Instructions on Leaders in the Church

It is so good to finally be here! David and I met during Covid – am I allowed to admit that? This building was being built and we were talking through the plans. And when you moved in, God just exploded this place with favor and fruitfulness. It’s been great to get to know David and Lindsay. And experience Blaine. I learned a new sport here - Curling! So when I make it big, you can know that this is where my journey began!

We’ve been walking through 1 Timothy. Paul has sent Timothy to Ephesus to bring order out of chaos there. It seems that there are some leaders there who are causing problems. They have distorted the message, they have misapplied Jewish practices and worldly philosophies, tolerated immoral behavior, caused controversy and division. They have led with greed and arrogance.

So in this book, Paul gives Timothy God’s blueprint for a healthy church, a healthy culture.

And that’s what I want you to understand as we begin today…that leaders create culture. Culture is the defining set of attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors of a given group. That is, if you are a leader at church, or in your workplace or even your family, you are the cultural architect. People are watching you, learning from you. Like it said in chapter 4, your speech and conduct, what you love, how you demonstrate faith and pursue purity all have an impact on the people around you. Whether you know it or not, you are creating a culture – things you value, they will value. Things you do they will do. You are championing attitudes, values and beliefs that are under the surface, driving actions.

And in Ephesus, Timothy is trying to change the culture. In this next section, Paul gives instructions to Timothy about how leaders should be treated. And from what I can see there are three categories of conversation – compensation, accusation and appointment. How should the local church approach these elders when it comes to these three issues. In previous weeks, we have acknowledged that the words Elder, Pastor, Overseer are used interchangeably. At Renovation, Elders are those that oversee house churches. Let’s pick it up in verse 17 of chapter 5. It should be on page 812 in the Bibles in front of you.

17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” 1 Tm. 5:17-18

The first bit of advice that Paul gives to Timothy focuses in our taking care of the elders. And he encourages them to be

Be Kind in compensation

This passage describes the people in focus. It says that they “Direct” the affairs of the church. The word “direct” is the same word used for leading family in 1 Tm 3:4, managing household in 3:5 and leading children in 3:12 –yet the attention is given not to the home, but the church. It is also the word used in Rm 12:8 where it tells them to “lead diligently”. These are the ones who are setting pace, determining direction, implementing the God given vision in the local church.

Then it says that these men who do it well are worthy of “Double honor”. The first part of Double honor is the respect due to all leaders. But secondly, the context tells us that certain ones, are to be paid. And it zeroes in on those who preach and teach – and you are thinking, no wonder David brought in an outsider to have this conversation – he wants a raise! I promise you that is not it!

I do want you to see this word “work” – it focuses on those whose “work” is preaching and teaching. This form of the word is only used one other time in the Bible and it is found in Matthew 11:28. “Come to me those who are weary and heavy burdened…” It is used 23 times overall and each time referring to a person who is doing work that is exhausting yet fruitful. They are straining/toiling. The work is vigorous and laborious. It takes diligence and endurance.

I was in the local church as a pastor for 27 years then 8 years as a denominational president. And there is a misunderstanding of how much work it takes to preach and teach. I’d get comments like “So this is what you do on Sundays., but what do you do the rest of the week?” and “It must be great to work one day a week!”

Anyone here ever done video editing. Do you realize it takes 30-60 minutes of editing for every one minute of the finished product? Preaching is not much different. One time a person asked me, “How long did it take to write that sermon?” “Well, I’m 48 years old, so 48 years.” I imagine in Paul’s time they didn’t grasp it either, so he quotes from the Old Testament.

In Deuteronomy 25:4, God is in the middle of giving the people the Law for a second time and he talks about Ox not being muzzled. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”

Here’s a picture of that. When the harvest was bought the oxen were harnessed in a circle. The grain was placed on the ground. The oxen would walk on the grain and the seed was worked out from the chaff – that is called threshing. God said you couldn’t muzzle ox. They are working hard, let them eat!

And he ties that picture to preaching/teaching. The Apostle Paul gives commentary on this in 1 Corinthians 9 when he says:

“Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 1 Co 9:9b-11

If God cares about the ox, doesn’t he care about the pastor? You wanted him to enjoy his job and not get distracted by hunger or thirst?

And here is what happens a lot. A pastor has a vision of starting a church and they toil at it for a long time. Sometimes they are bi-vocational – doing other things on the side to make ends meet. But there comes a time when the work just gets too big to give it part-time focus. It is at that point the congregation has to make a choice to say, it is worth paying this person to focus more on gospel advancement to greater excellence and expansion. Now there is an expectation in here – that they do it “well”. There is an expectation of examination. Receiving compensation is based on performance not just position. But Paul says that those who work in the gospel deserve to make a living in it.

Now I have to tell you that I know a whole lot of congregations that got this wrong and think it is their job to keep the staff poor and humble. I can also tell you I don’t know a single pastor who got into ministry for the money. 1 Timothy 3 says an elder can’t be a lover of money and 1 Timothy 6 warns us not to pursue wealth which is so uncertain. But the same writer, Paul, tells congregations in Gal. 6:6 to share every good thing with those who teach and preach. And Jesus says, when he sends out the 72, in Luke 10:7 that a worker deserves his wages. He says take care of those who advance the church. So let’s not argue with him! Be kind in compensation. Next verse.

19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 1Tm 5:19-20

You can see the turn in thinking here. We go from kind in compensation to

Be Careful in Accusation

I don’t know if you know this, but sometimes people get upset with the pastor. I used to tell my congregation that four things were necessary between us – love, trust, respect and forgiveness. The first three are simple to understand, but the last one – forgiveness – was because there would be times that I would disappoint them and times when they would disappoint me and forgiveness would be necessary between us because there are no perfect pastors and no perfect people. If you are looking for the perfect church, you didn’t find it here. And if you do find it, don’t go there because you will ruin it! But this is about more than forgiveness between each other.. The purpose of these verses was to protect elders against false accusation and also instruction when they are unrepentant in sin.

I have yet to find a church where there wasn’t accusation against leadership at some point in time. This is why elders need to be temperate/mature in their faith. They will face scrutiny. Some of the accusations are based in differences in priorities and preferences…those are not the subject here. This section is about the issues Paul has already addressed earlier in 1 Timothy – accusations of personal character flaws, false teaching and wayward leadership.

Scripture makes it very clear that Leaders are held to a higher standard. James writes Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1 Like we said before, leaders are held to a high standard, because they influence everyone else.

We’ve got two sides of this. First, elders should be protected from false accusation. Paul says accusations against elders require 2 or 3 witnesses. This was an OT standard (DT. 19:15) and is mentioned again in Matthew 18:16 as the second step in confronting a brother or sister with sin. The idea is that we should pause and ask “is this a personal preference or a real thing? And if it is real, who else sees it?”

Years ago, I took over for a very beloved founding pastor. He hired me because we complimented each other’s strengths. We weren’t the same. So I didn’t lead, teach or interact the way he did. And there was a couple in our church that didn’t like it. So they called through the church membership roster spreading discontent. It got so bad that our elders met with this couple. However in the process they couldn’t find anyone to corroborate with their claims. So they were instructed to release their expectations. I’m grateful for great elders who responded in a biblical way! You realize that most pastors leave a church over problems with just a few people!

But there are times when the accusation is true and witnesses can be found. And it says that the elders that are sinning should be reproved publicly. Remember what I said? Leaders are cultural architects. Elders are public leaders and a public rebuke is the right response to sin that many see – it says “so that others may take warning.” But I want to caution you about the proper application of this. First, I want you to know that private sin should be dealt with privately, just like it says in Matthew 18. If your brother repents, you have won over your brother. When an elder has a private sin and repents, it is a bad practice to announce it to everyone.

Then there is the definition of “Church”. In this case, it was probably more of a house church scenario, not the gathering on the weekend like we have here. Again, the idea is not to embarrass the leader, but create awareness in the circle of impact. And finally, I want you to note the verb form here where it says “elders who are sinning”. Let me geek out, or perhaps Greek out – this is a verb form called a Present Active Participle. It's an ongoing action in the present – it is talking about those who persist in sin. Rebuke them publicly. Those who repent after being confronted, no reason to bring it up beyond those impacted by it. It is asking the question “is this a momentary stumbling or a pattern of unrepentant sin?” Paul encourages us to look at the ripple effect.

Being an elder does not mean that you have arrived. This is a provision for meaningful accountability and meaningful protection of those who are willing to serve in this noble task.

I had a situation in our church where two staff members who were on stage, refused to repent. I went to each one, but they refused to repent. Then I took some elders/staff. Regretfully I had to bring it before the church. But on the opposite side, one of them three months later repented and went through the restoration process…six months later stood on the stage as the elder declared this person was fully restored. These were Public people – and a public rebuke and public restoration were appropriate to level of impact. That’s what we need to remember - Discipline is for restoration, not humiliation.

21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. 1 Tm 5:21

This is a huge issue that many churches have ignored dealing among leadership. To not deal with the bad behavior of leaders has huge ramifications both here and before God. Sin among leaders is not to be shielded. Neither should leaders be exposed to unwarranted accusation. Do you feel the tension? But understand the ripple of not dealing with leadership issues in biblical ways - How many people do you know that have given up on God because they were frustrated with the leadership of the church? They are Church damaged. The reputation of the church is founded on the integrity of the leadership.

He warns not to allow partiality or favoritism. Don’t let your closeness in relationship, intimidating personalities, or internal people pleasing, keep you from doing what it right. Your action is based on the objectivity of scripture not the subjectivity of emotion. What Paul is saying is that a church that ignores these kind of thing loses its witness, loses its credibility, loses its influence and loses its way.

Kind in compensation, careful in accusation, number three:

Be slow in selection

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 1 Tm 5:22

The laying on of hands was a practice in Paul’s ministry that was an affirmation of leadership. We see it happened to Timothy in 4:14 and is mentioned again in 2 Tim 1:6-7.

What Paul is getting to is that he is calling Timothy to Guard the gate of the church’s leadership. In other words, choose your leaders carefully. In the business world we have the saying higher slow, fire fast. This is the “hire slow” principle. Don’t let the pressing need of the moment hijack the careful selection of church leaders. AT TTI, we have a very fast-growing ministry. We planted just under 40,000 fellowships/churches last year and planted over 25,000 so far this year around the world. Having that kind of growth pushes you to make quick decisions. The problem is, whenever we have sped up the process we have slowed down the growth and stunted the health of our ministry. That’s why we have a standard of biblically qualified leadership before a fellowship is determined to be a church.

In our world, we tend to overvalue competency/skill. But did you notice in 1 Tim 3 how many of them are focused on character, culture and chemistry? One of my mentors, Larry Osborne reminded me that No amount of competency can make up for a fatal flaw in character.

He tells Timohty to guard the gate of leadership, but also to Guard yourself. It says “do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” There are probably two things in view here. The first is to watch yourself. Don’t ignore the sins of others or your own temptations toward those things. Galatians 6:1 says Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1

But I think it also address the idea that the hasty appointment of unqualified leaders ties you to their sin. Some people leverage positions of power for their own purposes. Therefore, you share in their sins if you appoint them. 2 John 11 says that when we allow them to lead, we share in their wicked work! This is why you guard the gate.

And in a verse that looks completely out of place, Paul gives an example of where Timothy may get off base. He says 23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. 1 Tm 5:23 Now I know that some of you just found your life verse here…Seems random, but most likely, Paul is telling Timothy to guard against legalism (David talked about a few weeks ago). “Timothy I know your tendency, watch out.” Paul is mentoring. It is an overplay of tension 1 Tm 3:3 (not given to drunkenness) and 1 Tim 4:4 (everything God created is good) toward the legalistic side. It is living in the black and white and “not living in the gray”. Then he closes with this.

24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever. 1 Tm 5:24-25

The person put in the leadership should not only have the absence of sin, but the presence of good works. He is saying that sins and good works have a way of making it into the public eye. For some people, you can see the sins – they show, like in 1 Tm 3. Others are under the surface and behind the scenes. The same is true of good works. The point is, they have to be discerned Up Close and Over Time. You see them living lives. You see their character in the good times and the hard times. Character is like toothpaste – does the right stuff come out when you are squeezed?

He’s saying watch leaders over time. This is not a popularity context. It is not about potential. It’s proven character. Here’s the big point. Leaders should be acknowledged, not appointed. People come from other churches and want to be appointed into leadership. If they are not willing to wait, and live life among you, they are not the type of leader you want.

Kind in compensation, careful in accusation, slow in selection. God is doing a great work here. You are adding services and sites. I believe that you are positioned to have the greatest impact, the greatest harvest of souls this church has every seen. But Paul’s warning is don’t cheapen the process of leader selection or retention. Guard the gate. And, whether you are a leader at home, at work or in the church, do the hard work. Take the high road. Hebrews 13:7. Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7