Biblical Household Management

Transcript

GR 1266
2/22/2004
Biblical Household Management
1 Timothy 3:4,5
Gil Rugh

We're going to be in I Timothy 3, and we're looking at leadership in the church. How important is this? It's absolutely essential. We're going to see again today the church is God's family, God's household. And He has set forth clearly what His requirements are for the leadership and oversight of the church and what the qualifications are of those who would exercise leadership in the church of Jesus Christ. We are all equal in Christ before God, we are all saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ, because we are all sinners and in need of salvation. When we place our faith in Christ we are born into the family of God; we become children of God. That's true for everyone—men, women, young people. There is no distinction with a clergy class or a priestly class that is a step above everyone else. There are those that God appoints to leadership over His people. That does not mean they are better, that they have more spiritual privileges, that they have greater access to God. It simply means that God has provided for order among His people, and from among His people He appoints some to the responsibility of leadership.

We've noted the qualifications set down are characteristics that are to be true of all of us as God's people. So again, we don't have a unique separate class of super Christians here. These are qualities that ought to be true of all of us, but they must be true of any man who would be appointed to the responsibility of elder or pastor, or overseer, in the church of Jesus Christ. Now most of these qualifications focus on moral character, things that are basic. Not pugnacious, gentle, prudent, respectable. One qualification had to do with his abilities and he had to be able to teach, at the end of verse 2. One of the major responsibilities of the pastor is to teach the Word of God—must know the Word, understand it, be able to communicate it and have a desire to do so.

Turn over to II Timothy 4. In II Timothy Paul writes his final letter that we have in our New Testament; he is expecting his execution shortly. But he writes to Timothy and tells him of the importance of the ministry of the Word when he says in II Timothy 4:1, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, preach the Word. Note the seriousness of this. I place this responsibility on you, Timothy, and remember this is in the presence of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ, the one before whom you will stand some day and give an account of whether you have been faithful to the charge that is given to you. You are to preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. We sometimes say we are looking for open doors. You know what Paul charges Timothy to do? Preach the Word. You be ready when the door is open and when the door is closed. That's what it means to be in season and out of season. The Word of God is our ministry, when people want to hear it and when people don't want to hear it. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. You are involved in admonishing people with the Word of God. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires.

It's a remarkable passage. He's writing to Timothy about the ministry of the Word, the ministry of the Word in the context of the church. And yet the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Unbelievers have never wanted to endure healthy teaching. The amazing thing is, there will come a time, Paul tells Timothy, when believers won't want to hear healthy teaching. That's what he's concerned about in his first letter; remember, false teachers have already made their way into the church at Ephesus. They are already finding a hearing, getting a following, leading God's people astray. And you know what happens? The longer you hear teaching that is not good, the more accustomed you become to it. You'll note what they do here. They'll want to have their ears tickled, so they accumulate for themselves teachers. Picturesque, here--it means to heap up in piles. There will be no lack of teachers, but they are teachers teaching what the people want to hear. Healthy teaching is no longer the in thing in the church in the time that Paul is warning Timothy. Oh, they'll want teachers, but they'll want teachers to teach the way they want it. And they won't endure healthy teaching. They will turn away ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. You understand, once you turn away from the truth, everything else you turn to is a myth, it's error.

But you be sober in all things. There's a word we've seen as a qualification for elder. There has to be a seriousness about Timothy and his ministry. Doesn't mean a gloominess. But this is serious business; this is not fun and games. Be sober in all things, endure hardship. Remember you have to preach the Word, be intent in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. Sometimes people don't want to hear it; opposition grows; difficulties multiply. You endure hardship; you have to fulfill your ministry.

This fits the qualifications Paul is setting down for men who would be elders and pastors back in I Timothy 3, turn there. In verse 3 he said that the elder, the man being considered for the role of elder or pastor, must not be pugnacious, but gentle and peaceable. You see in the midst of the conflicts and the oppositions the difficulty of having to endure hardship; you can't be pugnacious about this. You have to be gentle, have a peaceable spirit in your firm stand for the truth. There are going to be difficult times; it takes men of stability, who have a serious commitment to truth, who will not be willing to alter and adjust the truth because the people want it so. But they must do it with the right spirit.

And that moves Paul to deal more extensively with the next qualification, that moves again to another area of the elder or pastor's responsibility. He is not only to be able to teach the Word of God; he is to be able to lead the people of God. We often summarize the responsibility of the pastors or elders as lead and feed—you feed people on the Word of God and you lead them according to the will of God. That's a responsibility of the elders, and so he wants to focus attention on the area of leading or managing the church. I mentioned that some churches have developed a managerial model of ministry. That's not the biblical model; the biblical model of ministry is seen here in verses 4-5 as a family model, involving the nourishing and nurturing of God's people. But that does not mean that the church does not have order or organization. We sometimes think every believer is equal before God; we are all believer/priests; we all have access to God; the Spirit of God indwells each of us as believers. We don't need to recognize others as leaders, but we do because God says that's His plan for order in His church.

And that's the point he picks up with in verse 4, the elder must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. So here you can see, we're going to move--it's a personal qualification here and should be true of all men in their homes. They should be managing their homes well; they should have their children under control with all dignity. I want you to note something. A little later in Timothy we'll get into a section where it says that the wife is to rule the home, but she does that under the ultimate authority of her husband. And we as men cannot pass off this responsibility. I cannot say, well I know God has given it to me, but I've delegated it to my wife. Obviously, my wife and I would share this responsibility, but I am ultimately accountable to God for the condition of my home. So he lays out here that a man who is going to be an elder must manage his own household well. Emphasis here on his own household, because he's going to contrast that in the next verse with the household of God, the church. He must demonstrate the ability to manage his own house before he can be entrusted with taking care of God's house, This is the pattern set down.

The word manages, compound word, word to stand and the preposition before.
So it means to stand before. Easily means to lead, to preside, to oversee, to rule, to manage. That's the flavor of the word. We're talking about someone who has leadership responsibility here. And one who would be considered for elder must be a man who leads his own household well.

Turn over to I Timothy 5:17. We'll see this word to manage or to rule. Used of the elders in I Timothy 5:17, the elders who rule well. That word translated rule is the same word translated manage back in chapter 3 verse 4--the elders who manage well, who rule well. Turn back to I Thessalonians 5. Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians and he said in verse 12, but we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate or know those who diligently labor among you. Note, and have charge over you in the Lord. Have charge over you is the translation of the same Greek word translated manage in I Timothy 3 and rule in I Timothy 5. And you can see the flavor of the word. Same Greek word, we've translated it three different ways in the three passages that we've looked at in the English version, but they all give the same point. They have charge over you; they manage you; they rule over you in the Lord. And they give you instruction; they admonish you with the Word of God. Those two areas of responsibility ought to be recognized and they ought to be honored in the sense of we respect their leadership is the idea.

Now he starts out with the home. Come back to I Timothy 3. A man who would serve as a pastor must manage his own household well. All of us men who are married and have children manage our households. Some do it well and some do it not so well, and some do it terribly. But we all have that role and responsibility. We are to do it well, word that means well, beautifully, excellently, it's done properly. That's going to be emphasized further in the next statement. It's not a matter of I'm the boss of my home. Some men like to be sure everybody knows they run their house. They even like to give demonstrations of their authority from time to time and show how their wife knows how to jump when they say jump. But their children, I just bark and they go. Well that's not necessarily managing your household beautifully; that's being like a dictator, a tyrant. There is a difference. We're talking about managing your household beautifully or excellently, well as God would have us do it, in the proper manner.

The focus here is on your children. Keeping his children under control with all dignity. Keep the children under control, arranged under your authority. Same word that was used in chapter 2 verse 11 where a woman is to receive instruction with entire submissiveness. Another compound word that means to be lined up under. It was used in military contexts, where soldiers were lined up under the authority of their commander. So here the prospective elder must have his children under control, under his authority.

With all dignity. Now it seems clear here that the implication is that the children are still in the home. We're not talking about 40-year-old children who have established their own homes. The men in those homes, then, have the responsibility for their children. I have opinions on my kids' homes; they're married; they have their own homes. They are husbands and fathers who are in charge of their homes. Doesn't mean I don't have opinions. But you know what? I have no authority in that home. I would sometimes like to express my opinion, and sometimes I do, and they are free to ignore it. But you know what I like about it? I have no responsibility either. So I don't want the responsibility for someone else's home, but I am responsible for my home. When my children were in my home, I was responsible for them. So I think clearly, and I don't think I found any commentator who did not see this as clear. I realize there are some men running around, the children are under the authority of their parents as long as their parents are alive. I don't want that responsibility, and I don't think the Bible gives it. But as long as the children are in the home, they are under the authority of the father of that home.

He must keep his children. The word for children is often used of a variety of ages, even older people. But its general use is of children, as we would think of it. They are those who are obviously in his home. He has them under control with all dignity.
One commentator on the Greek text says this is to be understood as a comment on the bearing of dignity and worthiness of respect that should characterize the father's exercise of authority over his children. He does this with seriousness, with dignity. It's not just he has the power, but in the manner of exercising his authority and control it's done with a manner that is respectable, that generates respect. So that's different than the man who can exercise power and show he can control things, get done what he wants done. So we are talking about having your children under control with all dignity, a manner worthy of respect.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the same people that Timothy is ministering to, and Paul writes to him. Ephesians 6:4, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. You see the balance there. There is a proper way to bring the children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, but there is an improper way to handle these things, where you provoke them to anger. You're not exercising your authority properly. It creates resentment and anger. So I as a father would have to be careful that I am exercising my authority properly.

In Colossians 3:21, another church in the region where Ephesus is, the church at Colosse. Colossians 3:21, fathers, do not exasperate your children so that they will not lose heart. Don't exercise your authority in such a way that you crush your children.
They never do anything right; they never please you; you are constantly on them so that they just lose the desire. You can drive them on but they are not growing and maturing as they should, they're just submitting, perhaps out of fear. So when we talk about the man is to have his children under control with all dignity, this is a serious responsibility. Now I understand these are difficult days to raise children, but you understand it has always been difficult days to raise children. I realize things go on in our society that compound the responsibilities of raising children, but nonetheless, we are still responsible. Children have always been rebellious. One of the marks of fallen human beings in Romans 1 is children who are disobedient to parents. That was written 2000 years ago. God says it is a characteristic of fallen human beings, manifesting their rebellion against God and His authority. That's always been the case. We don't get some reinforcement. When I was a kid going to school, if I misbehaved at school, I got swatted at school; then when I got home and my parents found out that I had misbehaved at school, I was in double trouble. Nowadays you get in trouble at school; the teacher did something wrong. And there is no support system that goes on from parents to other areas, and from other areas we undermine the authority of the parents. I realize it's difficult to understand; it has always been difficult. You know what the book of Proverbs says? Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. Now we're going back 1000 years before Christ. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. We think this is new.
How are we going to raise kids today? How are we going to control kids? You just can't do it today. Well you know what? Solomon had his hands full; so did his dad, David.
Do you know what Paul said was going on in his day? Look around us. Paul writes to the Romans--what do you see? Kids disobedient to parents. Proverbs 22:6 says, train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he won't depart from it. That's not a guarantee of the salvation of the child, doesn't mean there'll never be children who don't go off on their own thing. We're raising sinners, remember. Our children are descendants of Adam.

But it does mean where proper order is imposed, children are raised. We see that today even in the unbelieving world. There are still homes in the unbelieving world where children are raised with proper discipline, and you see that they go out and they don't throw a tantrum in a restaurant or in the mall. That's not acceptable in that home.
Go to the mall and see parents trying to woo the kids. It's bad enough when the mother does it, but you see the dad trying to talk to the kid who is sitting on the floor, refusing to do something, trying to barter with him. My dad never knew he had to do that with me. I just was born at the wrong time. But you know the Bible indicates there is a proper way to handle these things. We're not going into child rearing now. But he has to have his children under control with all dignity. So it's not, be careful, dad will lose his temper, fly off the handle, and there will be turmoil. No, he has his children under control with all dignity. He doesn't lose his temper, doesn't lose it, it's not he's being mean, he doesn't do the discipline because he lost his temper and has to go back and say, I lost my temper. It's not a matter of him saying, I come home from a hard day and my wife says, the children did whatever. Well, what do you want me to do about it? I had a hard day at work, now you want me to come home and discipline the kids? What do you think I want to do? Come home and have to discipline the kids after a hard day? I just can't shirk my responsibility. It is my responsibility as a man. A man who would be considered as an elder has to have managed his own household well.

I want you to go to a parallel passage in Titus because there is a question related to it. Titus 1:6. Paul is writing to Titus, similar kind of situation that he is writing to Timothy. And he's telling him to appoint elders in the cities on the island of Crete. And he must be the husband of one wife, and we saw that in I Timothy 3. Titus 1:6, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. I understand this to be saying basically the same thing that we just read in I Timothy 3:4. Having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. There is some discussion over the word translated believe because it can be translated two ways, it can be translated believe and it can be translated faithful. The King James version translates it faithful, having children who are faithful. The New American Standard has children who believe. And the question revolves around, does this mean that a man who would be considered as elder must have children who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior? Or does it mean he must have children who are faithful, in other words obedient to him, under control, the negative being not accused of dissipation or rebellion. And there are good men on both sides of this issue. I hope so because I have been a man on both sides of this issue. If you get my tapes on Titus, I taught it differently than I'm going to now.

I want to say that both my children are grown; both of them are married; both of them have their own families. By the grace of God both of them are believers in Jesus Christ and are living faithful to the Word of God. So I praise God for His grace. So I have no axe to grind on either side here, because whatever it means I am safe. I say that because at times when my children were growing up, people would question whether maybe I had ulterior motives. You know it's nice to get to this point. Age does have its benefits as well as some drawbacks. If you could only get old and keep your youth it would have something going for it. I have all this wisdom and no strength to do anything with it, all this advice to give and nobody who wants to listen.

I note in all the qualifications given, it's true in Titus as well as I Timothy 3, that these are all things for which a man may be held responsible and accountable. In other words, not pugnacious. I can be held accountable for not losing my temper, for not hitting someone, not getting drunk. These are things I am to exercise control over. I cannot exercise any control over whether my children became believers or not.
Remember salvation is not by works of the parents, it's by the grace of God. My concern is we are tending here to create two classes of Christians. Just why would it be necessary that a man's children be believers in Jesus Christ if he is going to be an elder? Now I'm not saying it's not desirable; we all want our children to become believers. But just why would that be a necessary qualification? One person wrote, well how is he going to lead others to Christ if he wasn't able to lead his own family to Christ? Now you see where we're going here. We're saying what? That it's in his power to bring them to salvation? It's not. Further you'll note that we're talking about taking care of God's family. It's presumed that he's taking care of believers here; this is the family of God. Primarily involved in taking care of God's people. Doesn't mean he doesn't do the work of an evangelist, but the qualification here doesn't have primarily to do with leading people to Christ, it has to do with taking care of those who have come to Christ.

So it would seem if you make this requirement that his children be believers, you are implying what? Well there is a special class, men that God wants to be pastors, He will guarantee their children will be saved. Why? What does that demonstrate? As far as I can tell it doesn't demonstrate anything. Some men who are not very godly have children who have become believers. So that in and of itself is not an evidence. God's grace is what brings salvation, so it seems to me that's more consistent, consistent also with the context--the context of Titus, the context of I Timothy. Because what is the balance here? Children who are faithful. What do you mean? Not accused of dissipation or rebellion. That could be an evidence of genuine faith. I think it more consistently fits. He has his children under control. They are faithful in that they are obedient; they are functioning as children should—under the authority of their parents. If you're going to say an elder's child has to be a believer, at what age does he have to be a believer?
You're saying, well, 6. Wouldn't put a man as elder who had any children in his family six years of age who didn't profess to be a believer. Or 13, or where is the age? We're in an area we have no control over. We can't decide. And what about a child at 6 gives a testimony of having believed in Christ in Sunday school, but at 13 he is rebellious. How do you know? We've had children who have had clear testimonies it seems right up until they are in their 20s, and then all of a sudden they abandon what they profess to believe.
I can't take control over the salvation of my children. I can do all I can to expose them to the truth, to model godliness, to encourage them to believe, to pray for them. But I cannot guarantee their salvation. But I am responsible for their conduct in my home, as long as they are in my home.

It says not accused of dissipation or rebellion. Dissipation is a rather strong word- it means an abandoned dissolute life, debauchery, wild, immoral living, a general lack of self-control. It's used of the prodigal son, remember, in Luke 15:13, who took what he could get from his father and wasted it on wild living, immoral life. Back up to Ephesians 5:18. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, do not be drunk with wine for that is dissipation.
What do we mean? Drunkenness involves living an uncontrolled life, it involves immorality. We're having this now in some of the universities and the debate over sports activities and rape and so on. You know what happens? You have drinking and drunkenness and drugs and you have immorality. And you basically have total lack of self-control. One lady involved in one of the universities raised the question, doesn't excuse the men from rape, but she said maybe some of our young women ought to learn not to get drunk and take drugs and go to wild parties. They want to fire her for saying such a thing. Well let's face it, you're going to go out and get drunk, take drugs, be part of wild parties, and immorality is going to be part of it. That doesn't excuse men who rape, but it doesn't mean you can be a woman and go do stupid things and not bear consequences, either. The Bible says you can't be accused of dissipation,that kind of uncontrolled living. It's used in I Peter 4:4, and if you read verse 3 leading into verse 4 you get a list of the kinds of things—sensuality, immorality, drunkenness—that are all included in the concept.

Or rebellion, an undisciplined rebellious life. I take it what he's talking about here is an elder must have his house under control. That doesn't mean there is never going to be times where his authority is tested, his ability to control his home doesn't come under assault. Being an elder would be wonderful if that meant you would have kids who never tested you. Let's face it; some of our kids are more of a challenge than others.
Sometimes you can see it. I hear comments go on, we see the kids that are very little and what do we say about it? They're just little, they're just getting started and we say, they're going to be a handful. That one is not going to be like their other one; their other one was easy, this one will test them. What do we mean? Every kid is different, right? How would it be helpful for an elder if one of the qualifications for elders is he has kids who have never been any problem or never will be any problem. How are we going to handle the problems of the church? Are there any churches that don't have any problems, that you never have to deal with serious situations, rebellion, false doctrine? Of course not. It has been the pattern here for as long as I can remember that just because an elder was having a problem with one of his children didn't mean he was disqualified. I remember years ago before my kids came into ages where I had to deal with certain things, we had an elder, staff person, who came and said, I'm having a problem with my kid so does that mean I'm disqualified from being a pastor? I said as far as I can tell, no. Being a pastor doesn't mean you have perfect kids; it means you have your kids under control. Now if you're not able to bring your children under control you will be disqualified. But the fact is you're going to go through a difficult time here; struggling for the control of your family will simply demonstrate whether you really are qualified or not.

We have to be careful here we don't go from one side to the other, that we only want men who have passive, pliable children who are never any trouble. There aren't many of those, and God is usually gracious. He sprinkles them out. He doesn't give them all to one family. So that balance is there. What an elder has to do is, he has to control his family. And when that control is being tested, with dignity he works to bring the family back to where it ought to be.

So I see Titus 1:6 and I Timothy 3:4 saying basically the same thing--that he has his family under control and the children are functioning obediently. We could give many examples, but I won't, because I want to do one more verse with you.

Back to I Timothy 3:5. Why is this necessary? It says it's an evidence of the elder's moral character. But there is more to it than that. Managing the home is one of the demonstrations that he will be able to manage the Church. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God? Now what is the Church of God? Look down at verse 15, I write so you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the Church. You know what? The Church is God's family. Now if you can't manage your own family, how are you going to manage the family of God? You have the same kind of situation, same kind of problem. Sometimes you have difficulties to be dealt with; you have rebellion to deal with; you have error to be corrected. I mean, if you're not able to control your family, how are you going to control God's family? That's a simple analogy.

I want you to note here, he didn't use running a company as the example; he didn't use managing a brigade of soldiers as an example; he didn't use being a significant political figure as an example. He uses a simple example--can you manage your home; is your home under control and are your children under control? If you don't know how to manage your own household, you won't be able to manage the household of God. Simple, clear analogy.

Managing the church is more comparable to managing a family than it is managing a business. It does not mean that a person who manages a business could not be an elder, but the demonstration of meeting the quality of management would have to do more with his family. There are some men who manage businesses and are successful who don't have much control over their families. They wouldn't be qualified as an elder. But look at his business; it's successful. Doesn't matter, his children are not under control with all dignity. That means he's not qualified. And that would go to other areas. You could have a powerful military commander who directs armies, but he doesn't manage his household well with all dignity. He wouldn't be qualified to be an elder. Isn't it amazing how simple the Word gets?

I get people who want to get me to do a reference for a man they are considering for pastor. Rarely do I have this as a qualification. They don't say, does he manage his own household well? They want to know, has he demonstrated leadership ability? Have you seen him manage projects? What are we saying? We want something more like the world looks for than what God looks for. So the evidence of management ability for the Church is managing your family.

If one does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God? He uses another word here, take care of. Now the word translated management has a secondary meaning of to take care of something. You can understand that. When a person is leading something he takes care of it, in a sense here. But this word is a totally different word and it draws attention to the fact that when we talk about managing here we're talking about taking care of God's family, managing God's family. Doesn't mean there isn't delegation that goes on, just like in the home. The wife and mother cares for a lot of things in the home, but the father is responsible to see things are done properly. The wife directs the kids to do things; the father is responsible to see that the children are doing what the mother says as she wants it done. So there is delegation and order going on, but what we're talking about is that the father is responsible to take
care of his family, provide the leadership and see that his family is cared for. That's what he'll be doing with the Church—taking care of the Church.

You know this word to take care of is used only one other time in the New Testament. The word translated take care of here in verse 5, and you know where it is? It's in the account of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34-35. The Good Samaritan took care of the man who had been beat up by the robbers. Then he gave him to the innkeeper's care and said take care of him. You get the idea of the responsibility here, of meeting the needs of, and seeing that needs are met, and the needs are provided for. So there is oversight of your family and seeing that it is cared for properly. We don't want a man to be an elder whose family is in disorder and disarray. He's not taking care of his family properly. We say well, he neglects his family to be a pastor. No, I don't think so. Never necessary. There is always a balance. God doesn't call me to do things I cannot do in a manner that is pleasing to Him. He doesn't call me to take care of my family and also take care of the Church and say that's an impossible balance. I sacrifice my family for the Church. No, that's not true. May be an excuse I try to use, but it's never true. I have a circle of responsibilities and God gives me the grace, strength and ability as I depend upon Him to do everything He wants me to do in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to Him. So here, taking care of the Church of God.

All right, let me just review and add a couple of comments about what we've said here. Several points I want to make.


1. The Church is God's household or God's family, and note I keep stressing this, because if we forget what the Church is we begin to bounce off the walls. We're looking for dynamic leaders who will take us someplace. We need to understand this is God's family we're talking about. Doesn't matter how small or how large. The same with the physical family. I had two children, somebody else has ten children. They can't all be his family. Yes they are, and they're all his responsibility, and he must lead them all and care for them all. So the Church is God's household, God's family. The responsibility of the pastors and elders here is to see that the Church is taken care of. That doesn't mean they do everything themselves. This is a multi-gifted body. We've seen that in Ephesians 4. But they provide oversight, and one of the things is to see that the body is cared for. Some of that they do personally; some of it they have others do, and as the body functions each individual part contributes for the development of the body.
2. God intends that there be leadership to guide and care for His people. It's God's family. God intends there be leadership. In the physical home He has provided the father to provide leadership and see that the family is cared for. In the Church God has provided leadership in the form of overseers, elders or pastors.
3. A leader of God's people must have demonstrated the ability to lead his own family. So the family becomes a training ground. Doesn't exclude men who are single; it does indicate that the general rule would be men who have families and they will have demonstrated in their family that they are managing their home well. 4. And it is related to this, although we didn't cover it. We did mention it in I Thessalonians 5. God expects His people to submit to the leaders He has appointed. God expects His people to submit to the leaders He has appointed. Just as He expects the children to submit with proper reverence and respect in honoring their parents, so the Church is to do the same. Listen to Hebrews 13:17, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. We've talked about this already. Just a reminder.
God does not provide leaders as an honorary position to be obeyed when we like it, to submit when it is convenient. Again, doctrinal issues, clarity of the Word has to be resolved. Most of the problems I can say, in 40 years almost of ministry, come to be personal things. People upset about personal things; people don't like something said here or done there. Be careful and submit to the leadership of the elders. When we come to doctrinal issues the elders are to sort through this. How is it possible to protect the flock? You provide elders who are to oversee the sheep and protect them from error and false doctrine. False doctrine comes in and half of the family of God wants to go off on their own. No matter how many times we've covered this, we get into the conflicts and there is a significant group of people who decide they don't have to follow the leadership on this. Just like some children decide they don't have to obey dad. We fail to see this as a serious matter. You know God says it will not be profitable for you if your leaders don't give a good report. It doesn't say it won't be unprofitable for the leaders; it will be unprofitable for you for not obeying God's will in this area.
4. You become a member of God's family by faith in Christ. Keep this clear.
You become a member of God's family by faith in Christ. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, Galatians 3:26 says. I Peter 1:23 says, you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable; that is, through the living and enduring Word of God. Being a member of the Church means you are a member of God's family. You can join a church and not have joined God's family. The true Church is comprised of those who are members of God's household. You can attend these meetings, you can come to this building regularly, but that doesn't mean you are a member of God's family. God's family is comprised of those who have been born into His family. Remember Jesus said, you must be born again, you must be born from above. That's required. Peter says you are born again through the living and abiding Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You hear the Word of God when you come here, but until you believe that Word, believe that you are a sinner and Jesus Christ the Son of God died to pay the penalty for your sin, was raised in victory, you trust Him alone. Not the Church, not your baptism, not your communion, not your good works. You trust Christ alone for salvation. Until that happens you are not a member of God's family. You can attend here at this Church from birth, be baptized here, do all kinds of works here and die and go to hell. Because salvation is by grace through faith.

So are you a member of God's family? What a privilege, isn't it, to be part of God's family. This is His household; He rules over it. He delegates certain authority; He designates certain responsibilities, He gives every one of us as His children to contribute as we should to the functioning of the family. We belong to Him; it's our greatest honor, isn't it? I belong to the family of God, He is my Father.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace in saving us. Thank you for the privilege we have to be your children. Thank you that the Church truly is the household of God. Lord, it's easy for us in busyness and activity in the routine to take things for granted and fail to appreciate the honored position and privilege we have to be part of your family, your household. Thank you for the leaders that you provide. Thanks for godly men appointed by the Spirit to give oversight, to see that your people are properly cared for. Thank you for your ongoing work in our lives so that the Church, the body of Christ, continues to grow to maturity in preparation for an eternity of glory in your presence. We praise you in Christ's name, amen.