Leading the Family pt.3

 "They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith
with a clear conscience."
1 Timothy 3.9

When it comes to the role of the deacon, there is one verse which speaks of the partnership in the gospel between the overseer/elder and the deacon and that is v.9

The Deacon's responsibility

There is no suggestion that deacons have a teaching function, though there is nothing to say that they couldn't. What is clear, though, is that teaching is not core to being a deacon. You can see why. Distributing funds to widows, doesn't require teaching, organising the team to set up the room for worship doesn't require teaching, providing food for the meal doesn't require teaching.

However, Paul says that they should keep hold of the deep truths of the faith - that that is a key part of their responsibility. This is so that this group of leaders will provide a doctrinal centre of mass for the people of God - a ballast of truth - a gospel inertia. Inertia is normally seen as a bad thing in our society - change is always good. In certain areas of the church's life, that is true, but not when it comes to doctrine. It's why we still say the ancient creeds in our church.

Spiritual Ballast

The other day I was watching Deepwater Horizon. It's a good film, although it is clearly a sign of my age that I wish that they would enunciate their words more clearly! The film is centred around a floating oil rig. It is not fixed to the ocean bed, but keeps in position over the same spot by the use of propellers under the surface of the water. This means that when waves hit the rig, or the wind blows, the rig holds its position.

Deacons are like those propellers - they hold onto the teaching from godly overseers, so that the church as a whole keeps its position over the gospel. They will also as a result recognise false teachers/overseers and resist being moved by them (cf. 1 Tim 1.19-20).

They, "will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4.14-15)

So if you are a deacon, make your number one priority going deeper and more securely into the gospel. And do this not only because you may need to teach it one day, but because you have a vital role as spiritual ballast for the family of God.

Leading the Family pt.2

"able to teach"1 Timothy 3.2

Yesterday I wrote about the need for the leader to reflect the nature of the church. As the church is like a family, so its leadership needs to be father-like in style. There is though a key skill which Paul highlights for the leader:

The Overseer's tool - v.2

The one skill Paul mentions, apart from caring/protecting the family of God, is teaching. The Church's nature is not just that we are a family, we are a family wholly shaped by the truth seen in Jesus. That is why teaching is so vital.

We don't primarily appoint leaders who are great strategists, administrators or visionaries (unless we mean by visionary someone whose vision is filled by Jesus). Such skills will lead to an organisation growing, but they are not the core skill of the overseer/elder. The key skill is faithful, gospel infused and focused, biblical teaching.

If this is lost we can become an incredibly successful heresy.

So, if, as a church leader, I spend so much time on strategy etc. that I neglect teaching - I have got it wrong. There are times when circumstances have squeezed my preaching preparation time, and yet God has blessed the sermons, but I must remember that that is his grace in my weakness, not licence for de-prioritising my efforts in teaching. 

It also means that as church members, we must seek to protect the teaching ministry of our leaders. Don't wish for a more visionary, strategic leader, but for a great teacher.

Part 3 tomorrow...

Leading the family

"If anyone does not know how to manage his own family,
how can he take care of God’s church?"
1 Timothy 3.5

I never have enough time! Last Sunday evening I ran out of time in my sermon and so I promised to blog the last page. We were looking at the Person Specification for a church leader, whether an overseer/elder or a deacon. Here are the final three brief points we learn from 1 Timothy 3.1-13:

The Church's nature

Most of Paul's time in 1 Timothy 3 is focused on the character of the leader and not the skills. However, he does also speak of skills - one of which is the ability to lead. Here though he makes an interesting parallel between leading the church and leading the family. 

In doing so, we learn something important about the nature of the Church. It is more like a family than an organisation. That is because it is fundamentally relational. The Greek words behind manage and care are words that speak of caring and protecting. 

As such, a leader in Christ's church will be someone who reflects that approach to leadership. Success leading an organisation will not automatically mean success in leading God's people. I remember standing next to one of my vicars at his leaving do and it came to me that no-one in the room quite understood what it was like for him. On one day he was leaving his job, his home, but most of all his family.

It is also an encouragement to the smaller church. There are great blessing in the big church and the Lord uses them (and ministers like me dream of how easy it must be to lead a big church - never having experienced it of course!) However, the blessing of the smaller church is that being a family comes more naturally.

I will cover the next point tomorrow...

(There's a cliffhanger - it's like an episode of Designated Survivor!)

Uncomfortable Blessings

"The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act;
therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God."
2 Samuel 6.7

I preached on this passage last Sunday. For a long, long time I avoided it because of the verse above. It is one of the famous "difficult verses" in the Bible. And it is hard to preach on, if only because there is the danger that you spend so long on dealing with the 'problem' of the verse that you don't get a chance to preach the message of the chapter. 

Contrary to my expectations, though, I have come to love this passage and it was a real privilege to preach on it. It did strike me, during the preparation, that preaching and studying the difficult passages of Scripture is not only important but rewarding for the following reasons:

• It is good for our spiritual health. I am struck by the fact that the first sermon of Jesus recorded by Matthew, has, at it's heart, the word repent. It is a reminder that God's diagnosis of us is that we are sinners that need turning around. Bearing that in mind, we should not only expect God's word to be uncomfortable reading, but start to look to those uncomfortable moments as opportunities for blessing. That has certainly been my experience.
• It strengthens the confidence of God's people: As a preacher I am very protective of those to whom I preach - probably too protective. There is something within me that shies away from being too challenging. Perhaps there is a good motivation hidden there - I don't want to break a bruised reed. Yet, in doing so I am in danger of harming those I love. Most Christian, I suspect, battle an insecurity about God's word, because of these passages. When as a preacher I avoid them, I am in danger of feeding that insecurity. By bringing them out into the light - the glory of God's word shines through in unexpected ways and the shadow of insecurity is pierced by the brightness of God's truth.
• It gives us a better glimpse of God: Finally, understanding these passages involves taking off our crown, getting down from our throne and falling on our knees. They lead to a recognition, if we come to them in the spirit of Isaiah 66.2b, that God is greater, more holy and more good than we ever imagined.

These are the ones I look on with favour:

Those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.