Appointment of elders.
Paul now comes to the positions of leadership in the church, starting with elders. “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.” (v1)
‘A faithful saying’, indicates not just any man should be appointed as an elder. The word, ‘bishop’ has a connotation today, but the Greek word (episkopos) indicates an over watcher, or overseer – men with leadership and authority in the church. Based on what bishop means, such a person may also sometimes be called an elder (presbuteros) or a pastor (poimen, which means “shepherd”), as in Acts 20:17 and 20:28. And elders are usually plural.
The emphasis seems to be on the character of the officers rather than structure of the church. To aspire to elder is a good thing to desire. “He desires a good work.” No-one should be under compulsion to be an elder, it must be a desire.
One old writer said, it is no light matter to represent God’s Son in such a great task as extending God’s kingdom, in caring for the salvation of souls whom the Lord Himself has purchased with His own blood and ruling the Church.
Spiritual leadership isn’t all about titles and honour, it is ‘work’, a good work and hard work. So, he moves on to qualifications (v2-7). They must be carefully chosen. It has nothing to do with giftedness, the number of qualifications, nor even spiritual gifts. The first qualification is a godly character, and spiritual maturity.
The word ‘shepherd’ often appears, which indicates caring for the flock, the flock of God. The Eastern shepherd would lay down his life for them.
He must be ‘blameless’, not perfect or we would never find one, but righteous, a righteousness which can be seen. Literally it means, ‘nothing to take hold upon’, one who behaves so as to give no-one the opportunity to pick fault with. Above reproach in his marital life, business life, social life, and spiritual life. It does not say that worldly success is a qualification.
‘Husband of one wife’, it is not that an elder must be married. If so Jesus and Paul would not be qualified, also the man could not remarry if his wife died, or even Biblically divorced. He must be a one-woman man, his love and affection be aimed at one woman, his wife. He must not be a playboy, adulterer, a flirtatious man, or one who shows romantic or sexual interest in other women. He must be faithful to his wife. They must honour God in every part of their lives.
‘Temperate’. I understand that the implication, is of someone not given to extremes, but reliable, trustworthy, and stable in his mood and actions. Not quick tempered nor easily angered.
Sober-minded – able to think clearly and knows how to deal with serious questions. Warren Wiersbe says, “This
Does not mean that he has no sense of humour, or he is always solemn and sober. He knows the value of things and does not cheapen the ministry by foolish behaviour.”
Of good behaviour – orderly and dignified.
Hospitable- willing to open their home to anyone, friends, or strangers.
Able to teach – skilled enough to teach the Bible truths to anyone, whether publicly or privately. Therefore, must know his Bible. Able to teach is more than just preaching but doesn’t exclude that. Capable at discipling others, ready and able to talk about the Lord. They do not seek the spotlight but willing to teach in private. One writer has said, ‘capable disciplers.’
Not given to wine – not addicted to wine or strong drink. The Bible does not say that a person is forbidden to drink alcohol, but it clearly discourages it, and there are numerous warnings of the dangers of it, even in upright Bible characters. I could give a long dissertation on this subject, but I will not do that here, but I have done this elsewhere and would repeat it for anyone requesting it.
Not violent – not a bully, one who seeks to get by force. Not short-tempered. Not a striker or quarrelsome.
Not greedy for money – one who does not make money his main interest, hence the word greedy. The KJV uses the term ‘filthy lucre’ giving the idea of ill-gotten gains, not cleanly obtained. One who lives above the wealth of the world. Money is not his main object. There is nothing wrong with being rich (see chapter 6), but the Bible says, “The love of money is a root of all evil”. Not money but the love of it.
Gentle – mild mannered, not violent. One who is patient.
Not quarrelsome – and not a brawler with the tongue, able to control his tongue. Not argumentative. There are those who find fault very easily and love to pick arguments. An elder must not be so.
Not covetous – quite clearly one of the Ten Commandments. It easy to covet even the best things, but an elder must be satisfied with what the Lord has given him and not want what someone else has. It is bad in all but worse in a leader, a representative of the Lord. One who is covetous is never satisfied with anything, always wanting something more or different, or even what someone else has. A better car, house etc. A man who is forever dissatisfied is not fit for leadership among God’s people.
One who rules his own house well – he must first keep his own house in order. Set a good example to his family and also to others under his care. Paul says that if a man cannot rule his own house how can he take care of the house of God. It can be a difficult one for however well we bring up our children in the faith, they may not follow it. A child from a good home may rebel. What then, does an elder have to stand down? It must depend upon the reason for the child to astray, and if the father has some responsibility in that, his position should be questioned.
Must not be a novice – not a new Christian. New Christians should not be put into positions of leadership to soon. He needs to have displayed and matured in the Christian life. He could still be relatively young in age. Timothy was probably not past twenty and he was given the task of appointing elders. One would need to have been taught and have some knowledge of the Scriptures to be able to teach others. The danger is given here, that the young Christian could become proud and puffed up. Note that is said of the devil, pride made angels into devils.
Must have a good testimony to those outside – this is an interesting one, that those outside should have some input on who is an elder. Again, he is talking about character, reputation, and testimony. Do they know that he Christian and do they respect him for that? Failure could lead to temptation and reproach, and the devil’s trap. The devil will use any failure to ensnare him.
It is sad feature of the present day that some elders have fallen into sin. One must ask the question why. Obviously, the Devil seeks to tempt us all and particularly those in high positions. Some elders always visit single women in twos, which is very wise. Billy Graham once said that he would never allow himself to be in a room alone with a female other than his wife. It can be unavoidable sometimes, but we must be very careful. The way girls and women sometimes dress can be very seductive, and men of all ages can be tempted. I’m not seeking to put all the blame on the females, but it behoves us all to be vey careful and self-controlled. How we must pray earnestly that God will help us and give us the strength to say ‘No’ to any temptations.
It is a fact that the fall of any leader will, inevitably, affect the whole church, and its testimony to the world. I know of churches which have closed because of it, understandably, people were reluctant to attend or to send their children.
Saddest of all, The Lord’s name is brought into disrepute and shame.
Now to the deacons.
The other form of leadership and service is the role of deacon (v8-13). Once again, the main concern is character. Deacons had the day to day running of the church, the more menial tasks, but no less important. In Acts 6 men were chosen to serve tables to care for the widows and to relieve the elders of some responsibilities, allowing them to concentrate on the ministry of the Word and prayer.
Deacons were to be as qualified as elders; they were just as important even though they had different duties.
They were to be reverent – showing proper respect to God and man. Grave (KJV)
Not double-tongued – a truthful man by nature. Without deception in any way. Not one who says one thing to one person, but something else to another. Flatterers and slanderers are double-tongued.
Not given to much wine – again, I could say a lot, but I won’t, save to say that one commentator says that any Christian, especially one in leadership needs to think very carefully about drinking alcohol as it opens the door to many temptations.
Not greedy for money – this would cause problems especially if the deacon was responsible for looking after church’s finances.
Holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience – They mustlovers of the truth and doctrine and with a pure conscience. A notable example of this was Stephen (Acts 6,7. He spoke the truth and even to the point of giving his life)
Let them first be tested. Let them serve as deacons – I’ve put these two together. Deacons were to be tested before being entrusted with the responsibility. Sound judgment, love for the Lord and blameless character was to be observed. It seems that they were to have a trial as deacons before being appointed, unlike elders, although elders are thought to be performing the work of an elder before being recognised and appointed. They had to demonstrate their fitness for office.
Being found blameless – As in the case of elders, they were not expected to be perfect or we would never find one, but righteous, a righteousness which can be seen. Literally it means, ‘nothing to take hold upon,’ one who behaves so as to give no-one the opportunity to pick fault with. Above reproach in his marital life, business life, social life, and spiritual life. It does not say that worldly success is a qualification.
Their wives must be reverent – It interesting that Paul refers to wives here whereas he doesn’t in the case of elders. It maybe that ‘deacon’ could include a woman. In Romans 16 he expresses his gratitude to a list of people who served alongside him in the church. This included Phoebe and Priscilla who were obviously women. In some translations deacons were translated as servants who served with elders in the church in variety of ways. The word will permit either. It could be presumed that Paul is speaking of a male deacon’s wife. Male leadership should be seen in the wife’s conduct in this and the next three qualifications – Not slanderers – Temperate – Faithful in all things.
Deacons be husbands of one wife – just as elders were.
Ruling their own children and their houses well – as the elders they were to be examples to their families, and thus, examples to other families.
In verse 13 Paul concludes this section with a promise for deacons – “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Even the most menial tasks are important, and God recognises them and attaches great importance to them. In fact, it seems that they will be rewarded as much if not more than elders.
Paul concludes the chapter with encouragement to Timothy –
“These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (v14,15)
Paul preferred to speak personally to Timothy, but for some reason it may not have been possible immediately, so, he wrote this letter as what he had to say was vitally important for the task given to Timothy having left him at Ephesus to build up the church. It was practical information which he would need for the church of the living God. Conduct in the church is vitally important as we have seen in the leadership instructions already given. It was no light matter. We need to remember that it is not our church but God’s church and we need to know how to behave.
Remember, the church is not a building but the body of believers. It is real people in the presence of the living God. The body of believers is worldwide, but there are local bodies, like the ones we belong to, and like the church in Ephesus.
Timothy was not an apostle, he was an evangelist, not an elder or deacon, but he had the responsibility as a leader and one who appointed elders and deacons. He was assigned to the church at Ephesus by the Apostle Paul. Timothy still had the same responsibilities as the elders and deacons did and had to keep to the same qualifications. The church and its leaders must be the pillars and ground of truth. How important it is that we maintain this in our ministry. The church must stand out and preach the Word of God which is the foundation. There must be no departure from it. We have no other foundation.
Sadly, many churches have departed from the truth of God’s word, becoming liberal in their thinking and following the patterns of the world, and have fallen or are falling apart and become ineffective.
Verse 16 gives us the pillar and ground of truth – “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.”
This is a summary or even a hymn reciting the message which Paul is giving to Timothy and the church. The Christian faith is a mystery. It is indeed a mystery but not one which we cannot fathom, but even when we have, it is still a glorious mystery. It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was manifest in the flesh. God was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Paul lists six things here about Christ. They are all without controversy, there’s no argument. Sadly, some deny and and want to debate these incontrovertible truths.
The first we’ve already mentioned – God was manifest in the flesh. This proves He is God.
Justified in the Spirit – not in the sense that He was sinful then made righteous, but that He was declared by
The Holy Spirit, completely justified before the Father as He had always been. This had been declared at His baptism and at His resurrection. He was sinless but was made sin for us and crucified on a cross as a criminal. He was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:25). His sacrifice was accepted by the Father as sufficient for all sin.
Seen by angels – the angels were often seen to be looking on and rejoicing in the ministry and life of Jesus. Jesus coming to earth was something amazing to the angels. They had been looking on in heaven, and it was something they had never seen before, his coming to earth and being a human being. They welcomed his birth and were present in the empty tomb at his resurrection.
Preached among the Gentiles – Paul certainly fulfilled this by preaching to the Gentiles. Peter was reluctant at first when told to go to Cornelius (Acts 10) but eventually he went and was amazed that the Gentiles we’re eager to receive the gospel. The Jews were very parochial that the gospel was only for them, but they came to realise that it was for all.
Believed on in the world – the Jews had to come to the realisation that the whole world would come to believe. The Jews had rejected Jesus, so the gospel went to the Gentiles and they believed.
Received up into glory – this was the crown of his exaltation, his ascension and now seated at the right hand of the Father. His work on earth was finished and taken into glory. Amazingly his body still retains the marks of our salvation, the marks of His suffering for our sin (John 20:24-29). He is making intercession for us, pleading our case before Almighty God.
These six things are a true description of our Lord Jesus Christ. It may seem a mystery, but He has revealed it to us. We need to build our relationship on Him, the only foundation, and when we do, our lives will be changed and one day we shall be like Him, and with Him forever.
