So you think your Preacher is Successful?
Garbage, sludge, and sewage are the impact of modern society on the Lord's assembly but the real issue is what impact does the Lord's assembly have on the world? The answer is very little I think, as the modern world recognizes that the church is spiritually defenseless, spiritually ignorant, and spiritually incapable of finding its way. One wishes to resist such a harsh analysis because it damages one's pew sitting pride. However, the point is explicit. The Apostle Paul cautioned the church in Rome concerning conformity to the pagan society in which they lived:
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2 NASB).
Christians play a very rudimentary game called cast the blame. It is easy to play as there are no boundaries except to criticize, scrutinize, or slur someone else. In the church, the challenge is to blame the elder ship, which in turn blames the preacher. The preacher blames the assembly. Those of the assembly blame one another. The deacons blame the teachers and so on. There are no winners because the end result is a loss of credibility in the immediate community and a loss of Christian influence means a loss of souls for Christ. Did Jesus sacrifice His life for extinction?
"Problems of major proportions threaten the growth and well being of the church. Possibly the best way to refer to it is a changed climate of thinking in which there have come vast changes in moral and ethical standards. The new morality has challenged the very existence of moral and ethical absolutes. There is no right or wrong. Everything is relative" (Every Life A Plan Of God. Batsell Barrett Baxter, P. 160).
The average Christian wishes to visualize Jesus as impartial, just, and saturated with compassion, but don't be fooled because Christ can express the wrath of God against iniquity (Matt. 23 NASB). Most church attendants are below par in their understanding of the true nature of Jesus Christ. Humanity does not realize that Christ is able to discern hypocrisy, insincerity, and corrupt intentions (John 2:25 NASB).
Who is responsible for the change in temperature or sensibility (Rev. 3:15-16, 19) in the Lord's church? The answer is the elder ship of each assembly that gathers to worship (Acts 20:17, 28; I Peter 5:2-4). According to the biblical model, who is responsible for teaching and equipping competent men to serve as elders in each assembly that belongs to Christ? The answer to that question is "The Preacher!"
A great deal of time and effort has been expended on qualifications of Elders as found in 1st Timothy chapter 3, but seldom do we hear of the qualifications mentioned for the preacher also found in the same chapter. When people discuss the qualifications for an elder found in the 3rd chapter of Timothy they usually make a serious exegetical mistake. The letter was not written to me or you but to “Timothy” (1st Tim. 1:2).
The order of the letter is as follows: Paul tells Timothy that he ought to be out there correcting those who are teaching false doctrine (vv. 4ff). We can surmise that this congregation is a fairly new congregation since “Paul left Timothy there” to do things (v. 3). In particular, three general categories are mentioned that Timothy was to give attention:
The teaching of sound doctrine (vv. 3ff.).
The behavior of men and women in the congregation (chapter 2:8ff).
And finally, Timothy's own behavior (chapter 3:15ff).
Here is the question one must ask when reading this letter. What does Timothy's behavior or conduct (chapter 3:15) have to do with the qualifications for the elders mentioned directly above 3:15? And yes, it is Timothy's conduct in question in 3:15.
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b. like the Hebr. הָלַךְ to walk, of the manner of life and moral character, to conduct one’s self, behave one’s self, live: 2 Co. i. 12 (ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ); 1 Tim. iii. 15 (ἐν οἴκῳ θεοῦ); Eph. ii. 3 (ἐν οἷς among whom); 2 Pet. ii. 18 (ἐν πλάνῃ). simply to conduct or behave one’s self, “walk”, (Germ. wandeln): 1 Pet. i. 17; Heb. x. 33; (καλῶς) xiii. 18. [Cf. its use e. g. in Xen. an. 2, 5, 14; Polyb. 1, 9, 7; 74, 13; 86, 5 etc., (see ἀναστροφή, fin.); Prov. xx. 7 Sept.; Clem. Hom. 1 Cor. 1, 21, 8; etc.]* |
Notice the form of grammar!
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εἰδ|ῇς
(that you may know is singular) |
The “that you may know” is singular, meaning Paul is speaking of Timothy's conduct or stated another way, the “preacher's” conduct. Timothy was the preacher (see 2nd Tim. 4: 2).
This section of text has the same message of Titus chapter one where Paul left Titus in Crete to appoint elders in every “polin” (city).
Here is the point of 1st Timothy chapter 3: It was a new congregation. Paul left Timothy there to select the elders. That selection, teaching, and training of elders was part of Timothy's required conduct (see chapter 3:15). [see note on Ephesus at bottom of page]
When we find the Lord's congregations with a lack of qualified people to fill the elder ship, someone needs to point a finger at the preacher. There can be no doubt that the congregation or congregations where Timothy was working were new and he had to “train” those elders. He didn't just walk out and find those people ready.
When there are congregations that have been established for years and preachers who have been at those congregation for many years and yet there are no qualified men waiting in the wing to fill the elder's position then one must say that the preachers have failed in a miserable way. Perhaps there is more to the preacher's duty than going to hospital, baptizing converts, and lecturing on Sunday morning, or playing cowboys and Indians(as some do with their so-called spare time). The quality of people waiting to be appointed elder is a quantitative measurement of the preacher's success or failure and must be considered by all who desire a “healthy” congregation.
The
point is of course that in order to have a healthy congregation, one
must stay in the Word of God and the Word of God demands
qualified people for the elder ship and not the un-learned or
un-taught. In John 7:15 we find the attitude of the Jews expressed.
They marveled at the way Jesus spoke since He was never educated.
Jesus did have an education called the Holy Spirit. However the point
is well made. The sudden inspiration methodology was not accepted in
the days of Jesus and should not be accepted now. The Jews knew one
had to have some kind of education! But the sudden inspiration crowd
of the world believe by their actions that they are superior to
Jesus. They don't need the Holy Spirit as Jesus had, they don't need
the theological schools of the Rabbis, these people just wake up one
morning and start teaching. Jesus was teaching what the Father “who
sent Him” wanted Him to say (John 7:16). His teachings were not His
own.
Being a follower of God is more than just knowing about God.
There must be a total surrender of one's stubborn will to the point
that we want to obey (do the will of) God. The plain New Testament
teaching on this subject is that doing God's will is a result of
knowing Christ (John 7:17). Knowledge of Jesus leads to love and
obedience while on the other hand obedience leads to a full grown
knowledge and love (Eph. 4:11-16). A lifetime of Bible study is no
good if the person is out of harmony with the will of God.
There
is but one real source of authority and that is “God's Words.”
All other teachings are only from humans and have no authority. If we
want to give God the glory that He deserves, we stay in His Word
(John 7:18).
by Dr. Moss Dickerson
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There is much information in the Bible about the church at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus was founded by Paul where he reasoned with the Jews, he left Priscilla and Aquila there (Acts 18:19). Paul came back to Ephesus and found some disciples who had not received the Holy Spirit, they had only been baptized into John's baptism, when they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 19:1-7). Paul spoke in the synagogue for three months (Acts 19:8) and then in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for 2 years (Acts 19:9-10). Then there was a disturbance because of the fertility goddess Artemis who brought the Ephesians wealth through making silver images of her (Acts 19:23), they were afraid that through Paul's preaching about Christ they would lose business. Paul left Timothy at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3). He said good-bye to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus before going to Jerusalem (Acts 20:17-38) where he warned them that savage wolves will come in among them (Acts 20:29). He also wrote to the Ephesians a long letter from which it is clear that they were a mature church. It is also thought that the apostle John and Mary, Jesus mother, settled at Ephesus. Some two-and-a-half centuries after Paul preached in Ephesus, the city hall was converted into a church and later used by the Council of Ephesus, which in 431 AD formally accepted the teaching that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine (Hill). Ephesus was the most important city of proconsular Asia. Situated at the mouth of the Cayster River on a gulf of the Aegean Sea, it flourished as an important commercial and export centre for Asia. By NT times it had grown to at least 250,000 people (Mounce). From the island of Patmos Ephesus would be the first church you would come to. The nearest seaport to Patmos is Miletus (Acts 20:15) and then you would follow the coast road to Ephesus, but Ephesus also had its own more important port so you could go direct by ship from Patmos to Ephesus. |
