robwilkerson.net: church leaders

Being Led by the Spirit in Prophecy...Through Church Leadership

Thursday, October 10, 2013

1 Corinthians 14 teaches that when it comes to prophecy in corporate worship, we are to bring our word and let others weigh what is said. But that can cause a few problems for some, particularly those who are more independent in spirit. All humans are born with a tendency toward rebellion, which we cloak in a more acceptable word called independence. But part of prophesying in corporate worship is learning to be interdependent, and that comes by following the leadership of the Spirit through the leadership of others.

God has placed wise and gifted men and women in places of leadership in the church for one reason: to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. These people are there to help us grow into maturity in Jesus. Learning is a huge part of that. We learn by being taught. And teaching often comes in the form of "no," "not yet," and "not right now."

If and when you bring a word during corporate worship, bring it to those who are weighing words, and leave it there. That takes a HUGE amount of trust in God. After all, you truly believe you've heard from God about something, right? And you deeply believe He wants it shared, right? But do you also believe that those who are weighing words are being used by God to lead the body and to equip you? If so, then you must also believe that God may want to teach you something else. Perhaps He wants to teach you about patience, or trust in God, or how to perceive the voice of the Spirit better, or how to better craft the prophetic word so it will be more profitable for everyone. Or maybe it is something else altogether!

Inherent in this situation is the truth that leaders are people, which means they're fallen. Therefore, not they're not perfect, which means their leadership isn't perfect. Problem is, that can cause some people a lot of angst. Maybe you're one of those. Maybe you take it personally when you're turned away, or when you're told your word is not for that moment, not for the entire group, or not very clear at that moment. How do you respond in such cases? Do you walk away feeling dejected or rejected? Do you walk back to your seat questioning altogether whether or not you ever heard from God in the first place? Please read this next statement carefully: these responses are the wrong direction to go. Your prophetic word and its reception is not an indicator of your security or identity in Jesus Christ. This means that no matter whether you give a word or not, you are a son of the Father, a brother to King Jesus, and a temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. Let no human, demon, or emotional thought tell you otherwise!

Instead, realizing that leaders are human, there's another direction to go. Find them afterwards, and ask to speak to them off to the side, or in private somewhere. Explain your desire to learn more about prophecy so that you can be used of God to encourage, strengthen or comfort others. Affirm your desire to be obedient to 1 Corinthians 14, and that you earnestly desire to prophesy. Then ask for help in how you can grow in this gift. Feel free to ask them why they decided to not use your word. Because in that answer you'll learn more about prophecy and you'll understand how God leads them to lead the corporate worship.

I've found personally that when God does not lead the leaders to use my word in corporate worship, usually there is another place and time and person for which He wants to use it. Sometimes the fact of the matter is that I did in fact receive a word from God, but I simply needed the Spirit's leadership on when He wanted me to share it. By not allowing me to share it in corporate worship, He directed it to the person He did want me to share it with. Other times, while I think my word may be clear in my own head, it is not so clear to others, which means that often prophetic words are a matter of perception. This means that if those weighing words can't or don't perceive it the way I do, then mostly likely other people will not perceive it either, which in turn means it probably won't be so helpful to everyone.

From these incidents in the past I've learned a valuable lesson about bringing words in corporate worship: GOD is running things, and if I get all bent out of shape that I'm not able to share my word, and go home with my feelings hurt, I suddenly make the corporate worship about me. This means I personally miss out on what God wants to show me about prophecy. I am cutting myself off from learning more. If I say I want to learn more and desire to prophesy more, and then I choose a pathway of rejection and insecurity, how will I ever actually learn? Prophecy begins with a firm, secure, concrete, tangible sense of blessing in your life. It flows out of an undeniable sense of God's affirmation of your sonship in His family. If this is not firmly in place in your life, then start with that above all else. Then watch with amazement as prophecy begins to flow so naturally and readily through your soul and mouth!

About the Author: Rob is a follower of Jesus at Jubilee Church. From there he pursues Jesus' mission at Revive Consignment as the Business & Operations Development Director, as well as at Jubilee Church of Atlanta, in Woodstock, GA. From there he envisions and pursues missional-shaped business for the kingdom. He and his wife Sherri have been married for 20 years and together have three sons and a daughter. Rob believes the mission of the gospel is summed up in four simple phrases: know God, obey Jesus, make disciples, and plant churches. This is the pursuit of his life, as well as the point of his blog.

church leaders

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

church leaders

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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

apostles

Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides Accountability and Mediation

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Four: It Provides Accountability and Mediation

One of the most frustrating things in the world when you're leading a church alone is having someone to go to when you can't resolve issues in your local church. Paul's question to the Corinthians always haunted me: "Don't you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can't you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don't you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?" (1 Cor. 6:2-5).

Of course, there ought to be people wise enough. But evidently there weren't. Which is why Paul had to intervene and say something. And that was a shame to them, as it should have been. It is precisely because there are few wise men in local churches that they have so much division, much of which spills over the edges and out into their communities bringing shame to the name and body of King Jesus. Churches fight over the dumbest crap in the world. And the fact that so many of them are independent-minded and "autonomous" just makes it worse.

To be sure, a biblical local church seems to necessitate autonomy. That simply means that when they are mature with their own leaders, a church is ready to govern itself with the biblical leadership structure it has put in place. Also, it does not seem to be a biblical idea that one church has a right to tell another church what to do, how to do it, when to do it, etc. Each local church essentially operates independent of the others. But biblically they are never to operate without interdependence upon each other.

I recall some of the darkest days in my life. I was pastoring a small Southern Baptist church in West Georgia. For some readers, the fact that I mentioned Southern Baptist is probably all you need to hear. Memories of church business meeting fights probably come to mind...the ones where everybody was yelling and making threats toward each other because of the disagreement about whether pine nuggets or pebbles ought to be installed in the children's playground area. Seriously. Or the one I sat through as a kid where the church voted on how much to spend for the new toilet seat in the parsonage where we lived. Asinine.

At the church where I was pastoring a stink arose which I hope I never have to relive. I can't recount it here, but I will simply say that the lack of interdependence among other Southern Baptist churches meant I was all alone in dealing with this massive problem. I could not rely on any other Southern Baptist pastors in town or even outside of town for any help other than just the obligatory, "We'll be prayin' for ya!" Gee. Thanks. I think.

The massive problem ended up in the courts. No kidding. One half of my congregation sued the church leadership by lying to the courts with zero evidence to support the initial accusations. Somehow those poor folks either had a special study bible which footnotes releasing them from obedience to 1 Corinthians 6, or else they had use their black highlighter on those verses. And while there were wise men in our midst who could handle the situation, the fact that were were an autonomous local church meant that we couldn't govern ourselves, the courts would have to...or at least try.

To be sure, Paul's apostolic ministry did not necessarily prevent lawsuits from happening in Corinth. But the fact that he planted the church did give him a right as well as biblical authority to speak into the life of that church to reprove, correct, and exhort the flock. In other words, the apostolic role he played in the life of that church gave him a place of biblical influence. And that had the power to change and shape things, because some of the problems got better, as we read in 2 Corinthians.

For me, things only got worse. There was no one I could turn to. The area director of missions was of little help. He had been in town way longer than I and had made it apparent that he had sided with the ones who were disobeying the Bible. A baptist pastor in a nearby town would have little to do with me. Only a friend from the Atlanta area, and a friend from South Georgia, and a local Methodist church member offered accountability for me outside the existing church leadership. In other words, there was no one really holding us accountable for the way we were handling all of this. And we desperately needed it, especially since none of us had ever experienced anything like this before.

My point is that where I am now in life, I would never think of operating in any leadership capacity in a local church without the apostolic ministry offering accountability and mediation to resolve conflicts and difficulties. We've already had a few where I am now. And if we didn't have apostolic oversight, we would have already split...perhaps two or even three times. We are not at a point now where biblically we can govern ourselves, so to speak. We have no elders yet. And until then, as it was in the Scriptures, the apostolic man and the pastors he trains, lead the church together, until the church matures by ordaining its own elders. That gives the apostolic ministry a place of influence and authority in a local church, which is used biblically to shape and mold and form a group of people around the gospel of Christ, both in belief and behavior.

It seems that when I adopted a mindset that the apostolic ministry was valid for today, a whole host of problems, both potential and actual, flew right out the window. When a local church adopts a mindset of accountability rather than independent-autonomy, it can experience the spiritual growth the Bible talks about...that "unity of the faith" and "mature man" stuff Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4. A local church will be filled with people who aren't tossed back and forth by every wind of teaching. They will grow up together in love. Accountability is necessary to see that through. And the apostolic ministry is Jesus' gift of accountability to His church. Thank you Lord for the apostolic ministry in my life and local church.

apostles

Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides Wisdom

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Three: The Apostolic Ministry Provides a Lot of Wisdom

I'm always amazed by men who are younger than me, but somehow know more than I do. I'm even more amazed by men who have no children, but know how to parent mine better than I do. There's never a shortage of men who want to give their opinion on something...even though they probably have no idea what they're talking about. Proverbs 18:2 says, "Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions." Verse 13 says, "Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish." Those verses pretty much sum up many men. While there's no shortage of words, there is a great shortage of wisdom.

I've discipled many men and trained many of those for leadership. In the course of those relationships, most of the young men had not yet graduated from being a smart alec. That's the time in a young man's life when he thinks he knows more than his mom and dad. Some don't grow out of it at all. Many do, thankfully. I was one who almost didn't, because I didn't discover until I was around thirty that I actually knew far less than I thought I did. At that point, I was ready to be led.

I remember serving as a full-time youth pastor for a couple of years in an almost-mega church. The Sr. Pastor was my father. And even though he had years of ministry experience, as well as a doctorate, I knew better than him when it came to members of the masonic lodge in our church. "We just need to go and confront 'em and tell 'em that they need to leave the lodge or leave the church! Dadgummit!" "Son, I don't think that's a wise way to handle something like this." "Of course it is, dad!" I was so filled with wisdom in those early days of ministry. And I'm so dumb now.

Then there's the time I was on my biblical counseling high, after having concluded that all psychology is bankrupt and stupid. So I proceeded to set an appointment with the president of my bible college to help him understand why I not only needed to be exempt from the required core psychology class, but that we also did not need to offer that course anymore as a school. So filled with real wisdom, the president kindly listened to me and said he's take it under advisement. I'm glad he didn't. I was such a dork.

I have more stories like this than I can recount here. Suffice it to say I was a bonafide jackass. Thankfully, age has matured me into just a "jack" now. Most of the other is pretty much gone, though I tend to show mine from time to time. And that's because I need someone smarter than me to help me, to guide and disciple me. I need someone who knows more than I do to help me grow more and lead better. That's where the apostolic ministry comes in.

For me, the biblical-apostolic ministry means that the apostolic man I'm relating to has himself been in a relationship of biblical discipleship. He has been mentored and shepherded. His desires to lead were taken, shaped, molded, formed, and released. Someone else invested in him. As his gifts developed and were manifested, it became evident that the fruit he was bearing resembled that of apostolic ministry. So he joined a team of other apostolic men to function in that way. And in that team there are men who are older than the others...men who've been doing apostolic work much longer than the others...men who've planted several more churches...basically, men with more experience in pretty much everything. Imagine a team where everyone was a peer and no one really had that much more experience. That's called a pooling of ignorance.

Now, this apostolic man is a friend of mine. And I am one of his friends. He disciples me. He knows more than me. A lot more. He's at least fifteen years older, has planted three more churches than I have, has been married twice as long as I have, and enjoys the fruits of his faithful parenting with his three believing children and their spouses and children. He has raised up and trained more men for ministry than I have, dealt in spiritual warfare far more times than I, and counseled countless more couples. He has operated in the prophetic, spoken in tongues, and laid hands on far more people than I have. (And this brother has been deer hunting longer than I've been alive...which is a huge help to a guy like me whose harvested one deer in six years.) In short, there is wisdom in this man. And I'm the fool if I neglect or reject it.

The fact that this man is an apostolic man mostly like means that, over a period of time, he has developed both a self-starter mindset about things that need to get done, as well as an accountability mindset with those in authority over him or with him. In other words, he's learned how to get stuff done and answer for it. Men who are self-starters are a dime a dozen, though it seems increasingly hard these days to find them. Men who desire accountability are a goldmine of potential. There is a balance that develops in a man like this, which makes him increasingly stable when it comes to leading and decision-making. I want a stable guy to lead me. Who doesn't? I want a guy who knows how to get stuff done, as well as a guy who knows what it is to be held accountable and to have to answer to others. That's called wisdom. And wisdom comes from a stable, apostolic leader.

Wisdom is knowing the difference between doing the right thing and doing it in the right way, between knowing what to say and knowing how and when to say it. Wisdom is knowing when to put pressure on someone and when to release it. Wisdom is knowing how fast or slow to move in helping someone to change and grow. It is always willing and ready to learn, never believing that it has gathered enough information to make an eternal, dogmatic conclusion. It always asks questions, and only assumes when experience has proven those assumptions valid...and there's almost always exceptions as any honest man will tell you.

The apostolic man I relate to evidences these things. And that's why I enjoy my relationship and friendship with him. He truly cares about me, and not just about telling me what to do. He loves Jesus more than he loves me, or anyone else for that matter. But he loves Jesus by loving me and everyone else. He loves me enough to tell me what I need to hear, and in a way that ensures I will want to hear it and actually do it. He speaks into my marriage as a church leader, and challenges where I need it, corrects as I need it, and affirms where I need it. He does the same thing for my parenting also. And I'm finding something strange but wonderful. The more I listen, the smarter I get! And that's really awesome for a guy like me whose mom referred to growing up as a "meat head" with peanut butter for brains! Thank God for apostolic leadership!

apostles

Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides a Bulls Eye as Well as Focus

Friday, January 07, 2011

Two: The Apostolic Ministry Provides a Bulls Eye As Well As Focus.

If you're like most people you find it's easy to identify a task that needs to get done, only to find yourself getting distracted by something smaller. That smaller thing is definitely associated with the bigger task, but you somehow get fixated on that smaller thing so that the bigger task doesn't get completed. Then you get kind of frustrated, wondering how in the world that happened...perhaps even purposing to do it differently next time so that doesn't happen again. But then the cycle happens again.

I needed to rearrange some stuff in my shed a week ago. With Christmas comes more Christmas stuff, decorations, lights, etc. And all those things required more storage space, which required some rearranging in the shed. This requires moving stuff out and then back in. The whole process is very much like a live, backyard version of Tetris. Playing Tetris in my shed required that I move a tub of fasteners (nails, screws, bolts, etc.). This required the lid to be put back on, which reminded me to gather all the boxes of fasteners lying around the shed in various spots so I could put them in that tub, etc.

Here's where I took a wrong turn...as always, it seems. I spotted some fasteners that had been spilled in the tub, which requires me to put them back where they go. After about a half hour of messing with fasteners, I was out of time and had not completed the job. It was time for dinner, and too dark to work anymore. Had I maintained my focus on the bigger task, I would have written down a list of smaller tasks that I can do later...much later...like rearranging the spilled fasteners in the tub. At least I would have gotten the main task completed then. Maybe. Then again, I probably would have gotten fixated next on finding a new and more convenient place for the boogie boards.

In my experience, the apostolic ministry works much in this way, yet more so in my favor than the shed-Tetris game. Apostolic ministry has helped me to maintain the focus on the bigger task, the bigger picture, the bird's eye view, or the "bulls eye" of ministry. This was the relationship Paul had with Timothy. His letters to Timothy, as well as to Titus, both reveal that the bulls eye of their respective local church ministries was to be on training and teaching people, as well as guarding the gospel.

The gospel is, of course, the ultimate bulls eye, and the associated tasks Timothy and Titus were supposed to be doing in their local churches flowed directly from the gospel. That's what you do with the good news...you train people with it, how to live according to it, how it impacts and affects people's relationships with each other, as well as teaching people about it. All of this, generally speaking, guards the gospel and therefore the people from error, because that would damage their lives. The apostolic ministry ensures that the gospel is maintained as the bulls eye of ministry. And apostolic men do that by constantly evaluating what is happening in a local church - all the tasks, relationships, programs, ministries, etc. - and challenging leaders to ensure that the gospel is the bulls eye, so that all the other stuff is really flowing from it and not from somewhere else, like legalism.

If I didn't have the apostolic ministry in my life and local church, I would have made a massive mess of things, majoring on minors, turning ant hills into mountains, leading everyone to focus more on their parenting methodologies and bible versions, and spiritualizing my personality idiosyncrasies so that everyone would do ministry my way. I would be doing these sorts of things rather than focusing on the person and ministry of Jesus Christ and doing what He told us to do. After all, that is what Jesus Himself told us to do: "teaching all things I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19). He provided the bulls eye for me. The apostolic ministry helps me keep my focus on it. Thank you Lord for your apostolic ministry to your bride, the church!

apostles

Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides Clarity of Vision

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Over the next several posts, it's my attempt to describe some of the functions and benefits of the apostolic ministry as I have experienced them personally. These posts are not intended to be a formal theological treatise defending the ministry as a whole. Rather, I'm writing from the perspective of one who naively assumes that the apostolic ministry is something Christ still has for His church until He returns, and therefore as someone who benefits from it greatly.

One: The Apostolic Ministry Provides Clarity of Vision.

When I was six or seven years old...I can't remember for sure, perhaps for obvious reasons you're about to hear...I was hit in the right side of my head with an aluminum baseball bat. My right eye socket was crushed, my eye slightly spilling out of my head. If my life was a movie, this scene would make it rated PG-13 for disturbing images. I have no pictures today, only the recollection of reports from friends and parents. I was playing catcher, while the 18 year-old coach was hitting balls to other team members who were fielding. I guess that was pretty normal for an 18 year old, feeling like he had to be the one to hit all the balls, feeling the need to show off with how far he could hit a fast ball from a 7 year old. I'm sure it was quite impressive.

During this whole time I was foolishly not wearing a face mask. I complained of not being able to see well with it on, without any thought of the fact that I can see even worse today as a result! Nor was I wearing the standard hard helmet. That was probably because my mom was always calling me a hard-head, so I figured I didn't need more protection. Then as the next pitch fired into the batter's box, he stepped back and reared back his bat preparing to knock another homer. In his zeal to impress us once again, his back swing almost took off my head.

I don't remember much after that...obviously. I remember waking up laying on a stainless steel table, in the church kitchen. It was Wednesday night, and dad was preaching. He had to be interrupted and called to the kitchen to see what I'm sure was a macabre sort of scene. I then remember a blood soaked towel wrapped around my head...then moments later my head laying in mom's lap in the backseat of the car, only to fall out of consciousness again. When I came to, I was sitting up, strapped to a special chair, getting my head x-rayed. I went out again shortly thereafter, due to the anesthetic prior to surgery. I distinctly remember thinking that this was my moment...to rebuild my eye...and make it just like Steve Austin, the bionic man. "We can rebuild him," I faintly heard. Instead, I awoke in the hospital room with my head all wrapped up, and my bionic dreams crushed with my head. The diagnosis was that my eye socket had in fact been crushed, and prosthetic parts had to be fastened together with what looks today like one of those garbage bag twist-ties. My eyesight in the right eye would never be the same, of course. And every year it seems to get a tad worse.

I was deer hunting yesterday just before dusk. It was getting darker by the minute. I'm right-eye dominant, which means I favor looking through holes with my right eye. But as I looked through the scope of my Marlin 30-30, it was difficult to see clearly. I focused the scope a bit. No good. I cleaned both lenses. Still no good. "I just got a new pair of glasses a year ago!" I'm thinking to myself. Thankfully, I have a decent pair of binoculars which interestingly has a right eye focus. This means I can look through the binoculars, focus them with the top knob, but then fine tune the focus with the right-eye view finder. Ahhh! That was the trick! Now the main focus, and the right eye focus were working together to give me clarity. I began thinking about how I could affix them to my head with an elastic strap so I could see better all the time. Looking like one of the heroes from G. I. Joe would be cool. But that would look weird, and scare my church family. So I didn't do that.

However, I did discover that the apostolic ministry is much like the binoculars I was using yesterday. For various reasons due to sin and my own personality wiring, I don't have the complete picture. Things aren't very clear all of the time. Like the rest of us, I live out of focus...a lot. I'm in good company, however, because the Apostle Paul did too. "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror..." (1 Cor. 13:12). One day Jesus will come back and I'll see everything with perfect clarity. Until then, Jesus has given His church apostles (Eph. 4:11). And here's their biblical job description.

"Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love" (Eph. 4:12-16).

So basically the apostolic ministry has been given as a gift of Christ Himself in order to provide vision and clarity. And the vision is unity and maturity. The other gifted people (prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers) do the same thing, of course. But the apostolic comes first because biblically it seems to function kind of like a set of guardrails along a highway, ensuring that despite whatever accidents might occur, they don't spill over off a bridge or ravine, or into the other oncoming traffic. Apostles keep that vision of ministry in front of us. And in so doing, they help maintain clarity. Vision creates clarity, when it's communicated right.

When things in the local church get out of focus, which they always will from time to time (some churches more than others, of course), apostolic ministry reminds the church of the biblical vision from Jesus Himself, and thereby sharpens the focus of the "ecclesiastical binoculars" so that the flock can see more clearly. The prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher may serve as the primary focus, much like the top knob on my binoculars. But the apostle serves as that right-eye focus on my binoculars, bringing an ever-sharper clarity to the ministry in a local church.

I'm so glad I have the apostolic ministry in my life. Without it, the vision I attempt to provide as a pastoral leader in my local church would be as bad spiritually as the vision in my right eye physically. In other words, I can't do it by myself. That's why Jesus was smart enough to put me in a team with other men whom I need in order to keep our church in target and heading in the right direction. I'm supposed to be on a team with apostles and prophets, etc. because without them my leadership would look like that one-eye-patched pirate on Pirates of the Caribbean, probably with the drunken, growling, Australian-accented speech included! And the band of people I attracted would probably be just like me! What a church that would make! Thank King Jesus for the apostolic ministry!

church leaders

Is the Church a Hobby for Christians and a Sandbox for Pastors? Part 1

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Planting this church for the last three years has shown me one thing for sure: it's easy for church planters, leaders, pastors, ministers, etc. to treat the church like it is their personal sandbox.

It has happened to me personally, and my first church plant has shown me that it could happen all the time if the Spirit wasn't making me sensitive to it. Here's how it seems to happen. Our personalities, likes and dislikes seem to become the driving force behind our leadership in the local church. Do any of you pastors or church leaders find any of the following to be true of you?

Perhaps you're wired to passive. You're comfortable with just letting things happen and deal with them when they do...in the name of God's sovereign providence, of course. You enjoy watching it all unfold like a movie...or a UFC match (if you pastor that kind of church). But you feel pressure or stress when action must be taken or direction given.

Or perhaps you're a control freak. You're more comfortable with micro-managing all the details. Deep down inside, a strange sense of glee smolders as details in the church are like pieces on a chess board to you. But you feel pressure or stress when rest must be taken or patience had in the midst of God's sovereign providence.

Perhaps you're a theology nerd. You LOVE studying doctrine, theology, exegesis, hermeneutics, homiletics, and reading really good books. You'd confess openly (if there was a reward involved) that if you had nothing else to do, you'd rather be reading or studying. And when it comes to the administration and management aspects of a church, you stress out and avoid it at all costs.

Or perhaps you're the management-consultant who would love nothing more than to just create systems, structures, and forms, hold meetings, teach workshops, and run attendance and giving numbers on the computer most of the day. You get stressed out and pressured when prayer, fasting, and the study of the Word are on your radar, because you feel they're not your strengths.

Perhaps you're technologically awesome. You LOVE downloading and installing software, Facebooking, networking computers, doing graphic design, setting up audio/video equipment, etc. You'd honestly confess at the judgment seat that if there were a Chief Technology Minister position in existence you'd be the first in line to apply. And when other ministry needs surface that are not challenging enough, you avoid them, hand them off to someone else, or ignore them all together. You get stressed out when people want to talk and need counsel because your mind is filled with technological to do's that seem to attract your attention. I've known a pastor or two who has regularly spent 8-10 hours a day on the computer...just...doing stuff. The local church is a sandbox where they get to play with their computers and technology.

I could go on and on, but I trust my point is clear. Here it is in short: it's easy to let your personality, likes and dislikes, and wiring control how you lead a church. The effect can be that what YOU like to do is what YOU end up doing most if not all the time. This has the effect of making the local church your personal sandbox, where you get to test ideas, preach messages, study your favorite topics, read your favorite books, have coffee with people...and basically, just play. What you like to do becomes playtime. People and their needs become annoying distractions.

Playtime in the sandbox for a church leader occurs mostly when a leader avoids the things they either don't know how to do or don't want to do. Instead of buckling down and learning how to do it and when to do it, avoiding it and "praying about it" becomes an escape that allows a little more time to indulge in personal desires. And it's all too easy and common for church leaders to write it all off by thinking and saying, "This is just the way God made me."

No. It's not. It's not JUST the way God made you. God created you and regenerated you to be MORE than JUST the things you like to do or are good at. Don't limit yourself! That's limiting God! He's living inside of you in the person of the Holy Spirit! That's the divine God...living...inside...of you. He's conforming you to Christ's image (Romans 8:28-30). He's causing you to will and do good things for the kingdom (Phil. 2:13). He's doing so much more than JUST what you're good at or like to do.

Limiting your activities and behavior to just what YOU like to do or feel you're good at limits your mind in what God WANTS to do in you and with you. And it has the ultimate effect of limiting your people's growth and maturity. YOU are their human leader, the undershepherd, the overseer given by the Holy Spirit to lead them to walk with God. But your ability to lead them there will be severely hampered and hindered if you believe you should only do the things you like to do. And that in turn severely hampers and hinders the people you lead.

Pastors. Church Leaders. Ministers. The local church is NOT your personal sandbox where you get to play each day, doing what you "love" to do. PEOPLE are the object here.

NOT tasks lists.
NOT the next passage to be exegeted.
NOT the next sermon to be prepared.
NOT the next awesome book to read.
NOT the next management structure that must be erected.
NOT that system that you would enjoy building.
NOT the next software you feel you MUST download and test.
NOT the next coffee break at Starbucks.

If these are the things we pursue more than people,
I'm afraid the things we enjoy are just toys,
people are just distractions,
and we're just in our personal sandbox.

All of these things we enjoy doing are given by God for one purpose: to admonish every man, and to teach every man with all wisdom and understanding in order to make every man mature in Christ (Col. 1:28-29). Don't love the means and the methods, the tools and the talents, the power and the plans, more than people.

Otherwise, your church is all about your playtime in your local church sandbox.

character

What is the Character of a Gospel-Driven Leader? Part Twelve

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

11. The Local Church Leader Will be a Living-Color Example of Self-Discipline.

a. The local church leader should not be known as a drunkard. Also occurring in Titus 1:7, this same idea is repeated for deacons also. The fact that this qualification appears for both elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3, and then again in Titus 1:7, as well as in Ephesians 5:18, indicates that drunkenness was a serious problem in the Ephesian church. And what’s even weirder is that the false teachers were not only known for their drinking habits, but were ironically ascetics when it came to food (1 Tim. 4:3). So while being able to hold your liquor was a qualification for being a false teacher, evidently, being able to control yourself with respect to how much you drink in the first place is a qualification for being a local church leader.

In Scripture, drinking is pictured as a good thing (Prov. 31:4-7). In other places it is also viewed as an evil (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; Isa. 5:12; Amos 2:8; 4:1). Drunkenness, though, is always viewed as evi12; Jer. 13:13; 25:17; Ezek. 23:33; Hos. 4:11, 18; Amos 6:6; Compare Matthew 11:19 to Luke 7:34; and Matthew 24:49 with Luke 12:45; Luke 21:34; Acts 2:15; Romans 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:10; 11:21; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7; 1 Pet. 4:3). Isaiah even mocks people whose identity lies in holding their liquor. “Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink” (5:22). And if Christians are commanded by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:11 to not even associate with someone who claims to be a Christian but who is a drunkard, how much more should a local church leader exemplify this command, as well as possess a lifestyle of integrity with regard to alcoholic beverages.

As a whole, the Baptist denomination has come to believe that total abstinence is what the Bible requires. While it is true that the OT purposefully pictures drinking sometimes as a good thing, the NT doesn’t actively portray it as that in terms of teaching. What we do see, however, is a neutral or cultural-contextual use. For example, there’s the wedding at Cana, where Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. Then there’s the parable of the wineskins in Mark 2:22. Jesus and the disciples partook of wine at the Last Supper in Mark 14:23-25. And finally, the Messianic banquet is portrayed as serving wine for us in Luke 22:29-30.

What we must conclude then is that alcoholic beverages are an issue of conscience for the local church leader. He may choose to totally abstain from it because of the abuses of it in their context or community, as perhaps Timothy did (which seems why Paul had to command Timothy to take wine as medicine for his stomach ailment in 1 Tim. 5:3). Or he may choose to partake in it as part of identifying with the culture in order to minister to it and within it (as did Jesus at the wedding of Cana, as well as at the Lord’s Supper). Regardless, it is clear that drunkenness is not an acceptable thing in any way, shape or form. Local church leaders at Church in the Boro, a university city where the college has shaped Statesboro’s reputation as “a drinking town”, may choose to totally abstain or partake. Either view and practice is biblical and acceptable. But an immediate disqualifying event in a local church leader’s life, especially in our town, is drunkenness.

b. The local church leader should not be known as a violent man, but instead as a gentle one. This qualification immediately follows drunkenness because they usually go together. John Calvin noted this when he wrote about the previous disqualifying character trait,

“It is not just unseemly for pastors to drink excessively, as this usually results in worse things such as quarrels, stupid arguments, sexual immorality, and other situations we cannot mention. From the contrast that follows, Paul indicates that he has more than just drunkenness in mind. Just as he compares a violent person with a person who does not fight, and man who craves for money with a man who is not covetous, so he compares ‘the excessive drinker’ with the person who is kind and gentle. Chrysostom correctly says that a man given to drink and violence should be ejected from being bishops” (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, pp. 55-56).

The Greek wording here the phrase, me plekten, which is literally, “not violent.” Again, as with other qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, this one appears in Titus 1:7. Commentators and scholars are not sure whether this word goes with the previous word, or with the word that follows. In other words, the question is whether or not the violence warned against here is joined with the drunkard, or is to be introduced ahead of the contrasting qualification of gentleness. If it goes with the previous word, then drunkenness and brawling are joined together, as if to show that excessive drinking usually leads to fist fighting. The Greek word, plekten, literally means to beat with a fist, so this view seems to fit well with the context. A local church leader cannot be a man who drinks and beats his wife, his children, or other people.

However, perhaps the word is to be taken figuratively, as if to beat somebody with words. This would picture a man who lashes out with his words, who slanders somebody, who outrageously reproaches them, or who wounds them with harmful statements. This would disqualify someone who gets angry and cusses somebody out, or threatens them with hurting words.

It would seem fitting, however, that Paul may intend both. And along with other commentators, I tend to think that the military profession may be in view here, which is all too well-known for commanding officers and sergeants physically hitting those under their command, along with the usual demeaning, screaming, yelling, threatening, repulsive language. John Calvin agrees.

“I believe Paul’s rebuke here is a general one, aimed at the kind of violence common among soldiers, but totally out of place in any of Christ’s servants. Everyone knows how ridiculous it is to be quicker to hit someone or draw a sword on someone than to settle people’s quarrels through exercising the right kind of authority. So violence here refers to men who give out threats and act in a warlike way” (Calvin, p. 56).

Another translation for the Greek word, plekten, is pugnacious. And this definitely describes some military commanders. They respond to something they don’t like with punches and punchlines, with striking and swearing. But,

“A leader in the church must not be one who reacts to difficulty with physical violence. He must not settle disputes with blows. He must react to situations calmly, coolly, and gently (cf. 2 Tim. 2:24-25)” (John MacArthur, 1 Timothy, p. 111).

I can relate to this all too well. There is within my mind many times this martial arts hero, like Jet Li or Jackie Chan, who goes Ju Jitsu on somebody who threatens me. I recall last year going to Savannah with my family. An older gentleman and his friend pulled right out in front of me almost causing an accident. We were driving 55 mph on highway 67 toward I-16 at the time. Because of the speed with which we were going when he pulled out, we had to immediately pull to the left to avoid hitting him, but we came very close to doing that, with the right side of our vehicle, almost hitting the left side of theirs.

The older man driving began yelling and flipping me off, waving furiously at me with his middle finger. He drove fast enough to get right up on my bumper and I could see him in my rear view mirror still yelling and flipping me off. So to avoid trouble, I pulled off to Clyde’s gas station there on the left just before getting to I-16. Well, he decided to pull off with me. That wasn’t smart.

He pulled up next to me and got out of his car and walked over to my truck. I rolled my window down just a tad so I could talk to him. He was so angry I was afraid he might try to hurt me or something. He continued to yell and scream and swear and cuss me out. I saw he was an older gentleman, perhaps just above 50, though he could have been older. He was about 6’3 and probably weighing in at about 250-275 lbs. He was wearing denim overalls with a white long sleeve silk shirt, sporting a white mustache, and silver hair.

I rolled my window down a bit more and he put his finger right in my face, less than an inch away. I responded to his swearing that he was the one who pulled out in front of me, and could have killed my children. To that he responded that, “I don’t give a s - - - about what g- - d - - - m- - - - - - f - - - - - - you got ridin’ with you!” That was it. My blood pressure shot up to near death, I’m sure. I instantly was reminded by the Spirit of 2 Timothy 2:24 and kept repeating it to myself in my mind. “The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome….The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome…”

I asked the man to stop swearing in front of my wife and family, and he did it even more. I reached for my seatbelt, unbuckled it, and reached for my door handle. My wife could see my red-soon-to-be-purple face and she knew what that meant and grabbed my arm, and said, “Honey, don’t you get out of this car.” The man saw my actions, so he took a few steps back, unbuttoned his white silk shirt, and began rolling up the sleeves, choosing instead to just take the shirt off altogether, revealing the straps on his denim overalls, and white t-shirt. He then smiled and waved me over, saying, “Come on, you young punk-ass. Come on over and I’ll teach you a lesson.”

I just started laughing my head off, as I recall. It was so fascinating to me that a 250-275 lb senior citizen pulled in front of me and then wanted to fight me…in the parking lot of a gas station. It was clear, at least in my mind, that if I would have stepped out of my truck and took off my shirt, that I would have “gone Jackie Chan on him” and put the old man in the hospital, along with his redneck friend just sitting there in the car watching the whole ordeal. I don’t play. I quit school ‘cause they had recess.

By God’s grace, I spotted an umarked police car filling up. So after I got out, the old man was waving with both hands this time, welcoming me into his circle of pain. I darted over toward the cop, told him what was going on, only to be told that unless there were blows exchanged, he could do nothing. So in my mind, I’m thinking…”Sweet! I can get this old man arrested for being stupid and mean…but I gotta let him hit me first…and then I can knock his dentures out of his head…and then he’ll get in trouble for starting a fight and get arrested for assaulting me.” But by another stroke of God’s grace to me, I walked back to my truck…and he was gone. He had seen the cop, got scared, got back in his car, and pulled up to the gas pump and started filling up.

Long story short, I almost came to blows with an old man who was lashing out at me and my family for something stupid that he did to me! But Jesus says not to return evil for evil. Servants of the Lord, and especially local church leaders, don’t get in fistfights just because someone made them mad or got them angry. They don’t respond with fists of fury, with threats, and with gang violence. They respond with grace. They turn the other cheek to the same person who just punched the first cheek. They love their enemies and pray for those who hurt them. That’s how the local church leader exemplifies the life and mind of Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd.

When we look at the Savior we see a gentle and meek Savior. He told us in Matthew 11:28-29 that He’s meek and lowly in heart. Meekness is not weakness, but ironically it’s just the opposite. It’s power under control. Jesus had the power to call down thousands upon thousands of angels on those who arrested Him that night while He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. But He didn’t. And He had the power to do the same while He was being murdered upon the cross. But He didn’t. He stayed there.

That’s because GOD’S power is manifested through weakness, through gentleness. Man’s power is manifested in fistfighting, violence, guns, swords, knives, etc. But that only leads to death and pain. The Christian, however, is interested in healing and life. So he does nothing to someone else that causes the very thing he’s trying to stop. He fights violence with gentleness, activism with passivism. He realizes that the very power and glory of God Almighty was reflected on the cross when Jesus was being murdered. And the local church leader seeks to exemplify the same thing to those who would do the same thing to him. Gentleness is the only way of the Savior. And it’s the only way of the local church leader.

c. The local church leader should not be known as a contentious man, who loves to fight whether it’s a verbal argument or a fist fight. The Greek word here is, amachos, which is very strong term in the Greek meaning to actively quarrel and bicker, and sometimes physical combat (Mounce, The Pastoral Epistles, p. 176). This same word is used in James 4 where the pastor of that local church is teaching his people about the internal fighting that is caused by a person wanting something so very passionately, but not getting it (4:1-2).

This one feature more characterizes false teachers and opponents in the local church than anything else. You can usually identify a guy who is not qualified to lead a local church, but thinks he is by the fact that he argues and picks verbal fights with people He’s usually the philosopher who’s got it all figured out, and who’s got a counter-argument for everything that comes out of your mouth. He fancies himself a contender for the truth, but he actually destroys it by the way he talks and argues and quarrels with people. He’s usually the guy whose got some theological or personal axe to grind with someone…usually the guy leading the church. And so the contentious man creates disunity and disharmony in the local church, as he tries to argue with leadership and with others who support the leadership, thereby hoping to gather another group around him in the name of truth and Scripture and holiness. If a guy like this ever gets on our leadership team, the rest of us will kick him off so fast he won’t know what hit him. We simply cannot put up with a man like this because he threatens the very thing he is biblical mandated to create and foster in the local church, and that’s unity.

Paul spends a good deal of time helping Timothy discover what this looks like within the context of the Ephesian church. We see that Timothy may not have been exemplifying this the character trait of being peaceable because Paul had to write a second time to Timothy and in it spent a good amount of space dealing with the issue.

“Remind people of these things and solemnly charge them before the Lord not to wrangle over words. This is of no benefit; it just brings ruin on those who listen. Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately. But avoid profane chatter, because those occupied with it will stray further and further into ungodliness, and their message will spread its infection like gangrene…But reject foolish and ignorant controversies, because you know they breed infighting. And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes, but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim. 2:14-17, 23-25, The NET Bible).

This is perhaps the single hardest lesson for a young local church leader to learn. I can attest that this has been perhaps the single greatest challenge for me as a young man. There is a great temptation to feel the cause of truth so great that I end up actually arguing against it by the very way I am trying to argue for it! It is so easy to get entangled in debates, heated arguments, quarreling over things that are really neither here nor there. It’s all pointless. And the one who realizes that first wins, and exhibits the character needed to lead a local church.

I recall hearing a story many years ago about a public debate being held between a Christian and a Hindu. I can’t recall where I heard it, but it made a deep impact on my heart at the time. For I was involved in some of the darkest years of my entire life with a family member who would not repent. Time after time I had been entangled in conversations that led to angry arguments from those I was trying to convince to repent. Those were some of the saddest years in my life.

But the story I recalled gave me great hope within about my own attitude toward the situation. While the Christian and Hindu were debating, thousands were watching and listening. Afterwards, one man asked another man who he thought won the debate. His answer was telling. He said, “I knew who won the debate when the other side was the first to get angry.” How true that is of Christians so many times. WE are often the first to become angry, contentious, and quarrelsome when something doesn’t go our way, when we’re offended or opposed or threatened. Yet it must not be so for the man who wants to lead a local church. He must reflect Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

d. The local church leader should not be known as a man who loves money. The Greek word here is, aphilapguron, which literally is translated, “not a lover of money.” The same qualification is repeated for deacons in 3:8, which means that, like drunkenness, this was a problem in the Ephesian church. And it has never been otherwise, for drunkenness and greed have always gone together. Sex, money, and power have been the triad of trouble since the beginning of time, and the local church is a perfect opportunity for the devil and his demons to send some of their servants there for some destructive fun.

One of the most significant and obvious ways that the false teachers of Ephesus were identifiable was that they taught for money, and not for the sake of the gospel. When you teach for the biblical gospel, enough of it rubs off on you to convince you that charging to preach and teach it is absolutely asinine. But if you’re a false teacher, then you don’t care whether or not your gospel is biblical, and you therefore don’t care about the financial implications. You have no problem charging people to tell them error. This is of course, simply lying to people. And it involves hypocrisy too, since you’re claiming to be a teacher of the gospel, but you’re teaching things and doing things that are contradictory to the gospel.

Paul was clear to Timothy in chapter 6 about this problem.

“Teach them and exhort them about these things. If someone spreads false teachings and does not agree with sounds words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the teaching that accords with godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies and verbal disputes. This gives rise to envy, dissension, slanders, evil suspicions, and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a way of making a profit. Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that. Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains” (6:2-10, The NET Bible).

The reason this was so significant for Timothy to get wired into his DNA is that he would be involved in handling the money of the local church. As an overseer, he would be involved in the finances of the congregation, as was the practice since the beginning (Acts 4:34-37). He had to do everything in his power then to ensure that he would not be blamed for any lack of integrity. The only way to do this then, was to avoid any love of money in his heart. This meant living like it. Which in turn meant learning to be content with whatever food and clothing God had provided him. Contentment is the greatest weapon against greed, as well as against any charges of preaching the gospel for greed. Timothy would have a church with many people who were pursuing get-rich-quick schemes, including the use of the gospel. But he was not to succumb to it at all. John Calvin has written some very wise words regarding this problem.

“Lovers of money are covetous people. All covetousness is tainted with the evil characteristic that the apostle touches on here. Juvenal has said, ‘The man who desire to be rich wants to be rich quickly.’ This results in all greedy people giving all their energy to acquiring wealth dishonestly and unlawfully, even if there is little evidence to show this. Paul contrasts contempt for money with this vice, as this is the only way to control it. I say again, a person who will not willingly and patiently bear poverty will inevitably become mean and covetous” (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, p. 56).

This was the very public and very obvious manner in which Paul lived and exemplified the Christian life to the Ephesian church while he was there for three years planting it. What’s so amazing is that they can hear his testimony, but act so opposite to what they saw. He reminded them,

I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you…. "I have never coveted anyone's silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (20:29-31, 34-35, NLT).

If you want to be a local church leader at Church in the Boro, you will be entrusted with handling the finances of the church. If it turns out you are a greedy or covetous person and we missed it before, it will show up when you get your hands on the church’s money. I guarantee it. It always does. The checkbook register is a great reflection of what you think about money as a local church leader. You may have hidden it well at home in your personal finances. But you can’t hide it when you’re dealing with someone else’s. Because then the “gig is up.”

A local church leader must absolutely be completely beyond and above all reproach in this area. It has stained almost as many pastors as sexual immorality has. And my experience has been that where one is occurring, generally the other is as well. If you want to lead here, you must be an example of the counsel we see given to all Christians in Hebrews 13:5.

“Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

‘I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.

So we can say with confidence,

‘The LORD is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?’

“Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith” (13:5-7, NLT).

I was reading through the Didache, not too long ago, trying to understand what the 2nd century Christians would have thought about apostles and the charismatic gifts. I came across a statement that was rather shocking, but also very helpful in determining immediately whether a minister was true or false prophet. There was a saying then that is translated this way:

“Whosoever, therefore, comes and teaches you all these things that have been said before, receive him. But if the teacher himself turns and teaches another doctrine to the destruction of this, hear him not. But if he teaches so as to increase righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord. But concerning the apostles and prophets, act according to the decree of the Gospel. Let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain more than one day; or two days, if there's a need. But if he remains three days, he is a false prophet. And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodges. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet… Therefore from their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet be known” (Didache, Chapter 11).

Summarizing all the negative traits we’ve seen in this section on The Leader’s Self-Control, it becomes obvious that this man is someone who is in constant need and therefore, (hopefully) in constant possession of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The opposites of these negatives are only a fruit of the Spirit: peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Local church leaders must be filled with the Spirit and/or pursuing it at all times, since the future of the mission depends on it. In the end,

“Christian leaders who possessed these outward traits gave evidence that they had inner control and commitment to Christ. Such traits would be mandatory in meeting, opposing, and defeating the rampant, controversial false teaching of Ephesus” (Lea & Griffin, The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy and Titus, p. 111).

character

What is the Character of a Gospel-Driven Leader? Part Eleven

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

10. The Local Church Leader Will Have a Public AND Private Ministry (continued)

b. Paul pairs hospitality in 1 Timothy 3:2 with “apt to teach” which basically means skilled in teaching. The Greek word is didaktikos, and there is only one other place where it occurs. That is in 2 Timothy 2:24 where we find that the Lord’s servant, speaking specifically of the local church leader, must be “skilled in teaching…instructing those who oppose.” There is, however, a second passage in which we not only find a similar qualification to local church leaders, in Paul’s letter to Titus, but also a description of what being skilled in teaching looks like. In Titus 1:9, Paul writes to Titus that church elders must hold firmly to what they were taught, and be able to instruct and refute those who are teaching error. This is very similar in construction and intention to 2 Timothy 2:24.

Some people, I believe, misread this or mistranslate the Greek word to simply mean, “able to teach.” They take this to imply that an elder simply be able to teach, though not necessarily actively engaged in teaching. However, I think this misses the point for two reasons. The first reason is a grammatical one. Able to teach is actually intended to mean “able teacher,” the difference between the two being obvious. The second reason is historical, for the problem going on in Ephesus was false doctrine. So I can hardly imagine Paul telling Timothy to ordain elders who are simply able to teach but who don’t necessarily actively engage in it when they were false teachers running amok. The simple point here is this: if you were a local church leader, you were to be an able teacher, or a skilled teacher….and you were to be doing it.

Now I would point out to you that this is really the only essential difference here between an elder and a deacon in 1 Timothy 3. There is no reference to a deacon being a skilled teacher. This means that being a skilled teacher is what sets the role of elder apart from deacon, giving it more authority. For the elder is teaching Scripture, which is the thing to which the early church was giving itself in devotion to (Acts 2:42). This was the thing, according to Paul’s famous counsel in 2 Timothy 3:16, that was profitable for instructing, reproving, correcting, and instructing in righteousness. It was the only tool, according to verse 17, that could make the man of God thoroughly equipped to do his job in caring for the local church. So the elder’s qualification of being skilled in teaching is what sets him apart in terms of spiritual authority within the congregation.

One thing I do want to point out is the place of this qualification in the flow of the others. I want you to notice several things that jump out at me personally, and I believe they will serve to sort of tie these qualifications together so that you can see the flow Paul probably intended here.

Notice first that consistency or integrity is required of the man who is skilled in teaching. The man who is skilled in teaching is also a man whose home is filled with deeds and actions of love and care for others who cannot care for themselves. His mouth and his home are a lighthouse. He practices what he preaches. As Richard Baxter, my favorite Puritan pastor, has written, “He that means as he speaks, will surely do as he speaks” (The Reformed Pastor, p. 63). There is a consistency between what he says about the gospel and how he lives it out from day to day.

Second, notice the discipline that’s required to be a man who’s skilled in teaching. Again, this qualification comes on the heels of the qualifications we just looked at previously on the local church leader’s discipline. The fact that he’s temperate, or watchful and vigilant as we saw, means that he’s always watching out for doctrinal error that is not consistent with Scripture, because bad believing leads to bad living.

And the fact that he’s prudent, or self-disciplined as we saw, is an absolutely necessary foundation for the local church leader to learn how handle the Word of God to begin with. His discipline in study, in the science and art of interpretation (a.k.a. hermeneutics), in application, in theology, in church history, in historical theology, in the biblical languages, etc. are all areas of knowledge in which he must be skilled if he is to be able to properly instruct in sound doctrine and refute false doctrine, as Paul wrote to Titus (in 1:9). However, even if he knows all that, he is still to be skilled in teaching it all. For, as John Calvin wrote in his commentary on 1 Timothy,

“It is not enough to be well-known as a profound teacher if this is not accompanied with skill in teaching. Some people keep their learning to themselves, through a speech impediment or through lack of mental ability or because they are so out of touch with ordinary people. Such people should…go and do something else. People who govern in the church should be able to teach. Paul does not just mean a facility in speaking, as we know how many people have so much to say but edify no one. Rather Paul is commending knowing how to apply God’s Word so that people listening benefit from this” (The Crossway Classic Commentaries: 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, p. 55).

Finally, the fact that he’s respectable, or that he’s a man with an orderly and disciplined life as we saw, means that his lifestyle is the bedrock on which rests his skill in handling the Scriptures. A disorderly man, or a man who is not disciplined in his life structure or schedule, cannot become the kind of skilled man a local church needs when it comes to teaching the Scriptures. You simply cannot put in the time necessary to read, study, learn, and prepare to communicate the Word of God, in season and out of season, when it’s welcome and when it’s not (2 Timothy 4:2 ff.) if your lifestyle is chaotic, unorganized, or disorganized.

In other words, the skill the leader is expected to have in handling and teaching the Word is a skill that is congruent with leading an orderly, disciplined, vigilant lifestyle. If you’re a lazy slug, you’ll never be ready to do battle with the forces of darkness in teaching sound doctrine. You won’t know your stuff, and you’ll get your tail kicked by the demons and the people they use to oppose God. You’ll get smashed in discussions, and those you thought were following you will be persuaded by erroneous arguments, your church will have conflict and probably split, and you’ll fail in your primary mission of Ephesians 4:12-14.

“Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth” (NLT).

In the end, a local church leader will be a man whose doctrine is above reproach. He does not believe in error, though he may be guilty of teaching things that lead people into error, as Paul was in his day. Paul taught the doctrine of scandalous grace, for example. But even though it was a true doctrine, some people misinterpreted it and so they were led into licentiousness, or continuing to sin so that grace may abound, as he clearly wrote against in Romans 6. As a result, many Jewish false teachers used that against him. But this didn’t make Paul a false teacher. Just because somebody takes the truth that you teach and misapplies it, doesn’t mean you’re not a skilled teacher.

The point I’m making here, however, is that if you are skilled in studying the Word, you will also need to be skilled enough in communicating it so that no part of the truth is left out. Again, Paul is a model here, from what we read of in his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20.

"I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus… I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it's not my fault, for I didn't shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know… I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you” (Acts 20:20, 21, 25-27, 29, 30, NLT).

This is the model of a man qualified in character and speech to teach the Word of God as a local church leader. I’ll close this second set of qualifications in 1 Timothy with the word of John Calvin again, who believed that, “Teaching cannot be separated from a man any more than a man can be separated from his soul” (ibid).

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Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides a Bulls Eye as Well as Focus

Why I Love...and Need the Apostolic Ministry: It Provides Clarity of Vision

Is the Church a Hobby for Christians and a Sandbox for Pastors? Part 1

What is the Character of a Gospel-Driven Leader? Part Twelve

What is the Character of a Gospel-Driven Leader? Part Eleven

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