INTRO.- ILL.- When the Methodist minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "That was an experience, how do I learn from it?"
When the Catholic priest falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "I must have done something really bad to deserve that."
When the Presbyterian minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "That was inevitable, I’m glad it’s over."
When the Baptist minister falls down the stairs, he picks himself up and says, "Which one of my deacons pushed me?"
And when the Christian minister fell down the stairs, he did what? He said what ? What would you say he said or did?
Baptist pastors have deacons who serve as the church board. Presbyterians have their elders and also deacons. Methodists have elders and deacons or so I have read. They also have a resident bishop. Christian churches have their elders and deacons and we’re supposed to have only one Lord!
I have a Baptist pastor friend in Southern IL who says that some Southern Baptist pastors have all authority in their churches. It certainly doesn’t work that way in most non-denominational Christian churches!
ILL.- In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
In some churches there may a big-fisted leader who runs the church with pressure, force or coercion. They may be like Diotrephes of III John 9-10 who loved to be first.
Regardless of whether it’s a Baptist Pastor or Christian Church preacher, all must learn to work together with their church leaders.
ILL.- In 1886 Nevada had a state fair. They decided to have a contest among mule teams to see how much they could pull. The first place team pulled 14,000 pounds. The second place team pulled 13,000 pounds.
Someone said, "I wonder how much they could pull together? Could they pull 27,000?" They hitched up both teams and together they pulled, not 27,000 pounds, BUT 35,000 POUNDS!
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
PROP.- Paul gives directions about appointing elders in churches.
1- An elder is a family man
2- An elder is a trustworthy man
3- An elder is a blameless man
4- An elder is a spiritual man
I. AN ELDER IS A FAMILY MAN
6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
ILL.- I read that in 1978, Thomas Hansen of Boulder Colorado, sued his parents for $350,000 on grounds of "malpractice of parenting." Mom and Dad had botched his upbringing so badly, he charged in his suit, that he would need years of costly psychiatric treatment.
Crazy. There are no perfect parents in our world but obviously, we should want to do the best we can in raising our children to adulthood.
I can look back and see where my parents made many mistakes and I, too, made many mistakes in raising my children. However, our children often turn out well in spite of us rather than because of us. BUT THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT ANY PARENT SHOULD THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND AND NOT WORK AT PROPER PARENTING!
If anyone should work at parenting their children it should be Christians! And church leaders (preachers, elders, deacons, teachers) should lead in this.
The husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
The elders should be married and a one woman man. And his children should be believers and not a bunch of wild children.
And I guess you know why that preacher’s kids are often so bad? It’s because they run around with elders’ kids!
Seriously, if a man can’t do a decent job of raising his own kids he doesn’t have any business being a leader or elder in the church. This doesn’t mean that once they’re grown and gone that their behavior reflects on you.
It does but not in the sense of being a church leader. There are many fine Christian people whose kids have chosen the wrong path after they left mom and dad. And moms and dads are only responsible for their behavior while they are in the home.
ILL.- Dr. G. Campbell Morgan testifies: “One day my father came to our house after I married and looked around. We showed him every room. Then he said in his usual rough way ‘Yes, it is very nice, but nobody will know walking through these rooms whether you belong to God or the Devil.’ So I went through and looked at the rooms again and found him quite right.”
He decided that no room in our house would be without some message to tell that we served God. Does your home and family belong to the Lord? And can people tell? Can people tell by your behavior and your families’ behavior? This is the most telling thing.
An elder should be a strong family, devoted to his family and devoted to instilling Christian principles in the children.
II. AN ELDER IS A TRUSTWORTHY MAN
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
This verse speaks of trustworthiness to me. He can be trusted with God’s work: to be the best and to do the best.
ILL.- Someone said there are three kinds of workers. For example, when a piano is to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool. What kind of worker are you? My back hurts so I’ll have to grab the stool!
Seriously, do we want workers or shirkers as leaders in the Lord’s church?
ILL.- I remember well when a preacher friend said a neighboring church near him could never find their preacher when he was needed. My preacher friend said, “I know where he is. He’s always at the local swimming pool, sunning himself.”
Now what church would want a preacher like that? What church would want an elder like that? What church would want an elder or a preacher who never did his duty?
What is an elders’ duty in the Lord’s church? He should be servant to all since Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.
Seth Wilson said, “An elder is a servant of servants in a serving brotherhood of love.”
If anyone is sick he should call for the elders of the work. Elders should minister to the sick. And elder should be quick to shepherd the flock, pray for the flock, that is, for those who truly need prayer support. He should teach when given the opportunity. Of course, he should know the Word of God is he is going to teach. He should be a good example for the flock (I Peter 5:3). He should be concerned for the people under his car.
And elder should be a man who can be trusted to do God’s work in the church.
III. AN ELDER IS A BLAMELESS MAN
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
ILL.- A group of children were comparing home situations. The banker’s son said proudly, “My father gives me a dollar each week for being good.” The lawyer’s son said he received fifty cents. The widow’s son complained that he only got twenty-five cents. Then the preacher’s son spoke up. “My father’s a minister,” he stated matter-of-factly, “so I’m good for nothing.”
We don’t want any “good for nothing” children and we don’t want any “good for nothing” elders either! We want them to be good and good for something!
He must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
This pretty much says it all, does it not? We don’t expect an elder to be perfect but maybe near perfect but we do expect him to be working at his faith and it should show in his life and work.
ILL.- I had an elder in a church one time who had only one bad habit that I know of. He smoked cigars. It was a habit with him. Sometime later he even stopped that bad habit. But otherwise, he was a blameless man. He was a hard worker at his work. He was a worker at home and in the church. He was a Bible class teacher. He was quick to serve anyway he could. He didn’t drink. He wasn’t temperamental. He made an honest living and was not overbearing toward anyone. I would be proud to walk in his steps as he walked in the steps of Jesus.
An elder should strive to be as blameless as possible and that will only come as he works at his faith in Christ.
IV. AN ELDER IS A SPIRITUAL MAN
8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Self-controlled, holy, disciplined. He must hold firmly to the message of God. These words sound like a spiritual man, to me.
ILL.- In The Last Days Newsletter, Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "Nope, only babies."
There are no instant heroes--whether in this world or in the kingdom of God. And spiritual growth takes time. But it won’t happen without God’s grace and a knowledge of God’s Word.
II Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
An elder should be a spiritual man in the sense that he is growing spiritually in Christ. This means he should be a man who reads the Word of God, studies the Word, hides the Word in his heart, and lives by the Word as best he can. It means he should be a man of prayer because Jesus was a man of prayer.
It means he should point people to faith, because that’s what Jesus did while on earth. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. I would think any serious, sincere elder would want to do the same!
ILL.- I once knew an elder who drove a milk truck and delivered milk to grocery stores. This was back in the 1960‘s. This particular elder was so serious about his faith that he would tape a scripture verse to the inside of his truck windshield so he see it while driving. Why did he do that? HE DID IT SO HE COULD MEMORIZE THAT SCRIPTURE PORTION.
Memorizing scripture is definitely something that will make anyone for more spiritual.
Self-controlled, holy, disciplined. He must hold firmly to the message of God. That’s it. These are some of the things that an elder must work at it and the same goes for all who are in Christ. These are signs of spiritual growth in our lives.
CONCLUSION----------------------
Not only should an elder be this kind of man that this passage of scripture talks about, but also all Christians.
We all need to be family oriented, trustworthy, blameless as possible, and spiritual as possible. And this will only happen as we look to Him! The Lord is the author of all good in life and all good in our lives. TO HIM BE THE GLORY!
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
