Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Introduction

A. The section we are going to study this morning follows naturally from what Paul told Timothy in chapter 2.

He told Timothy his expectations regarding how men and women have been given certain roles and how these roles need to be approached with submission, humility, and a concern for others.

In chapter three, Paul gives us the key examples that God’s people have of those who meet these kind of qualities, those who submit their lives to the Lord in fulfilling the role of an overseer.

B. Paul also, in chapter 2 talked about, regarding women, how he does not permit them to hold authority over men, so now in chapter 3, we are shown the kind of men who the Spirit chooses to fulfill this important role of an overseer.

II.

Other words used to describe an overseer

A. Overseer/bishop, depending on your translation, is the word Paul uses in , but there are other words used to describe the roles of the overseer, such as shepherd/pastor, or elder/presbyter.

B. The word ‘overseer’ speaks of his role of supervision and authority; ‘elder’ of his maturity and experience, and ‘pastor/shepherd’ refers to his feeding and caring for the sheep/the church they watch over.

All of these words are talking about the same position

1.

The pastor is not the same thing as the preacher/evangelist in the New Testament, even though the terms are often used interchangeably today.

III.

Paul’s 2nd “trustworthy saying

A. Cf 1:15 à "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."

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B. It is admirable that someone wants to take on such a responsibility among God’s people.

It is a good work, or a noble task, that is desired.

We see in this that those who want to become an elder eagerly want to do the work that is associated with the job.

This is not a position that we just give someone to show them honor.

It is service… It is hard work.

And it is a good thing to aspire to do this kind of work among God’s people.

C. But the church does not just put the men who desire this work into the position just because they desire it.

And so, beginning in verse 2 he begins to list the qualifications to show that this aspiring man is qualified and that God wants him to be in this position.

It's one thing to seek this, it's something else to be qualified to receive it.

D. Knowing these qualifications (all of them) will guard the church from putting someone into this role who is not well suited for it.

IV.

Preliminary Observations

A. THESE CHARACTER TRAITS DO NOT APPEAR “OVERNIGHT”.

It takes time to mature in many of these areas.

Some Christian men may need to work harder on some compared to others, but for the most part, someone is appointed an elder because they spent their whole life as a Christian working on growing and building their character.

It doesn’t come immediately

B. MANY OF THESE CHARACTER TRAITS ARE EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL CHRISTIANS.

No Christian should be greedy or covetous.

All Christians are commanded to be hospitable, temperate, and sober-minded.

These qualifications for the most part are things we all must be working on and growing in

C. THIS IS A PORTRAIT OF A MATURE CHRISTIAN HUSBAND AND FATHER.

Husbands and fathers, there is a standard in this passage that we need to be working to imitate.

We need to interact with our wives and/or children as these men described in this passage do.

We are commanded to love our wives.

We are commanded to bring up our children in the teaching and admonition of the Lord.

V.

The Qualifications: 4 Categories

A. One final point before we go through these qualifications: THESE ARE “MUST BE’S” TO BE QUALIFIED.

These two words show us that these qualifications are absolute necessities.

The men who desire this noble task must meet all of these qualifications at the present time to be appointed.

And they must continue to display them to be qualified for this good work

B. With this said, I would like to begin looking at these qualifications one by one.

These qualifications can be divided up into different categories.

We will look at them more topically instead of going straight through the qualifications in and divided them up into 4 different categories

1. Reputation

2. Household

3. Maturity

4. General Moral

C.

You certainly don’t have to agree with how I divided them up.

But Lord willing, we will look at two of these categories of qualifications today and the other two in a couple weeks.

D. “Reputation” Qualifications: This passage is book-ended with qualifications that in general talk about the reputation that a man has before the church and those outside of the church.

1. MUST BE BLAMELESS (v2).

This, I believe, is an over-arching qualification… It is a general qualification, and the specific examples of areas that this man needs to be blameless in are what follows in this passage.

This WORD does not mean that one lives a perfect life or is without sin.

It does not mean that he has sin in the past that you know of.

The question is: does he have sin that is is not dealing with in his life, to the point that a charge can be made against him.

The literal rendering of the word is “not apprehended;” or “cannot be laid hold of”… This is the kind of language that is used in the court of law… The idea is can you build a legitimate case against this man that will stand regarding sin in his life.

If charges can be brought up about sin that he is not dealing with or repenting of in his life, he should not be appointed.

a) And we are talking about sin… we are not talking in this qualification about differences in opinion… If you would handle a situation differently or would have done things differently in how you raise your kids, this does not necessitate there is sin involved.

We are talking about charges of sin against a man… can you look at this man and say, “He is guilty of committing a specific sin, is his life characterized as being guilty of specific sins?

Are there sins that he is not dealing with in his life…” If so, he should not be appointed.

And if the man is already an elder, than you have added to this the idea of having corroborating testimony from at least one or two witnesses to any accusation made against an elder (5:19-20).

2. GOOD REPUTATION AMONG OUTSIDERS (v7).

This not only applies to how his brothers and sisters in Christ view him, but also those who are outside of the church.

Every area of this man’s life needs to be affected by his relationship with Christ, not just the time he spends with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Often it is the case that those outside of Christ will judge the church by who they choose as their leaders and what their leaders say and do publicly.

E. “Household” Qualifications: These are often the qualifications that we put the most weight to often… These are more measurable.

But we need to be careful not to put so much emphasis on them that we forget the others which are equally important.

1. MUST BE THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE (V2).

This is probably the most debated out of all of these qualifications.

This language would rule out someone who practices polygamy, but it would also rule out a single man who has never been married; someone who is single

a) Many hold the position that only IF he is married, he must be a husband of one wife, and that this part of the qualifications does not apply if the man under consideration has not yet been married.

Keep in mind that Paul does not say IF he is married, he must be the husband of one wife.

This view reads into the text what is not there… a man, in order to be appointed, must be the husband of one wife.

b) But I believe there is more to this qualification than just being married or only being married to one woman.

These may be included, but I do think that the emphasis in these qualifications is the character of the man, and Paul is implying not only that he is married, but that he is faithful to his wife.

She has no rivals.

He is a “one-woman-man”…

c) This man should be an example to younger husbands of what it means to love your wife and to be faithful to the commitment that you made with her

2. QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE WIFE?

Many believe that 3:11 is giving qualifications of the wife of an elder or deacon that also must be met for them to be appointed.

a) This is a possibility, although it makes more sense in how the passage is structured that Paul may be giving qualifications for women deacons.[i]

This is debatable, and we don’t know for sure.

It is difficult to be dogmatic either way…

3. HOSPITABLE (V2).

He must not only be hospitable, but known as one who loves opening his home to visitors.

The KJV brings out the literal rendering best for this qualification.

It says he must be “given to hospitality”.

Literally, the Greek means “a lover of guests/visitors.”

He devotes himself to opening up his home and using it to serve others, and upon becoming an elder, should use his home as a place where he can spend time with those in his care.

4. MUST RULE HIS HOUSEHOLD WELL (V4).

An elder must be able to manage and control his own family because “if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” (v. 5, NASB).

Paul is showing us here that the family is in a sense a training ground for elders.

How he would guide, protect, and feed the flock can be seen in how he has shepherded his own family

a) He is to teach his children to be submissive and respectful.