A wealthy industrialist was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. “Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked. “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” the rich man asked. “What would I do with them?”

            “You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase better nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me.”

            The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?” “You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the industrialist. The fisherman replied, “What do you think I’m doing now?”

            Isn’t it interesting how some people are content with little while others never seem to be satisfied with so much? Some people have all of the wealth, fame, and opportunity that they could ever ask for, and yet, they are miserable, but others have very little by way of financial security, material possessions, or physical health, but they are perfectly content. We all know people on both sides of this spectrum, but how about you? Are you the type of person who is content with where you are and what you have, or are you the type who says, “If I just had…, then I would be happy?”

            The false teachers who were disrupting the Ephesian church were like that: they were not content with what they had. These teachers, who are the reason for Timothy’s presence there, were conceited and had caustic craving for controversy. And all of this, it turns out, because the bottom line is greed and selfishness. They equated “godliness” with financial gain. Just like the proponents of the “health, wealth, and prosperity gospel” of today, they were using religion as a means of profit and personal gain. In this passage, the Apostle Paul highlights the difference between false teaching and true contentment.

 False Teaching (2b-5)

            Paul begins this section by commanding Timothy to “teach these things”—which refers to genuine faith in Jesus Christ that changes people and people’s relationships. Timothy is to teach these things in contrast to the lies that the false teachers were spreading in Ephesus. They were teaching different doctrines which conflicted with the sound words of Jesus Christ. Any religious teaching or philosophical proposition that is inconsistent with Jesus Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures is false and it does not lead to true godliness.

            These false teachers had abandoned the teachings of Jesus and his apostles. They had become arrogant and ignorant. They were puffed up with conceit and were wise in their own eyes, but they were trusting in their own foolishness wisdom. This selfishness and desire to engage in controversy lead to an unhealthy discord among the community. Verse 4 lists a whole host of detrimental results (envy, dissention, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction) that come from depraved minds who are deprived of the truth.

            In this particular case, the false teachers had adopted a belief that godliness is equated with personal financial gain. This final indictment on the false teachers seems to reveal their true motive of becoming “teachers” in the first place—they saw it as an opportunity to turn a dollar! They did not find their contentment in their identity with Christ, they were using Christ of strive for contentment in financial gain.

            Unfortunately, these false teachers still exist in today’s church. You don’t have to watch religious television very long before you start thinking that Christianity is big business. You will hear preachers sounding like pushy salesmen. They will offer you all sorts of religious trinkets: prayer shawls that “invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit,” Holy Water from the Jordan River so you can be baptized with “the water that Jesus was baptized with,” or a glow-in-the-dark cross necklace so that “Jesus will be with you during your darkest nights.”

            Even worse, you will hear holy hucksters offering fine religious deals like, “Your back pain will vanish if you send your personal check to our ministry! God will multiply your investment tenfold, but we need your money order by 4p.m. today! All of your prayers will be answered if you give us your credit card number!”

            Yes, there is money in false teaching! And false teachers promote it because they are not content with what they have! Likewise, do you know why so many people fall for these ridiculous schemes? Because they are not content with what they have! True Christian faith may not generate monetary wealth, but it does produce peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and humility: all of the things that lead to true contentment. Don’t fall for the false teacher’s schemes!

 

True Contentment (6-10)

            In direct contrast to the false teacher’s use of religion to pursue financial gain, Paul says that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” A life that is truly centered on God and an honest acknowledgment that God has given a person everything he/she needs is true gain. Living by the words of Jesus Christ is the source of true contentment; monetary wealth and material possessions do not produce lasting happiness.

            The reason for this is that we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. When babies are born, they have nothing. No food, no clothing, no toys! Everything that they have is provided by someone else. And when we die, we can’t take anything with us. Our homes, cars, machines, jewelry, art, and electronics all get left behind. The old proverb is true: “You never see a Hearse pulling a U-haul.”

            So in the interim between birth and death, Paul says that if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. God provides our basic needs and gives us everything we need to be content in this life. Money and possessions do not add up to personal satisfaction. Those are the lies of the devil. That is why Paul says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap” and their ultimate end is destruction. Indeed, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil because it leads people away from God—it causes people to wander from the faith.

            Do you recognize that God has already given you everything that you need to be content in this life or have you bought into the devils lies that you need more to make you happy? Is your identity rooted in a real relationship with Jesus Christ or do you try to impress others with what you have? Have you gotten to the point where you have finally learned that money does not have the power to make you happy, but it does have the power to destroy your soul? Please think deeply about this question: Are you truly content?

            Erma Bombeck used her eloquent humor to make people laugh from 1965 to 1996 through her newspaper column titled “At Wit’s End” which chronicled the ordinary life of a Midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read, twice weekly, by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Bombeck also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers; they include such titles as The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, Wait Until You Have Your Own Children, and If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?   

            In the early 90’s Bombeck was diagnosed with breast cancer and began to experience the emotional roller-coaster that comes with that dreaded disease. Ironically, at that very time Bombeck was diagnosed, she was already working on a book about children with cancer. Every time she began to feel sorry for herself, she remembered the words of one of the little girls she had interviewed. Christina was only eight years old and she had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, “I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!” Indeed, contentment is great gain!

            Years ago, Russell Conwell, the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia and part of my Alma Matter, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, told the story of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who owned a very large farm that had lush orchards, lavish grain fields, and luxurious gardens. He was was a wealthy contented man. One day a wise man from the East told the farmer all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine.

            Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man–poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide.

            One day the man who purchased Ali Hafed’s farm led his camel into the garden to drink. As his camel put its nose into the brook, the man saw a flash of light from the sands of the stream. He pulled out a stone that reflected all the hues of the rainbow. The man had discovered the diamond mine of Golcanda, the most magnificent mine in all history. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own garden, then instead of death in a strange land, he would have had acres of diamonds. 

            Are you out there searching for acres of diamonds, or have you realized that you already have acres of diamonds?

            “Slavery was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.”

             These words were spoken by Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Davis and many other Confederate plantation owners often used the Bible to justify the institution of slavery. While it is true that that slavery is nowhere expressly condemned in the Bible, it was hardly established by the decree of Almighty God or sanctioned by the Bible. (The Apostle Paul lists slave-trading with a host of other sins in back in I Tim 1:10). Slavery, rather, is one of the tragic consequences of human sinfulness and has been a sad reality in virtually every society in history. It is a shame that so many people, including Christians, have used the Bible in such a way. That is why when we come to passages like I Timothy 6:1-2, we must understand the context in which Paul’s words were written!

Slavery in the Greco-Roman World

            Slavery was a fundamental part of the fabric of ancient Greco-Roman society. Some estimate that the slave population in the 1^st century constituted approximately one third of the total population. An estimated one million slaves were owned by the richest five per cent of Roman citizens. Most slaves were employed in domestic service in households and likely had an easier life than slaves working the land, or in mines or on ships.Slavery could be very cruel in the Roman Empire, and revolts severely punished, and professional slave-catchers were hired to hunt down runaways, with advertisements containing precise descriptions of fugitives being publicly posted and offering rewards.

            Slavery in Greco-Roman world was very different from that of recent American history; it was rarely racially motivated. Most people became slaves through war or economic necessity; although by the time of Paul’s letter to Timothy, the majority of slaves were so by birth. The freeing of slaves was also a common occurrence, but in many cases slavery was preferred over freedom because it afforded security—and in some cases, good positions in a household.

            It was somewhat similar to the type of servitude that we see in the BBC/PBS series Downton Abbey, where wealthy aristocratic families would be served by dozens and sometimes hundreds of people in the roles of butlers, maids, footmen, farmers, cooks, chafers, groundskeepers, etc. Even though the employees are relatively free to seek employment elsewhere, most of them stay in their positions for life and many of their children follow in their footsteps. Why would they choose to remain in a life of servitude rather than going out to discover themselves and seek their own fortune? Because it offered safety, security, a steady income, nice clothing, and a warm bed to lay their heads at night.

            Nonetheless, slavery was the bottom extreme of the social spectrum and was generally not a desirable status. Slaves constituted a large element of the poor to whom the gospel became good news of acceptance with and freedom before God. The fact that so many early Christians were slaves precipitates the need for Paul to write about how slaves ought to treat their masters. Just because a person had been freed from slavery to sin did not mean that they were freed from their social status in society.

            Some people have asked the question, “Why doesn’t the Apostle Paul just condemn slavery?” First, slavery was so engrained in Greco-Roman culture that Paul could not even conceive of a society without it. Also, we have to remember that the primary purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.
In all of I Timothy 5, Paul has been dealing with the issue of how the gospel of Jesus Christ changes a person’s relationships. Christians are to honor widows, take care of their family members, honor pastors and church leaders, and now about how Christian slaves are to honor their masters.

 

Honoring Our Masters (1-2)

            In verse 1, Paul is saying that Christian slaves are to treat their non-Christian masters with all honor and respect. He uses the image of a yoke to describe slavery. Yokes were wooden devices used for pulling a burden, such as oxen or mules pulling a plow through a field in preparation for planting. Just as a yoke was a burden to the animal that bore it, being under the power of another person was a burden to the slave, but Christian slaves were to work hard, be honest, maintain a good attitude, and serve their masters faithfully.

            Why should Christian slaves honor their masters? Because of the reputation of the gospel depends on it! “God’s name” is a metaphor for his reputation and “our teaching” is a metaphor for the gospel or the Christian message. Paul appeals to slaves to conduct themselves appropriately under their difficult situation in order that God and his gospel may not be ill spoken by non-Christian masters, who would do so if they thought that God and gospel made slaves less respectful or poorer workers. The Christian slave’s conduct will make an impression on an unbelieving master. If a Christian slave disrespects, disobeys, or is lazy or shows a bad attitude toward his/her master, the reputation of the gospel is compromised with that person. But if a believing slave honors his/her master with the attitude and service of Christ, the master may come to faith in Jesus Christ.

            The principle that Paul is advocating was affirmed by St. Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century, when he spoke his now famous quote: “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.”The slave is to preach the gospel to his/her master through actions, attitudes, and work ethic.

            In verse 2, Paul addresses the circumstance of a Christian slave under a Christian master. Slaves with believing masters are not to be disrespectful just because their masters are Christian brothers. They are to work even harder for Christian masters because it will benefit all of the other Christians who are in service to the master. Christian slaves should not take advantage of their master’s faith in Christ to serve their own interests. Instead, Paul is calling Christian slaves to look beyond their own interests to the interest of others. If a person’s master is a believer, this makes him/her all the more worthy of loving service.

            How should these verses be applied in a time and culture where slavery is outlawed? Well, even though slavery does not exist in the way it did in Greco-Roman times or before the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, these verses still apply to the way we treat people in authority roles over us. Who has authority over you? Well, how about your government officials and your boss at work? Young people, your parents and teachers at school have authority over you?

            For those of us who have unbelieving government officials and unbelieving bosses over us, we have the Christian responsibility of honoring and respecting them. Sure, they may pass laws and policies that conflict with our values and beliefs, but we need to respond to them in such a way that will bring honor to the name of Jesus Christ. This will add credibility to the gospel and maybe they will come to faith in Christ!

            Most of us here today have had a boss that was difficult to work for; some of you are in that position right now! Maybe you are at the point that you can barely tolerate being in the same room with your boss for 5 minutes. Maybe you disagree with your boss’s leadership style or you can’t stand their personality. God still calls us to treat that person with honor and respect; our hard work and good attitude in such conditions will serve as a witness to Jesus Christ!

            And for those of us who are fortunate enough to be in situations where Christians are in authority over us, we must be careful not to take advantage of our mutual relationship with Christ for our own purposes. If your boss is a Christian, you should honor the relationship by working even harder.
            John Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Wilson, his family’s housekeeper. It had been a wearying day, and he asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while he had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House. “Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson.” “He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him.” “Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him.” “No, Mr. President. I work for him, not you. When he called the President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure. “Tell that woman I want her here in the White House.” 

            That is the way Christ wants us to honor our masters!

 

In conclusion, I would like to share with you one of the greatest examples I have ever heard of someone honoring their master. It comes from my favorite novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In chapter 40, the old slave Uncle Tom pleads with his evil slave master Simon Legree not to be beaten for refusing to divulge information about another slave’s escape. Tom urges Legree to reconsider, not for Tom’s sake, but for Legree’s. Threatened with pain and death by a man who oppresses and torments him, Tom’s first thought is for his oppressor’s soul. He proves the authenticity of his own faith when he says:

          “Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give ’em freely, as the Lord gave his for me. Oh, Mas’r! don’t bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than’t will me! Do the worst you can, my troubles’ll be over soon; but, if ye don’t repent,  yours won’t never end!”

            None of us have it as bad as Uncle Tom; may we honor our masters!

            Once there was a little old man. His eyes blinked and his hands trembled; when he ate he clattered the silverware distressingly, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. Now he lived with his married son, having nowhere else to live, and his son’s wife didn’t like the arrangement.

            “I can’t have this,” she said. “It interferes with my right to happiness.” So she and her husband took the old man gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. From then on he always ate in the corner, blinking at the table with wistful eyes.

            One day his hands trembled rather more than usual, and the earthenware bowl fell and broke. “If you are a pig,” said the daughter-in-law, “you must eat out of a trough.” So they made him a little wooden trough and from that time on, he ate his meals in it.

            The couple had a four-year-old son of whom they were very fond. One evening the young man noticed his boy playing intently with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing.  “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling for approval, “to feed you and Mamma when I get big.”

            The man and his wife looked at each other for a while and didn’t say anything. Then they cried a little. They then went to the corner and took the old man by the arm and led him back to the table. They sat him in a comfortable chair and gave him his food on a plate, and from then on nobody ever scolded when he clattered or spilled or broke things.

            Grimm’s little fairy tale highlights a number of biblical principles. Certainly, the fifth commandment, “Honor thy father and mother” comes to mind. This story also makes us think of the Golden Rule that Jesus that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do to others what you would have them do to you. The social obligations of Christianity always require us to treat other people with dignity, respect, and honor.

            The Apostle Paul picks up that same theme in I Timothy 5. In verses 1-16, he addressed how family members ought to honor one another and about caring for the widows in the church community. Now in verses 17-25, he focuses on how to honor pastors. In verse 17, Paul begins by telling Timothy that “elders who rule well deserve double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” We may infer that elders as a group had the responsibility of leadership, that all of them had to be doctrinally strong to teach effectively, but that only some devoted enough time to preaching and teaching to make financial support necessary—these became known as pastors. Pastors who do their work well are to be considered worthy of double honor—that is, proper respect and remuneration. The church is to uphold the highest degree of honor when compensating, disciplining, and appointing pastors.

 

1.) Honorable Compensation (17-18)

            The first area where the pastor is to be honored is compensation. Right after Paul tells Timothy that the pastor who rules well is worthy of double honor, he grounds the principle of fair pay in with two verses from Scripture. He quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 “Do not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” This phrase was a part of the Old Testament law that prohibited farmers from muzzling the mouth of an ox when it was threshing wheat in the field. The farmer must not prevent the animal from taking its share of the harvest. Paul’s point is clear: just as the ox is entitled to eat while it was working, so the pastor is entitled to the provision of his needs.

            The Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory is a good example of this principle. Employees are allowed to take home a couple of pints of ice cream after work each day. After laboring with cream and sugar all day, it is nice to be able to taste some of the sweet product.         

            Likewise, Paul quotes Jesus’ words in Luke 10:7 when he says, “The worker deserves his wages.” Jesus gave these words in the context of the sending out of the 72 to preach the gospel. He told them to go ahead and eat and drink in people’s homes as they were invited. Their work of preaching should be rewarded with the provision of one’s needs. Pastors should be honored for their work with a fair compensation!

            So, how much should a pastor be paid today? That is a good question, and because of my position, I am probably not the best person to answer that question (although this might be my only shot a sermon that could directly increase my salary.) But I will say this, the pastor deserves to be paid fairly for his or her work, just like anyone else. I have a good friend who is a Catholic priest, and he often says, “I have taken a vow of chastity, not a vow of poverty.” I have some pastoral friends who make $20,000 a year and others who make $175,000 a year.

            I once heard the story of a man who interviewed to be the pastor of the church. The interview went well and the church wanted to hire him. One of the members of the pulpit committee thought that he was pretty sly and tested him by asking, “How much do want to make in this position?” Obviously, that is not a fair question for a pastoral candidate. If he gave a high number, he would come across as greedy; if he gave a low number, he would sell himself short. So, the pastor responded, “Well, that depends on the kind of sermons you want! Do you want $40,000, $60,000, or $80,000 sermons?

            Contrary to the popular belief that pastors only work one day a week, most of the pastors I know work between 50 and 60 hours a week. The pastor’s education, experience, performance, and the church’s financial ability should all factor into compensation. One of the ways we can honor pastors is to pay them honorable compensation. Remember—“Do unto others as you would want done to you.”

 

2.) Honorable Discipline (19-21)

            Unfortunately, not all pastors “rule well” and sometimes they need to be rebuked or disciplined, as was the case with some of the church leaders in the Ephesian church. So, how should pastors be disciplined with honor? Paul basically gives two guidelines: No unsupported charges are to be brought against a pastor without evidence from two or three witnesses and if he or she is found guilty, the rebuke must be made in public.

            Because leaders are always more open to unfair criticisms, gossip, and allegations, no accusation should be brought against a pastor unless it is substantiated by multiple witnesses. The roots of this counsel are found in the timeless wisdom of God as given in ancient Israel and was confirmed by Jesus himself in Matthew 18:15-17. This protects the honor of the person being accused.

            But there may be occasions when a pastor is found guilty of sin. If so, the pastor is to be rebuked publically, so that others may stand in fear. The rebuke is intended to produce repentance in the sinner and to emphasize to the congregation the seriousness of sin. With the hope that restoration will occur, those who have broken congregational trust must appear before those whom they have violated.

            This principle of public rebuke takes our minds back to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlett Letter, where the protagonist, Hester Prynne, was forced to where a red “A” on her chest because she committed the sin of adultery and refused to reveal the identity of the man who fathered her child out of wedlock.

            One of Hawthorne’s purposes in writing the book was to condemn the practice of public rebuke as cruel and barbaric. Sure, maybe placing a scarlet letter on someone’s chest might be over the top, but our society today has completely swung the other way. We are so afraid of embarrassing anyone that we sweep sin under the rug and no one gets to learn from other people’s mistakes. Public rebuke may come across as harsh, but the motivation really is love. It is intended to bring people to repentance from sin and to help others avoid sin! If sin is really what nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, than public rebuke is really an honorable way to discipline people, especially pastors and leaders!

 

3.) Honorable Appointment (22-25)

            After Paul discusses the honorable compensation and discipline of pastors, he finishes the section with a word to Timothy about the honorable appointment of pastors. The best way of avoiding the necessity of disciplining a pastor is to appoint a properly qualified pastor from the beginning. When Paul says, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands…” he is telling Timothy to be careful in ordaining and appointing pastors; it should be a slow process. In verses 24-25, he says that both people’s sins and good works are sometimes conspicuous; it takes time to evaluate someone’s character and to see their true colors. Being a pastor is an honorable position because it carries the great responsibility of leading God’s church and shepherding people’s souls. Appointments should not be taken lightly

            How many times have we had a first impression about someone that turned out to be wrong? It can go in either direction. That is why selecting leaders in general and pastors in particular should be a slow and thorough process. This is the reason why it is difficult to be ordained as a pastor in most Christian denominations.

 

            The position of pastor is an honorable one. And the pastor should always be dealt with in an honorable manner, whether it be an appointment, compensation, or discipline. But this is really the way Christ calls Christians to deal with all people. It all goes back to Jesus’ words “Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.”

            I am so thankful for the faithful and honorable pastors that I have had throughout my life. I am grateful for their sermons, prayers, words of encouragement and rebuke (when I needed it), and overall care for my soul. I only hope that I can be as honorable a pastor to you as they have been to me!

            Allow me to conclude with a little poem called “God’s Instrument.”

I see the hands that hold God’s word
And fold in prayer to seek His will.
I see the feet that walk the path
And offers of praise as from lofty hill.

I see the hands that serve Him well,
The ears that seek to hear His call,
The mouth that speaks truth and wisdom,
The busy feet that carry the message to all.

I see the heart that was pricked and entered
When God’s man answered the gospel call
And yielded His life as a humble servant,
A man who is willing, as was Apostle Paul.

I see all of this as he stands in the pulpit,
An instrument through which God speaks
The words of wisdom, of love and peace,
To lead and guide all those whom God seeks.

As a young man James sowed his share of wild oats, but he eventually came back to the Lord and got his life straightened out. He entered Bible College with the hopes of going into some form of Christian ministry. While he was at college he met and married a preacher’s daughter named Tammy. After attending a Pentecostal revival service one evening, they decided to quit school and become traveling evangelists.

            For the next few years, they traveled the country preaching the gospel. James had a charismatic personality and people were naturally attracted to him. His success as an evangelist led to an opportunity to take his ministry to television broadcasting. James preached, Tammy sang, and they hosted a Christian talk show program, and they reached an audience of more than 13 million people a week.

            Unfortunately, their ministry became more about personal glory than praising God. At the pinnacle of their popularity and outward success, James had a one night stand with his 21 year old secretary, Tammy became a closet drug addict, and they began to embezzle millions of dollars of money from the ministry for their own personal use. James and Tammy owned a 10,000 square foot condo in Florida and drove his and hers Rolls Royces.

             In October of 1989 James (Jim) Bakker was convicted on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 18 years. The following year he and Tammy Fae divorced; she then proceeded to marry Jim’s best friend. Jim was defrocked by his denomination and stripped of his ordination credentials. Pastor Jerry Falwell has gone on record calling Jim Bakker a liar, an embezzler, a sexual deviant, and “the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history.”

            Millions of people trusted Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker, but these scandals and the falls of other well-known preachers have caused many Americans to mistrust Christian ministers. The Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandals over the past decade have only contributed to the lack of confidence people have in the clergy today. Unfortunately, these bad ministers have caused countless people to leave the church altogether. Have tragedies like this changed your perception of ministers?

            The personal life of the pastor (and Christians in general) is directly connected to the credibility of the church. The Apostle Paul knew that well; there was a group of false teachers in the Ephesian church that were damaging the church’s credibility because of their personal corruption and heretical doctrines. In today’s Scripture reading, Paul writes to Timothy, the young pastor of the Ephesian church, instructing him about how to be a good minister. A good minister of Christ Jesus does three things: trains for godliness, models godly character, and engages in godly ministry.

1.) A Good Minister Trains for Godliness (6-11)

            Paul begins by telling Timothy that if “he points these things out to the brothers, he will be a good minister of Christ Jesus.” The “things” that Timothy was to point out refers to the false teacher’s doctrines of demons that Paul discussed in the preceding passage (I Tim. 4:1-5). Paul wanted Timothy to warn the church about these false teachings and to work against them by proclaiming the authentic gospel and nourishing himself in the truths of the faith.

            Instead of dabbling in godless myths and silly old wives tales like the false teachers, Paul tells Timothy to train himself for godliness. He should avoid the senseless superstitions that were rampant in that culture. On the contrary, he should, like an athlete, keep himself in vigorous training for the practice of genuine godliness, understood here as both the content of the truth and its visible expression in correct behavior. The term “train yourself” comes from the Greek word (gymnaze) from which we get our English word gymnasium.

            Physical training has some value in this life, but godliness has value for all things because it holds promise for this life and the life to come. This statement is trustworthy because our hope is in the living God who is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the only one who can give spiritual life now and in the life to come. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has offered salvation to all people, but is only applied to those who believe—that is, put their faith in Jesus Christ. The translation of the final clause “especially for those who believe” is awkward. A better translation would be “that is, believers.” Paul is making it clear that faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for salvation—that is why training in godliness is so important.

            Paul finishes the section by imploring Timothy to “command and teach these things!” Training for godliness is not just something for ministers; it is for the whole church! All Christians are called to be good ministers of Jesus Christ. Therefore, all Christians should train themselves for godliness.

            Today we live in a fitness crazed society! It is absolutely astounding to consider how much time and money Americans spend on physical fitness compared to what they are willing to spend on their spiritual health. Think about how many hours a week Americans dedicate to running, walking, swimming, weight training, and other forms of physical exercise! Think about how much money people spend on gym memberships, home exercise machines, and sports equipment. Think about how many hours high school athletes spend practicing their sport in an average week! Then think about how many hours a week you are willing to spend attending church, studying your Bible, or praying?

            All the time I hear people getting all excited to run marathons, but I also people complain if the sermon goes longer than 26.2 minutes. People will train for months in preparation for a triathlon, but they would never dare read a book about the Trinity in preparation for heaven. I watch guys in the gym get all pumped up to bench press 300 pounds, but that 3 pound Bible on the shelf if far too heavy to lift.      

            Paul’s words to Timothy in this passage help us to reevaluate our priorities. He isn’t saying that physical exercise is bad; it is good. But godliness has value for all things; it benefits us in this life and the next life! If we are to be good ministers, we must train ourselves for godliness!

2.) A Good Minister Models Godly Character (12)

            Timothy was a young pastor (somewhere around the age of 30) and apparently had a timid temperament. In a culture where older people were highly regarded, and in a church were the elders would have been older than he, Paul thought it necessary to encourage him to not let anyone despise him for his youthfulness, but instead he should be a model of godly character and set an example for the whole church.

            Paul lists five areas where Timothy is to be a model of Christian virtue. In speech, refers to the types or words one uses and conversations one has. Words have the power to both wound and heal; degrade and encourage; humiliate and inspire. Timothy should set an example in godly speech. In conduct, refers to attitudes and behaviors that are consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In love, means that Timothy should put the needs of others before himself and seek the best interest of other people. In faith, means that Timothy is to hold firm to the core tenants of the Christian faith. In purity, (or chastity) refers to proper sexual conduct. Timothy should not engage in any pre-marital or extra-marital sexual activity. Each of these five virtues stands in direct contrast to the false teachers who were misleading the Ephesian church.

            Age and spiritual maturity don’t always go hand in hand. I have known some teenagers who are more spiritually mature than people in their seventies. On the other hand, sometimes young people feel like Christianity is only for adults—that they will live how they want to now, and they will take their faith more seriously when they get older.

            But whatever age you are, God is calling to be a good minister by being a model of godly character! Is your speech godly? How about your conduct? Do you love by putting others’ needs before your own? Do you hold firm to the core tenants of Christian faith? How is your personal purity?

 

3.) A Good Minister Engages in Godly Ministry (13-16)

            After Paul challenges Timothy to be an example of godly character, he urges him to engage in godly ministry. Until Paul himself could return to Ephesus, he instructs Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, exhortation (or preaching), and to teaching. These three ministries are all Word based and comprise some of the most important aspects of pastoral ministry. These ministries would directly counteract the work of the false teachers.

            Paul commands Timothy not to neglect the spiritual gift he received for Word-based ministries when the elders laid hands on him at his ordination. He was to practice these things (do them over and over again) and immerse himself in them with all of his heart so that the whole church would see the growth in this young minister.

            Paul concludes this section with one final imperative: keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. He is to keep close tabs on his spiritual life and the doctrine that he teaches to other people. Failure to do either of these things would result in a personal collapse and corruption in the church. Contrarily, if he does these things, it will lead to his own spiritual salvation and the salvation of those who hear his preaching and teaching.

            We need to remember that godly ministry is always Word based ministry. Reading, preaching, and teaching the Bible helps the church avoid heresy and keeps us focused on what God wants us to do. This seems like such a simple model for ministry; and to some it seems outdated, but these things are indispensible for the health of the church. If we don’t know the Scriptures, we can’t distinguish God’s truth from every falsehood that the wind blows our way. Good ministers and good church members emphasize the public reading, preaching, and teaching of God’s Word. 

 

            Let me conclude with a little poem titled “A Church Perish”:

                        There is a pastor, himself he cherished,

                        Who loved his position not his parish

                        So the more he preached

                        The less he reached

                        And this is why his parish perished.

I can’t help but wonder if Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker had finished their education, modeled godly character, and focused on the simple ministries of reading, preaching, and teaching God’s Word, if things would have turned out differently. If they had watched their life and doctrine closely, they would have saved themselves and their hearers! Let us all watch our life and doctrine closely, and be good ministers of Christ Jesus!

           What do you have to do to be a good Christian? What do you have to abstain from to be a good Christian? I would be willing to bet that most of you have pondered these two questions before. So, allow me to answer them for you right now!

            A good Christian goes to church three times a week, prays five times a day, and reads through the whole Bible every year! A good Christian never talks, laughs, or even smiles in church, and doesn’t do any work or go shopping on Sundays! Good Christian mama’s don’t dance and good Christian daddy’s don’t rock and roll, they only listen to classical music and only make love once a year!

            Good Christians don’t drink alcohol (especially beer or whiskey), smoke cigarettes, nor chew tobacco, and they never use birth control (not even once a year)! They don’t go to the theater, watch movies, ride motorcycles, or get tattoos! They don’t eat red meat on Fridays and never consume pork products (bye, bye bacon). Good Christian men keep their hair cut short, faces clean-shaven, and they don’t were earrings. Good Christian women never cut their hair, but keep it tied up in a bun, they were long skirts or dresses (never pants or shorts), don’t wear make-up, and don’t work outside the home. Earrings are OK, but nose rings are definitely out.

            Well, now that you know what a good Christian is and is not, let me ask you this: how many of you are good Christians? That is what I thought! Unfortunately, many Christians have been raised in contexts or have gone to churches that use rules like these to measure a person’s holiness. The problem is that the Bible doesn’t teach any of these things. They are all either personal or cultural convictions that get imposed on others and function as litmus tests for their relationship with God. And people in these circles usually believe that the more someone abstains from “worldly goods,” the closer they are to God. But this mentality is the heresy of legalism.

            This was one of the major problems in the Ephesian church. There was a group of false teachers who were propagating legalistic doctrines, which the Apostle Paul essentially calls “the doctrines of demons.” They were polluting the gospel message and leading people away from the true faith. In the preceding passage, Paul used an ancient creed or hymn to affirm some of the clear orthodox doctrines of the church, and now in this passage, he goes on to warn Timothy about false doctrines, explain the source of these doctrines, and give a couple of examples of the doctrines of demons.

 

1.) The Warning against the Doctrines of Demons (1a)

            Paul begins this section with a warning about the doctrines of demons leading people away from the faith. His opening statement “now the Spirit expressly says” is somewhat peculiar because he doesn’t tell us how or when the Holy Spirit” gave the warning about some people departing from the faith. It may have come through one of the Christian prophets, a private revelation to Paul, or it could be a reference back to Jesus’ warning about false prophets in Matthew 24. We simply do not know how this warning was communicated, but Paul makes it perfectly that it came from the Spirit.

            The “later times” refers to the church age from the time of Jesus’ ascension until his return to earth. Throughout the history of the church, some people have abandoned the faith and this will continue until Jesus comes back. This was already beginning to happen in Ephesus. The Greek word translated here as “will depart” is avposth,somai, (apostomi) and literally means to apostatize, defect, desert, abandon, and revolt. It describes people who have made a commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith, but who later gave up on it and denied it.

            We have been living in the “later times” for the past 2000 years and we have watched this prophecy come true over and over again throughout history. Thousands of people have been deceived by various heresies and philosophies have caused them to abandon the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think of the Arian heresy that was popular in the third and fourth centuries. Arias, an elder in the church of Alexandria, Egypt, denied the Holy Trinity and taught that Jesus was not God. Even though Arias was condemned as a heretic at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, this heresy became popular and a lot of Christians were led astray. This heresy has trickled down to modern times in the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and the Unitarian church.

            There are many cults and quasi-religious movements that say they are Christian, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. Although they share some beliefs with authentic Christianity, they deny or ignore core components of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So many people have been deceived by these unbiblical doctrines. It is estimated that there are 7 million Jehovah’s Witnesses, 14 million Mormons, and a half-a-million Unitarians in the world today.

            Whatever you do, don’t be deceived by these and other false doctrines. We must heed the Spirit’s warning that some will depart from the faith! We must compare and evaluate every idea against biblical truth so that we will know the truth!

 

2.) The Source of the Doctrines of Demons (1b-2)

            After Paul expresses the Spirit’s warning that some would depart from the faith, he goes on to affirm the source of these heresies that lead people astray. Paul begins by affirming that the ultimate spiritual source of these teachings is Satan himself. Just as Satan deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, he uses “deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons” to trick people into departing from the true Christian faith.

            Now Satan is so deceptive about this that he uses human agents as the face of these falsehoods. Paul calls these false teachers “hypocritical or insincere liars” whose consciences have been seared.” They spread lies that are contradictory to the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s Word.

            These false teachers were so engrossed in falsehood—that is they had believed and told so many lies—that that “their consciences had been seared.” The conscience is that God-given inner sense that enables humans to distinguish right and wrong. Like a cattle rancher uses a hot iron to brand his seal on a steer to mark its ownership, Satan branded his mark of ownership on the consciences of these false teachers. Their moral compasses became so confused that they lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong and truth from falsehood.

            Do you know anyone like that? Do you know anyone who is so engrossed in falsehood that they have lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong? There are many people in our world today who bear Satan’s brand on their consciences. They have been deceived by deceitful spirits and have adopted the doctrines of demons, and they cause others to fall away from the true faith.

            The doctrines of demons are all over American culture. They are spread both inside and outside the church. Any belief, philosophy, idea, or practice that does not line up with biblical truth is ultimately of Satanic origin. We must remember what Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians that he wrote a few years earlier: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

3.) Some Examples of the Doctrines of Demons (3-5)

            Paul finishes this whole section by presenting two examples of the doctrines of demons: the false teachers in Ephesus were forbidding people to marry and ordering them to abstain from certain foods. These teachings may seem strange to us today, but many forms of asceticism were popular in the first century. Asceticism (or ancient legalism) was the belief that matter is evil and that the body needs to be subjected to harsh discipline to purify the soul. Things that brought pleasure to the body were looked down upon. The issue with the prohibition to marry had to do with abstinence from sexual activity, which the false teachers saw as evil. Likewise, the prohibition against certain types of food refers to those regarded as unclean by Jews.

            Paul calls these teachings demonic doctrines because they betray biblical truth. Back in the Book of Genesis, God created food for the nourishment and pleasure of human beings. God also created the institution of marriage so that a man and woman could enjoy sexual intimacy. After God created these things, he declared them as good. Indeed, everything that God created is good, and it should not be rejected if it is used the way God intended it and if it is received in a spirit of thanksgiving.

            Just as Paul pointed out some of the doctrines of demons that were affecting the Ephesian church, I would like to point out some demonic doctrines that affect the modern American church.

1.      Legalism- this heresy reduces the gospel of Jesus Christ to a set of extra-biblical rules and regulations.
2.      Antinomianism- the opposite of legalism. This is the idea that there shouldn’t be any rules or laws. These are the people who say, “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.”
3.      Moralism- this is the belief that people get to heaven by living good moral lives.
4.      Pluralism- this is the belief that all religions are equal and basically the same and that there are many different paths to heaven.
5.      Universalism- the belief that everyone ultimately gets to heaven.
6.      Narcissism- the egotistic belief that you are the most important thing in the world. (You’re so vain, you probably think this sermon is about you!)
7.       Materialism- the belief that your worth is determined by what you have. (Do you ever say, “I am living in a material world, and I am a m-m-m-aterial girl?)
8.      Prosperity gospel- the doctrine that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always increase one’s material wealth.  

 

            These are just a few of the many philosophies that are popular in America today. Don’t be deceived by them! They are all perversions of biblical truth and they are demonic at their core. They are the lies of the devil and cause people to depart from the true faith.

 

            It is my deep hope and fervent prayer that none of you will ever be led astray by any of these or other demonic doctrines. Let us evaluate all of our beliefs and behaviors in the light of God’s Word!

Back in the summer of 1996, I met a girl and it was love at first sight. I had just graduated high school and was working as the youth director at my home church in Pennsylvania. We took our youth group the whole way to Indiana State for a weeklong Bible Camp. The first person I saw was this beautiful girl. She had long blonde hair, a big smile, and an angelic glow all around her. Before I ever spoke a word to her, I knew that this was the girl that God had chosen to be my wife.

Once we met and got to know each other, I discovered that she and her family were missionaries in Guatemala—in Central America! My faith was tested as I began to wonder how God was going to make this work between a missionary girl from Guatemala and a country boy from Pennsylvania. By the end of the week of Bible camp, we committed to a long-distance relationship.

In 1996, Facebook, Twitter, and Skype hadn’t been invented, and even e-mail wasn’t readily accessible yet. So, we had two options for communicating—the telephone and hand-written letters. (Does anyone here remember how to use pen and paper?) After exchanging a number of letters, I just had to hear her voice again. So, one evening I used my grandparent’s old-school rotary style telephone and dialed the international code and telephone number and I talked to her for an hour.

A week or so later, my grandfather opened the telephone bill; I watched his eyes pop out of their sockets and his face turn red with rage. That one call cost over $100! I tried to explain to him that this was the price of love, but he wasn’t buying it (figuratively or literally). After I paid him back, that was the end of my telephone calls to Guatemala. For the next year, I wrote to that girl twice a week. Then she dumped me! A year later, I met Jennifer, the real love of my life.

Have you ever had that experience where you wanted to see someone face to face, but a letter was the best you could do? Maybe it was a loved one deployed in military service? Maybe one of your children moved to another part of the country or another country altogether? Or perhaps you have had your own long distance relationship?

The Apostle Paul knew exactly what this feels like. In verse 14, he tells Timothy that he hopes to see him soon—that is, he wants to visit him face to face and personally help him address the problems in the Ephesian church, but he was currently occupied in Macedonia and was anticipating further delay. So, the best that Paul could do was to send this letter.

In this short section of Paul’s letter to Timothy, he highlights three aspects of the church: its behavior, nature, and message. Let’s take a closer look at each of these aspects of the church.

 

1.) The Behavior of the Church (14-15a)

In lieu of Paul’s inability to visit Timothy personally, he wrote this letter so that Timothy and the Ephesian church would know how to behave as God’s people. The “these things” in verse 14 specifically refers to what Paul has written in chapters 1-3, but it also alludes to the teachings about church life throughout the entire letter.

In chapter 1, Paul has already mentioned about proper behavior for God’s people are to have a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. He also tells Timothy that God’s people should avoid ungodliness, profanity, rebellion against one’s parents, sexual immorality, homosexuality, enslaving others, lying, perjuring, and doing anything else that is contrary to biblical teaching.

In chapter 2, Paul tells Timothy that the church should come together in a spirit of unity to pray for all kinds of people, including governing officials so that Christians may live out their faith in peace. Paul also tells Timothy that God’s people should dress, speak, and act in ways that are consistent with the character of Christ.

In chapter 3, he sets forth two lists of character traits for Christians and makes them qualifications for church leadership. These lists include living a blameless and respectable life, avoiding drunkenness, gentleness, hospitality, and managing one’s family and relationships well.

The first three chapter’s of Paul’s letter lay down clear expectations for the way Christians are to behave in the household of God. If we are truly God’s children—that is if we have really been adopted into God’s family through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, than we ought to act like God’s children. Out of gratitude to God for saving our souls from sin and hell, we are to put on the character of Christ. Our personal witness and the churches credibility to the unbelieving world is influenced by our behavior. How many of you know someone who won’t come to church because their impression of the church is that is just a bunch of hypocrites? This reminds me of Mark Twians old quote, “Always do the right thing! This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

How is your Christian behavior? How is your character? Do you do the things that Jesus did? Do you avoid the sins that Jesus avoided? Are you living like a child of God?

 

2.) The Nature of the Church (15b)

After Paul reveals the purpose of the letter in teaching Timothy and the Ephesian church how they ought to behave, he goes on to highlight the nature of the church. He uses two metaphors on each side of an explanatory note. The first metaphor for the church is “the household of God.” The New Testament often refers to the church as the household or family of God. When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ, they become born again and are adopted into God’s family whereby he becomes their father and other Christian’s become brothers and sisters. The local church becomes a Christian’s immediate spiritual family and the universal church (all true believers everywhere) becomes the Christian’s extended spiritual family.

The second metaphor Paul uses to describe the nature of the church is “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” This architectural term pictures the church as a great column or support post to hold up the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church provides the firm foundation where the gospel is protected and proclaimed. This is a fitting metaphor in light of the false teachers in Ephesus who were trying to destroy the church and corrupt the gospel message.

Wedged between these two metaphors is the explanatory note “which is the church of the living God.” This clarifies the object of the two metaphors as the church, and it reminds Timothy of the fact that God is still alive and working in the present world. God is both the Creator and Sustainer of life; he is not like the dead idols that so many people worshipped. God is present with his people; the church is God’s dwelling and household.

The church has changed a lot during the past 2000 years, but its basic nature is still the same. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, your soul is born again and you are adopted into God’s family. He becomes your heavenly Father and other Christians become your spiritual brothers and sisters. Your local church becomes your immediate spiritual family, and like our biological families, we rejoice together, we suffer together, and we mourn together. We may not always agree with each other, but we always love, support, and help each other. Are you a part of the family of God?

Likewise, the church of the living God is still called to be a pillar and buttress of the truth. The church is still called to proclaim the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God wants his church to stand firm on the truths he has revealed to us in the Bible. The culture around us continues to shift and sway, but the truth of God’s Word never changes! As members of God’s church, we are called to up hold truth!

3.) The Message of the Church (16)

What, precisely, is this truth which the church is to uphold? The answer is found in verse 16, where he affirms the core message of the church, which he describes as “the mystery of godliness.” The word translated here as “godliness” also means “religion,” which seems to make better sense here. He explains the mystery of our religion by employing a creed or hymn. Creeds, like the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed, are short summaries of the Christian faith. Most early church hymns were creed-like; they either affirmed doctrinal truths or retold the story of salvation. This hymn does both.

The structure of this hymn is a somewhat of a chronological story of Jesus’ life and work. The first line “manifested in the flesh” is a reference to Jesus’ Incarnation, where God became human flesh and dwelt with humans on earth. The second line “vindicated in the spirit” is a reference to Jesus’ spiritual vindication in heaven when he was resurrected from the dead. The third line “seen by angels” could refer to either angelic beings or human messengers after his resurrection. The fourth line “preached among the nations” speaks to the gospel expanding to the Gentiles. The fifth line “believed on in the world” affirms that the church’s missionary efforts were successful. And the sixth line “taken up into glory” is either an out-of-order reference to Jesus’ ascension or the exaltation of Christ to the realm of glory.

This hymn or creed affirms some of the core doctrines of the church and tells the story of Jesus bringing the hope of salvation to the world. This good news of the life, death, resurrection, and on-going ministry of Jesus Christ is the central message of the church. This is message the truth that we to protect and proclaim. There is no other gospel! There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.

Jesus is the only one who left heaven and came to earth! Jesus is the only one who was resurrected from the dead! Jesus is the only one who can truly change our lives on earth and get us into heaven when we die! Do you believe this? Will you proclaim it?

Well, Paul really wanted to see Timothy and the Ephesian church face to face, but I am glad he was delayed and had to write this letter instead. You can learn a lot from reading old letters. And by reading a portion of this old letter today, we have learned something about the behavior, nature, and message of the church. May we be the Christians and church that God has called us to be!

 

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day, the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.” Kenny replied, “Well then, just give me my money back.” The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.” Kenny said, “OK then, just unload the donkey.” The farmer asked, “What ya gonna do with him?” Kenny said, “I’m going to raffle him off.” The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!” Kenny said, “Sure I can.”

A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, “Whatever happened with that dead donkey?” Kenny said, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $900.” The farmer asked, “Didn’t anyone complain?” Kenny replied, “Just the guy that won. So I gave him his money back.” Kenny grew up to be the deacon in charge of finance at the local Baptist Church.

If Kenny’s business practices paved the way for him to become a church deacon, you sort of have to wonder about the church! What kind of church would allow someone like Kenny to be in charge of its finances or ministries? It is sad, but many institutions and organizations do the same thing; they emphasize performance over principle. Many companies and governments are more interested in efficiency than ethics. They look for leaders who have good management skills, but not necessarily good morals.

Unfortunately, over the generations the church has not been immune to this trap either. When churches have placed a priority on people who can produce results over people who do what is right, it always leads to problems. This was one of the key problems in the Ephesian church. We have already learned in I Timothy 1:19-20, that some of the overseers/deacons did not have the type of character required to be a leader in the church. They had shipwrecked their own faith and were damaging the church by perpetuating heresy. This is why the Apostle Paul included lists of character qualifications for overseers (I Timothy 3:1-7) and deacons here.

Just as in the days of the Ephesian Church, it is vitally important for the church to choose qualified leaders. In today’s sermon, we will look at the deacon’s ministry, character, the deacon’s gender, and the deacon’s blessings.

 

1.) The Deacon’s Ministry (8a)

It is interesting when we read Paul’s lists of qualifications for overseers and deacons in the church—all of the emphasis is on character, and there is nothing stated about their duties. Neither list contains a job description. So, we are left with some questions like, “What is a deacon? What does a deacon do? And what is the difference between an overseer and a deacon?”

The term deacon comes from the Greek word Diako,nouj (Diakonous) which literally means “servant” or “helper.” Even though there are no job descriptions in the list of qualifications for overseers or deacons, the very definitions of these two words display differences in function. Overseers were responsible for overseeing the overall governance of the church, while the deacons were responsible for leading the various ministries of the church. Both of these terms represent bonafide offices in the church as they carried out their functions in a plurality of leadership under the headship of Jesus Christ.

We catch a glimpse of the early ministry of deacons in Acts 6 when seven spiritually mature men were selected to care for the widows in Jerusalem so that the twelve apostles could dedicate themselves to the ministries of prayer and preaching. Therefore, deacons were called to be servant leaders who helped organized, administrate, and carry out the ministries of the church.

Even today, two-thousand years later, the term “deacon” is used in many Christian denominations to describe the office of one who helps serve in the ministry of the church. Now it is true that God calls all Christians to use their spiritual gifts to serve the church, but some have specific gifts of leadership that are to be used for the position of deacon. Some people in churches today hold to the misguided notion that “we pay the pastor to do the ministry of the church.” Yes, the pastor does get paid to preach and carry out certain ministry functions, but no pastor is called to do all of the ministries alone. Deacons are called by God to come alongside the pastor and help him or her minister to the spiritual needs of the congregation and community.

In many churches today, deacons help with hospital and home visitations, care for the elderly and shut-in, help organize youth and children’s ministries, lead Bible studies, teach Sunday school classes, set up and serve communion, assist the pastor with baptisms, care for the needs of the church building, and so much more. God calls all of us to serve, but I wonder if he might be calling some of you to the ministry of a deacon!

 

2.) The Deacon’s Character (8b-10, 12)

Well, now that we know what a deacon is and does, let’s see what kind of character is required to be a deacon. The list of qualifications for deacons is quite similar to the list of qualifications for overseers. In verse 8, we learn that the deacon is to be “dignified”—that is someone who exhibits serious and responsible behavior. The next three items are prohibitions which elaborate on this of being dignified. “Double-tongued” means to be insincere or devious in reference to speech. It is the equivalent of the modern expression “two-faced.” Only one face is required to be a deacon!

“Addicted to much wine” means exactly what it says. If a person is addicted to alcohol or allows himself or herself to get drunk, they are prohibited from serving as deacons in the church. “Not greedy for dishonest gain” Someone who exhibits a propensity for greed or cheats to get ahead is disqualified for the ministry of a deacon. This is why Kenny (from the story that I told you earlier) should never have become a deacon in the church!

Paul also tells Timothy that a deacon “must hold to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience.” (9) “The mystery of faith” is one of Paul’s favorite ways of to describe the gospel. This is a reference to clear orthodox Christian message that Jesus Christ died as an atonement for sin and rose on the third day to bring new life. A deacon must hold firm to this doctrinal truth and never waver from it. Along with this, candidates for deacons should be tested before given office. The church should make sure that the person’s life and doctrine line up with biblical truth before he or she can become a deacon. This was necessary because the false teachers in Ephesus had turned away from the true gospel, which caused serious problems for the church.

Verse 12 continues the list of deacon qualifications. Like the list for overseers, deacons must be the husband of one wife and must manage their households well. This is not a prohibition against women or single persons; it simply means that sexual purity and relational integrity are required to serve as a deacon in the church.

This comment about marital fidelity reminds me of that one Sunday morning the Devil himself made a personal visit to the Maplewood Road Second Baptist Church. The congregation panicked and, led by their still-wet-behind-the-ears preacher, bolted for the door. All of them except for Old Deacon Jones.

Long a fixture at the Maplewood Road Second Baptist Church, Deacon Jones sat boldly in his place in the first pew, left side and on the aisle. Well the Devil slithered his way to stand over Deacon Jones. With a breath of sulfur the Devil leaned over Deacon Jones and hissed, “Aren’t you afraid of me, old man?” “Nope,” replied Deacon Jones, “I’ve been married to your sister for 60 years.”

As with the previous list for overseers, these character qualifications for deacons really set forth the standard of conduct for all Christians, but they are absolutely essential for persons in church leadership. When we look at such a list, it ought to make us take inventory of our own hearts. We ought to ask ourselves, “Am I leading a dignified life? Am I two-faced? How much alcohol do I drink? What am I willing to do to get the things I want? Have I really embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ? How am I doing in my marriage? How is my relationship with my kids?” God doesn’t call all of us to the office of deacon, but we should all strive for the character of a deacon!

 

3.) The Deacon’s Gender (11)

Now that we know what a deacon is and the character required for the office, let us take a look at the deacon’s gender. This is an extremely difficult verse to interpret because term translated here as “wives” is the Greek word Gunai/kaj (Gunaikas), from which we get our English word “gynecology,” can also be translated as “women.” If “wives” was meant here, there would be a possessive pronoun or definite article (as in the English Standard Version), but neither of these is present in the Greek text. Likewise, no feminine form of the Greek word for deacon existed to serve as a technical designation. This generic reference to women in the context of deacons seems to indicate that this is a reference to female deacons (or deaconesses).

Like their male counterparts, deaconesses must live dignified lives whereby they are careful with their speech, sober-minded in their judgment, and trustworthy and faithful in all things. This list of character qualifications for deaconesses highlights some of the exact character flaws that existed in the women who were causing problems in the Ephesian church.

This is another one of those controversial areas dealing with women’s roles in the church. Some Christian denominations believe this verse refers to deaconesses and therefore allow women to serve as deacons, while other denominations believe this verse refers to deacon’s wives and therefore does not allow women to serve as deacons. Linguistically, either interpretation is possible. So, whatever view you hold, I would encourage you to hold it with loosely and with grace. Personally, I believe that women can serve as deacons as long as they meet the qualifications. I have been so blessed by the ministry of many deaconesses in the churches that I have served in the past and present!

 

4.) The Deacon’s Blessings (13)

Well, Paul finishes this discussion of church deacons by emphasizing two blessings that come from faithful service in this office. The first blessing is good reputation in the eyes of God and the Christian community. God and people genuinely appreciate faithful service to the kingdom. The second blessing is greater confidence in the faith. This refers to a deeper relationship with God and a greater assurance of salvation. How does this work? A person who is faithfully serving Jesus Christ is less of likely to fall away from the faith than someone who is not involved in ministry.

These promises are specifically given to people who faithfully serve as deacons in the church, but the same general principle applies to all Christians who engage in consistent meaningful ministry. I hope that these promises will cause some of you to consider becoming a deacon in this church. I also hope that these promises will compel all of you to be involved in the ministry of this church. Wouldn’t you like to have a greater reputation in the church community? Wouldn’t you like to have a closer relationship with God and a greater assurance of your salvation?

 

As I conclude today, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have served this church as overseers and deacons. I am so grateful for your faithful service in God’s kingdom. May the Lord continually bless your life and faith!

Also, I do believe that God is currently preparing men and women to serve as overseers and deacons for the future in this church. Do you sense God preparing you for leadership in his church? Do you have the character qualifications?

And for the rest of us, God may not be calling you to serve as an elder or deacon, but he calls all of us to live dignified lives whereby we glorify him with our speech, our conduct, and our faith! If you want to gain a better reputation and a deeper relationship with God, faithfully serve his church and kingdom!

 

Dear Church,

The Perfect Pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. He condemns sin roundly, but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8 a.m. until midnight, and is also the church janitor.

The Perfect Pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church. He is 29 years old and has 40 years’ worth of experience. Above all, he is handsome.

The Perfect Pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church. He makes 15 home visits a day but is always in his office to be handy when needed.

The Perfect Pastor always has time for church meetings and all of its committees, never missing the meeting of any church organization. And he is always busy evangelizing the lost. The Perfect Pastor is always in the next town over!

If your pastor does not measure up, simply send this notice to six other churches that are tired of their pastor too. Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of your list. If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1, 643 pastors. One of them should be perfect. Have faith in this letter. One church broke the chain and got its’ old pastor back in less than three months.

This little letter is obviously an exaggeration, but it does underscore the reality that everyone has expectations for their pastors and church leaders. What kind of expectations do you have for your pastors and church leaders? You all know that there is no such thing as a perfect pastor (or at least I hope you do), but the Bible does set forth some basic character qualifications for anyone who would serve in church leadership.

In 1 Timothy 3:1-7, the Apostle Paul presents a list of specific qualities required for people to serve in the office of overseer, which encompasses the role of both pastors and church elders. The Greek word translated “overseer” is evpiskoph/j (episcopes) from which we get our English word “Episcopal” or “Episcopalian.” It can also be translated as “bishop,” and it is practically interchangeable with the term “elder.” Both terms simply refer to a governing leader in the church.

The reason why Paul gives this list of necessary character credentials for church leaders to Timothy is because some of the previous and current elders had fallen away from the true gospel and had become the very false teachers and were causing problems within the church. Paul is trying to help Timothy change the course of the church by replacing the false teachers with qualified spiritual leaders who exhibit the character of Christ. They will promote sound teaching instead of heresy. The list of qualities, therefore, is to some extent a contrast with the vices of the false teachers.

Paul begins this whole section with the phrase “Here is a trustworthy saying…” This is his way of saying, “Pay close attention! What I am about to say is really important.” The actual saying affirms that the position of overseer is a noble task. The statement implies that there were some in the church who thought it undesirable and this may have been a result of the position being tainted by the false teachers. Since the office of overseer is a noble task, people of noble character must fulfill it. In any organization, it is imperative to have the right leaders in place.

Paul is not saying that these character qualifications are only for church leaders; he is saying that these character traits are absolutely necessary for church leaders. Not everyone here will aspire to be a pastor or elder in the church, but as Christians, we should all be striving for these aspects of Christ-like character. As we look at these thirteen traits, let us make these our life goals.

 

1.) Above Reproach (2)

The first character qualification for a church leader is to be above reproach. Paul is not suggesting perfection, but he means a blameless life—a person with such observable conduct that no legitimate charge could be brought against him or her, either in legal court or before other people. There should be no grounds for true accusation because this person deals with sin between self and God and others.

If someone falsely accused you of some wrong doing, would people believe it?

 

2.) Monogamous and Faithful (2)

The next character qualification for church leadership is “the husband of one wife.” Some people interpret this to mean that an overseer must be a married man, but this is probably not what Paul means since neither he nor Timothy were married. A better way to understand this phrase is monogamous and faithful. An overseer is required to live an exemplary married life (marriage was generally assumed but not required), faithful to one’s spouse in a culture in which marital infidelity was common.

For those of you who are married, are you monogamous and faithful to your spouse? If you are not married, is your life marked by relational and sexual purity?

 

3.) Temperate (2)

The third character qualification is temperance. This term typically used in regard to alcoholic beverages, but since that issue will be specifically addressed in verse 3, Paul is probably using this term figuratively to mean balanced and sober judgment—not given to emotional extremes or rashness.

Are you emotionally stable? Do you think through decisions before you make them?

 

4.) Self-Controlled (2)

Fourth, the quality of self-control is required for church leadership. This person is able to control his or her words, actions, and passions—not given to anger or selfish ambition.

Are you sensible and in charge of your life? Can you say “no” when you need to?

 

5.) Respectable (2)

Fifth, a church leader must be respectable, which means to have such a well ordered life that it gains the respect of others.

Do other people respect you? Do they look up to you?

 

6.) Hospitable (2)

The church leader must also be hospitable, which means “open to strangers.” It reflects a vulnerability to others, a desire to care for guests and those in need.

How hospitable are you? When was the last time you welcomed a non-family member into your home?

 

7.) Able to Teach (2)

The church leader must also be able to teach. Not every church leader is going to preach sermons or even teach Sunday school lessons (although many will), but they must be able to communicate biblical truth and refute heresy and error

Are you able to teach? Can you distinguish biblical truth from falsehood?

 

8.) Sober (3)

The eighth character qualification for church leadership is sobriety or “not given to drunkenness.” Drunkenness was a common vice in the ancient world, just like it is today. Leaders that are controlled by chemical substances cannot think clearly or lead with integrity.

How much do you drink? How often do you go overboard?

 

9.) Gentle (3)

Next, a church leader must be gentle or “not given to violence.” A violent person lacks self-control and is given to emotions that are rooted in selfishness and anger. People with such a turbulent inner spirit would be disqualified from any leadership, especially in God’s church.

Would your family and friends describe you as a gentle or violent person?

 

10.) Peaceful (3)

The tenth quality is peacefulness or “not quarrelsome.” This describes a person who “calm, cool, and collected”—someone who can listen to others without reacting or arguing. Quarrelers are counterproductive in any group or organization, and they can wreak havoc in a church, like the false teachers in Ephesus.

Are you a peaceful person or do you find yourself constantly fighting with others?

 

11.) Financial Responsibility (3)

Church leaders must also be financially responsible people. Greed ruins people and greedy people ruin organizations and churches. If someone cannot manage their own money, they should not be managing the church’s finances.

How financially responsible are you?

 

12.) A Good Parent (4-5)

Likewise, overseers must be good parents. The home is always the true test of a person’s character and leadership abilities. If someone is able to manage their children well (which is an extremely difficult task), then they will most likely be able to shepherd God’s flock well too. But if a person’s children do not respect or obey them, one may wonder about the parent’s shepherding skills.

Do your children respect and obey you?

 

13.) Spiritually Mature (6)

The thirteenth character trait necessary for leadership in God’s church is spiritual maturity. The person should not be a recent convert to Christianity. Novices that are put in leadership too quickly tend to become conceited with swelled egos and wind up being detrimental to the organization. This is exactly what happened to Satan. He became so conceited that he led a rebellion against God in his attempt to achieve ultimate glory for himself. One must prove their spiritual maturity over time to be considered for spiritual leadership.

How long have you been a follower of Christ? How spiritually mature are you?

 

14.) A Good Reputation (7)

And finally, a church leader must have a good reputation with those outside the church as well as inside the church. If a church leader does not have a good reputation with unbelievers in the community, the gospel mission of the church will be compromised.

How would your co-workers and community members describe your spiritual life? Do you act one way at church and another way everywhere else?

 

This list certainly gives us a lot to think about. For one, when we hire pastors and elect church elders, we need to make sure that our candidates meet this list of character qualifications. If we don’t choose the right people to lead our church, we could run into the same problems that the Ephesian church faced—heresy and internal conflict.

Also, as Christians, we should all use this list a standard of conduct. It is true that none of us will ever be perfect, but Jesus calls us to a high standard. He calls us to model our lives after his life. Some of us are weak in some of these areas of character. So then, let us use this list to help us conform to the character of our Savior Jesus Christ. May we become more like him this year than we were last year!

 

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee. The husband said, “You do all the cooking around here so you should do it.” The wife replied, “No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should brew the coffee.” The husband replied, “Yeah, right!” So, she showed him in the Bible where it says: “HEBREWS.”

The battle of the sexes is as old as mankind itself. Men and women have battled over gender roles in the home, workplace, and politics for centuries, and the war rages on today. Some people champion what we might call traditional roles, while others push for more progressive roles. This debate is lived out in the quips and gaffes of famous people all the time. For instance, in recent years, actor and author Michael Caine has said, “American girls are like horses, very independent. They have never been controlled by anyone. But if you can break them in, they are very grateful.” On the other hand, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” Sexist comments go both ways!

Perhaps, the debate over gender roles has been nowhere more divisive than in the church. The passage that I just read to you, I Timothy 2:8-15, is one of the most difficult and controversial portions of the whole Bible. These eight verses have been the subject of an inordinate amount of books and scholarly debates. The interpretation of this passage has divided the Christian church right down the middle. Should women serve as pastors and elders in the church? The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and most Baptist churches do not ordain women. The Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church, and most Congregational churches do ordain women. As for Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal churches, some ordain women and some do not.

Before we jump into this text, I want to preface the whole sermon by saying that there good people and good reasons on both sides of this debate. Even the best New Testament scholars in the world disagree over what is going on in this passage. Over the years, I have personally gone back and forth on the issue. This morning, I am going to present my current position, but I want you all to know that I hold it loosely. Some of you may agree with me and some of you may not, but I would ask that we all pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we think about this very difficult portion of God’s Word where the Apostle Paul addresses men and women in the church

 

1.) Men in the Church (8)

The Apostle Paul begins the section by addressing the men, and we need to remember that this whole address is given in the context of prayer in the public worship service. Paul expresses his desire that men throughout the house churches in Ephesus should pray without anger or quarreling, which was one of the problems that arose as a result of the false teachers.

Now the fact that Paul addresses only the men in the proper way to pray does not exclude women from praying in worship services. He is just addressing the reality of the day. Ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures were patriarchal and it was simply more common for men to pray in the worship service. There are clear references in the New Testament where women pray publically (Acts 1:14, 12:12, I Corinthians 11:5), it just wasn’t common in that culture.

The reference to “lifting holy hands” also comes from the culture of the day. This was the assumed posture of prayer in Judaism and carried over into early Christianity. The imagery is that of ritual purity from the Old Testament, where hands would be washed before praying as a symbol of coming before God with clean hands and a pure heart. In this context, Paul did not want their prayers to be soiled by anger and quarrels, which was one of the effects of the false teachers in Ephesus. Prayer is a “holy” activity, and Paul did not want it to be disrupted by anger or fighting.

Therefore, as we think about how this verse applies to our church today, Paul is not saying that only men can pray or that we have to lift our hands while we pray. We don’t even have to wash our hands before we pray, although hand washing is never a bad idea! What he is saying is that when we gather to worship and pray to God, we need to do it with attitudes of love, unity, and forgiveness. There is no place for anger, quarrels, resentment, or bitterness in the church. This verse is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Are you angry with anyone today? Are you engaged in an argument or dispute with anyone? Are you harboring bitterness toward a fellow church member? If so, let it go! Forgive so that you might be able to pray again!

 

2.) Women in the Church (9-15)

Paul only uses one verse to address the men, but he uses seven verses to address the women. Was it because he was a male chauvinist jerk who thought women were like horses that needed to be broken? No, that is not the case at all. Paul actually had an extremely high regard for women, especially for the time. Paul uses more words to address the women in this church because they had been more susceptible to the false teachers and were causing more problems. So, Paul speaks to two specific problems: appearance and authority in the church.

 

Appearance in Church (9-10)

In verse 9, Paul says that women should adorn or dress themselves in respectable apparel, with an attitude of modesty and self-control. Apparently, some of the women in the Ephesian church were “getting all dolled up” for church in ways to “get noticed.” They were wearing elaborate and expensive clothing and jewelry to make a statement to the other women. They were dressing somewhat seductively to “get noticed” by the men. Either way, their attitudes were deplorable and their behaviors were unbecoming of women who claimed to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in the context of the worship service.

The specific prohibition against “braided hair and gold or pearls and expensive attire” seems strange to us in the modern church. What does God have against braided hair and accessorizing? In this culture, braided hair was often adorned with precious metals and was a statement of wealth and status, and women were using these things with the wrong motives. The modern equivalent would be like a women showing up at church today wearing a slinky prom dress, a luxurious hair-doo, and enough BLING to make Mr. T jealous. This type of behavior would be inappropriate for a woman who professes godliness. Paul is essentially saying that Christian women ought to make a statement with their pure hearts and Christ-like deeds.

This discussion reminds me of the preacher who came home one day and saw his wife in a brand new red dress. He looked at her and said, “Didn’t I say that you weren’t supposed to buy any more clothes?” Embarrassed the wife replied, “Yes, but Satan tempted me and told me it looked good from the front!” The preacher, a little startled by what just came out of his wife’s mouth, then replied, “Didn’t I tell you to say, “Satan get thee behind me?” She said “Yes, but when I said that, he said it looks good from back here too!!”

You all know how pastor’s wives can be! In all seriousness, how should this be applied today? I know some churches that interpret this passage without considering its cultural context, and they preach that women shouldn’t wear jewelry, makeup, shorts, or even long pants. But this completely misses the point. Does braided hair or any of these things connote extravagance or seductiveness today? Hardly! The real issue is matching our outward appearance and behavior with our profession of faith in Jesus Christ. If you really want “get noticed,” dress yourself with a Christ-like attitude and good deeds!

 

Authority in the Church (11-15)

After addressing the Ephesian women’s appearance in the church, Paul speaks to the issue of woman’s authority in the church in verses 11-14. When Paul says that should learn quietly and with all submissiveness and that he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man and that she is to remain silent, he means exactly what he says. Some Bible scholars have tried to rearrange Paul’s words to make them mean something else, but if you want to be honest and consistent, there is no way to change what is said here. But the big question is: Does Paul mean this for all churches at all times or was this meant specifically for the Ephesian church at this time? This is where scholars, pastors, and denominations disagree.

I have personally changed my mind on this issue three times, but for the past 12 years I have been convinced that Paul meant this prohibition specifically for the Ephesian church. I believe this for three main reasons. First, there were definitely problems with a number of women in the Ephesian church at this time. It appears that they had been heavily influenced by the false teachers and it was causing them to act in ways that were contrary to Christianity. Furthermore, it appears that one of the things they were doing was asserting authority over the male leaders and teachers (who were typically the leaders in this culture) in the churches and were being disruptive in the worship services. Therefore, Paul tries to remedy the whole situation by prohibiting women in Ephesus from teaching or having authority over a man. I don’t think that he would have said anything like this to a church that wasn’t experiencing these problems.

This is also why he points to the creation order of Adam before Eve and the fact that Eve was the first one to be deceived and fall into sin. He was simply using these examples to remind these women that they did not have any inherent authority over men. (He was not stating that men have inherent authority over women.)

Second, I believe that this understanding of the passage fits best into the broader biblical context as well. Even though most of Israel’s and the early churches leaders and teachers were men (because it was a vastly patriarchal culture), there are some clear biblical examples where it was clearly God’s will for a woman to have authority over a man and to teach men the Scriptures; we see this with Deborah in Judges 4-5 and Pricilla in the book of Acts 18.

Third, when we think about the lists of spiritual gifts that are recorded in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4, there is no indication that they are gender specific. I have many female friends who possess the spiritual gifts of leadership, preaching, and teaching. The purpose of these gifts is to build up the body of Christ; it seems contrary to the nature of spiritual gifts if that were only meant to be used to benefit small parts of the church.

Well, if all of this wasn’t controversial enough, Paul ends the passage with a another doozy! Verse 15 seems to indicate that women’s souls will be saved from sin and judgment through the act of childbearing, but this would contradict everything that Paul has ever said about salvation: namely that justification is by faith in Jesus Christ; not by doing good works.

Part of the problem is that many Bible translations use the word “women” (plural) here. But in the Greek text the word is singular and is accompanied by the article “the”—“the woman.” This tells us that at the beginning of verse 15, Paul is still talking about Eve, not women in general. After Eve’s transgression of eating the forbidden fruit and bring sin into the human race, God would eventually use her to bring salvation into the world through childbearing (actually “the childbearing” in the Greek). She would produce the seed “the Messiah” who would one day crush Satan’s head and bring salvation to the world. This is exactly what happened when Jesus died on the cross!

In the second half of verse 15, Paul cleverly moves back to the plural “women” when he says that they will experience the salvation of the Messiah if they respond to the gospel in faith and persevere in the Christian life. I believe that Paul makes the change from the singular back to the plural because he wanted this verse to act as a word of grace to the women in Ephesus. He is essentially saying, “Just as God revealed his grace to Eve after she was deceived by the serpent, so God’s grace is still open to you even though you have been deceived by the false teachers. Just come back to a gospel-centered life, evidenced by faith, love, holiness, and self-control.

Now that you see how I see this passage, allow me to briefly apply it to the modern church. Can women be elders, pastors, teachers, and missionaries in the church? I say “Yes!” as long as they are genuine believers, live the kind of lifestyle that God requires, and possess the necessary qualifications.

 

This whole issue of men and women in the church is much more complex that what I have been able to present to you today, but I hope that I have been able to bring some clarity and cause you to think about it more!