God uses to qualify a leader is not mainly competency at a task. It is mainly character qualities. In fact, in the first seven verses covering elders, there is only one point that could be considered a competency. The others have to do with the character and heart of the man. Here we find that the priorities of church leadership are very different than those of the world.

The first of the two offices of the local church is elder. Certainly I won't be able to say everything there is to say about elders or deacons for that matter in these few minutes together this morning. But my hope is that you will find a better understanding of who should serve and ways you can pray for those who serve the church.

I. Elders (v. 1-7)

The terms elder, pastor (shepherd), and overseer are all used to describe the same office of the church in the New Testament.

Elders are gifts of God to the church to lead by example and teach, shepherd, and edify the saints.

It is a noble task... to desire it is actually a good thing...

SHOW CHART GRAPHIC HERE

Each of these could rightfully be its own sermon:

Above reproach - governs the rest of the qualifications really… criticism won’t stick because it doesn’t find a foothold. Won’t discredit the gospel message.

Husband of one wife - a one woman man. Faithful in marriage.

Sober-minded

Self-controlled

Respectable

Hospitable

Able to teach - Not necessarily preach. Has the skill to refute false teachers and protect the church from false teaching or unsound doctrine. Ready to bring the Word to bear on the lives of church members.

Not a drunkard

Not violent but gentle

Not quarrelsome

Not a lover of money

Manage his own household well, care for God’s church

Keeping his children submissive

Not a recent convert

Well thought of by outsiders

Elders are not perfect but are men of high character.

Certainly not going to be able to say everything there is to say about elders and deacons in these few minutes this morning

God has given them to the church as gifts

Ephesians 4:11–14 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Account to be given for how we do our job

Hebrews 13:7 ESV

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Church led in the word and prayer by elders/pastors/overseers

In Acts 20, Paul addresses the elders at the church in Ephesus. In his words we can see what their responsibilities were as elders.

Acts 20:28–31 ESV

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Responsibilities of Elders/Pastors:

1. Lead under the authority of Christ.

2. Care for the body of Christ.

3. Teach the Word of Christ.

4. Model the character of Christ.

Edify through example and exhortation accountable to God - Duncan

Man of prayer - I Timothy 2:8

1 Timothy 2:8 ESV

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

Ligon - Jesus doesn't give gifts that we don't need.

I shouldn’t be the only one. Plurality. Accountability. Help. Counsel. Shoulder to shoulder in the foxhole.

Lay elders and staff elders.

Both are pastors. Eldership is a pastoral role.

Here are some questions to ask about a man who would be a potential elder. These come from the Exalting Christ Commentary and are derived from I Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4.

In His Personal Life

• Is he self-controlled?

• Is he wise?

• Is he peaceable?

• Is he gentle?

• Is he a sacrificial giver?

• Is he humble?

• Is he patient?

• Is he honest?

• Is he disciplined?

In His Family Life

• Is he the elder in his home?

• If he’s single, is he self-controlled?

• If he’s married, is he completely committed to his wife?

• If he has children, do they honor him?

In His Social/Business Life

• Is he kind?

• Is he hospitable?

• Is he a friend of strangers?

• Does he show favoritism?

• Does he have a blameless reputation (not perfect but above reproach)?

In His Spiritual Life

• Is he making disciples of all nations?

• Does he love the Word?

• Is he a man of prayer?

• Is he holy?

• Is he gracious?

Know, teach, and obey the Word.

II. Deacons (v. 8-13)

Deacon is a different role with similar qualifications.

Dignified

Not double-tongued

Not addicted to much wine

Not greedy for dishonest gain

Clear conscience

Tested

Blameless

Husband of one wife

Managing children and household well

Deacons serve the physical needs of the church and through their love and mercy show the congregation what it means to love one another tangibly.

Differences in qualifications for elders and deacons.

v. 11 issues -

Word for Wife, Wives, Woman

Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary 1135. γυνή

γυνή

Transliteration of the Greek word is:

Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary 1135. γυνή

gynē

gynē - Phonetic pronunciation: goo-nay’

Goonies never say die.

Servants of the physical needs of the church - not leaders in the sense of a board.

Not one side of the congress like the house and senate. They are under the oversight of the elders, not the other way around.

Through deeds of love and mercy show the congregation what it means to love one another in tangible ways. - Duncan

Lead in deeds of service

Three responsibilities of a deacon:

Meet needs according to the Word.

Support the ministry of the Word.

Unify the body around the Word.

Questions to ask of a potential deacon:

Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus Questions

• Is this person honorable?

• Is this person genuine?

• Is this person self-controlled?

• Is this person a sacrificial giver?

• Is this person devoted to the Word?

• Is this person faithful? (not perfect, but morally pure)

• Is this person honoring Christ in the home?

• What about women?

Generally look for a man who is already doing these things.

Already serving in diaconate ministry even without the title.

III. Faithfulness and not flashiness.

Qualified leadership has more to do with faithfulness and nothing to do with personality traits.

We tend to be drawn to big personalities. We see the flashy and we want it. The issue here is that we never see God pointing us to the flash in the pan leader but the proven, qualified guys, who know they are nothing without the gospel. There is a humility to be found in the admonition to “preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”

Not driven by the leadership models in the world.

Captive to the Word of God.

These qualities, other than teaching are expected of all Christians.

Our aim: faithfulness

How we have moved on this: Our constitution that was approved unanimously moving us to a plurality of elders/pastors

Jesus governed, elder led, deacon served, congregational

Be faithful

As you see men who qualified for this position and who are already doing this kind of service, point it out to me. I don't know everything. I'd like us to move forward with appointing more elders and more deacons.

# Conclusion: Practical Application for the Church

How things have currently played out... leaning on our deacons but we don't want them to operate in a wrongly ordered way.

Staff elders/pastors

Lay Elders/pastors

- Teach

- Lead

- Model - Most of these qualifications should be true of all Christians.

- Pray

Elders and Deacons working together for the benefit of the church of Jesus Christ.

Challenge:

Most of these qualities are not unique to elders or deacons, but should be true of all believers (with the exception of teaching).

Pray

Watch

Follow Godly leadership - Be thankful for the good gifts God has given the church to edify, protect, and lead her.