Making of Leadership for God’s People
1 Tim. 3:1-7
God has a vested interest in the leadership of the church. He has always been directly involved and deeply concerned about those who lead his people. Think of the earliest great biblical leaders. The first one that comes to my mind is Moses. From birth God watched over this man and put him through 80 years of training before calling him to lead his people. Now that’s preparation! He was schooled in Egypt and humbled in the Midian desert, and from there he was called to lead. He tried to resist the call, but God didn’t let him off the hook. Moses was perhaps the greatest Old Testament leader for God’s people until Jesus came. But there are many other unsung leaders in the Old Testament whose names we do not even have. They are often referred to as elders of the people. These men were the stabilizing guides of the communities of God’s people. They are often seen sitting at the gates of the cities to dispense wisdom and help manage the affairs of the people. They witness legal exchanges and announced God’s blessings and sometimes God’s warnings. They were representatives of the community, civil leaders, referred to as shepherds and sometimes served as military advisors. It is not surprising that when we come to the New Testament and read about the leadership of the church we discover that God calls the leaders of his church by the same names.
Today we are looking at the most commonly known part of the book of 1 Timothy, the part that talks about the overseers and deacons. These verses, plus the list in Titus 1, form the basic qualification list for these leaders. When I was a kid and the church would from time to time prepare to select and install elders and deacons, the preacher always preached from these verses. I remember that it was a sort of right of passage. We were people of the Book who did our best to obey what God said. May God bless us that we will always be people of the Book, people who honor and obey the Word of God and live and die by what God says in the Bible. God’s Word about God’s kind of leaders for God’s people… this is such a great blessing. God has laid it out for us in plain language so that we don’t have to guess about what He wants in leadership.
As we look at this passage in 1 Timothy 3 I will focus most of my lesson on verses 1-7 and we will notice the making of leadership in ten words that all begin with the letter “M.” I did this to help with memory. This might make it a more memorable message. You can follow with the handouts.
The first “M” is Motivated:
3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
This word translated in the NAS as “aspires” (or some translations say “desire” or “sets his heart on”) is only found three times in the New Testament. Here and in 1 Tim 6:10 and in Hebrews 11:16. Different people are motivated by different things. In 1 Tim 6:10 money is the motivation. In Hebrews 11:16 heaven is the motivation. So what is the motivation behind the desire for the office of overseer? He doesn’t tell us directly here, does he. It just says that it is a noble task or fine work that he is motivated to do. But in the context of the entire book we see the motives of love for God and for his church as central. In fact, remember chapter 1:5? The goal of gospel instruction is this: love from a pure heart, and a good conscience and a sincere faith. A heart shaped by the gospel in this way would see the need of God’s people for leadership and be motivated by God’s heart for God’s people. But leadership must be motivated.
Next, and this one is obvious to us: these leaders must be Men. “Men” is your second “M.” Is anyone surprised? This text follows on the heels of what he says about women. God expects men to take the lead. When men sit back and leave gaps in leadership, women notice and naturally desire to see these filled. Sisters, you can really help us here by praying for and encouraging our men to take their God given responsibility and lead. When men do this, it blesses everyone! God has given this church so much talent and several gifted brothers in Christ who can serve the cause of Christ and this church by aspiring to leadership.
Third is another obvious one is “Members.” The leadership comes from the membership. Think about this with me. Elders are not hired to come in after preaching a lesson. They have to prove themselves as one of us. We used to have goats… milk goats. Jenny and our kids loved these goats and we had more milk than we could use. But the best part of the milk was the cream that would rise to the top. Cows milk cream rises much better. It’s a shame kids these days don’t get to experience this. The milk all comes out together, but the cream rises to the top. Similarly, God has established his church so that the shepherds and leaders come from the congregation and rise to the positions as members. But church members are not the only ones who notice the quality of life in the man. Look at verse 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. This is a member who is known by those who are not members as a man with high standards. He proves himself in three key places. Home, Church, and community.
We don’t recruit elders from other congregations, do we? I’ve tried to find out if that is unbiblical and I can’t put my finger on a verse that indicates that it is, but I’ve never heard of it being done. God has always made it necessary that his leaders were also members of God’s people. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus was also a member of the community of God’s people? Members understand the weaknesses and strengths of members. Jesus shared our humanity and understands us so that he can be our high priest and ultimate leader.
The fourth “M” is “Multiple.” In God’s word, there is never a single pastor over a church. Always pastors. There is never a single elder over the church. Always elders. A preacher serves under the oversight of the elders, or pastors of the church. While I came here, hired, by the elders for the ministry of preaching and teaching the Word and serving this church in ministry skills, churches don’t appoint just one elder to handle the ministry of shepherding the flock. Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Notice carefully, “elders,” plural, “in every church,” singular.
This verse and the other examples we have in the New Testament demonstrate that there were always two or more elders in each church. This way they could do as Paul said to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Elders are to oversee each other. No one man is to have the full weight of leadership over any church.
The fifth “M” is “Married.”
2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
Now, here’s Paul, the unmarried Apostle, and he’s saying that an elder who serves in the church is to be the husband of one wife. The words here are literally “a one woman man.” This is more than just married once. This is a guy who isn’t a ladies man. He’s happily married to one woman and likes it that way. There are men who are married to one wife who would not qualify because of their attitudes toward other women, much less if they have been married multiple times. Somebody always asks, “Well, what if his wife dies?” 1 Timothy 5:9 is helpful here. Of widows it says (literally), “a one man woman.” The words, “having been” are not in the original text. It is obvious that it is past tense, since she is a widow! But she is to be the wife of one husband. It is the same idea as the elder who is the husband of one wife. Again someone asks, “Can he remarry and still qualify?” And here I can only give my opinion, which I won’t in this lesson.
Next is “Managers.”
This one is tied to marriage. Look at verses 4-5: 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity
5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?); This word for manage, can mean “rule” or “lead” or “engage in.” It is found 8 times in the Bible and six of those are in 1 Timothy and Titus, three times in reference to the man’s role in the home. This is a word that carries authority. A big debate recently raged over whether elders had any authority or not. Part of the problem was over the misuse of authority of elders. Managers is a good description for the work of authority given to elders. Look at Titus 3: 8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. And also: 14 And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful.
Do you see those words “engage in?” That’s the same word for “rule” or “manage” here in 1 Timothy 3:4-5. You can’t rule what you are not engaged in! Father’s can’t rule their children if they are not engaged in their lives. Oh, you can tell them what to do! You can force your will on them. But you will never have the rule in their hearts and lives until you are willing to engage in their lives. This also applies to elders. Elders must engage in the lives of the members of the church to rule! Elders can’t just go back and make decisions for the congregation and rule or manage the church unless they are engaged in the lives of those they rule and manage.
Many churches are stifled by elders who understand their authority to mean that nothing can be done without their awareness and approval. Just imagine the apostles trying to do that in the first chapters of Acts! The church would never have grown past 500. Let’s look closely at verse 5. This word “manage” is compared with another word translated, “take care of.” See it there? If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he “take care of” the church of God? So you have “manage” compared to “take care of.” Do you see that? This word occurs only three times in the Bible, the other times are both in Luke 10. Listen to them: 34 and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 "And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ’Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ What does “take care of” mean in this context? With this in mind, the authority of the elder is to “take care of” the church. This pictures a beautiful work of the eldership. One of their specific biblical works is to go to and pray for the sick. Remember James 5?
Elders must be aware of important matters, but lets face it, how can a few men know everything that goes on in a congregation.
The seventh “M” is “Mature.”
Look down at verse 6 and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. Some translations say, “novice.” The word is neophutos… or: neophite. One who is newly planted would not qualify for eldership. Just look at the danger involved. Religious authority demands spiritual maturity. As we just saw, this maturity is built, tested and proven in the home. I remember one time in Lancaster, NH, we had just bought a Lutheran church building that was only 13 years old. Inside was a single room shaped like an octagon. In the center there were kneelers where the members came forward and take communion. Joe and JoAnne Spencer visited us there about 20 years ago. Well, when we bought the place we took the kneelers apart and made stairs from them to get into the baptistry. I remember a wonderful spiritual elder from Franklin, Tennessee from one of our supporting congregations and who was visiting once and I was explaining this to him. He very thoughtfully said, “Yes, we don’t teach our people to kneel, do we.”
It takes time and experience in the kingdom to reach the maturity required of an elder. God will use your experience at home to help you grow to maturity. Not everyone makes it. Some of you sitting here today need to be praying and considering this noble work.
Number eight is “Moderate.”
Just look at the list of adjectives used to draw the picture of the character of an elder. Moderation seems to be a helpful summation. He’s not an extremist. Look at verse 3.
3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money.
He has the wisdom to live an even lifestyle in godliness and holiness.
Number nine is “Messenger.”
Here is a man who handles the word of God with skill and shares it faithfully and carefully with the people of God. His life is lived by it and his mouth is filled with it and the church benefits from it. The two great priorities of the leadership of God’s people are these: The ministry of the word of God and prayer. Look at chapter 5: 17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
Finally, lastly, “Mentor.”
I think of my friend Johnny Foust. He was a son of an alcoholic and headed in the wrong direction fast when an elder of the church took notice of him and began to nurture a relationship with him. Foust did a complete turn around. I think of C.G. Griffith and his influence on several of our young people here. Jim Siler who we had to pry out of teaching the youth class. Bob Mayes who took a bunch of kids dove hunting, Richard Carmack who has gone camping with our youth.
Making of Leadership for God’s People
M________ (1 Tim. 3:1, 1:5)
M________ (1 Tim. 3:1-7)
M________ (1 Tim. 3:7)
M_________ (Acts 14:23, 20:28)
M_________ (1 Tim. 3:2, 5:9)
M_________ (1 Tim. 3:4-5, Luke 10:34-35)
M_________ (1 Tim. 3:6)
M_________(1 Tim. 3:3)
M_________(1 Tim. 3:2, 5:17, Titus 1:9)
M_________(1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9)
