Servants in the Household of God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Proposition: WE SHOULD SERVE GOD
GOVERNING QUESTION: HOW?
FIRST, We should serve God by obeying His requirements (vv. 8-12)
SECOND, We should serve God by looking to His rewards (v. 13)
This passage is in the middle of 1 Timothy, a letter that Paul wrote to Timothy to help him in his pastoral ministry. The letter, then, needs to be understood in that context. It was written from a missionary/church planter, Paul, to the pastor of a local church, Timothy. Here in Chapter 3, Paul reviews the lists of important qualifications and requirements for the two officers of the local church - the elders and the deacons. Elsewhere in Paul’s ministry, he clearly outlines the presence of these two important church offices.
For example, in Philippians 1:1, Paul writes,
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
So there, there are three distinct groups that Paul is addressing: the saints, the overseers, (which are the bishops or the elders) and the deacons.
The section immediately before our passage - 1 Timothy 3:1-7 - deals with the list of qualifications and expectations for the overseers (or elders) of the church. And then, our section today deals the requirements and rewards for deacons. So, this section is specifically about the requirements for holding the office of elder and for deacon. But, before we get too far, you might be tempted to zone out. “Well,” you might think, “I’m not an elder or a deacon at my church.”
But, before you check out, I don’t think you can get off the hook so quickly. See, someone once said that the remarkable thing about the requirements for elders and deacons in the church is that they are not remarkable. The remarkable thing about the requirements for elders and deacons in the church is that they are not remarkable. They are remarkably not remarkable. They are not high and lofty and unattainable. They are within the reach of almost all mature Christians. Now, there is an important exception - the requirements that elders be able to teach and able to manage or rule the church. Those requirements are unique to elders and are not universally expected of all Christians.
But, as we will see in this passage, that doesn’t apply to the office of deacon. This section, though aimed specifically at deacons, has application to every single Christian.
Here, this passage teaches us WE SHOULD SERVE GOD.
HOW?
FIRST, We should serve God by obeying His requirements (vv. 8-12)
Explanation - What are those requirements?
First, We should serve God by obeying His moral character requirements (vv. 8-10)
(v.8) “dignified” - Dignity: worthy of respect, this carries a certain amount of seriousness in character. This one is not marked by cheap trivial giddiness or silliness. He is marked by a degree of honor and reverence in his daily walk.
(v.8) “not double-tongued” - Honesty: not hypocritical or insincere; you don’t say one thing to one person, only to say the opposite to someone else when they are not around. You mean what you say, and you say what you mean. That is countercultural! In a world in which you say whatever you need to to get ahead, God’s servants are not double-tongued.
(v.8) “not addicted to much wine” - the word lit. means “to take care of,” like in the role of a servant to his master. The idea is to not be mastered by or devoted to wine or any other substance. This is Self-control: not a servant of wine or any other substance; he should be marked by the desire to serve Christ and His church alone
(v.8) “not greedy for dishonest gain” - Contentment: not constantly seeking out more money or wealth, but being joyfully content with what God has already provided for you.
(v.9) “Must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” - Faith in Jesus: they must be a true and firm believer in the Jesus. This is shorthand for everything contained in the Gospel. They must be marked by genuine and mature faith in Jesus.
(v.10) “Let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.” Blamelessness: above reproach, the world and the church can’t throw serious accusations of faulty character your way. This is not perfection. This is a proven track record of a faithful and growing Christian.
Illustration - When you fill out a job application and submit your resume, what do you normally list? Work history, education history, relevant skills and achievements. Things that help the employer know if you have the experience or the skillset to accomplish the job at hand. Here, the resume that God is looking for is not a list of specific skills or work experience. In fact, there isn’t really a description here of what the deacon is even supposed to do. Instead, God is looking for who the deacon will be. What kind of character qualities does he have? Is he a moral man?
Application - As you compare your life to this list, how do you measure up?
If you do not have the gifts of teaching and leadership, what is preventing you from being a deacon? As you measure up your life against this list, do you see Christian maturity in your life?
Are you marked by dignity?
Are you marked by honesty?
Are you marked by self-control?
Are you marked by contentment?
Are you marked by faith in Jesus?
Are you marked by blamelessness?
First, We should serve God by obeying His moral character requirements (vv. 8-10)
Second, We should serve God by obeying His family character requirements (vv. 11-12)
Now, this is a pretty tricky section in 1 Tim. in the original language. Take a look at v. 11
(v. 11) “Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.”
Excursus on “Wives” v. “Women”
There are a couple things we should point out about the text.
First, the article “their” that is supplied in the ESV is not explicitly in the Greek text. Literally, it just says “wives.” It’s just the noun there.
Second, that noun is actually ambiguous and can mean either “wives” or “women,” depending on the context. Elsewhere in 1 Timothy, it actually means both in different places.
Third, if you read the requirements for this group of “wives” or “women” here in verse 11, the qualifications sound very similar to some of the same requirements in verse 8 for the deacons.
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not greedy…
11γυναῖκας likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
Fourth, if you read all of Chapter 3, you’ll notice that Paul talks about requirements for the office of elder, then uses the word “likewise” to switch to the office of deacon in verse 8. Then, we see here in verse 11 that we have another “likewise.”
So, what do we make of all this?
Well, there are good, faithful scholars who have wrestled with this text. Some scholars will put all of those observations together and have concluded that the best way for us to translate this word in the context of 1 Tim. 3 would be “women.” If we translated it as “women,” it would seem to suggest that Paul is actually listing qualifications for a third office, maybe the office of women deacons or deaconesses. After all, if Paul is listing offices in the church and separates them with “likewise,” we might have really good ground for seeing this verse as addressing an office of women deacons or deaconesses who were called to serve the church in a special way. And this position has a long history in Christian history, even going back to some of the early church Fathers, John Chrysostom in the 300s AD.
Now, I do believe that the New Testament does speak to the question of women deacons. In Romans 16:1, Paul addresses the Roman Christians and commends Phoebe to them. He calls her a “deacon of the church at Cenchrea.” It seems like the best evidence we have from the combination of Phoebe being a deacon of a particular local church and the early testimony of the early church demonstrates that Phoebe was a female deacon in the church. But there, Paul uses the masculine word for “deacon” to refer to Phoebe, a female, mostly because the feminine form of the word had not yet been coined. So, I think we do have 1 verse in the New Testament that explicitly demonstrates that a woman may serve as a deacon in a church.
However, I think the best way to understand this passage here in 1 Timothy 3:11 is by translating this noun as “wives,” and understanding them to refer to the wives of the deacons.
First, even though there isn’t a direct article, the context definitely implies that the women are closely related to the deacons.
Second, even though the noun is ambiguous and can mean both, the context here in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 is setting out the qualifications for male deacons. And, immediately after verse 11, Paul goes back to talking about the male deacons in vv. 12-13. If Paul all of a sudden shifted his attention to talk about a third church office, why would he abruptly switch back to talking about the last office and not give us any clues that that was what he was doing. The easier way to explain it is that Paul is talking about qualifications for male deacons and that part of his qualifications are that his home life match up with mature Christian character. Verse 11 says that his wife needs to be mature, because the servant nature of the task of being a deacon will usually require a team effort! Then, verse 12 talks about the deacon’s ability to love and lead his home well. Those two ideas go together very nicely.
Third, even though some of those qualifications for the “wives” are similar to the deacons, that shouldn’t surprise us. These are character traits that apply to all Christians - we should all be striving for Christian maturity, not just church officers.
So, because of that, again,
(2) We should serve God by obeying His family character requirements
(v.11) - Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things). If we are married, we need to do everything we can to support our spouse in the faith. The spiritual maturity and spiritual growth of our spouse has a direct bearing on how we can faithfully live out our calling to serve God.
(v.12) - “husband of one wife” - Faithful to his wife - - this is literally a “one-woman man.” This is a call for total and complete marital faithfulness in all areas of life. The faithfulness of the deacon’s wife won’t mean anything if the deacon isn’t faithful to his faithful wife!
(v.12) - Managing their children and their households well - Leader of his family. He is to be faithful to care for and be the leader in his home, just as all Christian men are called to and be. // Unfortunately, this requirement is sometimes neglected in churches. It is not an uncommon sight for a deacon of a church to act one way at church or at a deacon meeting, only to come home and be hypocritical, unloving, unkind, and unChristian in his family life.
Illustration - Last year, an 85-year old former Southern Baptist deacon was sentenced to prison after it was revealed that for years, he had molested numbers of little girls, including his granddaughter, in his church and in his extra-curricular tutoring ministry. The nature of his ministry along with his wife was bible study, tutoring, and general care. All good things. But during the course of the arrest and the trial, the former deacon said that he loved the victim and didn’t plan the abuse, but suffered from “uncontrollable impulse control.” Uncontrollable impulse control.
Friends, I won’t deny that this man can find forgiveness of his sins in Jesus. But I also refuse to deny that this man has brought inexpressible damage and unfathomable harm to numbers of little precious image-bearers. And this kind of story just illustrates what is at stake here. This urges us to serve God by obeying His family character requirements, someone who is faithful in his marriage. Someone who deeply and faithfully cares for and protects and leads his immediate family. And, by extension, cares for the family of God and cultivates a heart that would never allow for “uncontrollable impulse control.” No. God’s servants are commanded and instructed to be self-controlled, not impulse-controlled.
Application - (1) If you are a deacon in a church and you are living a double-lifestyle, where you act one way at church and are a completely different person at home, you need to repent. You need to confess your sin and make a change. Confess your sin to your wife, to your kids, and to your elders. Then, open up your life and humbly accept whatever correction needs to be made. Receive God’s discipline as ultimately for your benefit and for your good.
(2) If you are not a deacon, is your home life in such a state that it would prevent you from serving as a deacon? What specifically? Is it the spiritual maturity of your spouse? What are doing to come alongside them and support them and nurture them in the faith. Men, your wives are your first ministry. Care for them. What about your families? Are you leading your wife and kids well? Are you leading them by modeling Christlike humility and service?
So, this passage teaches us that: WE SHOULD SERVE GOD.
FIRST, We should serve God by obeying His requirements (vv. 8-12)
SECOND, We should serve God by looking to His rewards (v. 13)
Two rewards in this text
First, We should serve God by looking to the reward of a good standing.
(v. 13) “Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves”
Explanation - This means “a stage of spiritual progress” (BDAG)
Illustration - Think of a stage for a performance, where you see actors dressed up and performing and then at the end they all come together and take a bow. Now, in a play, the applause is directed toward the performers.
That’s not the kind of stage or standing that we are taking about here. Instead,
This is a more like a podium to display a piece of fine pottery, intricately shaped and molded by a master craftsman. You see, the display holds the pottery, but the pottery serves as an emblem of the skill of the master artst.
The same thing is true of faithfully serving as a deacon. Faithful Christian service displays not self-glory, but God’s glory. As a deacon, you will have an opportunity to publically adorn the gospel through your life and ministry. Your life will be an example of God’s grace and kindness to other believers in your church and even those who are not Christians in your sphere of influence.
Application - Do you look for the opportunity to publically display God’s glory in your life? If you’re a deacon, do you desire to occupy your office in such a way that many would see God through you? If you’re not a deacon, do you desire for God to provide other opportunities to display His grace in your life?
First, We should serve God by looking to the reward of a good standing.
Second, We should serve God by looking to the reward of a great confidence.
(v. 13) “Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”
Explanation -
“confidence” - courage, boldness, fearlessness (BDAG); used to describe Stephen and the apostles in their ministry in the book of Acts
“in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” - this is boldness to confidently express the truth of the Gospel in every context they find themselves in. Those who serve Christ as faithful deacons will be models of Christian maturity, and God will richly reward them with the confidence they need to serve as a faithful witness wherever they are. Faithfulness is rewarded with the capacity for greater faithfulness. That is the desire of every servant of God.
Application - What about you? Are you motivated by God’s promise that He will reward faithfulness with greater opportunities and power for faithfulness in the future? Or do you serve now hoping that you won’t have to serve in the future?
Conclusion -
This passage teaches us that: WE SHOULD SERVE GOD.
HOW?
FIRST, We should serve God by obeying His requirements (vv. 8-12)
SECOND, We should serve God by looking to His rewards (v. 13)
Illustration -