Proximity Leadership | Building a Gospel-Shaped Church | Week 5

If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, take those out. I'll meet you in First

Timothy chapter 3. Today, Paul zeros in. He's in his letter

writing to Timothy and uh as he has been doing for much of the last chapter and

into this chapter talking about church leadership. Now, it there there might be some of you

in the room that when you come across these passages, you go, "Oh, well, I'm not an elder." So you zoom right through

it and get to the next passage and you over really overlook these verses about

church leadership. And I just want to remind everyone that these are of vital importance to

everyone because it impacts everyone. Uh

attitude reflects leadership. Captain, anybody know the movie?

Remember the Titans? So, so as we look at leadership in the

church, I I don't from now on I don't want any of us to to just run past this

these passages that address leadership in the church because it impacts us all. And uh it's it's important that we spend

time looking at that. So today we're going to to look at these positions that Paul identifies in church leadership.

Now, denominations have have taken these uh qualifications that we're going to

look at and they have put them into practice in different ways. Uh even

inside a denomination, different churches apply these qualifications

differently. And uh I will address how we

uh look at these as we go along today. Okay. But I want to read our passage 1 Timothy 3:es 1-13.

If you're able, will you stand with me in honor of reading God's holy ancient

words starting in verse one. This the saying

is trustworthy. Now you'll remember that he said this another time earlier in the book. Remember you can look back with me

in chapter 1 verse 15. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full

acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

That's the gospel in eight words. That's a significant saying. And he says, "This

is worthy. This is trustworthy, man, and deserving of full acceptance." We get a similar phrase when he enters this

passage when he's talking about leadership in the church. Starting again in verse one, the saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an

overseer must be above reproach. The husband of one wife,

sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,

able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelome, not

a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity,

keeping his children submissive. For if anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he

care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert or or he

may become puffed and puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover,

he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace

into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise

must be dignified, not double tonged, not addicted to much wine, not greedy

for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested

first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but soberminded,

faithful in all things. Let deacons be Let deacons each be the

husband of one wife, managing their children and their own household well.

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. Lord, we've we hand you this time. We

pray that you would occupy it with your spirit and lead us and direct us.

Lord, I pray for the leadership of our church. I pray for those that you have set aside

to lead, the elders, our lifeg group leaders, our ministry

leaders. Lord, I pray for each of those that hold a position of leadership

that you would guide their steps. help them choose their words wisely.

Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen.

So in our passage, Paul identifies two primary leadership roles within the

church. The first one is the elder uh who is a servant leader. The other one

that is identified are deacons who are leading servants. Let me say it one more

time. Elders are servant leaders. Deacons are leading servants.

And and they're both vital roles. Well, Joel, I I don't remember seeing deacons here at Community of Grace.

Well, uh we do not call them that, but we have a group of people that serve the

role of deacons. Uh we call them lifeg group leaders.

and they don't realize that some some of our life leaders might be going, "What?

You've been deed. Just just letting you know." But they

care for people. They they look look after the needs of their little group. That's how we

have have employed these two offices at Community of Grace. We also have elders who lead our church. overseers.

Presbuteros is the Greek word that we get our word presbyterian or prespter

from. Uh so we have those roles in our church.

Uh we have servant leaders and we have leading servants. Elders is first

mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 11 verse 30 and they were present from

the birth of the church offering leadership to the body. Paul appointed elders to the Galatian churches during

his missionary journeys. Uh though the exact stage of the church's development at that time was not isn't we're not

certain of a specific development developmental stage of the church at that time.

Uh as I've said churches have employed these these roles differently

uh within churches across denominational lines.

Church leadership is not an idea of man. It's God's idea.

God from the beginning put uh men in charge. Whether we like that idea or

not, it's not our idea. It's God God's idea. In charge of the home and in

charge of the church. And he has established those roles.

Not only is it is it God's design and his privilege to do that, but it's also a

way that the church can display the glory of God.

You think about it this way. The the the glory of Christ is displayed in his bride, the church.

That means that the leaders of the church are are to be a display of God's glory. What is sad, what is sad is all

those times that we read and hear about in the news of times that church leaders

have tarnished the glory of God. We we see it and it's it's disturbing

and I'm sad to to say that. But my point is this. The ser the text is serious

about church leadership and it should be important to all of us.

If we look at the first verse of chapter 3, you'll see that this this office of

overseer is described as a noble task, one worthy of respect,

one that the church family should see and honor

as noble. And like I said before, it's it's it's sad the times that church

leadership abuses this noble task. And I want to

encourage all of us not to hold it against the task when those that

are doing the task, help me with the word I'm looking for.

They they mess up. They're flawed people. They're sinners. And those times

that that church leadership stumbles, let's not hold their stumbling against

the task. Does that make sense? It is a noble task. These people do not run for

office. They don't run. They don't uh campaign. They don't they don't walk

around and hey man, will you vote for me? This is a position, this elder, this

overseer position is something that God sets aside.

God identifies it in the person's heart to lead in the church family. So today I

want to to use three passages of scripture. Uh the first Timothy passage that we're looking at. I also want to

look at Timothy. I'm going to use Timothy chapter 1:es 5-9 and 1 Peter

chapter 5:es 1-3. to work through

our responsibilities that you have on your outline. But in in order to help us

see this a little uh better, I want to use the passage that Paul writes to the

elders at Ephesus, the church of Ephesus. Now, you'll remember Timothy is in Ephesus. And we've talked quite a bit

about Ephesus. Well, what did Paul write to those elders? So, go with me to Acts

chapter 20. And we're going to look at Paul's words, some of Paul's words to those elders.

I'm going to begin in verse 28 and read through verse 32.

Here's what Paul says to the elders in Ephesus. He says, "Pay careful attention to yourself 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. I know that that after my departure fierce wolves

will come in and in and among you not sparing the flock and from among your

own your own selves will also arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the

disciples after them. Therefore be alert elders remembering that for for three

years I did I did not cease night and day to admonish every one of you with

tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able

to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

So Paul's speaking to the church elders in Ephesus when he gives these words and

I want to point out real quickly four responsibilities that elders the leaders

of the church have. The first one is this. Elders are to lead the church under the authority

of God of Christ. Elders are a part of the church

and the church belongs to Christ. Elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit.

Men don't campaign for this. Like I said, the spirit has set them aside.

But look at verse 20. Verse 28, the second part of that. It says that he

purchased, he obtained with his own blood. The

church belongs to Christ. It's his church. He is the shepherd. I am simply

an undersheperd. I am under the authority of Christ. And and our elders

are under that authority. That is how we are to lead

under his authority. You don't miss the significance of being purchased by his

blood. It it is his. You can't look at church leadership lightly when you recognize the gravity of that verse.

Leading the church was never meant to be a power grab, a power struggle

because I I I promise you, we aren't going to grab away the authority of Christ. It is his.

He purchased it. When an elder has that attitude, understanding that I am under the authority of Christ,

we see the humility in that leader. That's important for us to recognize.

The second thing I want to point out, responsibility. The elders are to care

for the church. If you look at verse 28 again, it says, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and

to the flock." Pay careful attention. How are they doing? First Peter f

chapter 5 verse two he says this shepherd the flock among you to care for

them look after their needs. I I mentioned last week

I I want to be ahead of this as much as I can. I want our church to be ahead of this. Our elders spoke about it at our

meeting this last week and I and during our announcements last Sunday, I I mentioned that the SNAP funding is is

running out and there are people that are being impacted and thank you for those that that contacted me. But it's

not just them. We have other people within this congregation who are being impacted by the government shutdown.

There's others that aren't receiving paychecks. I I need to know about that. In order for the church to be able to be

the church, we want to care for you. And so if if you're impact impacted by that,

the ship is taking on water, please let us know. We want the church to be have the

opportunity to be the church. But unless we know, it's difficult to do that.

He says there in verse 29 that as soon as he leaves, he knows this that fierce wolves will come in

They will not show mercy. If you've ever watched any nature shows of of

wolfpacks, uh they show no mercy and they'll find the weak and they will take the weak.

And Paul in our first Timothy passage is telling Timothy, man, you guard the gospel.

You protect the gospel message. You protect the church. You don't let those people teach that

false stuff. Don't you do it. And so protecting the church, church leaders

are protect to protect the gospel message and to guard against false teaching, not only in their own hearts,

but also in the hearts of the flock. You know, I I I wrestle with this to a

certain degree. And here's how. When we're up here at the church house

together, it's easy for me to guard you. If someone were to stand up and and start teaching false doctrine. I could

enough of that. I I can handle that when we're all together, when we're in life group. I I mean, I can I can handle that

when I'm with you. But my the thing I'm not sure I understand how to do because I'm a how do you do it

is when you guys are at home, how do I how do our elders guard you when you're

at home and you're scrolling?

H how do I do that? I I went into Chris's office this last last week and I threw this out at him. I was like, "Man,

I I I understand that if part of my role is to guard the flock to protect them,

but I don't know how to do that when they're at home." And he said, "Joel, look at it this way, man. In the military, you go through training after

training. We do training for gas masks. We got to know how to put them on. and

we got how to handle a weapon, how to shoot our weapon, da da d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d and he he mentions several areas that they did

training. But here's the deal. When they go out to the field, when a soldier goes out to

the field, they've got to be able to put that training into practice.

Joel, at some point we as leadership in the church, we teach,

but they're going to go home and they're going to go to work tomorrow and they have to put that training into practice.

Church, that is why it is so important that each of us are people of the word of God that we're in it and we're

studying it and we're living it so that when temptation comes along,

you're able to say, "Man, there ain't no temptation that's come my way that's not common to man." But God is faithful and

he will leave a way out that I can walk out from under it. I mean, we need to

know the word. Put it, put it this way, moms and dads,

you'll get this. We teach our children to behave, right?

We teach them not to steal, not to cuss. We teach them h how to to do this and to

do that. But you know what, Mom and Dad? We ain't going to be able to walk with our kids down the hallways at school every day

when out when they're out with their friends on Friday night. We ain't going to be in the backseat of the car watching them.

They're going to have to put into practice those things that we have trained them to do and to be. So, we're

to care. An elder is to care for the church.

So important that we do that. Simon SK said this. He said, "Leadership

is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those you're

in charge of that are in your charge. To care for others is to cry with them when they're

crying. To laugh with them when they're laughing. To minister to them when they're on their bottom, when they're in

their lowest valley. and to celebrate with them when they're on their highest mountaintop.

Elders, we are to care for the people. It's our responsibility not just to be

nice to sheep, but caring for sheep means that we need to feed them as well. Which leads us to our third

responsibility of elders, and that is to teach the word of God.

God's word can build us up. It says it can build up the church. That means that an elers's responsibility is connected

to the word of God. Elders need to know the word of God.

I want to encourage all of us not to follow an elder, not to follow a pastor.

Don't you follow me because I have the title pastor.

Please don't call me prespter. Please don't call me Bishop.

I prefer Monscior. I I prefer Joel to be honest with you.

Don't follow a person because they have a position. Follow them because they know the word,

they teach the word, and they obey the word. Those are people worthy of be of

following. Those are the kind of people that we're to be as elders, as

overseers. The last responsibility is that el elders are to model the

character of Christ. Several passages that give us these

qualifications and I mentioned them earlier. The first Timothy 3 that we're in,

Titus chapter 1:es 5-9. 1 Peter 5:es 1-3. And you'll notice that these

passages, they don't necessarily uh focus in on the abilities of a person,

but the character of a person. Paul is very interested in the character

of the men that lead our churches. And so I'm going to use Daniel Aken's model

that he puts forth in his commentary as a way for us to think about the

qualities of our elders and

can easily if you remember the list in the passage about deacons very similar

very similar list. First category is this the elers's

personal life.

Uh you can ask these questions. Is he self-controlled?

Meaning, can he keep his passions and desires under control? Is he peaceable? Is he wise?

When you see sober minded in your text, is he wise? Does he live according to the word?

Is he gentle? Is he a sacrificial giver? Is he humble? Is he patient? Is he

honest? Is he disciplined? These these are good questions to when you consider

because our nominations are open right now for elders here at Community of Grace. Some of you have submitted names.

But as you think about these men, I want you to think about the character of these men. These are good questions for

you to think about and ask. Second category

is his family life. You see some questions here. Is he the

elder in his home? If he's single, is he self-controlled?

If he's married, is he completely committed to his wife? Now, I'm going stop there for a second.

This is one of those places that denominations and even within denominations have

interpreted this passage differently. Some would say, well, is he speaking

about polygamy here? Uh, is he speaking about divorce here?

It doesn't say that. The word, Greek word literally means a

onewoman man. You probably have a footnote in your text that goes to the bottom of the page and identifies that

as a onewoman man. So my question for an elder is, are you completely committed

to your wife? That's a good question.

If he has children, do they honor him? Third category,

his social or business life. How is he out in the community? What? Ask these

questions. Is he kind to people? Is he hospitable? What's the root word of hospitable?

Hospital. A place where people go and recover. A place where people get well. A ple a place where people

find rest. Is this that kind of person? When we're

talking about an elder, is there a gentle, hospitable spirit about them?

Does he show favoritism? Is he a friend to strangers? Does he have a blameless reputation? And I'm not

talking about being a perfect person. Ain't a one of us in this room that's perfect,

but does he live a life that is above criticism? I that's those are good questions.

What's his reputation at work in his community? Fourth

category in his spiritual life.

Does he love the word? Is he a man of prayer?

Is he holy? Again, I'm not talking about being perfect, but does his life

demonstrate being separate from the world, different from the world? Does

the world recognize that dude is different, man?

Is he gracious? And I hope I hope we can recognize how

how important Paul was focusing in on the character

of a person. Character of a man. Well, I mentioned deacons a few minutes ago.

Their responsibilities, very similar list. They're to care for people.

Deacons are those who lead out in serving. And uh if you have not met our life

group leaders, those are people that serve. They give sacrificially of their time and their

effort. We've just started some some new life groups. Uh I I got a report this

morning from Spencer how he's got three or four, is that what you said? three guys from from his workplace out on the

base that have been coming to his life group and yeah, amen to that. Uh

Spencer, man, I want to pour gas on that. I mean, you're that shows you're a man of influence.

You keep going. Don't you give up and don't you be afraid to be a man of the word of God. The Conour group has

started. They meet on every other Monday. First and second, the Conours and Dragons. First and third or second

and fourth. I'll get it right here in a second. Second and fourth Mondays. If anybody's

interested in the in the Lacron life group or the Conour Dragon Life Group, go back there and see. Mike's sitting in

that chair right under the camera. Go see them, man. We'd love to get you signed up to be a part of that. These

are the caring people of our church and I affirm every one of them that are

serving in that role. You know, I want to conclude today with an illustration

that is common in youth ministry. Uh, some of you were given when you came

in a pingpong ball. Pull that out of your pocket. If you don't mind,

I'd like for you to do something for me. Those of you who have a pingpong ball

from right where you're sitting, will you throw it and land in and throw

it into my jar on the count of three? Hold on. On the count of three, don't get ahead of me.

Roger, I saw you aiming at me. You were like, I'mma nail him.

It's What time is it? All right. On the count of three, you 10

into the jar. One, two, three.

Is that all? I didn't see 10.

Now, oh, there we go. All right. Hey, now if this were if y'all were a youth

group, I'd have given a ping pong ball to every one of you and it would have made my point even stronger.

Now watch here. I'm going I'mma throw it in.

Why was I able to throw mine in? Cuz I'm a lot closer. Here's the deal.

Lifeg group leaders and elders, heads up. The only reason I'm able to make my shot

is because of proximity. It is impossible for us to lead people, to care for people from a distance.

We need to be close. We need to know our people. Does that make sense?

We need to know those that we're caring for. We need to know the heart condition of the people that that God has set us

aside to serve and to care for and to lead and to lead well. Lead wisely.

Now, we need to also pray for those who can't throw and hit the ground if it wasn't for gravity.

I think you get my point. We're blessed with a great group of elders,

a great group of life group leaders. I couldn't I wouldn't trade our elders for any elders in any church anywhere.

So so thankful for their leadership. But church, I also don't want you to

skim over these passages anymore. When you come across these passages that speak to the leadership of the church,

I'm asking you to stop and pray for our leaders. And I wonder if God would put that on your heart because here's the

bottom line. This doesn't just apply. Yes, he's specifically speaking to the leadership

of the church, but the qualities that we just mentioned a few minutes ago are qualities that every one of us in this

room should have. That that should be Christian 101

that we all are honorable, peaceful, gentle, kind, hospitable,

all all these things. It's something that we should all have a list that we should have as we're aiming for. If you

don't aim for anything, guess what? You'll hit it. We got to have things that we aim for.

And this is a perfect place to start.