The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2
Therefore an doverseer1must
be above reproach, ethe
husband of one wife,2 sober-minded,
self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5
for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
There are all kinds of theological questions and disagreements within the church and even within any particular church. One guy is a four-point Calvinist, another a full-fledged
5-pointer and another, no Calvinist at all…We split theological hairs over lapsarian debates, or even what is happening in the Eucharist…what exactly is God doing at baptism…
…Folks have and continue to debate the issue of whether or not Adam lived under God’s grace or his own works. We have convictions about those things, but disagreements do not
stop us from seeing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and being joined together as one body.
Over the last couple years I have been blessed to have two childhood friends in town, one who I haven’t seen in over 40 years. He is a believing man, but from a completely different
theological branch of the Christian tree. He worshipped with us, one of the few times in his life he had been in a liturgical, historically rooted worship service.
He was very impressed with you all…your sincerity, your full voiced singing, with the fact that it was apparent that you loved the Lord and were in this…together. He commented
on the wonder of all the children in worship, singing, and participating. He told me that it was wonderful and then added…but if I lived here, I wouldn’t go to your church.
I completely understood. The differences were too much for him to think of himself joining us here, but with full recognition that we love the Lord, love to worship Him and are
his brothers and sisters. The doctrinal differences were not a problem as to who are truly Christians. What he does NOT have, is a relationship with you all. The truth of being loved, and living life in sacrifice to one another. If he did, oh…I would bet,
he would be sitting right here with you all.
We don’t look at other denominations and the theological differences we have and conclude that because they do not think like us, they are not Christians. More importantly, we
don’t look at the differences that we have with one another in our own church and think about anything but continuing to live together in sacrifice, service, and love just as we have done for years!
The truth, regardless of some theological differences, the truth in our body is seen in our love for one another, our worship together, the fact that you know that the others
in this body, have your back, no matter what and all because we are committed to the life of Jesus.
However, what if folks did not behave as Christians are called to behave? What if the necessary call to obedience…to putting sin to death…to living a life of holiness,
a life being set apart for the Lord in every aspect of life…that is as clear as a bell and repeated over and over again in the Bible, what if that was tossed aside?
What do we think of professing Christians, those who claim Christ but who openly reject obedience to His word…someone who thinks idolatry or cruelty has nothing to do with Christianity…One
who refuses to love others but openly and brazenly takes advantage of the weak, openly lies, cheats, steals at the expense of others for their own sake?
What about so-called Christians who not only embrace the murder of babies in the womb, but encourage it as a gift from God? Or those who lives in open homosexuality, promoting
it as a viable lifestyle of which God approves…that is another thing now isn’t it?
What I am getting at is that how we as Christians, as the children of God, behave…how we live…the words we speak, the actions and reactions to life, tell the story and whereas
some doctrinal differences do not and should not cause us to doubt a man or woman’s commitment to the Lord, consistently living in wicked and anti-Christian behavior, behavior that is opposite of what God has said, does. And here is the point: Whereas doctrinal
differences do not separate us, behavior…does and the Bible is absolutely and pointedly clear on this.
Our text is about elders and what the requirements are for a man to serve as one. But interestingly, the qualifications only touch lightly on doctrine while the emphasis is upon
holiness…moral integrity…what kind of husband and father the man is, determined by his actions and the fruit that is seen in his family.
Couple that with the fact that here Paul defines being an elder in terms of function, a noble task, not of status. In other words, the office is not for those seeking to ascend,
to climb the latter of influence and authority, but rather those who decide to descend to the place of humble service to the body seen, not in their ability to parse doctrinal issues, as valuable as that might be, but rather in their way of life.
This is an important passage of scripture. But it is NOT a passage that explains the way of salvation or the nature of faith in Christ. Rather, it is important because the church’s
choice of her leadership has always had much to do with whether she will remain doctrinally sound and spiritually healthy.
The spiritual death of churches, which has occurred with dismal regularity through the ages, is invariably first a failure of her leadership. Here Paul tells us what sort of
leadership the church requires and there is no other passage in the New Testament so explicit or so helpful in that regard. (RSR)
Prayer: Father, forgive me for shrinking back, for laying down my cross at times because the cost seems too high. May the image of Him who carried His cross for my
sake be etched in my mind that I might, out of love and thankfulness, boldly and unashamedly, live my life for Him. Help me to make a bold confession of the Savior, and help me to live faithfully so that my confession is both heard in my words and seen in
my life, through Jesus my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
