1Tim 3:1-7
Getting the Most Out of Your Leaders
It is essential that every church understand what God expects out of
its leaders. In fact, it is essential that nations understand what
God expects and families understand what God expects. It is for that
reason that from time to time I preach on this topic.
It is amazing to me how much authority God has to men. You can speak
to me of Calvinism if you want, but I believe God has vested humanity
with a free will and allows him to make his own decisions. You and I
can take the freedom we have and do with what we want, but God gives
the choices.
In the Bible, there are a variety of leaders mentioned in the Bible.
1. \\#1Tim 3:8-13\\ Deacons - The word means "servant"; however,
the Bible deacons had more of God’s power on their lives than
pastors of this dispensation. Even so, the office of a
deacon has no authority. A deacon is one that the church has
vetted to be an official servant of the church.
2. \\#1Tim 5:17\\ - Elders, those who lead because they are older
and wiser. They are spoken of in this text as being
"rulers."
a. I don’t think they were preachers as much as just sound
men.
b. Although we do not call them "elders," or church has older
men that do lead in our church.
c. We just call them "old."
3. Bishops - The word means "overseer." Those called to handle
the Word and the people. If you have been called to handle
the Word, you have to have some authority to handle people as
that is what the Word does, direct people. In our churches
today, we typically call these assistants or associate
pastors.
4. Shepherd or Pastor - This would be the chief bishop. He would
be a preacher who had displayed power and wisdom of the Holy
Ghost.
5. Apostle - An office no longer in existence but when it was,
the apostles had authority even over the church.
6. Church - The highest worldly power is the church, the body of
Jesus Christ. The collected local body of believers, lead by
the Holy Spirit, and taught in the Word has the ultimate
authority to direct its affairs as God commands it.
In this section, Paul speaks of the qualifications first of the
bishops then the deacons. In truth, I think both the bishops and
deacons are held to the same standard. It seems to me that Paul is
merely restating for the deacons much of what he had said for the
bishops.
Let’s consider what kind of MEN these should be.
I. Gender qualifications
A. They should be men.
B. \\#4\\ If a bishop cannot have HIS own house and HIS children,
then he does not qualify.
C. \\#12\\ If a deacon cannot be the HUSBAND of one WIFE, then he
does not qualify.
D. I do not think it is a coincidence that Paul just finished
speaking about the role of women in the church BEFORE he
listed the qualifications of the leaders.
1. Neither is it a coincidence that the nouns Paul used are
masculine. (The Greek has masculine, feminine, and
neutral nouns.)
2. Paul was making a point in both of these sections that
women are not to be the leaders of the church.
E. I will say this again. It is not about ability, inferiority,
hatred on God’s part, or arrogance on man’s part.
1. It is that God created the woman to be man’s helpmeet, not
his leader—and God meant it.
2. It is the woman’s choice to obey God in this matter or
not. Many will not, but that is between the woman, God,
and whatever men who happen to get caught in between.
II. Experience qualifications
A. Two references, one for the bishop and a similar one for the
deacon.
1. \\#6\\ Not a novice; that is, not one recently saved or
just beginning his walk in Christ.
2. \\#10\\ One who is proved.
a. Proved means tested.
b. It is one who has walked with Christ long enough to
have learned some lessons and to have weathered some
battles.
B. In both of these offices, experience is required.
1. So is Paul saying before you can be a leader you have to
have experience as a leader?
a. No.
b. That creates an endless and useless cycle of
inactivity.
2. Paul is talking more about having experience in life with
Christ.
a. You need some experience walking with Christ through
some storms.
b. You need some experience in listening to Christ over
the world.
c. You need some experience in leading the lost to
Christ.
d. You need to have proven you can stay faithful in
adversity.
e. That your love for Jesus is more than just
superficial.
3. These are the most basic qualification for any position
within the church.
C. The church must take seriously the vetting of its leaders.
1. Men are being placed into the most influential positions
of the church who are guilty of false doctrine, adultery,
theft, and even abuse.
2. You cannot just sit at a table for an hour or two and
talk to a man about what he claims to believe.
3. You need to check him, looking for potential problems as
you do so.
a. This is the same type of relationship as a bride to
her husband.
b. You are calling a LEADER which implies you are going
to submit the entire church to this man’s leadership.
c. Find the problems BEFORE you call him.
4. What kind of checks should be done.
a. Character check - Talk to people who have known him.
b. Criminal check - Find out if any charges or
allegations have been made.
c. Content check - What are his beliefs.
d. You say, "Preacher, we did not do this to you."
Things have gotten a lot worse in 30 years.
5. All of this requires that the man being considered for
leadership have some EXPERIENCE in the service of Jesus
Christ.
6. If you cannot find 10 individuals who will give you a
glowing moral and spiritual report of the man you are
considering to be your leader, then pass on him until he
gets more experience.
D. This requirement is for the protection of all involved.
1. \\#6\\ It is for the protection of the inexperienced man of
God, lest he be overwhelmed in his position and be
devoured by the devil.
2. Today, it is for the protection of the church’s testimony,
direction, and people.
a. Churches are calling leaders who corrupt their
doctrine and their direction.
b. Some of the leaders are immoral and evil, hurting
individuals within the flock and destroying the
testimony of the flock.
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