A HIGHER RESPONSIBILITY (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader.

1 Timothy 3:1-7, 5:22a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord calls everyone to serve Him and everyone means everyone. There are no exceptions. We all are purposed by Him to fulfill certain expectations He has for us and He equips us with the gifts needed to be successful. We all have a responsibility after that to carry out His will for us.

Let me say this in a different way.

We are all servants of the Lord Most High and so we should aspire to serve Him and others with our very best efforts, just as He always gives His best to us.

Now, we also need to know that while all are called to serve, some people are anointed and appointed by the Lord for higher levels of responsibility and in this message and the one after, we will look at the scriptures affirming this.

Look at today’s passage from the opening seven verses of 1 Timothy, chapter 3:

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

In some translations, you may find the word “bishop” or the words “church official” or “church leader” used instead of “overseer”. Regardless of the words used, the person here is the one who is pastoring the church in some official capacity. In fact, church pastoral search committees in churches will often use this passage of Timothy to set the qualification criteria for their open pulpit position. It makes sense if you think about it because all churches should want to be obedient to the word of God and the scriptures give very specific guidance on the character and spiritual life traits that the church leader should exhibit.

As should be with any leader of any organization, you want a quality person leading your organization and the church is no different. In our passage, we find the word of the Lord placing a very lofty expectation on the pastor as he was “to be above reproach” and “respectable” in his reputation and behavior. The Lord wants godly, righteous men to help church members come to godliness and righteousness themselves.

What would that godly, righteous man look like?

The scriptures answer that question for us for we read that the pastor should be faithful to his wife if married, temperate and self controlled in attitude and action, hospitable, able to teach others, not given to drunkenness, peaceful and gentle, avoiding violent or quarrelsome behavior, and not a lover of money. He also should manage his household well, respectfully raising his children up to be obedient. After all, if a man couldn’t manage his family, how could he ever properly oversee the life of a church?

Finally, the word of God tells us that the pastor shouldn’t be “a recent convert” and have a “good reputation with outsiders”. Leading a church into spiritual health and growth requires a mature pastor who is well grounded in the scriptures and experienced enough to direct and manage a congregation. You wouldn’t want to put someone in charge who lacks the spiritual wherewithal to succeed in carrying out the great responsibility the Lord is placing on Him. You also wouldn’t want an inexperienced Christian placed in authority, only to find him fall into temptation and the “devil’s trap”.

When it comes to pastoring a church, there’s too much in stake to put the wrong person in leadership. This is why the Bible gives us specific qualifications to make sure the church is judicious in ensuring their pastoral candidate meets the stringent qualifications for higher responsibility.

For while all are called to serve, only a select few can meet the eligibility requirements to be a pastor.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the scriptural guidelines for deacons, another position of higher leadership and responsibility within the church.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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