SPIRITUAL GIFTING REQUIRED OF AN EPHESIAN ELDER – LEADERSHIP
(I Tim. 3:4-5)
OVERVIEW OF I TIMOTHY 1:1-20 to 3:7
1:1-2 – Overview of Christian Faith based on names for God and the blessings He bestows on His people.
1:3-4a False teaching in Ephesus and how humanistic philosophy effects us today.
1:4b-6 – The goal of the command is love. (Loving God, fellow Christians, the non-Christian world)
1:7-8 – The law is good if used properly. (The law’s deterrent, punitive and educative purposes)
1:8-11 – “Whatever else …” The Gospel Ethic. (Law-Philia University)
1:11 – Our Relationship with “The Blessed God.” (Causing God pain or joy)
1:12-16 Why Paul considered himself the worst of sinners.
1:12-16 Conversion of the apostle Paul.
1:12-16 Paul’s call to ministry.
1:17 Paul’s doxology of praise for his conversion.
1:18-20 How to avoid shipwrecking our faith.
2:1-3 The Christian is to pray for all men.
2:4,6 Comparison of Calvinism & Armenianism.
2:5-6 The man, Christ Jesus, the only mediator.
2:1-7 The vision, the message, the means.
2:8-15 Treatment of women in the ancient world, the early church and the Bible.
2:8-15 Three key hermeneutic principles to follow when studying the Bible.
2:8 Praying Men with Peaceful Hearts
2:9-10 A First-Century Christian Woman’s Dress and Deeds
2:11-12 Does Submission Demand Silence?
2:13-15 Paul’s Logic for Requiring Women to Be Silent in The Ephesian House Churches.
3:1 Why Aspiring to Church Leadership Can Be a Good Thing.
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Teaching
3:2 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder – Hospitality
3:4-5 Spiritual Gifting Required of an Ephesian Elder –Leadership
3:2-7 Ethical Demands of the NT and the Ethics Tests for Elders
3:2-7 Ethical Qualities Required of an Ephesian Elder
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
PAST LESSONS ON I TIM 3:1-7
1. Verse 1: If a person has the gifting and a passion for servant-leadership it is good for him to aspire to the office of an elder. A Christian must use his gifts and desire to serve.
2. Verses 2-7: The multiple lists of moral and ethical qualities found in the Bible remind us that living an ethically high quality life is not an option for the Christian. It is required!!!
Paul charges Timothy: “… train yourself to be godly” (I Tim. 4:7).
3. Verses 2-7: The spiritual qualities required for eldership should be the ideal and goal of each Christian. The only way our post-Christian, neo-pagan culture will be reformed in by Christians living “Christianly.”
4. Verses 2-5: The elder must teach and teaching is vital for Christian growth because the subject matter is the Bible. We must make every effort to expose our self to good Christian teaching since every time we do we expose ourselves to a spiritual growth situation.
5. Verse 2: Philoxenia (love of strangers) or hospitality, with its major focus on Christians, is engendered on all Christians including elders. Showing hospitality is one way we minister to Christ.
4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
An elder must be …a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient (Titus 1:6).
INTRODUCTION:
QUESTION: What are some reasons that Paul insists that the home is the primary testing place to see if a man can be a leader in the church?
1. Leadership is one of the gifts of the Spirit
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is …leadership, let him govern diligently …(Romans 12:6,8).
2. If a person has the gift of leadership is he honoring and pleasing God if he is neglecting to use that gift?
3. Though we may not have the “gift of leadership,” in some realm we all are leaders.
QUESTION: Can anyone tell me that they have never been in a leadership role? Please explain.
I. LEADERSHIP – THE ASPECT OF RULING
A. The word for “manage” in our text is the same Greek term as “direct, rule” in I Tim. 5:17.
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching (I Tim. 5:17).
B. “The word manage (4,5) translates proistamenos, which is a word for ‘leader,’ combining the concepts of ‘rule’ and ‘care,’ and which Paul uses elsewhere of presbyters.” (Stott, 98)
II. LEADERSHIP – THE ASPECT OF CARING
A. “take care of” is epimeleomai, the same Greek term used to explain the actions of the Good Samaritan to man who had been robbed and left for dead.
34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ (Luke 10:34-35).
QUESTION: Based on the actions of the Good Samaritan, what could “caring for” include?
B. Caring certainly means “Servant Leadership”
13″You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 17:13-17).
ILLUSTRATION: A fellow Christian who was upset and angry because he had to sleep with the regular members of an Indonesian delegation going to the Billy Graham School of Evangelism in Holland.
ILLUSTRATION: Another fellow Christian who quietly escaping to the kitchen to clean up dishes etc during WEC field conference in the Middle East.
Human nature, even sanctified, born-again human nature, shrinks and flees from servant leadership yet no other attitude is so important for a true Christian leader.
III. HOME – THE PLACE TO EVALUATE LEADERSHIP SKILLS
A. QUESTION: Why is the home an ideal place to evaluate leadership skills?
1. If the man is the “governor of his home” what kind of a governor is he?
2. The home is a microcosm of the church, a place where nurture, caring, security, love and a sense of community are envisioned.
3. His wife and children should the closest and dearest people to him. If he cannot lead those who are most dear to and most dependent on him, how can he lead and shepherd the church?
B. “There is the closest kind of relationship between the family/ home and the church. The man who is a failure at one (family) is thereby disqualified for the other (church). Indeed, as 3:15 and 5:1-2 indicate, the work oikos (“household”; NIV, family) is for Paul a pregnant metaphor for church” (Gordon Fee, pg. 82).
C. The home is the main training ground for life and the place where every father needs to hone and practice his leadership skills.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Eph. 5:25).
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).
D. QUESTION: Are wife and children ever interviewed when choosing an elder?
IV. PATERNAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS TRANSFERRABLE TO CHURCH LEADERSHIP.
A. QUESTION: What does a manager of a pharmacy need to provide to his staff and community?
B. QUESTION: What does a father need to provide if he manages his family well?
1. Security, Protection
2. Provision (housing, food, clothing)
3. Motivation and encouragement
4. Training
5. Love
6. Acceptance
7. Discipline
8. Justice
C. QUESTION: What paternal management skills (not qualities) are transferable to church leadership? And in fact to any type of leadership?
SO WHAT????
1. While there is a spiritual gift of leadership we all are or have been involved in some sphere of leadership and thus need to continually work on this skill.
2. Although “leadership” means “leading” the core of leadership is “caring.” Does caring epitomize our leadership?
3. What we are in our homes is what we are, period! As parents let’s practice and work at being good leaders at home.