Qualities Church Leaders Are to Model

Transcript

GR 1264
2/8/2004
Qualities Church Leaders Are to Model
1 Timothy 3:2
Gil Rugh

I Timothy 3. Paul has begun to talk about the requirements or qualifications for leaders in the church. Tremendously important section. Sometimes when we come to a section like this which is comprised primarily of a list of qualities or qualifications or virtues, we tend to run through the list and fail maybe to give it the attention we should. The shape and direction of the church will be determined by the leaders that it has. Every church has some kind of leadership structure. For some churches it's very formal and clearly defined. In other churches it is rather informal and maybe seems to happen just as things go on. But every church has a leadership structure. In a very small church it may be informal, as there is general awareness of what is taking place. But even in the smallest church there will be people with the responsibility of making decisions.

The evangelical church has undergone some changes in recent years and what is expected of its pastors has been one of those major changes. Since the days when I was studying for the ministry to today, there have been some very significant changes in what is expected of a person who would be the pastor of a church or involved in leadership in the church. We talk in I Timothy 3 about pastors, elders, overseers, we're talking about the same positions, just different titles for those positions. In recent years some of the different models that have taken place. I have just noted two of them. One has been a therapeutic model, and in this view of the pastorate the pastor is expected to be the helper of the people. They look for a pastor who has been prepared and equipped to help them deal with the problems and difficulties of their lives, someone who understands human nature, understands the struggles that we have and can help walk us through these problems. If he has had some training in psychology or in the evangelical world we may not like psychology, so we give him training in counseling. Some churches are happy to call a pastor who has been trained in counseling because he'll understand my problems, and he'll be able to give me more help than a pastor who has just been trained in the Bible and theology. A pastor with a therapeutic emphasis will be preaching sermons like how to deal with anger, how to be a better husband, how to develop communication channels in your marriage, and on we go with more of a pop psychology. A pastor with therapeutic emphasis is to come and help us deal with these things that we are struggling with.

Another model developed for the pastor today that has become a very dominant one because of the rise of large churches is the managerial model. And these churches are looking for a pastor who can be the CEO and run the business. He has to be a man who has had some training and preparation or experience in making decisions and giving leadership, making things happen. These churches are looking for a pastor who knows how to get things done, knows where we ought to go and how to get there. He is like the CEO of a business; if he hasn't had the training in the managerial areas, it helps if he has experience. Sometimes I see churches looking for pastors and they're setting out what they're looking for. These kinds of churches are looking for someone who has some strong experience, 10-15 years, not much more than that because you don't want an old guy, you want somebody young and dynamic. But someone who can take control of this business and get our church off center and move us forward, a man that has a vision for the 21st century for our church and will lead us there. These things sound exciting, and in one sense they are. This person has to be a mover and a shaker as the world would view it. He can set out a vision and he can motivate people to carry it out. His sermons have to be positive and uplifting and remind you that you are part of a work that is going someplace. There is an emphasis on growth and success and accomplishment. It's not much different than if you were running a business.

There are other models that the church has adopted, and I'm talking in the evangelical world now, those churches that claim to be Bible-believing churches. And yet the expectations and requirements that churches have for their pastors will determine and shape the direction of their ministry. It will determine what their church is. If we believe that the Bible teaches that the church belongs to God, and it does, Acts 20:28 says that it's the church of the living God which He purchased with His own blood. I Timothy 3:15 referred to the church as the church of the living God. The church is also the house of God, I Timothy 3:15, the church of the living God. It's the household of God, the church of the living God. It belongs to God; it's His house, His family. It's the body of Christ over which Christ is the head, Ephesians 1:22-23. If we really believe the Bible teaches that the church belongs to God, it's His family, it's the body of Christ over which He is head, then it's absolutely essential that we go to the Word of God and find out what God says He requires of the leaders that He would appoint for His people.

That's what is happening in I Timothy 3. I must say, the contacts I've had from churches, perhaps asking me to recommend someone for a pastorate, I almost have never received material from them listing out that the man we are looking for would meet the qualifications of I Timothy 3 and Titus1. I might say, well that's a given, almost as though you don't consider that. Let's get on to the important things. But really, where we start and end is with what God says. Here are the men, they have to be men, that the Spirit would raise up to be leaders among my people. Now we noted that the qualifications set down here are not unique to leaders, they are qualities that God expects in all of His children. But He does require that they have been demonstrated in the life of a man who would be appointed a leader in the church of God.

He started in verse 2 of chapter 3 with he must be above reproach, a general qualification that encompasses all that follows. And that above reproach will be explained in the qualifications that he enumerates. There is nothing in this man's life that could be laid hold of justly. There may be slanderous and false accusations, but when they're examined they are found to be untrue. So there should be nothing in his life that could be found that would be a blot on his testimony, would mar the testimony of the church if he was the leader. That's a general qualification; we learn more of it as we follow the rest of the qualifications.

We also looked at the next one together: he must be the husband of one wife, literally, a one-woman man. He must have demonstrated faithfulness to his wife. We noted the emphasis on a one-woman man does not mean that he cannot have been divorced and remarried in his past. None of the qualifications here are lifetime qualifications. We are all sinners redeemed by grace. So none of us has these qualities all of the time in our lives. These are qualities of one who has been redeemed by God's grace and now has demonstrated a pattern of godliness in his life.

Being above reproach would have to mean that he has a good testimony in the area of his relationship with his wife. If there has been infidelity, if there has been divorce, those things have to be taken into consideration. But the very fact that that has happened doesn't mean the man is disqualified for life from being a leader in the church, an elder or a pastor. There must have been an appropriate amount of time that has demonstrated his faithfulness in this area.

We are ready to move on to the next qualifications, and they end up being generally one word, but they are expressive of qualities in life that we must be aware of and be looking for in the pastors and elders in our churches. The next one in the list in I Timothy 3:2 is temperate. The word temperate means literally moderate or temperate in the use of wine. And it could mean that this is a man who doesn't overindulge in alcoholic beverages. But that very qualification will be mentioned at the beginning of verse 3, not addicted to wine. And so almost every commentator that I consulted took this metaphorically, meaning he must be clear-headed, alert, must use sober judgment.
We use the word sober this way. If a man has been a drunk and we say he has been sober for three years, we mean literally he has abstained from alcohol for three years, hasn't been drunk. But if I say to you, so-and-so is a very sober person, you say, I didn't know he drank. We say, no, we don't mean he drank, we mean sober in the sense of serious, uses sound judgment, is a good thinker, a serious person. So we use the word sober in the same way. So here it means he's talking about a person who has a certain seriousness, clarity, alertness about them. This is to be the quality of a leader. It's to be a quality of all of us as God's people.

You know the devil is relentless in his attacks against us because we belong to God. So we need to be careful that we maintain an alert, a serious, sober-minded approach to things. Look back in I Peter 5. Now these qualifications we're going to be looking at, this one and the next couple, don’t mean you have to be gloomy. We talk about serious and sober--don't equate that with gloomy. Doesn't mean you can't be happy, you can't laugh, you can't enjoy life as a child of God. We are to be filled with joy, an overflowing joy and happiness. We have been blessed by God Himself. But there is a proper seriousness in our approach to life also. I Peter 5:8, be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And you see we are to have this seriousness, this alertness. Never forget it. You know what happens to the drunk. We talk about rolling the drunk. When I went to school in downtown Philadelphia at 8 o'clock in the morning, you'd find drunks lying on the sidewalk. You could roll them over and take out whatever was in their pockets. We didn't do it, but people talk about rolling a drunk. Didn't know what is going on, they are oblivious to what is happening around them. Believers are not to live like this; we are to live spiritually alert, sober-minded, using good judgment, seeing things as they truly are spiritually. We know we have an adversary, the devil, so we never let our guard down, in that sense. So that quality is to characterize all of us as believers.

Back up to II Timothy 4. We face the devil, we face the false doctrines and false teachings that are constantly assaulting us and assaulting the church. Paul writes to Timothy in verse 3, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
The people who profess to know God won't be interested in healthy teaching, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. Give me what I like, give me what interests me; give me what I find helpful. They will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, keep your judgment sound in this situation. Stay clearheaded, think properly. Doesn't matter that this is the popular thing, this is the in thing, everybody is going that direction. You be sober, you keep your judgment. All of us as believers need to do that, it is absolutely required of leaders. That will come out further in some other things that he says.

Back up to I Thessalonians 5. Paul is talking about the coming Day of the Lord, judgment that is coming on the world and so on. But we as God's children, verse 5, brethren, we are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief. We are sons of light and of day, not of night or darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. Some Christians walk around like they're in a fog, in a daze. You know, the Lord is coming; judgment for this world is on the horizon. We are not to be sleepwalkers; we are not to be caught up in the things of the world like the world is. We are to be sober, alert, thinking clearly, using good judgment. You see the kind of context in which this word functions. Leaders have to be able to keep their feet on the ground, keep their spiritual eyes and ears alert, use good judgment. That's what this word means.

Back to I Timothy 3. The next word carries on that idea, it's the word prudent. In classical Greek it originally referred to a sound mind that was used of a proper restraint of your desires, free from illusion, purposeful, self-control. It was the opposite of ignorance and frivolity. The writer goes on and communicates in readily understandable terms the idea of a suitable restraint in every respect, a self-control which leads to behavior appropriate to the situation. A suitable restraint, appropriate behavior that comes out of a controlled life, is the idea of this word. Elders have to think clearly; elders have to have sound minds; they have to use proper restraint; they have to have themselves under control. They can't be driven here and there by every wind of doctrine, every new idea that comes down for the success of the church; and here is how your church can be effective and successful. They have to use sound thinking, good judgment. They have to have demonstrated self-control. These are qualities that have to have been evident in this man before he becomes an elder. You learn and grow when you are an elder, but you don't become an elder to develop these qualities. You have to have demonstrated these qualities, and then you become an elder. And as with other qualities here, these qualities are to be expected of believers generally. Paul wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 2:7 and said, God has not given us a spirit of timidity, cowardice. God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and discipline. And the word translated discipline is the word we have translated prudent here in our list. And if you look in the margin of some of your Bibles you'll have a note that that word can mean self-control. That's the picture. God doesn't give a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power, of love and of selfcontrol, self-discipline. In other words you have your mind and body under control to do what is appropriate and right, and if a man is going to become a leader of God's people and can't control himself, it's going to be disaster for the church. It's a word used of the women in I Timothy 2:9, 15; it's used of young men in Titus 2:6 who are to be prudent.

Turn over to Titus, a letter that Paul wrote to another young man regarding setting in order the condition of the churches in Crete. In chapter 1 he talks about the qualifications of elders. I want you to go to chapter 2 and see this quality of being prudent. It's a result of God's grace in saving us. Look at verse 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly. That's the word translated prudent in I Timothy 3. We are to live prudently, with sound minds and note what's going on around us— ungodliness, worldliness. But we are to live sensibly now with the mind of Christ controlling us. We shouldn't think, look at the world, there is just no hope, we just can't oppose it. Do you know what God saved us to be? His children. He saved us from a life of unrighteousness and ungodliness, so of course we can live sensibly. That involves denying unrighteousness, denying worldly desires. You see, living sensibly or prudently with a sound mind exercising self-control. He says, no; he refuses to practice unrighteousness, he refuses to become involved in ungodly conduct and behavior. It's not, well I can't help it. Do you know my background, do you know what my father was like, my mother was like, my grandparents? You know the environment I was brought up in? No, and don't clutter my mind with it. The grace of God and the salvation His grace brings changes a life. And now you can live sensibly, you can live controlled, self- controlled because you are Spirit-controlled. And you deny unrighteousness and ungodliness and you live righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us, to redeem us, to set us free by paying the price. We have so much clutter in the church and so many people needing counselors and this and that and the other things because they've never really experienced, truly experienced, the redeeming power of God's salvation. So I can't help myself. No, you can't; but God can. And He redeems you from every lawless deed and purifies you for Himself. And thus you become His, part of His people; you become zealous for good deeds. So you live sensibly. Do you get the flavor of the word? It ought to characterize all of us as believers; it must be characteristic of the leaders of God's people.

In I Peter 4:7 Peter put these first two qualifications together, let me read them for you. The end of all things is near, therefore, be of sound judgment, that's our word translated prudent, and sober spirit. And that's the preceding word, temperate, for the purpose of prayer. In light of all of these things, it will soon come to an end. We need to live alertly with a clear head, self-control, making right decisions as a child of God. And that's what we look for in a man that God is raising up to be a pastor or an elder in His Church.

Come back to I Timothy 3. Must be temperate, prudent, respectable. There's a phrase of meanings in this word. The word is cosmio. We saw it in I Timothy 2. We get the word cosmos from it, the world. Refers to the order, arrangement; can mean orderly or beautiful, respectable, honorable. In philosophy it was used to convey the sense of orderliness, discipline, decorum. It's the opposite of license. It means here well-behaved, well-mannered. It was used of the physical dress of women in chapter 2 verse 9. They were to adorn themselves properly. The word adorn and the word proper both come from this word in I Timothy 2:9. A man who would be a leader among God's people must have a properly ordered life. His life must be in proper arrangement; it must be respectable, well-behaved and disciplined. You know some people have that evidence of immaturity because they are constantly thinking, can I walk on this edge as a believer? We've talked about this before, when you tell your children not to go play in the street and you watch them walking down the curb, it's not a sign of maturity. And you call them and say, didn't I tell you to stay off the street? They say, I wasn't on the street, I was on the curb. And you say what? Grow up, you should know better. When I say to be off the street I want you to allow enough room to be safe. But some Christians, you think, they're always playing can I walk on the edge. They don't have a well-disciplined, ordered life. They don't have things under control. Do you want them to lead the Church, always seeing how close they can go to the edge before they fall off? Would you want a babysitter for your kids, when you tell them, I don't want my kids in the street and you see the babysitter down there walking the curb with them? You say, no, where did we find that one? No. Well what do we want leaders of the Church like that for? We want well-ordered lives that are respectable, well-disciplined.

Hospitable. This word literally means a lover of strangers, shows hospitality. In biblical times they didn't have hotels and motels and people who traveled looked for someone that they could stay with. And even strangers you didn't know, you would invite to stay in your home. It's part of hospitality, evidenced in the Old Testament and seen in the New Testament. They did have inns, but they were a place of drunken brawls and all kinds of vices and not a desirable place to stay. Then you had the persecution going on with the Church, the poverty that enveloped many believers because they lost their jobs and so on; you had orphans and widows. The Church had to be involved in showing hospitality. Where did the Church meet? It met in people's homes. What did they do? They opened their homes. So we show hospitality today in a variety of ways as a demonstration of our love. We still open our homes. Our Church in its corporate meeting meets here in this building, but through the week many people open their homes for Bible studies and so on and inconvenience themselves, mark off that night, get their home ready, do this. People involved in preparing meals and helping care for people and so on. All part of showing hospitality and caring for others. A demonstration of love.

Romans 12:13 says this is something all of us should be doing; we should be practicing hospitality. Hebrews 13:2 says, do not neglect to show hospitality. So believers ought to be hospitable people. You know we get so caught up in the busyness, we don't want anyone to interrupt our schedule, interrupt our routine. We have responsibilities we have to carry out. We need to be careful that that doesn't become a reason for us not to demonstrate our love and show hospitality.

Let me just read one example. Go all the way back to III John, a little 14-verse letter, written by John the Apostle to a man named Gaius that he had deep love for. He loved him in the truth, verse 1 says. And then in verse 3 he says that he was thrilled to hear that he was walking in the truth, living the truth of God. Note what he says in verse 5, beloved you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren. And especially when they are strangers. Here we are talking about strangers who are believers, but you didn't know. And they have testified to your love before the Church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God, for they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men so that we may be fellow-workers with the truth. So as traveling Bible teachers came through Gaius he welcomed them into his home and cared for them and provided for them, so they could continue their ministry of truth. And John encourages them as these men go on to other places, do what you can to help them. So they continue to travel and teach the truth.

Many of you demonstrate hospitality in a variety of ways. Something all of us are to have as a characteristic, it must be seen in the leaders. Leaders would set the pace for being sure that these traveling teachers and so on were adequately cared for.

Peter does give a word of warning, and with this we'll leave this qualification.
I Peter 4:9, says, be hospitable to one another without complaint. Without complaint. That brings a little different dimension. We've all been in cases where we've done something for someone else because we felt obligated, but as soon as we got alone with our spouse we said, I'm glad that's over. I surely didn't like having to do that. Or there's a need and I'll say, well, I'll do it if you can't get anyone else. Well I'd like you to do it because you are open to be used of the Lord here. If it's not possible in your schedule, we understand, and don't do it if it's just going to become a cause of complaint for you. So a word of warning here for us as believers: we do it, but we also do it with the right spirit and right attitude.

Back to I Timothy 3. The next qualification at the end of verse 2 seems a little bit out of order—able to teach. These other qualities have had to do with our moral character and conduct. Able to teach has to do with our ability in an area. But it is one of two major areas where the pastor or elder is responsible to exercise the abilities that God has given him. He must be able to teach. Some have wondered whether this could mean teachable, and there are some who hold to that; but that is in such a minority position that we're not even going to really get into it. I think it clearly means able to teach here, and it's a requirement of an elder or a pastor because it is at the heart of his responsibility.
The ability to teach means he would have to know the Word of God, he'd have to be able to communicate the Word of God that he knows in an understandable way, and he'd have to be willing to do it. Now those things are involved if he is going to be able to teach.
He's going to have to be able to instruct others in the Word of God.

This word translated able to teach, one word in Greek and we have three words in English, is used one other time in the New Testament. It's used by Paul in II Timothy 2.
I want you to note the context here because as we look at this responsibility, we're going to see this context become support for understanding what is involved in being able to teach the Word, the context in which this takes place. You see some of the character qualifications of being cleansed and purified of II Timothy 2—fleeing from youthful lusts and pursuing righteousness would fit with some of the qualities we've already seen.
II Timothy 2:23, refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. Note what produces quarrels in the church—not the teaching of truth. You hear some say, I don't know if they ought to teach that now, or teach that in this way, or this is the appropriate setting to teach that. Why not? The truth does not divide. Foolish and ignorant speculations, false teaching divide the Church, the truth does not divide the Church. The truth unifies the Church. Foolish and ignorant speculations produce quarrels. The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach. Patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who were in opposition.
So you'll note this teaching the Word takes place in the context of those who would oppose the truth. This is not a comfortable setting of positively teaching the truth to those who are glad to hear the truth. It is important for the leaders to be able to teach the truth, and we'd be doing it in the context where there will be people bringing up all kinds of quarrelsome issues. And they will be opposed. We as God's people must be ready for that; the pastors and the elders must be willing to lead the church in this crucial area.

Paul elaborates this qualification in his letter to Titus. Turn over to Titus 1. He doesn't use the expression, able to teach, but he gives an elaborate presentation of that qualification. He's been going through a list similar to what we have in I Timothy 3.
Then in verse 9 he says, one who would be an elder must be holding fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching. He must be holding fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching. He must have a firm grasp on the Word of God as it has been revealed through the prophets and the apostles, through the teaching. We're not talking about a man who is a good talker, who can hold your attention, who is interesting and entertaining. We're talking about a man who has a firm grasp on the Word of God as it has been given, as it has been taught by Paul and Peter and others.

I listened to a man this morning as I was getting ready for church, Marilyn was listening with me. It was appalling. He was giving some kind of therapeutic talk; it was the sixth in a series on how to reach your potential. He defined potential as what you have within you, and I'm not talking about Robert Schuller. It was an evangelical version of Robert Schuller. Then he illustrated his psychology by Scripture occasionally. We're talking about men who have a firm grasp on the Word of God and the teaching as it was given by the apostles and the prophets. Holding fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching, the truth as it has been given. This is where the evangelical church begins to drift. We continue to use the Bible and hold it in reverence while we move to do our teaching on something that is much more shallow.

I was reading the quotes of the man who pastors the largest church in the country now, and he would fit within the general evangelical framework because he claims to believe the Bible is the Word of God. In fact they start their service out with such a claim. And if the people are not ready to be taught, and by his own admission, they don't talk about sin and hell and damnation in that church, they've had enough of that. People don't come to be beat down. They want to give them a boost. So you have 25,000 people showing up to get a boost. But no sin. We find these kinds of men who have gotten under the evangelical umbrella, and their success now begins to reshape what the evangelical church is looking for in a pastor. Because we're not first looking for truth, we're looking for success. And oh yes, don't deny the truth.

But you see what is required of a pastor—he must be one who holds fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching. I'm not here to teach you today on how to reach your potential, when you have to learn to be a risk-taker. I am here to explain to you what the living God has said. That's what we are about as a Church. The Church is the pillar and support of the truth. So it fits that God would appoint as leaders in His Church, which is to be the pillar and support of the truth, men who have a firm, unshakable grasp of the truth, so that they will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to encourage and challenge the believers with healthy teaching. That's what sound doctrine means. The word sound, we get the English word hygiene from it, hygienic. It was used in the physical sense in the physical body of being healthy. They were using it of the spiritual sense—healthy teaching. That's what sound doctrine is, the word doctrine is the word teaching. Healthy teaching.

The pastor must have a firm grasp of the Word of God as it has been given through the apostles and prophets, according to the teaching. So that he may be able to exhort in healthy teaching, teaching which will produce health, spiritual well-being in God's people. Not pep talks, not pop psychology, not a rally like you get from a coach of a football team or the manager of a business. We're talking about healthy teaching. Exhort in healthy teaching, challenge and encourage God's people by the presentation of God's truth.

And to refute those who contradict, those who speak against the truth must be refuted, must be put down, if you will. Remember how I Timothy started out? What was Timothy to do? Put a stop to those who were teaching contrary to what Paul had taught. They must be silenced. Those who would be leaders and God's people must have such a firm grasp of the truth and ability to handle the truth, they cannot only teach it to God's people and exhort God's people with it, but they can also stand against those who would oppose the truth. They have to be able to sort out truth from error, they have to have the moral courage and stamina that friends and family won't override their commitment to truth. They have been placed there by God to teach and exhort in the truth and to refute those who contradict. Do we always have to be against someone? Do we always have to be pointing out the error? Yes. Why? Because it is God's Church, not mine and not yours. He sets the guidelines, He sets the requirements. How can we be the pillar and support of the truth if we allow every doctrinal variance to come in and take hold? Oh sure, that will fit, that's okay, look, we don't want to divide over doctrine. We just emphasize love. That's not God's family, that's not God's Church. We are not free to do with it as we please. They must be men who know the truth, who are grounded in the truth, who can teach the truth and have the courage to stand against those who don't.
They have to demonstrate it. Keep in mind these are qualifications of men who will be able to be elders or pastors. Well I'm sure if he becomes an elder or a pastor he will do that.

You know what has happened to the Church? You know the devil works. He's infiltrated the seminaries. The seminaries now have men who go there who don't know why they're there, and they absorb whatever is presented and then they go out and they don't have the courage to stand for the truth, they don't have the commitment to pour their life into the ministry of the truth and stand against anyone who opposes the truth. They just want to pastor the Church. And so we don't want to battle, we don't want to fight. And the result is the Church drifts and then we find forms and things that are popular, like I said, sermons on how to overcome anger, how to overcome depression, how to communicate effectively in marriage. That's what the people like, and who's going to fight against that? Who's going to have a problem with that? You see what we do? We just file the edges off the truth. We still use Bible verses, of course; we're an evangelical Church, this is the Word of God. But we're presenting what would be acceptable anywhere at any time. I mean you can go out and give secular talks on how to communicate in your marriage to people who have no interest in religion. Go to the bookstore and look. Of course they're there. You can find books on dealing with anger and books on dealing with depression. We just pick up the world's ideas, bring them into the church, and yes, I'm really getting help in my church. My pastor is really practical, he gets down to where I am and helps me. We could get that help from Norman Vincent Peale. Or you get a pastor, he's a leader; he knows how to get things done. Our Church has been on the move since he came. Good, he probably would have been good with a franchise at McDonald's, too. What about truth? Isn't the church the pillar and support of the truth? We go and get these little diddies of sermons. We're looking for healthy teaching, to produce health in God's people.

Look back in Acts 20. The Apostle Paul is talking to the elders, the pastors of the church at Ephesus where Timothy is when Paul writes to him. In Acts 20 he has called these elders to meet him, verse 17, and he first gives himself as an example to these elders, because they are to be doing what Paul did. He tells them in verse 18, you know what I was like when I was with you. Look at verse 20, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying. Solemnly—don't you think you ought to lighten it up, Paul? Maybe you would have had more hearers if you hadn't been so serious about all this business. Solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 24, this is going to cost me my life, but I don't care. There is only one thing that matters, that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

The end of verse 26, I want you to know I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. What did I do? I want you to know my hands are clean. When I stand before the Lord, I have fulfilled my responsibility; I taught you everything God gave me. He didn't say, I made the church at Ephesus the biggest church in Asia. No, I taught you the whole counsel of God. We'll see the trouble in the church at Ephesus as we move through Paul's letter to Timothy. Remind ourselves, it is not Paul's problem; it's not Paul's fault. His hands are clean.
Why? If he had done things differently, maybe the Church would have done better. I taught you the whole counsel of God, my hands are clean

So what are the elders to do? Verse 28, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. You continue the pattern and you remember it's not yours. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. From among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, seeking to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert. Now I commend you, verse 32, to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified.

Turn over to Ephesians, Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus. This Church had a lot of input to the personal ministry of Paul, personal letter from Paul, the personal ministry of Timothy, Paul's own representative. It should have done better. Ephesians 4, here is the theology of ministry that Paul sets down. Ephesians 4:11, God gave a variety of speaking gifts to the church, those involved with the communication of God's Word, apostles and prophets who received direct revelation; evangelists and pastors and teachers who took the revelation of the apostles and prophets and continue to teach it to the Church. Pastors and teachers were closely linked together, major area of the pastor's responsibility is teaching. Why? To equip the saints to the work of serving, to build up the body of Christ. You see God's plan for the development of His people? Healthy teaching so they can be spiritually nourished, so they can grow to maturity. Down in verse 15, we are to be speaking the truth in love and thus grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

Do you know how the devil works? Undermines the teaching of the purity of God's truth. You know why? That destroys everything else in the church. Weak teaching results in weak people. I was watching an animal program this week; I think it was a wolf. You know what? The wolf couldn't find enough food, got progressively weaker. Pretty soon they are saying it's questionable whether this animal will survive. You know what happened? Stepped on thin ice and was so weak couldn't get back out of the water and drowned. You know what happened? Didn't eat well. You know what happens to God's people, and it happens incrementally. You know you don't notice it from week to week, even from month to month. But over a period of time when God's people are not nourished well, they don't develop as God intends them spiritually. That is sometimes masked by other things going on. There is excitement, numbers may be increasing, on and on, and we're a Church where things are happening. But if the truth is not being taught in its purity, healthy teaching, God's people are getting weaker. Just like a person may be lifting weights and running and his body has never been healthier, never stronger. They go get the death sentence, they have liver cancer, you only have months to live. It can't be, look how healthy.

We need to be careful we don't sacrifice the life of the church. I wonder where the coming generation, parents that are going to these churches where the Word of God is not taught seriously and in an in-depth way, and they have their children in those churches. They learn the Word someplace else, now they raise this next generation under that drivel. And that's how the major denominations have declined and departed.

Note what the pattern of the Word of God is. II Timothy 2:2, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. That's what we're talking about.
That's God's plan for the Church. What are we looking for in the pastors and elders of our churches? Men who have demonstrated this ability. This is part of the problem. We send men off to our seminaries, some of those men there are not able to teach, so they're looking for something that will work. But they've been to seminary so they're qualified to be pastors. No, they're not; they have to have demonstrated the ability to teach, which involves the communication of God's truth and the stomach to stand against those who oppose them. I often tell young men, if you don't have stomach for the conflict, you don't belong in the ministry. If you are afraid to stand against your closest friends if necessary, you don't belong in the ministry. Because truth must supersede everything, because without the truth what do we have? Nothing. Our Savior is the One who is the truth.
This book is the revelation of our God, it is the truth. This is more precious and important to me than my family, my reputation, anything else. It must be so for the Church. This is not a party place. We have great joy, we can have great times together. These matters when we come together and look into the Word, this is serious stuff; this is what we are about. We have to dig in, do the hard work of applying ourselves, concentrating, digging in, asking the Spirit of God to open our understanding, apply it to our hearts, give us a readiness of mind to make whatever adjustments and change to come into more conformity. And I want to keep growing so that I become more like Jesus Christ.

Disaster for the churches who are looking for leaders, acquiring leaders, that do not meet the qualifications that God has set down, and suddenly the church is remade in the image of those leaders. It's not my Church to make it in my image, to do with as I please. It's the Church of the living God. The pastors and elders of this Church have a responsibility to Him to manifest His character and to be committed to His truth. If the Lord doesn't come and I am gone some day, it will become that to whomever replaces me. It is my concern every time we have a new elder come, that he be carefully examined in light of the qualifications of Scripture, because the wrong man in that position will do great damage to the ministry. By His grace He provides the men. If we are honest before Him and seek His will, use His Word properly, and submit to it, then He guides us to the men of His choosing to lead His people.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your truth. Thank you that by your grace fallen, sinful men are qualified by you, appointed by you to assume the awesome responsibility of leading and teaching your people. Lord, may we take these matters very seriously, may we as pastors and elders of this local Church be very careful that we walk in the path that you have set for us, that our lives continue to meet the standards that you have set down for us. I pray that our ministries might be true to the ministry you have called for your Church. May this Church always be the pillar and support of the truth because we want to honor you and make you known. May we be faithful as you have so faithfully worked in our lives. We pray in Christ's name, amen.