We take your Bibles this morning, open up to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. And my goal this morning is to look at church leadership in light of Matt Dwiggins' three months coming up on, for him and eldership. I just thought we're in a break from Easter. done with Colossians and Lord willing I'm going to pick up Ephesians sooner than later. Kind of looks calendar-wise like that could be the end of May which seems like a terrible time to start a new book. So we might do some sermons just looking at some of the major things people have asked me over the years or even recently of prayer, maybe evangelism, mission, some of those things that are essential. But I thought no better time than to pull the car over and talk about the nature of church leadership, because I know many people come from different backgrounds, and of course when we talk about leadership, we want to be talking about biblical leadership. In this case, we talk about eldership. And for some that may not even be a word they're used to using, and it's not necessarily the word that's important, but it is to say when it comes to biblical leadership or biblical eldership, we want to be biblical and looking at what the scriptures defines as who those people are, what's their job, and what's their responsibility as stewards of the household of God. So that's the goal this morning. to look at elders, leaders, but also then next week to continue on in verse 8 and look at what recognized servants in the church look like as well. And so I used to say, one volunteer organization I was part of, that there's room for everyone, and that's kind of true in the church. I mean, sometimes if you're part of a fire department and you're afraid of heights, Probably not the guy to get on the ladder. But there's a place for you. That could be flipping the pancakes at the pancake feed. But there's a role for everyone in the church. But there is a structure, there is a blueprint for it. And so we want to look at what the Bible has to say about that this morning. So let's pray. I know we've read the passage already, so let's just pray and we'll dive in. Father, thank you for the time. this morning where there's no more important topic that your word addresses than what it is for the qualifications of those who lead your church, or these are not meant to be qualifications that are outside of the norm, but it is to say if you are to manage the household of God, then there should be minimum requirements of where you are at in your life, where you are at in your maturity. And so, Lord, may these be not only reminders of what we should ask of those who lead, those who teach, but also that these are standards for all who love Christ, that we would be marked out not just as leaders, but they would be an example of which to follow as they imitate Christ, of which then those who we engage with the world around us, those at work, those in our communities, that they would see these qualities as norm. That those who they've come in contact with who call themselves Christians, followers of Christ, that they would look at these qualifications and go, yes, that matches with those who I've known. And Lord, when these things do not match, Lord, show us grace and understanding and forgiveness, but yet let us come again to strive towards the excellence that we see here in the text this morning. We just ask this in your son's name, amen. Well, this morning, I'm probably gonna pick on my brother twice, because he's not here. Serves him right for joining the Navy Reserves and being gone on Sundays. but they're both good ways. So if you look at my brother and I, so I just have my one brother, and so we're super similar, but we're super different at the same time. One of the differences, and this is a plus in his category, is he is by far the handy one. So if you want help fixing something, if you want him, somebody to fix something physical in this world, your car, your house, your drywall, your electrical, talk to my brother. If you want someone to help with some relationship trouble, well, probably me. But if you know Adam, that is kind of funny. So we were both fixers, but we fixed different things, is the way I view it. When we were children, he was the one who took things apart. So one of the more funny stories is, we got a little bit older, and I was never allowed to touch the MacBook, or I think it was the Apple II, the original little one that we had in the late 80s. And Adam did. And at some point, the question was asked, well, because I touched it and it broke, and then I got in trouble. And then later, Adam's like, well, how come you never broke it? How did you know these things? And he's like, oh, I broke it all the time. I just knew how to fix it before dad found out. And I said, there it is. He knew. And one of the things that he's really good at is trying to figure things out. He stares, he watches, and tries to figure out some kind of design, and then he mimics. But he's not good at one thing, which is he doesn't really love, and partially I think it's because he doesn't need it as much. He's found in life he can figure it out. But he doesn't love to follow the blueprints. In fact, he has a tendency to try to improve on whatever blueprint he has. And sometimes he's right. Sometimes he's wrong. But as I looked at 1st Timothy chapter three, and I looked really at the book of 1st Timothy, that's one of the things that come out is that Paul uses this kind of picture of not only just management and stewardship, but one in which that the church, as he describes it, as the household of God, that it is meant to be structured and ordered in such a way, not overly, as you could say, complicated. It's not like these are complicated things, but that it's to have kind of a general blueprint. And as creative as you may be, this is one of those things that you don't improve on, right? This is God's design for the structure of the church. And so we want to model it. And yes, when it comes to certain things, say in 2025, when the elders meet, when we gather, what time, there's all kinds of gray, but there's these general structural principles, particularly those who are to then be the elders, as we're looking at this morning, or the leaders of the church, that they're to be qualified, that they're to be models of a way of living. So if you're there in 1 Timothy 3, if you skip ahead and then we'll work our way backwards a little bit, 14 is where you kind of see this purpose of the whole book of 1 Timothy. Paul is writing to his young son in the faith. And he wants to write them about conduct in the church, and he's very clear here in verse 14 of chapter 3, that I am writing these things to you, that is to Timothy, hoping to come to you soon, but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. And so everything here has to do with conduct in the church. Principles that you could apply to lots of areas of life, sure. But immediately, this has to do with the church. If you go back to chapter 1, you're going to see a lot of engagement, a lot of interaction with false teaching. Even in chapter 1, verse 1, when Paul writes, he doesn't write in a way that he kind of did in Colossians. He doesn't even call himself, say, a slave of Christ. He reminds Timothy he's the apostle of Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior in Christ Jesus. And then when he goes down in verse 3, and this is why I want to pick up on this language, of it's a commandment, it's you've been given, and it is a stewardship. And so he says this, that I, as I exhorted you, verse 3 of chapter 1, you, when going to Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus. so that you may command certain ones not to teach a different doctrine in order to pay attention." And notice that word, command certain ones. That's the authority of this letter. That's the tone of this letter to Timothy. You need to, I'm an apostle by the commandment of God and I'm commanding you. Don't let people teach different doctrine. Or verse four, in order to pay attention to miss endless genealogy, which give rise to mere speculation, rather than the furthering, the stewardship from God, which is by faith. And it's that picture that he's gonna keep coming back to of stewardship throughout 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, and even Titus, where he's looking at, this is a house of which you are managing and which you are stewarding, and you need to pass on. So if you flip over to 2nd Timothy chapter 2-2, because we're gonna talk a lot about qualifications here in chapter 3, but if you go, what are you to do, Timothy? You're to take the commandment of God And you are to command others, not just generically, but of what God has said, that you've got to be able to accurately handle the word of truth. But in 2-2 of 2 Timothy, he says, "...and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust..." That's stewardship language. "...entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others." Go to verse 14, he says, remind them of these things, solemnly charging them in the presence of God, not to dispute about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of hearts or the ruin of hearers, but rather, verse 15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman that is a craftsman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Or you could literal translation saying that you are to cut straight the truth of God, the way a craftsman cuts a straight line. And so it's this picture of accuracy and stewardship and of building. And if you're going to build something that's going to stand, if the household of God is going to be the pillar and the buttress of the truth in the world, you have to do it according to the scriptures. We don't have wiggly lines here. When it's clear, it's clear, and it's straight, and you don't deviate. And so when it comes then to who is meant to be the ones given this authority to steward the church, and again, it's not to be that the elders or the leaders of the church have unlimited authority. It's to say they have a delegated authority. They are under shepherds of the great shepherd, stewarding, that is, the church. And he wants to appoint stewards. He left Timothy behind to say, I need you to appoint stewards. I need you to appoint men to pass on what you have learned that you might then continue on the church. And for them to be the right kind of men who then in turn learn and pass it on, there needs to be certain character traits about them. And because we're going to stay mostly in Timothy, just go to Titus real quick. One of the emphases of Titus that you're going to see here is that there, when he talks about appointing elders, it's very similar qualifications. Beyond reproach, husband and wife having faithful children who are not accused of dissipation or rebelliousness, the overseer must be on reproach, God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, hospital, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort and sound doctrine and to reprove those who contradict. Why it's helpful to look here is although Timothy, as we'll look a little closer, is going to emphasize particularly the role as steward and manager, and he's going to lean a little bit more on management of the household, even of the elder himself. Here Timothy gives very similar, or Titus gives similar things, or Paul gives similar things to Titus, but He also makes very clear what is implied in Timothy, which is they are to be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to prove those who contradict. Why? Because verse 10, there are many rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party, which chapter 1 of 1 Timothy deals a lot with, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain. And so there is an issue within the church from the very beginning with people see authority, people see power, they want it, and they want to be in charge. And so then you have to come back to 1 Timothy 3 and you go, okay, what kind of man do you want to be a steward? What is the Lord seeking? Now, without even looking closely here, you can think of the whole scripture so far. And what does the Lord look for? And I think most clearly, over and over again, you think of who he seeks. He's not looking after, say, in the Old Testament, kings. He's not looking for Saul, who is tall and handsome. It's not to say David was ugly, but rather when he looks, he's looking for the boy David, not because of what he'll grow into, not because of how handsome he is, but rather what his heart desires. The Lord sees the heart. And we're tempted to look outward, and one of the things we saw in Colossians was the emphasis on the internal. And another thing you're going to see here, in the qualifications of 1st Timothy chapter 3 for church leadership, for eldership, is there are going to be internal qualifications. There's no whiff of a presidential look, which is good, thankful. I don't pass it. I'm not tall enough. They go, you can never be president, right? You got to have a certain presidential look, a certain presidential voice. None of that is here. In fact, it's all looking at the character the family life, the spiritual maturity, and ultimately, the general reputation of this individual, not just here, but within the community. And so elders of the local church are to function as the caretakers, entrusted. That word, we're going to entrust to you who then are going to entrust to others with spiritual, not only just well-being, you could say of God's people, but of doctrine. And so their job isn't simply to run the mechanisms to make sure there's coffee and to make sure there's kids programs and make sure there's vocation Bible school. Rather, it is to care deeply about God's people. And we're going to see some different pictures of that. The way they care and shepherd. So generally people have said, what does an elder do? Before we look who he is. They are to lead. Which makes sense. They are to feed. That is, they are be able to teach. Whether that's from this standpoint or again to take someone away and defend what they believe. Or... They are to protect. And over and over again you see at some level the shepherd has to protect the sheep from the wolves. So lead, feed, and protect are kind of general ideas of what they do. It's not going to be about personal charisma or who's most popular. It's about character, godliness, wisdom, and maturity. And Paul gives us this picture, this blueprint of what they're to look like. One more place before we sit down in 1 Timothy 3. Go to Acts 28. Because I know we have different backgrounds represented here, where you come from, from a church perspective, and they might call them different things, right? And so, is there a difference? I thought someone might ask this question. Is there a difference between a pastor, an elder, or maybe you've heard of a bishop? Obviously, Pope being in the news, what, is that biblical? What is this language? Where does it come from? And Acts 20 is very helpful in this, because there are multiple ways to prove this point, but Acts 20 is one of the best, is that in the early church where Paul is ministering and Paul is planting churches, if you go to verse 17 of Acts 20, he gives a farewell address. And here, he's going to use this wording interchangeably. So whether it's an elder, an overseer, which, depending on translation, some people translate as bishop. And so they're the same thing. Or as the shepherd, which shepherd is another way, pastor is a transliteration of a shepherd. So when you say, I'm a pastor, it's really you're saying I am a shepherd. That's the picture, that's the Greek word that is being used. But if you go Acts 17, or Acts 20 verse 17, he says now, from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to him, you yourselves know, and he's gonna say how I toiled and how I worked and how I labored the gospel message for you. And just go all the way down for the sake of time to verse 27. And he reminds the elders, remember who he's addressing, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." So he's saying elders of Ephesus, you're also the overseers. This is defining the function. They're the same office. You're the elder, you're the overseer, was made an overseer to shepherd, that is to pastor, the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. As I said, there's other places we could go to, but it's nice when it's all there where Paul looks at whether it be your elders, your overseers, your shepherds, your pastors, they are all the same thing. Now one of the implications, as you turn back to 1 Timothy 3, of that is, although sometimes because culturally we distinguish, say, staff pastors from lay elders, you might call somebody like Joel an elder, and you might call me a pastor, but just know that's fine if that's what you're used to saying, but there's no difference. I don't have any greater authority. Outside of here, in Timothy, you'd say that because I'm laboring in the word at a different level, spending more time shepherding, therefore I receive double honor, which is to say that I am paid, which we use that language, say, of staff. But really, you could say it's Pastor Joel, it's Pastor Jay, it's the same biblical idea. And there's probably some good pushback in our culture where we see everything so professionalized in the church to say, although I think there is good and right and biblical evidence for receiving double honor, in the church. There's also a way in which the pushback is good to say, well, don't view the guy preaching or the guy being paid as the pastor and the other elders as second class. No, it's meant to say they're equal in role. They're all meant to be doing this role of shepherding the flock of God together. Again, one might be given more responsibility in certain areas, but it doesn't mean there is lack of equality. In fact, that's one of the principles you'll see in 1 Timothy, which isn't what we're talking about this morning, but this principle of having multiple elders. In other words, when you see the word elders or eldership, it's because Paul keeps referring to not just a pastor. So some church structures will say there's one pastor, right, and then there's the deacons. And I'd say, no, biblically what is ideal, what you should see and what you see in Scripture is having multiple elders. And I think there's obvious good reasons for that, not only to share the load of ministry, but also for accountability as well. And so it's meant to be this group of men in particular that are shepherding, that are stewarding, that are guarding the truth, that are protecting the church, that are leading it. and pastoring it. In fact, it's a serious calling. One in which he says here, chapter 3, verse 1 of 1 Timothy, it's a trustworthy saying, if any man aspires to become or aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work. And I almost think as Paul deals with it, because he's going to give a lot of qualifications, is he wants you to know it's a good thing. There's lots of people striving for control and power, and it can be bad, but in and of itself, it's a good thing to desire leadership within the church, to be an overseer of that. But he also wants to say, but it should be a certain kind of man that you set apart from the others. Why? Because, as Hebrews 13, 17 says, it's the elders who are to keep watch over your soul as those who have to give an account. I mean, every time I read that, you got to preach this kind of message, it's a reminder of my own accountability, my own responsibility. You don't just want anyone to do that. You don't want someone that you wouldn't trust, let's say, you know, with your car. You don't want to give them the keys to the church. You don't want to give them the keys to watch over the souls of others. James 3, 1 gives the same kind of reminder here of teachers. Do not, many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that you will, that we will receive a stricter judgment. That is to say, if you meet these qualifications, just also recognize there is responsibility and even accountability that comes. Particularly James 3, the issue is the tongue. And the tongue can't be caged. And if you're not able to cage your tongue, No, you're gonna set relationships and churches on fire. Tongue lights up the whole forest is the picture James gives in chapter 3. And so when it comes to looking at God's blueprint for church leadership, you need the right kind of men for obvious reasons as you look for those who are going to be faithful stewarding. And then, even then, you say it should be then something that they steward for a moment in time and then pass on to the next generation. I don't think it's 65, I don't think it's 66, but the idea is if your whole elder board would be 75, that's probably not a good thing. Part of the job is to raise up younger men to pass on what you've learned, and for them to take the accountability and responsibility to the next generation. That is this blueprint that the Lord is giving for what they are to do, but even who they are, as well as this blueprint of what kind of person they should be. Who are you looking for? What standard are you holding them to, to be these elders who are leading and feeding and protecting the household of God? And so Timothy here, Paul highlights a lot of those essential qualities that we look for within an elder. And so not just one who is put before the church, yes, but anyone outside of that are going, these are things that should be marked out by leaders in the church. I don't think you'll find any of these things to be outlandish, but it's just putting the minimum on to say, you have to have these things in it so you don't, it's like smoke. I mean, if you have a individual, a man who is not characterized as a one-woman man, and you question his fidelity to his wife, then you're going, well, that's smoke that equals You're going to get burnt on the other side of this. This person doesn't have the character necessary to lead the church. And so he's just establishing these parameters in 1 Timothy chapter 3, of which we should look for and hold leaders to. And so we're going to examine those here in verses 2 through verse 7. Again, he's already established in verse 1 that this desire is a good and noble desire. He's not saying, I don't want you to be a leader. I don't want you to be a pastor. I can remember when I told the pastor once, early on, that I wanted to go to seminary, and I think he was having a hard time in ministry. There probably were some other issues in his life that came out later. But he just looked at me like, why would you want to do that? My job's awful. I don't want to be a pastor. Why would you want to be a pastor? He didn't quite say it that way, but that's what I got out of it. It's like, I thought it was good. I thought like you pastors would be like, oh, another guy who wants to pursue ministry. That'd be wonderful. He's like, no, that's terrible. I'm like, okay. I didn't listen to him. But, It was one of those areas you go, it's not a bad thing. Paul's saying it's very good that you desire this thing. It's a good thing. Not everyone has to be this. Not everyone has the time. Not everyone's going to be able to do both. Say, manage his household and the church because it's all these extra responsibilities. But if there are those who are able, who are above, will receive reproach and all these things, then they are the ones, the kind of person that you then put forward to lead and steward the church. So we're gonna look at some different areas and different characteristics, different qualities, and I'm gonna kind of group them into four different areas, four areas that we would examine in any and every elder's life. So that includes me, and that includes anyone. And the first of which is you're gonna look at his character. Verses two and three, you're gonna look at his character, that it's meant to be this solid foundation upon which if we have cracks in that foundation, It doesn't matter what else is there. If he's not these things, well we don't need to move any further down the road. I don't really need to look at any other qualifications or even look into his house because the lack of character is going to tell me that he doesn't manage his life or his family life very well. And so, when you're building a house, when you're building any structure, the foundation is essential. That's kind of what I see here is verses 2 and 3, this foundation of character in the elder's life. It says an overseer, so again another word, whether elder, overseer, pastor, then must be above reproach. And so, he again emphasizes not the external necessarily, although this is one of those broad characteristics. That could catch a lot of things, which I think is probably Paul's intent. You can't say he's very specific, but people question his character generally. He's saying they must be someone that is above reproach in their life. In what area? He doesn't tell us. He's just saying you look at him and there's nothing that stands out that says I have lots of questions about his life, his work, his family, that when I look at him or I look at this person, the math doesn't add up. That's the way I would describe it. That you're looking at somebody's life, you're hearing about their work, they're hearing about their family, and it's like two plus two just doesn't seem to equal four. That's when you have this issue of someone who is then not above reproach rather than someone who is one who is above reproach. Does it mean perfection? If it did, I'm in trouble. It doesn't mean that you're looking for someone who has the whole time that they've been a believer, been perfect in every way. But it is to say that, reputationally speaking, that you look at their life and they are simply one who is above reproach. That there is a characterization of their life that is described as integrity. They do what they say, their yes is yes, their no is no. Well, not only is there integrity just in general, but specifically he's going to say, look at their family, but look at their wife. Is this person described as the husband of one wife? Which we kind of read and go, well, that's a strange thing to ask. But it's this characterization that you go, I have no question about his relational integrity. That he's described as a person who loves his wife, that he is a one woman man, which is the literal. And there's no question that he is flirting or having inappropriate things, relationships outside of his own spouse. And so he's saying this is important. Why? Because you're gonna look here at the family multiple times, but that there isn't a question about his character when it comes to his wife. He demonstrates that kind of integrity. You don't see cracks there because again, it's like the smoke, like a crack in a foundation. It's something that might warn you that there are further issues underneath here. And so he's described as the man of, man of one woman, man. Thirdly, you're going to see here, translated temperate, the idea of being self-controlled. That the individual isn't given to massive emotional swings. They aren't given to impulsive decisions. That they don't quickly escalate every discussion and every argument and every debate to the nth degree. They're self-controlled. They're temperate. They're presented with an issue and you see them contemplate and think before they speak. They're stable. That is becoming a reliable example for the church. You just go, yeah, that's a very, that's an even person. It isn't to say that we don't have different kinds of people that become elders, but they've all worked differently through their life to learn to control the different weaknesses they have. And if they have that weakness of, now I'm willing to escalate and to turn up the temperature in every discussion and every meeting that they've learned. Okay, I have that temptation and you see that temperance, that self-control to moderate and dial back. Not everything, every discussion becomes the most important discussion in the world. They understand how to measure and how to look and how to prioritize things. This is a gospel issue. It's just an issue here. And when do you need to get serious and when do you need to overlook and all those things. They're just looked at as a temperate person, who then, of course, is sensible. That is to say, again, temperate, sensible, temperate, self-controlled. Respectable. Just general qualities. I don't think these are high standards, but again, if we don't have one, you might overlook and go, I don't know. Because, of course, you're looking at a person's life over years, and they're building a reputation. Is it somebody you respect? That's a good question when it comes to leadership. It's a good question when it comes to, am I gonna submit myself to this kind of person? Do I respect them? Have they proven themselves? But also he comes and says, are they somebody then, who of course in the culture there and our culture here, are they hospitable? Are they relational to some degree? Probably is how you would look at it in today's world. Do they like people? As they say, a shepherd, to be a good shepherd, has to smell like the sheep. And so there has to be some level of which, yes, certain people are going to be more warm and inviting than others, but do they want to do this for the right reasons? And hospitality is one of those things that gets to the heart of, do you enjoy people or do you just want the authority? Are you willing to be a servant of others? Hospitality is a great way of measuring that. Would you look at them and you say, is that a hospital kind person who receives instruction, that receives questions, that loves to give and interact and give feedback. Lastly, in verse 2, you see again the ability then to teach as well. That they're not able to teach would be the other side of it. That is, they're able to take biblical truth, teach it, and apply it to people's lives. I don't think that means that every single elder is going to be somebody who is preaching Sunday morning. I'm not even saying that, oh, you better teach a Sunday school every quarter. Or we have questions. Every... Just because you're a teacher doesn't mean you're always teaching. But probably that characteristic is you're able to teach when given. You're able to instruct. You're able to, therefore, lead with Scripture. You're able to feed with Scripture. And you're able to protect doctrine because you know the Scripture. And so it's this ability to teach, being able to clearly communicate God's truth to others. Because if you don't have that, how can you give any good spiritual leadership to the church? And you just look at these, one of those issues that comes up, and these are kind of positive before he goes to the negative, is as you look at this, it's so often leaders are picked on how they do in life, say, outside of the church. Are they, have they done well climbing the corporate ladder? Are they a business owner? Are they this? Or are they that? And you go, Well, it doesn't matter what they are, but you need to say those things don't change the fact that these things also have to be true. And you might have done really well in whatever career or field you've been in, but if you're not able to teach, you're not a good fit to be an elder. And that, I think, even has to do with beyond just an ability here, you're looking even, obviously, some level of spiritual gifting that the Lord has given to understand and apply God's word. So they have to clearly communicate sound doctrine and then, of course, defend it as well. Like I said, Titus gives a lot more on that. And then, finally, Paul kind of shifts here with the character issue to go, there are also some things I'm really worried about. And you might be tempted to go, oh, this is just the culture then, but then you go, oh, no, these are still problems 2,000 years later. And there are issues that lead to other issues, he's saying. And so, there's the things that they are to be, kind of the Colossians, these are put-on qualities, and verse 3, these are put-off qualities, that you're not to be addicted to wine or pugnacious, and probably in both cases, that characteristic of a one-woman man, same thing here, that you are a man who's not associated with alcohol in a way that is defining. And so you could say addicted, you could say drunkard, but I think it really, if you get down into the Greek, I mean, this is an issue of association that when you see a person and they are associated, and the first thing that pops to your mind is they are a lover of wine. Or maybe later as we'll see, oh, they're a lover of money. Those are both red flags. And he picks on that, I think obviously, because the dangers that it presents in every society and every culture that this is an issue of a substance that can be misused to devastating consequences. And so you look at the man and you say, is this true of your life or not? He doesn't say drinking alcohol specifically is a sin. In fact, he's gonna tell Timothy, I want you to take a little bit of wine for your stomach in that culture. His issue is that, are you dependent? Are you known? Is it impacting your judgments? And you might even go with that, or pugnacious, that idea of violence, that someone is solving their problems with their fists is basically pugnacious. You could even go, though, that if you want to move away from the physical violence, someone who is a fighter, always fighting, not just physically, but with words. You don't want someone who is the town drunk or known for that, the one who is known to be explosive in every way, words or physical or otherwise, Avoid those things. They're destructive behaviors of which you might want to go, I know, but they're great. And they're super talented people. But those are no-goes. that will cause problems, not only on a board of other elders, but it's going to cause problems in the church. They're not going to be good stewards in the church. Because they need to rather than be described by those things, they need to be considered peaceable, free from the love of money. And again, I just find it interesting, just Paul giving, these are not the highest bars on the planet, but it's just saying, listen, you look for men, Timothy, look for these kinds of men. You just want them to not be violent, explosive. Find the men who are considerate. The ones who are peaceable. The ones that just aren't here to make the most money. move on. Which of course is going to play a role when the elder's handling money. I mean, you don't want someone who is tempted in that way to that extreme where they're going to have issues as well. They're little cracks that are going to equal massive problems in the foundation. Because if their character's not right, then you do not consider them to be an elder. They need to be ones who are inspected, as we'll kind of see here in a moment as well. So look at the character of the elder's life. You need to examine it, make sure it meets these qualifications. And also, you look at his family, which is an extension. And so, if there's no character there, then, I mean, you don't need to look any further, because you can probably just guess the family's a mess. But sometimes, outwardly, you see, okay, this all looks good. Seems to have a good reputation, seems to be a pretty good husband on Sunday morning. But one of the things that'll sneak out, I've seen it in my own life, is your kids are going to either give you a good reputation or a bad reputation. They're going to speak truth sometimes when you don't want them to, and it's gonna allow people a window into your life and into your character. And so, verse 4, he goes into leading his own household well. And he has a very practical reason for this in the next verse. You have to lead your household well, having his children in submission with all dignity. That is, you don't disrespect him because you look at his kids and go, this guy's the worst. because he practically says on the idea of stewardship and ownership, but, verse 5, if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? That is to say, if you see someone, and I don't care if it's family or you could pick work or you could pick any area of his life, if he doesn't manage those areas well, he's not going to manage his role as an elder or manage the church well. It's just you have the evidence that you need. Now again, this is him picking on family for a very specific reason because so much comes out in the family. The way that a husband speaks to his wife, the way a husband speaks to his children, the way a husband interacts and disciplines and instructs. All those things you're going to say, okay, that's how he treats his wife, that's how he treats his family. You have a pretty good picture of that's how he's going to treat, that's how he's going to teach others. So if he does really well there, that is a big green light. And if he's not doing well there, it's not to say the person's never going to be an elder, but to say that's the area you need to go after in this moment of your life. You manage that well, and then... we can look at whether you want to add managing the household of God as well. So that makes sense. Manage your own house well, then you will manage the household of God as well. That is, you can see those characteristics over and over again within the house. So you have the character, you have his family, speeding up as we go through these just again. But you see, not only his family, but his spiritual maturity as well. That this has to be someone who isn't a new convert. It can't be someone who doesn't know the scriptures. It can't be someone who, although they might have gray hair, lacks spiritual maturity. Probably don't want to make a 13-year-old an elder. And you have someone who looks like an elder, but the heart issue is the issue here of are they mature spiritually? Verse 6 says, "...not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the devil." And so it's really two-pronged that you don't want to do it. Because if they're a new convert, they're going to make mistakes. But even he's saying, for the sake of that individual, you don't want them to get that kind of power either, because it's going to be bad for them, and they're going to be tempted to fall into the condemnation of the devil. There's going to be a lot of wisdom throughout the pastoral epistles on fleeing from youthful lust. So again, it doesn't mean you can't have an elder who isn't young. It's not that they can't be 25 and an elder as much as you look at their life. Because you might have a 25-year-old who is more mature than a 55-year-old, spiritually speaking. But... Even with the 25, just be careful that they don't let it go to their head. Make sure that they are not a new convert. That he becomes conceited, fall into the condemnation of the devil. That just makes sense, but I also know Paul says... It might seem like common sense, but I better put it down, because you're going to be tempted to see someone who is passionate, who loves the Lord, who is evangelizing every living thing, including trees and bushes, and you're gonna say, this guy's a rock star. He's way more interesting to listen to than Pastor Josh. And you're gonna be like, all right, let's push him in church leadership. Paul's just going, all right, hold on, guys. Just remember, he's been saved for five minutes. Let's just wait on this. Let's see. Let's let him bear fruit. Let's be wise. Doesn't mean you don't want to recognize someone who is spiritually gifted, who is young, who is passionate. All those are good qualities, but you don't necessarily take the 25-year-old and say, all right, let's make you CEO. And it's nothing against the 25-year-old. It's just to say you're not ready. You need to gain the experience necessary to play this larger role. And so that is this characteristic of you have to look, you have to examine their life. Are they described as one who is spiritually matured, not a new convert? And then, fourthly, you're going to see here, not only do we have foundational issues like character, not only do you have the issue of the family, the way his life is managed and ordered and structured, Not only do you want him to not simply be a new convert, but you could say, I may be taking the house illustration, that the exterior of the house here is meant to look right. And so he's done all the internal work. I'm gonna look at this person. I'm not looking at his... the externals. I'm not saying... Is his garage clean? Does he have a big house? Does he have a small house? Does he have a nice car? I'm not asking those questions. I'm asking character questions. But again, if you said green light to the character. If you said, green light, he's a wonderful husband and a great father. I would entrust him with my own children. If you said, I would sit under his teaching. He's been faithful for years, maybe decades. He's spiritually mature. Then lastly, okay, green, green, green. And then this issue then becomes of, but he also should be known. A good reputation with those even outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Again, given not just for the church's protection, but for the man's protection as well. A good reputation with those, not just inside, but those outside as well, that he would not fall prey to, you could say, the whims of the devil. It's going to protect against potential scandals or even stepping into known scandals that you go, I don't think it's that big of a deal, but the community does. I think throughout church history, throughout even, you can think of in my own lifetime, they, you see, the church often tries to say it's not that big of a deal and I go, when you look at the above reproach, when you look at good reputation. So above reproach in the church, good reputation outside of the church. Oftentimes, if people just had a little higher standard of that, they would save the church a lot of embarrassment. Because although the guy might be doing well, post a scandal, the world's still watching. And you don't want to put that person, elevate them to leadership and have the world mock the church. and to go, why would you ever have that man be an elder? And it might even be, as I said, the man is super repentant, the man is an amazing discipler, but something happened that ruined his reputation that because of different things is not able to get past. So again, it's a little bit of that gray area, but I think Paul wants it to be something that is fairly all-encompassing, an umbrella over this to say, listen, this has to be somebody we trust. Now, I understand the culture, as it shifts, may have different standards than us and they may go, well, that person is an awful person because he keeps sharing the gospel. Well, Okay, we understand rather be obedient to God than man. So we're not talking about those things. We're just talking about the general qualities that people see day in and day out. And that they'd see someone that they could mimic. They see someone they could trust. Like I said, you ask simple questions. And they're saying, Paul's saying, you ask the same questions the world would ask. Would you let your child ride with this person? Would you let this person influence the people you love? And if that's not true, you wouldn't want those things, you know, that person doesn't meet those character qualities, then do not make them someone who is in charge, who is then leading and feeding and protecting the church. You need someone who is going to be faithful and has already demonstrated these things, is doing these things, and then you want to elevate them for what they are already doing, how they are already living. Again, it's trustworthy saying if a mini-man aspires to do the office of overseer, he desires a good work, it's a good thing. But it's not for everyone. And you need to meet these qualifications and you even First one, need to desire that kind of accountability, that kind of responsibility in the first place. Because I know men who meet all these qualifications, but they don't desire it, and that's an okay thing. You don't want to be doing a thing that you do not want to do, because you're gonna be accountable for it. So desire it, and then look at these different areas, whether it's character, family, maturity, or reputation. But chiefly, it is to be marked out by someone who desires it, someone who is qualified, able to teach, desiring to be a defender of good doctrine, a defender of the household of God. to be a pillar and support, and if you look at verse 16 here, just cheat all the way down, it's going to be defend what? The common confession of the great mystery of godliness, which is described as, I would say, potentially a poem, but the gospel itself of Christ who has manifested in the flesh, vindicated the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed in the world, taken up to glory, that they would be defenders of the basic tenets of the Christian faith, that we are sinners who need a savior, and that they are able to communicate that to someone who says, how might I be saved that they can, as Paul or Peter says, I can give a hope, a defense of the hope that is in me. They're not meant to be merely administrators, figures, not just like every other board, but these men should be visible, living examples of how to follow Christ faithfully, which is why the character issues become so important. They set the tone for the rest of the church, and it's a bit of a daunting thing, even for me, to think about. But the truth is the church is not going to rise above the maturity of its pastors, of its elders. And so it's a call to all of us, myself here, even to my own heart to go, where am I at? Because no one's going to go beyond. But that's the nature of leadership, right? If you are being led well, you want to rise up. But if you're not being led well, you're not going to follow someone that is living a life of hypocrisy. And so again, looking at God's blueprint for the church, looking for this issue of the leaders, the shepherds, the stewards. I don't care what you call them. Here, overseer. Calls them elders elsewhere. Most people are going to be calling me culturally Pastor Josh. Either way, they're to meet these qualities because not they're the highest bar or they're special, but to say we want to make sure that the God's house, God's church is managed well, and we have a responsibility then to manage it well, and then second thing would be to entrust it to others, which is why we want to keep bringing on those who are faithful. To these things and to the church and keep growing not just the church but leaders Within it that you might pass it on to the next generation And as I've said before is a crazy thing to think but the next generation of elders Yes might be sitting here but it's also back there in the nursery as well. And we have to be faithful in every area. And each one of us is gonna play a part in passing that on in a different way. It's just when you have the stewards, the elders are chiefly giving the stewardship and the guidance and the authority within the church. And so we wanna be praying for that. as church members. We want to be praying for that as leaders, because we know the church is never going to go above those leaders. So be a prayer for me, for us as well, and hold people to this. And even if you have no desire for the office, it's good to ask the questions of your own life. Would people describe me as this person, or would people go, I would never want you to be a leader, and then I think we respond accordingly as the Lord works in our own hearts. Let's pray. Father, it is a high calling, it is a good aspiration, and yet we understand for various reasons there are different roles in the church. Not everyone is to be a teacher, not everyone is to be an overseer, not everyone is to serve in the same capacity. But we know we are called to serve. We know that there are different stages of life where we have different capacities. May this be a reminder to us not only of the type of leaders that you require, but that these are simple measurements of our own sanctification. Lord, that we would be ones marked out by the character qualities of Christ. Lord, that we would continue to know You through Your Word, and we continue to grow as individuals and grow as a church. We just ask this in Your Son's name. Amen.