Daily Bread
Daily Bread
1 Timothy 3
Overseers and Deacons
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
8Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
Observation:
Paul instructs Timothy on the type and quality of leaders that are desired for the task of building up the church. The two positions are often called “elders” and “deacons”. The word for “elder” is the same for “overseer”, and also the same word from which we get “bishop”. Yes, in the first century “bishops” did not play the role they play in traditional churches like Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican; but were people in the local church who acted as spiritual overseers.
The word “deacon” is the same Greek word that is used for the word “ministry”. The difference is that elders played more of the role of overseeing the church’s mission and teaching, and deacons were more overseers of particular ministry tasks or teams. Today we might call some one a “ministry team leader” for a deacon, or in our church “church council member” for “elder”. I’m sure our church council leaders would love to be called “bishop” next time I see them!
Importantly Paul goes to great length to describe the type of spiritual maturity and character necessary to be one of these two types of leaders. He obviously takes it very seriously, to the point of saying a “new believer” should probably not be put in one of these positions. It is interesting that for both positions Paul mentions that a test of their character is whether or not they manage their own family well. Indeed as parents our first ministry is to our family. If we cannot manage that responsibility very well, we probably should not consider being an elder or a deacon.
Application:
What this model assumes is a large burden of the functioning of the church falls on qualified lay leadership. It would be assumed that none of these people are paid, but would do this as volunteer ministry. Sometimes in the church we joke that we pick the first person for a committee who has a “pulse”. But this would suggest that we think carefully about those who we would appoint to these types of positions in our church whatever we call them.
And of course all of this assumes a certain type of maturity, as evidenced by the qualifications for each. Part of that would be that their private lives would not taint their serving in the church. This would mean that an important job for any pastor would be to identify these types of leaders and build into them (disciple them). Often as pastors we are so busy administrating programs, that we don’t have time to build into key lay leaders who God is calling to deeper levels of commitment and service as elders and deacons. It would be wise for us to stop this trend.
Pray about whether God is calling you to this type of service for our Lord and the Church. Talk to your pastor if you feel God is calling you into leadership. Start emulating these qualities and seek God in prayer and application of what He is guiding you to do and be through His Word. If the church did this well, I believe there would be tremendous power in our capacity to fulfill the Great Commission, which is our highest calling!
Prayer: God raise up leaders in churches who can serve you and serve their churches as elders and deacons, leading by example. Help pastors to spend time devoted to building up these men and women and equip them to be the leaders you have called them to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 Timothy 3
Overseers and Deacons
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
8Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
Observation:
Paul instructs Timothy on the type and quality of leaders that are desired for the task of building up the church. The two positions are often called “elders” and “deacons”. The word for “elder” is the same for “overseer”, and also the same word from which we get “bishop”. Yes, in the first century “bishops” did not play the role they play in traditional churches like Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican; but were people in the local church who acted as spiritual overseers.
The word “deacon” is the same Greek word that is used for the word “ministry”. The difference is that elders played more of the role of overseeing the church’s mission and teaching, and deacons were more overseers of particular ministry tasks or teams. Today we might call some one a “ministry team leader” for a deacon, or in our church “church council member” for “elder”. I’m sure our church council leaders would love to be called “bishop” next time I see them!
Importantly Paul goes to great length to describe the type of spiritual maturity and character necessary to be one of these two types of leaders. He obviously takes it very seriously, to the point of saying a “new believer” should probably not be put in one of these positions. It is interesting that for both positions Paul mentions that a test of their character is whether or not they manage their own family well. Indeed as parents our first ministry is to our family. If we cannot manage that responsibility very well, we probably should not consider being an elder or a deacon.
Application:
What this model assumes is a large burden of the functioning of the church falls on qualified lay leadership. It would be assumed that none of these people are paid, but would do this as volunteer ministry. Sometimes in the church we joke that we pick the first person for a committee who has a “pulse”. But this would suggest that we think carefully about those who we would appoint to these types of positions in our church whatever we call them.
And of course all of this assumes a certain type of maturity, as evidenced by the qualifications for each. Part of that would be that their private lives would not taint their serving in the church. This would mean that an important job for any pastor would be to identify these types of leaders and build into them (disciple them). Often as pastors we are so busy administrating programs, that we don’t have time to build into key lay leaders who God is calling to deeper levels of commitment and service as elders and deacons. It would be wise for us to stop this trend.
Pray about whether God is calling you to this type of service for our Lord and the Church. Talk to your pastor if you feel God is calling you into leadership. Start emulating these qualities and seek God in prayer and application of what He is guiding you to do and be through His Word. If the church did this well, I believe there would be tremendous power in our capacity to fulfill the Great Commission, which is our highest calling!
Prayer: God raise up leaders in churches who can serve you and serve their churches as elders and deacons, leading by example. Help pastors to spend time devoted to building up these men and women and equip them to be the leaders you have called them to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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