Sermon Tone Analysis

Do we have any Marine Corps veterans in here this morning?

Although there is a lot of joking that goes back and forth between branches of the Armed Forces, you have to admit that Marines

In 2011, the USMC adopted an updated evaluation form that is called the USMC Fitness Report.

“Fitness” here isn’t just physical fitness.

Instead, it is an evaluation of a Marine’s fitness for duty and leadership.

When you read through it, you quickly see that the bar for Marine conduct is set incredibly high.

After the commandant has filled out all the areas of the assessment, he is asked to rank the Marine in one of four tiers.

The highest tier, reserved for the best Marines, is referred to as, “Tier 1 - Eminently Qualified Marine”

Here is the description of what that Marine’s character will look like:

“Does superior work in all duties.

Even extremely difficult or unusual assignments can be given with full confidence that they will be handled in a thoroughly competent manner.

Demonstrates positive effect on others by example and persuasion.”

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The Marines who meet that criteria are the ones who are looked up to, the ones promoted, and the ones who prove themselves trustworthy in the heat of battle.

Now, what in the world does that have to do with us as believers, and what does it have to do with 1 Timothy?

We have said over and over again that every believer is called to join together with other believers and fight the good fight of the faith.

We fight against sin in our lives, we fight against false teachings, and we fight to see Jesus exalted in every corner of creation.

This morning, we are going to examine a passage that gives us some indication of what it looks like to be an eminently qualified Christian.

Eminently qualified for what?

For serving however and whenever God calls us to serve.

We are going to see five different categories we can use to evaluate our lives and see where we stand.

That particular passage is nestled in the middle of Paul’s other instructions to Timothy, so let’s put this in context first.

Read with me .

There is a key truth that pops up throughout this section: what we say has to line up with how we act.

This is especially true for those God has called to serve as elders/pastors, but every believer is called to encourage others around them to walk more closely with Christ.

We have the privilege of walking through life with each other, helping each other grow through our weaknesses and walk more closely with Jesus.

We cannot do that it if we aren’t living a life that backs it up.

Look back through this passage to see how Paul connects our life and our teaching...

This is especially clear in verse 16...

As you pray for me, for others God may call to serve as pastors/elders, and for anyone you know in ministry, pray that God will give us the wisdom to watch over everything we do.

That way, our teaching is God-honoring and leading others to salvation, and the way we live our lives backs up what we say.

Many a pastor has been shipwrecked by letting one area or the other go.

A pastor, then, must be an eminently qualified Christian.

That brings us back to verse 12, which is going to be our springboard for the remainder of our time this morning.

This is especially true for Timothy.

Apparently, there were some in Ephesus who thought Timothy was to young to take on the role he was fulfilling.

Instead of openly rebuking them for not respecting the authority God had given Timothy, Paul challenged him to live an exemplary life.

This is where we are going to draw our pattern for what it looks like to be an eminently qualified Christian.

Let’s be clear on this, though: you are not saved by making sure all these categories are in line.

In other words, you can’t use this as a checklist to say, “Well, I did all this, so I must be saved.”

In other words, you don’t become a Christian by first cleaning up your speech and your conduct and your love and your faith and your purity, and then you earn your salvation.

For you to be able to go to heaven, or to be right with God, by following this list, you would have to be able to check off every box and say that there has never been a time in your entire life that you didn’t completely honor God in every way.

None of us can say that, because all of us have sinned.

In a sense, you could

You can’t be saved by following this list because you can’t follow it on your own!

That’s why you need Jesus.

He died in your place and rose from the dead so that you could be covered by his righteousness and have a relationship with God based on what Jesus did, not what you can do.

You can’t be saved by following

He is truly the only eminently qualified person in all of history, and he offers you his goodness in place for your sin.

If you will turn to trust in him today, then you can have that relationship with God.

Once you enter into that relationship, you must then learn to live it out.

That’s what we are looking at today.

We cannot cover every nuance of everything it means to follow Jesus, but we can use these 5 areas as a guide to help us see what following Jesus looks like as it plays itself out in every aspect of our lives.

We cannot cover every nuance of everything it means to follow Jesus, but we can use these 5 areas as a guide to help us see what following Jesus looks like as it plays itself out in every aspect of our lives.

I want to challenge each of you to look at these areas prayerfully and see what needs to change in your life to help you be an example to others and an eminently qualified Christian.

First, you must set an example in...

1) Speech.

If you are going to be an eminently qualified follower of Jesus, then it has to impact the way you speak.

Scripture speaks over and over again about how important it is to watch what you say.

The book of Proverbs is full of admonitions to respond with gentle words instead of in anger.

It speaks of the wisdom of remaining silent or being a man or woman of few words, and many other statements like that.

James uses the tongue as a picture for the way we speak, and he says that the words you use have the power to build up or tear down.

In fact, the way you talk can make or break you.

However, let’s focus on quick New Testament passage that addresses the way we speak:

Okay, so I am not supposed to use four-letter or offensive words.

Check.

That is part of it, but look again.

The command here is bigger than just not using one of a list of foul words.

You are only supposed to say things that build up others.

That means not only is your language supposed to be clean, it is also supposed to encourage those you are speaking about and with to grow in their understanding of God as a God of grace.

How do you talk about your boss and your co-workers?

What about the other people in church or your spouse or your kids?

How do you talk to them?

Are you constantly nagging, or constantly reacting with anger and frustration, hoping to hurt them with your words like they have hurt you?

That isn’t the way we are called to speak!

When someone finishes a conversation with you, they should be built up, not torn down.

That doesn’t mean that you won’t occasionally say something that stings when you are talking about something that isn’t right, but it does mean that you seek to use words like a skilled surgeon uses his scalpel.

Surgeons don’t just go in with a butcher knife and start chopping around at things.

They go in as precisely as possible, inflicting as little pain as possible to deal with the problem.

Yes, there are times when you will need to confront in love, but in those moments, it has to come from a heart that desires for the person to be strengthened to move beyond that issue and walk closer with Jesus.

So, on a scale of 1-10, with 7 not being an option, how would you rate your speech?

Are you using words you shouldn’t or talking in patterns you shouldn’t?

Do people leave conversations with you and feel encouraged, or do they often feel torn down after encounters with you?

We are called to reflect Christ-likeness in our speech.

Not only that, we are also called to be Christ-like in our...

2) Conduct

When you hear “conduct”, you likely immediately think of whether you do good or bad deeds.

Again, like with foul language, that is part of it.

However, the picture here is a little bigger than that.

“Conduct” is best thought of as our manner of life.

It isn’t just a small subset of actions, but it is more about the way we live and act in everything.

As someone who claims to follow Jesus, your life ought to look different than the lives of those who don’t follow Jesus.

Let’s look together at a passage that helps us see the contrast.

Keep your finger in 1 Timothy and turn with me to .

Those who don’t know Jesus live lives characterized by these kinds of things.

Ultimately, all of that can get summed up under “idolatry”, because at its core, idolatry is putting anything ahead of God.

If you follow Jesus, though, the outworking should be what we find in verses 22-26.

Take a quick look at those two lists.

Which one best describes you?

If you want to be an eminently qualified believer, ready and equipped for everything God might call you to do, strive more and more to allow your life to reflect the fruit of God’s Spirit in you.

Let’s do this again…on a scale of 1-10, with 7 not being and option, how would you rate yourself, based off the standard of God’s word?