Qualifications to Lead (1 Timothy 3:1-13)

When it comes to dangerous jobs, few occupations rival the inherent risks faced by firefighters, police officers, and soldiers. Nevertheless, these are jobs that we desperately need as a society, And thankfully there are brave men and women who are willing to face these challenge head on. But, they only face them, once they have been fully trained & equipped to handle the difficulties that lie before them.

For instance, consider the firefighter, who willfully rush into burning buildings that are engulfed in flames, In order to save people’s lives and property. These brave men and women’s courage knows no bounds as they navigate through smoke and heat, risking their own safety in order to protect others. And yet, before they do so, They ensure they are fully trained an qualified for the immense difficulties they know they will face.

Then there's the police officer, who regularly puts their life on the line in order to protect and serve As they face unknown threats with unwavering resolve. And as they do, they do so knowing that each and every day brings with it new and difficult challenges, from confronting armed criminals, to high-speed pursuits, to diffusing dangerous situations, they stand firm in their duty to protect and serve. And yet, before they do so, They ensure they are fully trained an qualified for the immense difficulties they will surely face.

Then there is the soldier, Who bravely signs up to defend their country against enemies both foreign and domestic. as they endure the grueling conditions of war, knowing that doing so may require the sacrifice of their very lives. And yet, Like the firefighter and the police officer, They also are first fully trained an qualified for the immense difficulties they will face.

When it comes to dangerous jobs, There is is no doubt that these brave men and women hold some of the most dangerous jobs there are, And yet, as dangerous as they are, We find in our passage this morning a job that overshadows them in comparison when it comes to danger For this job isn’t to serve and protect people’s physical lives, It’s to to serve and protect something of infinite more value and worth, Which is the human soul.

What am I talking about? I am talking about the church’s leaders, who are called to selflessly serve and protect the people of Christ’s church. And yet, Like the firefighter, the police officer, and the soldier, They too must ensure that they are fully trained an equipped for the immense difficulties they will face. Because make no mistake, They will face immense difficulties, that will overcome them if they are not prepared and equipped to face them.

And so in our passage this morning, we find the qualifications they must have, if they are going to face these immense challenges, And the first challenge they face is recognizing the nature of their position. Which is not one of power and privilege, But one of sacrifice and service. Which begins with sacrifice and service to Jesus Christ, Who is the head of the church.

Ephesians 5:23b (ESV) 23 Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

The head of the church isn’t the pastor… The head of the church it isn’t the deacons… And, the head of the church isn’t you - no matter how much you tithe or how long you’ve attended… For this is Christ’s church - He it’s head, and we are HIS body.

And just as a physical body must follow the direction of the head, so too must this spiritual body, the church, follow our spiritual head, which is Christ. And this is an absolute essential requirement for the leader’s in Christ’s Church.

And so this morning, before we move to fill the office of deacon in our church We are going to take a few moments to remind ourselves of what Christ, our head, has told us about how leadership works within His body.

To overcome the challenges we face, our church must be:

1. Shepherd led
2. Deacon served
3. Congregationally equal

1. Shepherd led

The position of pastor and deacon are not just something we Baptists made up. These positions - or church offices - exist because Christ made them exist, and He appoints people to function in them within the local church. And so because Christ is the one who made these offices, those appointed to them must not USE their position of authority to serve their agenda, but only His.

In the Bible, the office of the pastor is described with numerous different terms that emphasize the different aspects of the office: Elder or Overseer, Bishop, Presbyter, Shepherd. It’s all the same office.

So, what is the pastor’s job within the church? The superman of church ministry who does it all? Yeah right.

Ephesians 4 makes this crystal clear, Christ gave the church pastors to EQUIP THEM for the work of the ministry. And how do I equip you for ministry? Through the preaching & teaching of God’s Word. This is why when you bring me a ministry idea that sounds like it is a good fit with our church, you’ll likely hear me say, “That’s a great idea, go for it!” instead of, “Great idea, I’ll get right on it.” Yes, I’ll help guide you. Yes I’ll help oversee the ministry. But my job is to EQUIP YOU to do it, not do it for you.

Which makes sense: Because as parenting experts will tell you, You shouldn’t regularly do for you kids what they can do for themselves, . Not because you should be a lazy self-serving parent, but because you’re robbing your children of the joys of becoming self sufficient. And as a pastor, if I ignore Christ’s commands and do everything myself - which I can’t even do by the way. I’m robbing you of the joy of becoming self sufficient Christian who is equipped to use the gifts God has given you.

And so my job is, as Ephesians 4 says, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, through the ministry of the Word.

In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul writes:

² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV

As a pastor, my job isn’t to preach my opinion, my ideas, or my own personal advice…. And trust me… I’ve got a lot of personal opinions on lots of things. But my job is to PREACH THE WORD OF CHRIST to you, not my word - His!

In Romans times, if an ambassador of Caesar went off script, and started telling the people things that Caesar didn’t say, Do you know what Caesar would do if he found out about it? Can you say: “Off with his head!” Because to do so was treason against Caesar!

This is why James 3:1 says:

¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

James 3:1 ESV

And so as a pastor, I must strictly adhere to what 1 Timothy 4:16 says:

¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1 Timothy 4:16 ESV

The Bible often refers to pastors as Shepherds, But that’s with the understanding that we are under-shepherds of our great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. But as under-shepherds the great shepherd, A part of our task is to guard Christ’s sheep from the wolves who come in sheep’s clothing And why do they come in sheep’s clothing? it’s because they are hungry and they want to spiritually devour the sheep through their false doctrine, false teaching, and divisive and backbiting behavior! And so in response to this, God has given His church under-shepherds who are to be wardens of the Word.

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.

Acts 20:28 ESV

With this in mind, I ask you: If you or a close family member needed life-saving surgery, would you simply pick the closest surgeon to you? the cheapest one? Or how about the one that all your friends go to because they seems nice enough?

Of course you wouldn’t! And yet, how many times do people pick a church and a pastor for reasons just like that?

The truth is, as serious as your physical health certainly is, it absolutely pales in comparison to your spiritual health. And so when it comes to picking your under-shepherd, we must make absolutely sure he is well-qualified for the task.

And one of those qualifications is that they MUST model Christ-like servant leadership to their flock, Not only so they can properly care for them, But so they can be a model for them to follow.

⁷ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Hebrews 13:7 ESV

Now, when it comes to these essential qualifications, our passage, along with Titus 1, give us 17 of them. and we’re just goin to briefly walk through them 1 at at time, because not only is that all we have time for, But you really can’t do a 17 point outline. Well, you can. But you really shouldn’t.

A pastor must be an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:3).

Any man who looks at this list of qualifications and is not staggered by it is completely clueless! And though a pastor cannot be perfect, He must meet these qualifications, and continue to meet them throughout his ministry, lest he be disqualified.

And yet, how many times do we hear about pastor’s who end up committing adultery? and sadly, they are either kept in their position entirely, or restored to it 15-minutes later? Absolutely ridiculous, and tragically sad.

No church, a Pastor must meet these qualifications, or else they will not be able to properly serve and protect the flock of God. Which is exactly why Paul asked the church in Thessalonica to pray for him and his fellow workers (1 Thessalonians 5:25) and you really do need to do that on a regular basis! You need to be praying for your pastor that God would sustain him and that he would not fall into the Devil’s traps. Because the reality is, it is the tallest Oak in the forest that brings down the trees around it when it falls.

To overcome the challenges we face, our church must be:

2. Deacon served

Right after Paul lists the qualifications for the pastor, he lists the qualifications for a deacon, saying:

⁸ Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. ¹⁰ And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ¹¹ Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. ¹³ For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:8-13 ESV

You probably noticed this, but the qualifications for deacon are VERY similar to the qualifications of a pastor, With the exception that deacons are not required TO BE ABLE to teach and preach if they can, GREAT! But it’s not a requirement like it is for a pastor. Now, we aren’t going to go back through all of these again, but I do have a few comments before we move on.

Like the office of the pastor, the office of the deacon is one of SERVANT leadership that meets the qualifications Christ has given! This means church, we don’t appoint someone to the office of deacon because they are a nice guy and everyone likes them. We don’t make someone deacon, because he’s good with money or manages his business wisely. We don’t make someone a deacon, because he’s gone to the church for a really long time, he tithes a lot, and if we don’t, he might get upset and leave! And, we don’t appoint them to the position in the HOPE that they will rise to the position! - absolutely not! Instead, we appoint a man to the office of deacon IF and ONLY IF he meets the qualifications that our head, Jesus Christ, has given. We “test them first” - by looking closely at their lives to see if they are already serving faithfully in the church. AND - as the qualifications list here - we also make sure their wives meet the spiritual qualifications they must have!

Now, what is the function of a deacon? To rule as the deacon board over the church? No To tell the pastor what to do and make sure he doesn’t get out of line? As deacons = no, but as members within the church, yes!

Church, the function of a deacon is to be a diakonos, which literally means, a SERVANT - or a waiter of tables.

And in Acts 6, it explains for us why deacons were needed and what their basic function was:

¹ Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. ² And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. ³ Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Acts 6:1-4 ESV

The function of a deacons is to serve the church so the pastor or elders (same thing), can focus on the spiritual work of shepherding the church through prayer and the ministering of God’s Word.

Practically speaking, in our church, this is why our deacons serve by making sure the building is taken care of, the bills get paid, the lights get replaced, food gets brought to who it needs to - you get the idea. And they do this on behalf of the congregation who can delegate certain tasks to to them. Which is good, because I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have long church meetings every other week!

While some churches sadly have turned their deacons into a governing deacon BOARD that runs the church and the pastor - biblically, there is ZERO warrant for this. The deacon’s role is not defined by us church, but by Christ, and their role is one of being servants to the church.

Now, I will say, that even though the deacons do not hold the power of the church, they do tend to have the pulse of the church. and so any pastor with even an ounce of intelligence will recognize that “with a multitude of counselors there is wisdom.” - just as proverbs says, So, while the deacons do not hold the power of the church, they do often have the pulse of the church And so a wise pastor will seek their counsel and advice before making major decisions. Likewise, when the deacons unanimously recommend something to the church, a wise church body will seek their counsel before making major decisions.

Think about it: I don’t think deacons are given similar qualifications to that of the pastor JUST so they can change a light bulb or mop a floor without having a bad attitude… It’s because much of their ministry requires them to serve in a representative way of the church, and if you have a scoundrel on your deacon team, he’s going to pocket the money and make your church look bad in the community. And not only that, both pastors and deacons must meet these qualifications, because leadership in Christ church is not based upon STATUS, but position! And it’s a position of SERVANT LEADERSHIP who treats everyone within the body of CHRIST as EQUALS!

To overcome the challenges we face, our church must be:

3. Congregationally equal

Let me ask you, when you look around this room, do you see any priests here this morning? As a matter of fact, you most certainly do!

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

As your pastor, Yes, I have an enormously important position within the life of this church, BUT I do not stand over you as your priest! I stand in your midst, as a fellow priest among many! As a sheep among the sheep!

And so, as priests, we are not above or below one another, Instead, we stand together as equals in Jesus Christ. This is why as a church the final authority AFTER CHRIST and HIS WORD is the body - the congregation. It’s why we have membership as a church. It’s why our decisions are made by our the collective us, instead of me and a bunch of “yes men” handing down our marching orders.

And so after Christ and His Word, the church’s leaders answer to the collective body. As so practically here, if I or one of the deacons, fail to meet the qualifications given in the Scripture, Or fail to lead us to follow the Word of Christ, Then it the responsibility of YOU PRIESTS to remove us from office, so we do not cause further harm to you or ourselves.

But wait a minute… how does this fit with Hebrews 13:17?

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV

Within the church, even though there is a priestly equality, God has ordained leaders within the church to oversee and lead the church. And so the way this works is like this: The congregation uses its authority to install a pastor to leadership, and THEN voluntarily submits to his authority, unless he is clearly violating Scripture. Which is very similar to how marriage works with a husband a wife.

But wait a minute… “Authority… submission…” can’t this be abused? Yes… it absolutely can! Which is precisely why it is so incredibly important for a pastor to meet the biblical qualifications!

The Bible calls the congregation to follow and respect their biblically qualified leaders that God has given them. Not to second guess everything they do, But instead to joyfully submit to their teaching and leadership. And to do that, means we must be teachable for our teachers to teach us! Which means not being an argumentative know-it-all who is constantly ready to die on every theological hill!

But to do this properly in a healthy manner, we all need to have an attitude of humility AS WELL AS the recognition that Christ has equipped all of us to serve DIFFERENTLY within His body. So if you’re a hand - be a hand. If you’re a foot - be a foot. And let us serve and protect one another with humility and grace, as we endeavor to be a healthy church body.

¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV

Have you ever seen someone who’s body didn’t grow properly because of malnourishment? It’s a tragic thing. An avoidable thing!

And yet, when we fail to follow the Word of Christ, which is our spiritual food, this is precisely what happens to our church body. and not only does it harm us, But it makes the watching world say: “Christ isn’t beautiful.”

As a church, we are Christ’s body here on earth. And so when the world looks at us, what they see is what they will think of Jesus… If we are spiritual deformed, it makes Jesus look deformed! But as we know, Jesus is anything BUT DEFORMED! He is the radiance of the glory of God - the exact imprint of His nature, who upholds the universe by the word of His power. He is light, and in Him there is NO DARKNESS AT ALL! As the prophet Isaiah said, He is: A wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! His way is perfect! His Word is flawless! And he SHIELDS ALL who take refuge in Him! And so this is why this matters! This is why we follow and obey Him!

For as 1 Timothy 4:10 says:

¹⁰ That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

1 Timothy 4:10 NIV

The reason we love and sacrificially serve others is because that’s precisely what He did for us!

Romans 5:8

⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 ESV

We started our time together today by talking about those who bravely put their life on the line in order to serve and protect others, And yet, in Christ, we find the ultimate example of sacrificial love. For He is the One Who didn’t just risk His life for us, No - He laid it down for us as He was nailed to a cross. Why? So that we spiritually-deformed sinners might become whole again, as we grow up together into Christ, our head. Not as a deformed and disunited body, But as a strong and healthy body that shows this lost and dying world that JESUS IS BEAUTIFUL!

But if we are going to do that, we have to fully embrace the gospel of Christ, and view each other the way God views us! Not as sinners who are meant to serve us, But as fellow saints, who are equals at the foot of the cross. Yes, different in roles and functions, But equals in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

But… until we come to see the beauty of Christ, we will not come to see the beauty of Christ in each another.

And so this morning, I close with a simple question: Do you see the beauty of Christ? Are you living for Him as your Lord and Savior? Can you truly say as the Psalmist said?

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4 NIV

By God’s grace and power, may we be a church body that is so OVERWHELMED by the beauty, majesty, grace and glory of our Lord, that we sacrificially serve one another as the redeemed family of God!

Let us pray

This is the manuscript the sermon was preached from, so the recording may differ in places.