Godly Leadership Series

1 Timothy: From the Preacher to the Christian. .

Godly Leadership requires:

A. Godly Elders. (Slide #2, Click 1)

Being an overseer:

A noble task, it’s not for everyone.

Deserves respect (verse 1)

Demands desire. “Sets his heart on” (verse 2)

The only reason to want to be an elder

is because your heart is in it.

Elders were paid, heartfelt desire is

required, not love for power or money.

Before looking at the characteristics of a godly elder, let’s look at the responsibilities:

Teaching

Leading out as an example of righteousness

Protecting

Discipling

Comforting

Providing security

Soothing the troubled

Forgiving

Handling disputes

Evaluating weaknesses

Selecting and delegating responsibilities

Helping the grieving

Reminding people of God’s word

Counseling

Ministering to the sick

Evangelizing

Characteristics:

Above reproach (Verse 2)

This phrase translates “nothing to take hold upon”

There should be nothing in his character or conduct that would discredit his commitment to God

Some have mistakenly thought that this means the man seeking to be an elder must not have

anything in his life for which others could criticize him.

But even Jesus was not able to live like this. If he had been, he would never have been crucified.

there was a time when it was considered a sin for an elder to:

To have a pool table in his home

To attend a movie at a theater

To be up front in a colored dress

shirt, only white

To change the order of the worship service

To do any work on Sunday

Husband of but one wife:

Greek literally reads “one woman man.”

Some take this as:

Must be married at time seeking overseer

(man who’s wife died is not eligible)

Can only have been married once

(divorce at any time in life- disqualifies)

Can only have been married once after becoming a Christian

Here is the problem with these takes- you must apply the same standard to all the characteristics as you do to this one. If you say a man who has been divorced cannot serve, then you must say a man who has been at any time in his life a lover of money, or a lover of wine, or quarrelsome, or violent at any time, he Is ineligible.

Also a man could be married to the same woman for 50 years and not necessarily be a “one woman man” he could be unfaithful, or he could just be mean or disrespectful or abusive to his wife, and that certainly is not a man who would make a good elder.

I believe the safest take is to take the Greek as it reads- “one woman man.” A man who loves wife and lives with her in a marriage that not only honors God but sets an example for those in the church and in the community.

Temperate

A man whose mind is focused

A man who keeps his head and cool when others are losing theirs.

He does not jump into the middle of controversies, but keeps stays calms and focused

Self-controlled

He can walk through a life and world filled with temptations, and yet keep his life under control.

He makes his body a slave to himself, rather than allowing himself to be a slave to his body.

Jesus in the garden- chose commitment rather than feeling.

The man seeking to be an elder will have to be controlled by commitment not by:

Culture, media, peers, fear, crowds,

tradition, criticism

Respectable

A man’s outward conduct that comes from an inner character of commitment to Christ

Where temperate and self-controlled describe inner character, respectable focuses on the

outward appearance and conduct.

Our word for cosmetics comes from this Greek word. Cosmetics do two things:

Cover things up

Reveal what is already there

Hospitable

Literally “a lover of strangers”

Friendly, warm, and attentive to others

People feel at ease around him

A friend

In our high tech impersonal culture, it is vital that the church has men as elders who are friendly

and welcoming to visitors and outsiders.

Able to teach

Not just head knowledge, but the ability to convey that to others. God has blessed us greatly.

Convey God’s word in a way that leads spiritual growth in others

Not given to drunkenness (Verse 3)

Jewish people watered down their wine to make sure it was not too strong, but because of

impurity in water, wine was used for totally different reasons then than it is now.

To set an example- total abstinence to alcohol is probably safest for the elder

Not violent, but gentle

Doesn’t go looking for a fight, can instruct or even correct with gentleness and love in a way that

leads to repentance and the truth

Not quarrelsome

He can disagree with others, without animosity or grudges. He knows- in opinion liberty, and in