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March 13, 2011 |
| Order in the Church | ||
This lesson continues on from the previous one, discussing issues of order in the church. The previous lessons dealt with some problems in the practices of the church. Now Paul turns to the leadership of the church.
In this chapter Paul discusses two roles within the church, overseers (or "elders" in other translations) and deacons. We only know that "deacon" means servant. Neither here nor in any other Bible book is the function of these two roles spelled out. Paul would have explained that in person wherever he built a church. That is probably why he does not discuss it in his writing here.
It appears the overseers would have been the ones to set the direction for the church and to make sure it stayed true to its teachings. Likewise it appears that the deacons would have been the ones to help the people get things done. "Teaching and ruling are not specifically mentioned in connection with deacons; they were apparently subordinate to the overseers and generally charged with seeing to the fellowship's practical needs."1
Instead of looking at their function, Paul’s focus is on the required characteristics of the people in these roles.
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
Paul introduces this section by saying what the motivation should be for a person wanting to be an overseer. As he often does he says what the motivation should by, not what some wrong motivations might be. The motivation should be to perform a noble task, which other translations render as "a good work", "a fine work", or "a right work". It’s clear that a person in these roles will be working, not laying around doing nothing.
A person would be making a mistake to desire these roles for ego based reasons like wanting to be the center of attention, wanting special treatment or a title, or wanting the authority to control. Nor should it be for monetary reasons. Though these things often come with it, they should not be the goal of a person wanting that role, or a person already in that role. The goal should be to achieve something good.
"Leadership in the church is a difficult, often thankless, duty. This is all the more so when facing a challenge like the false teaching in the Ephesian church. So Paul affirms that leading the church is a noble task. Leaders are not a spiritual elite, but they fulfill a duty that all should honor."2
2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
The qualities of an overseer, as described above, are broken down into bullet points below. Quotes from other translations and dictionary definitions have been added to make certain the meaning is clear.
Now Paul moves on to deacons, describing the qualifications they should have.
8 In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
11 In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
In the bullet points below these qualifications for deacons are broken down as we did for overseers
There are two different interpretations of verse 11. I’ve chosen to organize the bullets to portray the women referred to as the wives of the deacons. To me this interpretation results in the smoothest flow of the text and the strongest parallel with the qualifications for overseers above. The other interpretation is that verse 11 refers to women serving as deacons. But this results in an awkward break in the text in gender, from "he" to "she" and back to "he". It would also leave women deacons with a reduced set of qualifications. We see in many places that the writing team of Paul and the Holy Spirit were very skilled. Awkward structure is not a characteristic of their work.
Verse 12 says "Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus" It isn’t clear if this is intended to apply to deacons only or to both deacons and overseers. It completes an ABBA structure in the text that the writing team uses elsewhere. As such it echoes the "desires a good work" text seen for overseers and shows what should be the desire of those who want to be deacons, and of course it would apply to overseers.
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Here Paul is presenting the theme of his message from this chapter and the previous one before moving on to the next theme. Time is a concern. The message is important enough that he does not want it to be delayed. The theme is "how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household."
In the previous chapter Paul focused on something the men of the church were doing wrong and something the women of the church were doing wrong. In this chapter it’s less clear what problem is being addressed, but it seems there was a problem with people who had been or then were in positions of responsibility. In the next chapter Paul speaks of various false teachings. Perhaps the problem was that the church leadership was bringing those teachings into the church.
1. What differences do you see in the qualifications for overseers and deacons that give hints about the functions they were to perform?
1 http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/1Tim/Leadership-Qualifications
2 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Spring 2011, Unit 1, March 13, Section I, A
3 http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/1Tim/Leadership-Qualifications