1Timothy, chapter 3, comments

 

1Timothy 3:1 ¶  This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

According to Strong’s dictionary it is said that the Bible uses bishops, elders, presbyters, and pastors interchangeably. Examples of some of these words are;

Acts 20:17 ¶  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, 19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 

Ephesians 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 

Titus 1:5 ¶  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 6 ¶  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

 

1Peter 5:1 ¶  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

 

A bishop in the New Testament, according to many commentators, is like what we would call today a pastor, overseeing the spiritual care of a specific, local congregation. Here Paul gives some specific requirements for a bishop. He is not to have more than one wife. This does not keep a widower who remarries from being an overseer of a church any more than it does someone who became a Christian but his non-Christian wife abandoned him for it. In 1Corinthians 7:10-16 the context is about leaving one’s spouse because they have not converted to Christianity. If one does that they must remain unmarried. You can imagine the possibility that they might be converted. However, if they leave you for your becoming a Christian you are not bound to them. Pretty common sense stuff but not pleasing to the Pharisees among us.

 

Another comment can be made that I’ve read that it was well known that traveling rabbis would advertise for temporary wives in the cities that they taught in so they would be a serial fornicator. This was not suitable for the Christian overseer.

 

The bishop, of all people, should be vigilant and aware of what is happening around them.

 

1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

 

A bishop, in my opinion, should have read the Bible through several times and be keenly aware of the hypocrisies and lies of the age in which he lives. He should not be deceived by popular culture, political pundits, or anyone who seems to justify his beliefs or his values as they can be deceivers. He should be skeptical of religious claims and regard someone as insisting they have a changed life be watched to see if their actions bear this out. He must be careful in what he says and rarely make a joke at another’s expense, not knowing what that person may be going through. Vigilant and alert he must be, sensitive to the effect of every word that comes out of his mouth.

 

The implication for a sober minded man is that he be not only alert but strong in the faith and focused on the important things, of a sound mind. Sober carries with it an idea of moderation and sensibility.

 

A bishop or modern-day pastor’s behavior should be exemplary with no stain of sin or carelessness on it, without malice or guile. See verses for us all but understand they would apply in an even more focused way on the bishop or pastor.

 

1Thessalonians 5:22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.

 

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

 

Colossians 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

 

1Peter 2:1  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

 

The pastor should be a hospitable man, welcoming newcomers to the congregation as well as old acquaintances who return.

 

The pastor should also be a teacher, willing to dispense the words of God and their meaning in context to his congregation and to others. These are positive traits a pastor should have.

 

But there are negative characteristics that Paul says should not be part of a pastor. He should not be someone who binge drinks or sits at the cups imbibing one after another. Verse 8 coming up uses the phrase not given to much wine for deacons. So, we can assume by cross-referencing that these phrases mean the same thing. It is ridiculous to assume the pastor can’t have a glass but the deacon can but just not more than a few. Such distinctions are the result of the fallacy of modernism.

 

Timothy will be told to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake later.

 

1Timothy 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

 

There were dozens of types of wines in the first century, many of them not alcoholic but no more than grape juice or laced with medicine.  We now know that unlike what we were told by the experts in the 1980s and beyond that there is no real safe amount of alcohol to drink that doesn’t offer some health dangers. It is generally a good idea to avoid alcohol but just think of a century or more ago when water was often disease-causing, from shallow wells, and the source of much grief. Drinking fermented beverages was much safer. Historians note that our colonial era forebears drank three times as much alcohol per person as we do with workers demanding their midmorning cup of whiskey for them to continue and it was nothing to have a barrel of fermented cider by your door for even children to drink from. In England it was noted that teething babies were given gin wiped on their gums as late as the late 1700s. There was drinking at revivals, casks of whiskey at preacher’s conferences and barn raisings, all before the temperance movement and people like Carrie Nation (look her up) raised the awareness of the damage done by alcohol.

 

A pastor was not to be a striker, certainly not a violent man dangerous to himself and others around him, but this carries a greater idea of also not being a quarrelsome individual. The pastor is not to be the kind of person who is just looking for a fight of any kind.

 

Not greedy of filthy lucre is a point that Paul will make later for us all. Loving money is a sign of wickedness and a failing of any Christian. To be eager for base gain, greedy for money for its own sake is a poor character trait to possess. Paul will insist later;

 

1Timothy 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

The pastor must be a patient man with the admonition against being contentious, both physically and verbally, given again and then also not wanting what he does not have already, not being a covetous man.

 

The way he administers his own family should be an example. The famous negative idea of “the preacher’s son,” of whom songs have been written about like Dusty Springfield’s 1960s hit entitled Son of a Preacher Man are examples of the sometimes awful offspring of the so-called men of God.  A pastor whose family is a wreck would probably not be a good example for the pulpit. If the pastor’s family is filled with examples of divorce, illegitimacy, suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, and criminality it is probably a good bet that daily Bible reading and a good example may have been missing. I’m not saying that such a person can’t serve God, just that it should probably not be in the office of the pastor.

 

The pastor shouldn’t be someone who just got saved either. New converts can be very zealous and prideful but it is not likely that they’ve read the Bible from cover to cover and are steeped in the deeper doctrines of it. They do not have the experience of dealing with Satan’s deceptions in other people and themselves and recognizing them as such. They may be enthusiastic, but they are not ready to take on the role of a pastor of a church. It is a dangerous thing to make a charismatic, well-spoken, and excited new convert move too soon to an office in the church like this. There are many things they have to work out about their walk with Christ and it is very dangerous, indeed, for them and for the congregation if they be placed in such an important and influential post.

 

Finally, the pastor needs to have a good reputation outside of the church. It is great that a convicted felon who has spent time in prison comes to Christ and is fully convinced of his mission and purpose and is completely surrendered to God. But he should not be made a pastor. That position of leadership would expose him and the church to shame and disapproval because of his past. A mature Christian must consider the dirt he has left behind before he covets an office in the church.

 

If a faith-filled member of the church wants to be a pastor and has the skills and the talent for it and feels led by God to it that is wonderful. However, if he has been divorced several times, had bankruptcies, failed businesses, has children that are running wild, etc. etc.  he would do well to forgo the pastor’s office and do something else for the Lord. Evangelism, teaching, and other things are available to him but certainly not the pastorship. This should be something he understands without being told. The devil would certainly enjoy the way outsiders would view a church if it was led by a person who had experienced such things in their life whether they were the cause of them or not.

 

This advice is practical and dismisses the fantasies that some Christians have about being saved, that since they are forgiven by God everyone else, wronged spouses, the community, the legal establishment, whomever, is required to also forgive you. Well, not exactly. Again, Paul’s admonitions are necessary and good. Now, onto the deacons.

 

1Timothy 3:8 ¶  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10  And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. 11  Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13  For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Deacons served the early church in many ways. We can look at the beginnings of the church to see why they were called for.

Acts 6:1 ¶  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

The bishop was to be sober and the deacon and his wife, similarly, were to be grave, that is serious-minded in keeping with the duties they were to perform for the church body. They were not to be double-tongued, that is given to saying one thing to one person and another to another person. They need to be men who were straightshooters from the lip and didn’t dissemble or beat around the bush when they talked. People needed to be able to trust them so the politicians you find in many Baptist churches today as deacons would not be welcome in this role.

Again, drinking sparsely and certainly not binge drinkers sitting in a tavern drinking one glass after another for a terrible testimony, not obsessed with money so they could be trusted to assist the poor with church funds, representing the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully and with understanding and obedience. The deacons should be tested in their carrying out of the duties of office to see if they can be trusted and relied on. It should be understood that it is probationary until the bishop and congregation can determine their character.

The deacon’s wife must not be a slanderer, running people down. We have this in the modern era with those who will run members of the congregation down thinking the worst of everyone that they cannot control. Again, she should be sober as in having impulse control and a sound mind. Then, the deacon, like the bishop, should be the husband of one wife with a solid family that won’t bring shame on the cause of Christ.

Now churches are filled with broken people, often whose lives have borne the consequences of sin, theirs and others. This is not to denigrate these people who sought Christ, whom He sought, and who have united to worship Him in spirit and in truth. But these positions in the church are very important and very serious. They are not like political patronage to be handed out to the wealthy or to friends and supporters. Only a Spirit-led body of elders or congregation can accomplish this. We have a hard time in America with these admonitions because we firmly believe that such things as warned about here are our own business and no one should be peeking too intently at our personal lives. This kind of scrutiny is typically not welcome. So, this from Paul is a bitter pill for modern congregations to follow.

1Timothy 3:14 ¶  These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: 15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Let’s note something here. The church of the living God is the house or family of God. In Exodus 1:21 God blessed the midwives and made them houses. Now, lest you think God is in the business of building suburban developments near Cairo understand that a house can be a family, or a dynasty, that goes on for generations.

Exodus 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

1Samuel 20:16  So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

As well as a building…

1Kings 9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house,

So, depending on the context house can be short for household as well including servants, wives, and children.

Genesis 45:2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

So, a question for fundamentalists arises naturally from this. Is this reference following a physical building or a group of people characterized in type as a spiritual building?

1Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

How do physical buildings come together to meet? Seems an absurdity.

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence…24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The church is Christ’s body on earth, not a building, as we can understand by verse 15 in 1Timothy 3 here.

Acts 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

So, what is the house of God, to the Roman Catholic ‘wannabes’ of Protestant fundamentalism, the Vatican’s auxiliaries? Has the gate of heaven reference in Genesis 28:17 confused you? Do you consider your specific church building, the place where your church meets, the ladder between heaven and earth? What about Christ in John 1:51? And what about these verses?

1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Consider this when you think of the family of God, His household, the house of God.

Ephesians 3:14 ¶  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Here Paul reinforces that Christ was God in the flesh, walking among men and women, performing incredible miracles, witnessed by the very spiritual beings of Heaven itself, preached to the Gentiles and believed on. These facts are clear and without controversy as was His resurrection and ascension to Heaven. These are the givens of the Christian faith, without which there is no Christianity and no truth in the world as the church is the pillar and ground on which the truth rests.