Sermon Tone Analysis

I Timothy 3:1-13

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Introduction

            What a blessing today is.

It is a recognition that God has been at work.

When Paul became a Christian in the Damascus road experience, his call was not only to have his sins forgiven and to go to heaven, but also to become a servant of God.

In a similar way, when we are called to follow Christ, that following involves more than just our sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life.

It also means that we are servants of Christ.

Today you are beginning a new phase in following Christ as His servants.

You have already demonstrated by your life that you are, not only Christians, but disciples and servants of Christ.

The congregation has recognized the call of God in your life and has recognized your Spirit given gifts and has asked you to take up a significant leadership role within the church.

All of that - God’s call to salvation, God working in and through you in the service you have been involved in, God’s call through the congregation to become deacons, your sense of that call and willingness to serve - all are indications of God at work and that is why we rejoice at this occasion.

Although every person is significant and every person’s ministry is important in the church, there are some roles within the church that carry more responsibility than others.

Because the deacon ministry is such a significant responsibility we have a special commissioning service to ask God’s blessing in the task of leadership.

As we reflect on the importance of the ministry you are taking up, it is a good time to ask, what does it all mean?

Is it something blessed of God?

Is it something that God values?

What will it mean to fulfill the role well?

To answer some of these questions, we will look at one of the discussions about leadership which is found in the Bible.

In I Timothy 3:1-13, Paul instructs Timothy regarding these issues as they pertain to the church which Timothy was leading.

The instructions are valuable in helping us reflect on the important ministry you are taking up.

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I. It’s A Good Thing

            The first thing the text shows us is that this ministry is a good thing.

!! A. A Noble Task

            We have already encountered the phrase “Here is a trustworthy saying” which Paul uses several times in these books to indicate something that is significant.

Although it is directed at overseers, the first category of leaders spoken of in this section, I think that it pertains to all positions of leadership.

If you desire to be a leader, that is a good thing.

This may have been written because people were reluctant to take up the office of overseer and so Paul encourages them that it is a good thing.

Of course, not every person who takes up a leadership position does so for a good reason.

There are some people who are looking for the prestige of a position or the power that may come with a position.

They are looking at it as a position in which they can meet their own needs.

However, it can be equally selfish to refuse leadership because it looks like too much work.

I am sure that is not the case for you.

We believe that your heart is to be a servant and to serve gladly.

As you begin to take up leadership in the role of deacons, you may have various trepidations.

You may ask yourself, “Am I really qualified?”

“Am I able to do the task?” “Will I be able to give myself to it adequately?”

These are good questions, but as you ask them, rest in the truth Paul gives here that it is a good thing, a noble task.

We are rejoicing at your willingness and hope it will be a ministry of blessing for you.

!! B. Excellent Standing

            As a further word of encouragement, Paul concludes the passage, speaking now specifically to deacons, but, I think, also to all leaders, to encourage them of the blessings that will come with leadership.

This word of blessing is found in verse 13.

Here, the Word first of all is “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing.”

There has been some debate about the meaning of “good standing.”

Some suggest that if you do well as a deacon, you have a good chance of being promoted to another level of leadership.

I do not think that the meaning is anything so crass.

I think that a better interpretation is that those who serve well in leadership, first of all grow in their wisdom and ability and as a result are able to have a positive influence in the lives of people.

The blessing of leadership is that if we do it well, we can make a difference and help many.

It is a blessing to be able to help others and faithful ministry will bring such a blessing, which will be a blessing on those we serve and also on us.

I suppose that in another way of speaking the text is saying that faithful ministry will bring blessing and therefore it is a good thing.

!! C. Assurance In Faith

            The other reward mentioned here is that “those who serve well gain…great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”

During the winter, I have helped a few people teach a class I was usually teaching.

I provided them with material and gave them the opportunity to do the teaching.

Several of them came back to me afterwards and indicated that they had learned more as teacher than they usually did as a student.

That is the way it is in the ministry.

When we give of ourselves, when we prepare a lesson, when we open our eyes to the needs of others because we are responsible, when we give leadership to a project, in the process, we are the ones who gain the most.

As you will be involved in the ministry of being deacons, you will grow in your faith and in your walk in Christ.

You will see more of how God is at work in the lives of people.

You will discover God’s help because you need it to minister in a situation which is beyond you and as you have these experiences with God, your own faith and confidence in Christ will be strengthened.

Once again, there is encouragement that the task of leadership is a good thing.

This is the first thing I would like to say to you who are being commissioned and to all of us - being a leader in God’s kingdom is a good thing.

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II.

The Job Description

            I have been suggesting that these things pertain to both overseers and deacons.

Who was this written to?

Does it matter?

What are the Biblical leadership positions?

My understanding of the little bit of reading that I have done on church leadership in the Bible is that at this early time in the church, leadership was emerging.

Some of it was modeled on existing leadership patterns which had been in the Jewish synagogue and some of it was developed for the sake of meeting a need.

In Acts 6, for example, a group of leaders were put into place for the purpose of meeting the need of Greek widows.

In Acts 14:23, we read about how Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church they had established.

The terms elders, overseer, shepherd and deacon are commonly used to describe the different leadership roles.

From these passages and others, we learn that an overseer was a person who was giving leadership in the church, leadership which included teaching the Word of God(verse 2).

The deacon role seems to be one of helping and serving.

The main idea comes from the meaning of the Greek word “deacon” which is servant.

In fact, in some places, the word deacon is translated as servant.

Another thing to note from this passage about the different roles is verse 11.

NIV and several other translations use the word “their wives,” but you will notice that in the margin of those Bibles it says “deaconesses.”

The word “their” does not appear in the Greek and the translation “their wives” comes from reasoning not from the actual words.

I believe that the New American Standard translation, which is “women” and would probably refer to women deacons is more accurate.

We know that there were such positions because in Romans 16:1, Phoebe is identified as a deaconess.

What can we learn from this?

I believe that we should not be too concerned to follow all the details about the leadership roles described in the Bible because they were changing, growing and developing as needed.

The very early leaders took position because of their giftedness.

Later leaders were appointed by the apostles and the congregations.

Later in church history, leadership developed into organized structures such as we have today and that is just fine.

What is true of all leadership, however, is that it involves the call of God.

As we have prayed together and discerned as a congregation, you have come here today because of God’s call.

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III.

The Standards

            So it is a good thing to be called of God and to follow that call and become a leader.

The question remains, “how can we be faithful and effective leaders?”

As leaders we have a position of influence both within the church and viewed by those outside the church.

Although all Christians are to be holy and some of the qualifications in this passage are also written to all Christians in other parts of the book.

For example, 1:5 speaks of love, a pure heart and a good conscience and 2:2 speaks of godliness and holiness.

Nevertheless, there is a different level of responsibility as a leader.

When we look at this list of standards, we should not look at them as what is required of someone before they can become a leader.

For you as leaders, it is a way of thinking about how to carry out the responsibility as a leader with faithfulness.

I would encourage the leaders in our church to take this list seriously as they think about who they are, how they live and act.

People are watching your example.