Sermon Tone Analysis

Today’s text that Frank just read deal with the qualifications for deacons.

We’re holding our annual deacon elections today, just after the service.

This sermon, then, is four three different groups of people.

My prayer today is that this sermon will be immediately helpful to you.

Three different groups of people addressed by this sermon today:

[Slide: 2022 deacon elections]

2022 Deacon Elections

Are you currently a deacon?

This is your standard!

Do you want to become a deacon?

This is what you should aspire to!

Are you unsure whom to nominate?

This is your guide!

First, are you currently a deacon?

This is your standard of conduct.

This is who God expects you to be and it’s who our church must also expect you to be.

Pastors have qualifications too, and that is our standard of conduct.

It is what God expects us to be and what our church ought to expect us to be.

This is your standard.

You won’t be perfect.

But you will strive after this, confessing and seeking forgiveness from God when you fail.

Second, do you want to become a deacon?

This is what you should aspire to.

Men, young men particularly, one day the burden of leadership as deacons will fall to you.

The men who now serve as deacons will be with the Lord and you will be left.

My encouragement to you: start thinking of yourselves as spiritual leaders now, so that you’re prepared when it’s time.

Third, are you unsure whom to nominate?

This is your guide.

Deacon elections are not a popularity contest.

Don’t think only of the men you like; it’s not personal feelings.

Don’t think of secular qualifications.

Those are important, but they pale in comparison to the biblical qualifications.

This text and hopefully this sermon is your guide.

[Slide: today’s takeaway]

Today’s take-away:

God has given us the privilege of choosing our leaders!

It’s our task to choose them well.

#1: A deacon’s public life

A deacon’s public life.

There are just two offices that the NT assigns to the church.

Those offices are the office or pastor (also called elder or overseer) and deacon.

The word “pastor” literally means shepherd.

The word “deacon” literally means “servant.”

So the first thing we learn about deacons is that they must be men willing to serve the needs of the church and its members.

What else can we learn about what a deacon is called to be?

Well, in verse 8, Paul gives us four attributes: one is positive and the other three are negative.

Meaning, if you look at your own translations, it says “deacons must be dignified” - that’s the positive, and the others are negative, as you can see as verse eight goes on: “not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.”

[SLIDE: the deacon’s public life]

The deacon’s public life:

“Dignified”: serious-minded with serious things

“Double-tongued”: talking out of both sides of your mouth (Gehazi, 2 Kings 5:19-27)

“Not given to much wine”: judicious use of alcohol, if used at all; no drunkenness

“Not greedy for shameful gain”: seeking financial gain by underhanded means (think prosperity gospel preachers)

“holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience”: correct theological belief w/ serious attempt to live the Christian life

What does “dignified” mean?

But the basic meaning is that a deacon must be a man who is worthy of the church’s respect.

You see, respect is not something you’re entitled to once you have a position of leadership.

Margaret Thatcher famously said that if you have to tell someone you’re a leader, you probably aren’t a leader.

There was a famous advertising firm back in the 1990s that underwent a shake-up.

The investors forced the board to fire their CEO, Maurice Saatchi.

They fired him, and most of the rest of the senior executives quit.

The company’s stock fell from more than $8 per share to $4 per share.

Saatchi lost his position of power, but he doesn’t lose his influence over the company.

Why is that?

Because he had their respect.

Why did he have their respect?

Because of his moral character.

How do you gain that respect?

It’s not by having certain skills.

It’s not have by having charisma or being a dynamic personality or having an advanced degree.

You gain respect not because of the position you hold or the qualifications you possess, but by the kind of person you are.

And the kind of person Paul describes here who is worthy of respect is a man who is not defined by certain negative characteristics.

Look with me at the rest of verse 8: “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.”

You might call these “the three nots”.

He’s not double-tongued (he doesn’t talk out of both sides of his mouth at once; he doesn’t say one thing to someone and another to someone else).

He’s also “not addicted to much wine.”

He uses alcohol responsibly, if he uses alcohol at all.

Drunkenness is always wrong, whether you’re a deacon or not.

Drinking to excess if always wrong, whether you’re a deacon or not.

The responsible use of alcohol is not wrong, although I think wisdom and experience teaches us that it is best to avoid alcohol altogether if you are in church leadership.

Then again, he’s not greedy for dishonest gain.

Deacons need to be aware of the prosperity gospel, the so-called prosperity gospel, that says God will give you material wealth and cars and houses and investment accounts in exchange for your faith.

Deacons should be aware that arrogant church leaders build their wealth on the backs of ignorant and immature Christians who lack the biblical discernment to see they’re being taken for a ride.

The deacon is dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for shameful gain.

Today’s take-away: God has given us the privilege of choosing our leaders!

Choose well!

Who do you know who’s public life is exemplary?

That man is qualified to be a deacon.

#2: A deacon’s home life

That’s a deacon’s public life.

What about his home life?

Look at verse 11-12: “Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, managing their children and their own households well.”

The first political scandal I was really old enough to remember was the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal in the 1990s.

Even though I was still in high school, I remember the arguments both sides of that debate made.

Republicans said “we can’t have a man with this lack of moral character in the White House.”

Democrats said “this is his personal life, and what this man does in his personal life is his own business, it doesn’t affect his ability to lead our country as President.”

And of course, since then, there’ve been so many scandals in Washington involving government leaders that we don’t blink anymore when we hear about them.

I think we’ve reached a point of despair when it comes to leadership.

There are no good leaders anymore.

So having elections just becomes an exercise in choosing the lesser of two evils.