Temperament and Disposition of Elders

1 Timothy  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  35:21
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1 Timothy 3:3.

Not Violent

Play-k-tase, It means someone who is a striker, or who lashes out quickly to those who would cross him.
This is placed directly after the command to no be addicted to wine for a reason.
People who are addicted to wine can have this type of reaction to people who do anything to provoke their wrath or dare do something that offends them.
If a man’s does not know how to have a disagreement with someone without completely losing his temper, he is not fit for eldership.
Remember elders are to be seasoned Christians who are held to the highest standard. But this doesn’t just apply to elders. This is for all those who would call on the name of Christ. We should not be those who are known speaking first with our fists.
There may come a time where physical force is needed and necessary. But that should be after we have exhausted all other options, not the first thing we jump to.
Another thing to understand that this play-k-tase doesn’t only apply to those who would lose their temper and punch someone in the face.
It also includes body shots.
It’s not limited to violence of the hands, it is also violence with words.
If some dares to do something to awaken your ire, and you do not have enough self control to restrain your tongue. This also a detestable action in the eyes of God.
Many times the violence that will be experienced within the walls of your home, is not a physical violence, but a verbal one.
People have enough control to not verbally assault their co-workers, they guy in the parking lot. But for some reason within the home, that is where we feel comfortable unleashing our fury.
The place that should be a sanctuary for the family, that’s where we choose to yell about the lego we just stepped on, or dinner not being done in time.
Do you want to have a home that honors God? Stop being verbally violent to your wife, your husband, or your kids.
And when you do mess up…because you will. Be humble enough to ask them for forgiveness.
When examining elders, it is important to look at their home life.
How do they act towards their wife or kids?
Passive aggressive behavior, is still violence
Just becasue you might be able to conceal contempt, and let it be manifest through indirect attacks, doesn’t make it any less detestable in the eyes of God.
When you are passive aggressive, you are still finding little ways to belittle someone, finding little ways to make them look bad. This is still a form of attacking, which would be a form of violence.
As we seek to grow in Christ, we should be seeking to forgive one another, and outdo showing mercy and grace to one another.

Quarrelsome

This is battling with words.
Your the person who whenever someone has a comment, you have a real zinger to come back with.
Sometimes, people just want to argue with you.
My wife has explained it before, “it doesn’t matter if I say the sky is blue, you will say no..it’s more of a light cyan.”
We are called to debate with one another, as iron sharpens iron, and there are times we need to stand for the truth.
We are not called to attempt to tear other people apart for the sake of always being right.
2 Timothy 2:23
Don’t get dragged into ignorant debates, when there is no point, and you know all you will be is angry!
We need to ask, why am I getting into this debate. Is it becasue God’s character has been violated and I need to stop the mouths of fools, or do I have a need to be right because of my pride.
I think some people need to stay off social media for this very reason!
X (twitter) can be horrible with this.
I’ve noticed that most of the time, it is Christians who are horrible to other brothers/sisters in the Lord!
1 John 5:1
1 John 5:1 ESV
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
Our love for the Father must bring about a love for one another.
Does it mean that we have to agree with everyone? By no means! But is there a love to other believers?
We must avoid these pointless debates, or, not get angry through them.
James 4:1
What is causing the fighting? Your passions!
Romans 6:12 tells us “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”.... “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
When we are quarreling…it’s a pride issue. We want others to know we are right.....some of you are out there thinking “no it’s not.” Your quarreling in your heads.
Someone who doesn’t quarrel, is one who is learning to be the master of his passions.

Gentle

We are to be gracious, kind, longsuffering with people.
A gentleman is one who refuses to be goaded into a fight.
Not becasue you don’t have an opinion, but becasue it isn’t worth dishonoring the name of Jesus, for the sake getting that right hook in, for the sake of being seen as vindicated in that debate.
A gentleman will yield wherever yielding is possible.
Not becasue you are weak, but becasue you know how to control your strength.
It makes me think of Aslan the lion in the chronicles of Narnia. The children ask if Aslan is dangerous. The beaver exclaims “of course he’s dangerous he’s a lion! But he’s good.”
It’s this beautiful picture of strength under mastery, only to be used when needed.
This is why being gentle means yielding whenever possible. You know you can win the fight, but choose not to fight in search of a better option.
This is an important trait for elders, becasue people are messy.
As a shepherd under the great shepherd, (King Jesus) they must be willing to gently, patiently, graciously lead sheep who are erring and sometimes exasperating.

Common Misunderstandings

Violence is always wrong

Many times people will look at this qualification for elders, and the idea will be that violence is always wrong.
As we discussed, it should not be an elders first course of action, but it doesn’t mean that it should never be used.
We live in a world that has evil violent people…in order to stop evil violent people, you need to have good men, trained in violence.
Psalm 144:1
Psalm 144:1 ESV
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
Psalm 18:34
Psalm 18:34 ESV
He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
God training men after His own heart to defend the weak.
Psalm 82:4
Psalm 82:4 ESV
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
God brings deliverance, and he performs miracles, but sometimes…many times, it is through ordinary means.
God brought judgement on the Canaanites, He used Israel to do it.
God brought judgement on Israel, he used Babylon to do it.
God brought judgement on Babylon, He used the Medes and Persians to do it.
Hebrews 11 tells us that God used Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and David. Men skilled in violence to bring about deliverance for their people.
In this Psalm, where Asaph is asking God to rescue the needy. Many times God will answer those prayers through ordinary people, who He has prepared for that time.
In 2017, 26 people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Baptist church in Texas.
There was another shooting in December of 2019, a gunman walked into West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas shot 2 people before a 71 year old volunteer on the security team shot the gunman.
The first shooting, there wasn’t someone there to stop the gunman.
The second shooting, there was a good man, who was skilled in violence.
He was dangerous, but he was good. And many lives were saved because of the providence of God.
Not only is it good for us to defend the innocent, but I would make a case that it is required.
Proverbs 24:10-12
Anyone can talk a big game. But on the day of adversity, what are you made of?
If you see others being taken away, being mistreated. And having the power and ability to help, you do nothing.
God knows it, he will repay each according to his work.
Violence is sometimes needed, but we must make sure that:
The violence is manifestly inevitable.
If we have other options, have we exhausted those first.
Violence is not for revenge.
If it is after the incident, it is for revenge.
Our job is to defend, that means use force to stop the threat. Not using excessive force.
When God speaks about leaders not being violent, it doesn’t mean violence is never the answer, but that a leader should know how to control his passions and is not know as someone who looses their temper.
If we have to use force, we must remember that the reason we use force, is not for a hate for what is in front of us, but for a love which is behind us.

Quarreling is Never the Answer

As believers, we don’t want to quarrel over trivial issues…but there is a time and a place to stand for the truth.
We have to say this, becasue we live in a time where Christians are being told, “your supposed to be gentle. Your not allowed to dispute or tell people they are wrong.”
With the opening ceremony for the Olympics, I saw Christians on two sides. One said this is wrong. The other side said, I can’t believe you are criticizing the unsaved.
Though we don’t want to get carried away into meaningless quarreling and we must use discernment when we do get into discussions. It isn’t always meaningless.
“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” -John Calvin
We must hate evil
Proverbs 8:13
Proverbs 8:13 ESV
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Do you desire to be wise?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
What does it mean to fear the lord?
Having an awe, a respect, a love for the holiness of God.
Begin with learning what is good to hate.
What does the Lord hate?
We must recognize evil for what it is.
Evil must be rebuked
When Herod took his brothers wife, John the Baptist didn’t say, “well that’s probably not right, but you can live as you want to live.”
Mark 6:18
Mark 6:18 ESV
For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
John confronts the sin, addressing Herod and telling him his fault.
People from Crete had a reputation of being lazy, gluttons, and liars.
Paul doesn’t say, “it’s okay, they’ll figure out the truth in time. They are babies in the faith, let them grow at their own pace.”
Titus 1:13
Titus 1:13 ESV
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
Rebuke them!
When Peter was being led away by hypocrisy. Paul says:
Galatians 2:11
Galatians 2:11 ESV
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Paul called him on the carpet!
What about Jesus
What did Jesus say when Peter tried to stop Him from going to Jerusalem?
“Get behind me Satan.”
That sounds like a rebuke to me.
He called the Pharisees “white washed tombs, and sons of the devil.”
There is a time and a place for confrontation, what some would see as quarreling.
Like all things, we must proceed with wisdom.
Ask “am I quarreling for something that doesn’t matter becasue of pride, or am I standing up for something that matters.” Like the character of God, or your husband, wife kids.
Elders,
Should not be people who get angry easily, and quickly move to violence.
They should not be that person, who is always in a disagreement with everyone around them.
They must be gracious, gentle, and merciful.
Lovingly leading the people that God has placed in their care.
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