WWUTT 601 Qualifications for Overseers?

Paul gave Timothy a list of qualifications that a pastor is supposed to meet, but it's not a list that you should ignore if you don't want to be a pastor.

After all, a pastor is supposed to be a person who is an example of a mature Christian when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of 1 Timothy on to Chapter 3, and we'll be focusing on verses 1 -7 this week, and probably next week as well.

The Apostle Paul writes to his servant Timothy, the saying is trustworthy, if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober -minded, self -controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

There's a lot of weighty things that are being said here. It doesn't look like a terribly long list, the qualifications for an overseer, just seven verses long, but each one of these words, we could probably dedicate an entire podcast episode to understanding why that's so important in this list of qualifications for an overseer.

For this week, we'll probably just be focusing on verse one and maybe get to that first qualifier right there at the start of verse two.

But we begin in this section in context with what we've been looking at at the end of chapter two.

I think I think I mentioned this last week, but you almost have to remove the chapter and verse dividers.

We haven't moved into a new subject here. This is still in keeping with the instructions that Paul was giving

Timothy about the orderliness of congregational worship or what we refer to as corporate worship within a church setting.

So it started with addressing the men. Well, it started with Paul saying, teach sound doctrine.

That's that's the way the whole letter began. It was the very first instruction that Paul gave

Timothy at the start of first Timothy chapter one. Don't let anyone teach any different doctrine.

Teach only the sound gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul using himself as an example, you you heard what

I taught, you know what we told you to teach. And so therefore don't let anyone else in the church, any elder or anyone teach anything different than the sound words of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul goes on to explain that the sound gospel of Christ is going to produce godliness in the lives of those who believe it.

And so what should this look like in the corporate setting? So let's begin there. Paul is saying to Timothy, what should this look like in the church and then manifest itself in the lives of believers even outside the church, which we'll get to later on in this letter.

But the so the first thing that he addresses then in the living out a life of godliness is that we are to pray.

First of all, then, first of all, first Timothy to one, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people.

J .C. Ryle once said, tell me what are the prayers of a man and I will tell you what the state of his soul is.

Prayer is the spiritual pulse. And so as Paul is giving this instruction to Timothy on living out godliness, his first instruction is to pray.

And then when it starts to become applied to specific members of the congregation, he says, most especially the men should pray.

And then the women should also conduct themselves this way, that they should exercise modesty and self -control, that they should be a profession of good works.

Their godliness would be seen by their works, not by what it is that they wear or how they look on the outside.

And then further in those instructions with women, Paul says that a woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet.

So when it comes to a way a woman conducts herself in the corporate worship setting, she's not going to be the preacher.

She's not going to be the one teaching or holding the teaching authority over the church when it comes to administering the lessons that come from the word of God.

And also the care for the individual souls within that particular gathered congregation, the shepherding of the people of God, that is not a role for a woman to fill.

That's something a man is supposed to do. He fills the role of overseer in the church.

So when we get to the list of qualifications for overseers in Chapter 3, the first qualification was actually given at the end of Chapter 2.

He's supposed to be a man. It's not supposed to be a woman in that position, but a man.

Rather, she is to learn quietly with all submissiveness. When it comes to orderly worship, orderliness within the corporate worship setting, the women are learning quietly, where a man would fill that role of teaching the word of God to the people of God.

So here we are in Chapter 3 with a list of that qualifications. And opening that list,

Paul comes back to a saying. This is the second time that he refers to a particular saying, something that was kind of creedal in nature in the first century church.

The first time we saw this was in Chapter 1, where Paul said the saying is trustworthy that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And here we have him referring to a saying a second time, something that would have been apostolic.

It was simple. It was easy to memorize. It was kind of like a catechism to some degree, easily applicable concerning instructions that came from the apostles to the church of Christ.

So at the beginning of Chapter 3, he says the saying is trustworthy. And this is the saying, the rest of verse one.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Now this word overseer is interchangeable with elder or bishop or pastor.

These are the words that are used to describe that overseer of the church. Of course, the most popular word that is used in most

Protestant churches is pastor, a word that means shepherd. And we get that word from the

Greek that's used to describe an overseer. There's a couple of different places where pastor is most prominent.

And the first is in Acts Chapter 20. So when Paul is speaking to the

Ephesian elders, this is the last time that he is going to see those elders, this side of heaven, and he cares for them greatly, has a great affection for that Ephesian church.

By the way, that's where he's sending Timothy is to that particular church. So on this last occasion that he is visiting face to face with these elders, he gives them instructions on caring for the church.

In Acts 20 verse 28, he says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the

Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Now the Greek word there for overseers is episkopos. And then the

Greek word that appears right after that, to care for the church of God, it's the Greek word that applies to care for, that's poimeno.

And that's where we get the word pastor from, because it's an action word. The word overseer is a noun.

And then the actual job of caring for the church of God is a verb, pastor.

So to pastor means to shepherd, and that's where we get that word from. So that's the first place that it appears in Acts chapter 20.

Again, that verse, Acts 20, 28, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the

Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

So we entrust ourselves to the chief shepherd who is Christ, but then he's appointed under shepherds to take care of his individual flocks here on earth.

And Peter addresses this again with this same picture of caring for the flock of God in first Peter chapter five.

So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you not for shameful gain, but eagerly not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

And there in Peter's instructions to elders, he also has instructions to the church to respect the teaching of those elders in verse five.

Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another.

This is an address now that goes to both the elders and those who would be under the care of the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another.

For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So the congregation should be subject to that position of overseer or pastor.

And a pastor should not be proud and haughty about that particular position, but understanding himself that he is to be a servant.

This list of instructions that we have here in 1 Timothy 3 verses one through seven is basically a picture of what a mature

Christian is supposed to look like. None of these instructions should really be something that is throw away for anybody.

Like you don't need to be skipping the podcast lessons today and next week because, you know, we're talking about pastors and you're never going to become a pastor or perhaps you're a woman and you're going, well,

Pastor Gabe already disqualified me when we were going through chapter two, so I don't need to listen to the next two weeks.

The picture that we have here in 1 Timothy 3 is a mature Christian, an overseer, an elder in the church is supposed to be a model of maturity for his congregation.

Everybody should want to aspire to the traits of godliness that he exemplifies with the exception of teaching.

And that may not be your gift and you may never be called to be in a position of teacher, but an elder or an overseer most especially must have an ability to teach.

That's the one thing in this list of qualifications that you don't necessarily have to have.

But a person who is an overseer of the church does need to have an ability to teach. That's also one of those things that separates out the qualifications for overseer with the qualifications for deacons.

You're going to see those qualifications very similar to what we're reading here in verses one through seven, but a deacon doesn't have to have an ability to teach.

Both the elder and the deacon must be able to serve, but the elder cares primarily for the spiritual needs of the congregation, whereas a deacon would care primarily more for the physical needs of the congregation.

So here we have this saying that opens this list of qualifications that if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, you actually want to be a pastor.

And I would say that's a qualification in itself. You must not be a pastor if you don't want to be.

And that's something that Peter even addressed there in first Peter chapter five, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly don't do it because somebody is making you do it.

But you desire to do it as God would have you in service to him and and to his great kingdom.

It is an honor for you to be called to shepherd the flock of God. But heed the instruction that James gives in James three one.

Not many of you should aspire to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that teachers will be judged more strictly.

So if that is a burden upon a person that is too great to bear. They don't feel like they have a confidence enough.

You know, the spirit has filled them with a confidence to be able to stand in front of the people of God and speak the word of God.

If that's too much pressure, then a person should not be made to be put in that position.

I understand the intimidation there. And some people just do not have an ability to stand up in front of people and speak.

There are are people that have stage fright. Maybe they even have an ability to teach, but to get up in front of people and teach is a completely different thing altogether.

One of such persons that come to mind when I when I say that is Adam Ford, who is the creator of Adam Ford Comics and also the mastermind behind Babylon B.

I've read his testimony before where Adam Ford talked about the anxiety that he experienced when it came to getting in front of people and teaching.

And so he exercised his understanding of the word and and presenting apologetic arguments in a different way instead of doing it in a teaching setting or in a pastoral setting.

He is making these comics and putting together Babylon B. And I think the things that he is doing, he is gifted by God to do doesn't have an ability to get up in front of people, but is certainly ministering to a lot of people through those ministries that he does.

So a person with an ability to teach must also be able to get in front of people and do that very thing, must be able to teach, and he must aspire to want to do that.

What do we mean by that word aspire? Well, it means that that one's hopes or ambitions are to achieve a certain thing.

So someone actually has a desire to want to see people be changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ to grow in godliness, to see some come to Christ and then grow in Christ and see an entire people of God flourish under the administration of that teaching of the word of God.

Because as we read in Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

That's not just an initial faith, the faith that we come into the moment that we believe, but even the faith that we have as we grow and persevere in that faith, it is maturing in you.

All of this comes about by the preaching of the word of Christ. And so someone has a desire to want to do that, bring people to Christ and grow that people in Christ.

He wants to fill that position. He wants to serve the Lord in that way.

He has no qualms with setting himself aside for the declaration of the gospel and to make him known.

He doesn't have any ambition for himself to put himself in front of other people for the benefit of himself, but rather wants to take the form of a, a meek and humble servant and make it not about him, but about Christ.

That's something an overseer wants to do. He aspires to do that, not aspire to make himself known, but aspires to make

Christ known through the declaration of the gospel. And again, this man becomes an example to the entire congregation.

They look at the way that he lives his life, even the way that he cares for his family, the way that he matures in an understanding of the word of God, the way that word changes his heart and his livelihood and his actions and governs his words and all that he does.

The church is looking at that as a model of what a mature

Christian is supposed to be. And he provides that for his congregation, not proudly, not boastfully, but in humble submission, it is possible to be an example to other people and be humble in that, not be arrogant or proud, not thump in your chest or pop in your collar or pointing the light back at yourself and saying, look at me, a person can be humble and be before people as an example of humility before the

Lord. And a pastor aspires to do that, wants to get himself out of the way and put

Christ front and center. So really what it is that people are looking at, the people of God, the people of the congregation, what they're looking at when they look at this overseer as an example is not the man that's standing there, but Christ and the apostle

Paul used himself as an example and did that without boasting in himself or thump in his chest to the

Corinthians. He said, imitate me as I am of Christ, be imitators of me.

And so this would essentially be what the overseer is presenting to his congregation, an example of mature

Christianity. If anyone aspires to do that, to fill that office, to fill that role, he desires a noble task.

And what does that mean? What does the word noble mean? It means to show fine personal qualities, a high moral ideal.

That's nobility. And that's what it is that is being described of this overseer.

He's desiring to be somebody that is presenting a high moral ethic that has been shaped by his adherence to and practice of the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life.

So then we go from there into talking about what the overseer is supposed to be as he fills that role of office over the church, an overseer must be above reproach.

Now, that's the first instruction that we have on this list, although it may not be the first qualification, because as I mentioned at the end of chapter two, his first qualification is that he must be a man.

It must be a man filling that role. He must aspire to that particular role.

And then next, what we are going to be talking about tomorrow is that he must be above reproach.

So let us pray. Our Lord God, we thank you for these lessons, these instructions that have been given to us concerning orderly worship in a church congregation.

And may we desire to want to be churches that are a reflection of what

Christ intends for the church to be, not what is most attractive to the world, not what's going to be the most appealing to the most number of people.

It's not about pleasing people as though that was the ultimate reward to have people in every available seat within the building.

But ultimately, it's about serving Christ, how we can become a reflection of the savior who has saved us and purified for himself a people who are zealous to do his good work.

And so, Lord, may we desire as a church to do the things that you desire for your church to do.

May we be a model of good, mature Christian behavior.

We desire to grow in Christianity, not to be settled with where we are, but to mature all the more, that we would grow into him who is the head of the church, into Christ Jesus, whom we aspire to be like, whom we are being shaped into by the love of the

Father. And so continue to help us persevere in this walk of faith that we are in, looking to Jesus, who is the author and the perfecter of our faith.

And it's in his name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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