The office of elder (pastor/shepherd/overseer) Part 1
These are some of the most demanding parts of the new testament. The elder - shepherd - overseer - of a church is not for sissies. Its not for just anyone. In fact the truth is that pastors stand accountable to God for those they oversee. This is not fun and games. Its not a show on Sunday and wiping people's noses on Monday. This is hard core one day I will stand before God and give an account - as a pastor - for not how I live only - but how I led. Hebrews 13:17 says:
Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
So here goes.
V1: This is a trustworthy saying: "If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position."
Some pople desire to be an elder - a pastor in a church - a leader in people's eyes. Its OK to desire that. Its honorable. There's a lot to unpack in a position of honor. I will save that for another day. Paul is going to explain what that elder looks like though. What a position of honor requires. Not everyone is cut out from this cloth. They can be. I will go as far to say they should be. There is a lot at stake. First pray - Lord forgive me where I have failed in these areas and thank you for mercy. I deserve no less than hell but by the blood of Jesus Christ I am humbled and honored to be called a son of God!
2:So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach.
I will leave the debate of "man" and "faithful to his wife" that bogs people down in men vs women elders/pastors, divorced pastors, single pastors etc. You can read a lot of translations, theological books, commentaries, church policies etc and fight till Jesus comes on this. Lets talk about what we know about and not build an entire church structure around a single verse of scripture for now. There is a lot to bear on that. Lets talk about the position of elder who oversee's God's church:
Life above reproach. The antonyms (opposites of this are Praise and Honor. Reproach is blame, fault, censure. In other words you live in a bubble and people had better see something worthy of praise and worthy of honor. Not like you are god - but you have Godly Character. You are like Christ. This is the way an elder must live. The only way to know that is for him to live a life that people can see. Transparent, authentic, open to some degree and well known by his peers. The elders in Antioch laid hands on the missionaries (Paul, Barnabus) and sent them out. They were able to discern their Character - they knew these men were above reproach. They lived worthy of a position of honor because they were honorable and not boobs.
Very few public figures are above reproach it seems these days. If we look in the microscope of someone's life - we will find fault. All are sinners and all have fallen short of God's glory. But we are dead to sin and we live for Christ - this is about CHARACTER and Christ Likeness. My confession if I am honest is i can fake it a lot of times but I really want this to be who i am so that my grand kids will fall in love with Jesus. My grandad was a man above reproach. My dad is a man above reproach. I want to be that man to my kids and my grandkids as well as to my community and the people that I will have an opportunity to pastor one day.
Faithful to his wife. There is more to this than not sleeping around or looking at porn. Sure these are major issues. More pastors have fallen from zipper problems than just about anything. But this is the first thing listed after his character. This is about him and his wife and their rock solid Christ honoring relationship. A pastor (married) is in this thing with his wife and she is his first priority - not his church. He must be faithful to her first (because his marriage is a picture of Christ and the church). Read Ephesians 5 and see how a Husband is to love his wife - he gives himself for her FIRST and he leads her - FIRST!
My first priority - no matter what the church thinks or what my friends and other guys think is my wife. I am to be faithful her. That includes how I treat her, how I romance her, how I lead her, how I care for her as a woman, how I provide her a home that makes her proud to have guests in (later), how I take care of her when she is sick, and how I talk to her, how I provide for her and our kids and how I keep my vow to be faithful to her until death parts us - for better or worse.
Sometimes a pastor will make the church his first priority and his wife #2. The church is the mistress and the wife is the concubine or maid. I could preach an hour on this one verse but my wife is queen in the anderson home. She is #1 ahead of the kids, the job, the church and while those things are important to us and her at the end of the day its about her. (Wow I have another sermon about when we get home and its about the TV, Hobby, Football, Computer, Video Game...but thats for you not me - HAHA - -Tonight no computer and its not even date night!)
He must exercise self control: Thisis the last fruit of the spirit listed in Gal 5:23. Its needs exercise to be strong. Most people dont have self control. Fat people at a buffet. I've lost control there. Someone provokes you - ever lose control and blast them to their face? (or in email?) I've done that. Kids make you angry? Ever lost control of your emotions? We've all lost control. This is a fruit of the spirit and as such must be tended like a garden - every day - every moment - every situation. Carefully under cultivation from the master Gardner Jesus! Therefore you must be in submission to the Spirit and following Christ hard 24/7. Has any pastor never lost control? Only one. Jesus - the chief shepherd. We must have exercise (discipline) to become more and more like Jesus every day. OK I am convicted - how about you?
Live wisely. Ever see a fool? Its easy to figure this out. We arent all solomon but solomon did pray for wisdom to lead people (and still messed up). The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom! Elders must live in a constant fear of God - not like God is a traffic cop with a tazer ready to zap you when you do dumb things. But we must strive to live in the wisdom that only comes from God. James says if any of you lack wisdom ask - and God will give it to you liberally. Read the bible - fear God - pray for it, get godly counsel - and wisdom will flow from the throne itself.
Have a Good Reputation: Ask someone "what do you think about so and so" . Check their references. Who do people say they are. Can they be trusted. Hard to find in culture. Hard to find in the pulpits. A whole sermon on reputation. Not though this is not about making a name for yourself or making yourself known of famous. Lots of famous people have bad reputations. Lots of unknown people have great reputations. Jonathan's armor bearer had a great reputation. No idea who he is or what is name was.
He Must Enjoy Having Guests in His Home. A pastor - like it or not - is to be a people person. We cannot excuse our personality. That doesnt mean we have to have the door open 24/7 to every church member who wants to eat a hot dog and hang out by the pool. It really says guests - not church members. A pastor ought to be able to hang out with those outside the church and have a good reputation with them. Church planters are supposed to be good at this. I sucked at it. Our church grew - we had people in our home all the time. We had classes in our home, meetings in our home, training in our home, bible study in our home. Frankly we had so many things in our home it began to be tiresome. I want to invite guests and friends alike into my home and enjoy their company - and that requires a good pattern of life - separation of church and home. Having a rhythm that alloys you to recharge so you can enjoy when they are there. Guests can suck the life out of you if all you do is let them drain you of the energy it takes to make them welcome. I want guests in my home so I can be friends, hang out, talk about life and have spiritual conversation. My home cannot be my job though. This is part of my stress situation that must be resolved. Work stops when I get there - and can start when I leave. This is a discipline I have lost being a "church planter" and bivocational. I will work to recover it over time.
One note - if you enjoy having guests in your home - you should probably have a nice clean place for them to come and feel welcome and be entertained. It doesnt have to be big or extravagant or have a pool or a flat panel tv. Nothing wrong with that. If you are blessed by it - share it. But don't live like a pig.
And he must be able to teach. BAM. If you cant stand up and teach God's word faithfully - which means you read it, know it, study it, live it out, love it with all your heart and then be able to TEACH other people. There is a difference between talking, and teaching. If you cant TEACH dont. (i know a lot of people with a shepherd heart who cannot teach worth a crap - but they put together sermons all the time and then bore people into comas on Sunday with their so called sermons) you need to find another job.
Also Jesus taught with authority - not like the pharisees. This isnt about how much you know. Its about WHO you know and WHO you have been with. Love Jesus - Live Like Jesus and if you have the ability to teach - then TEACH like Jesus and about Jesus. Nothing else matters.
Um - I only got to verse 2. There is too much here to get in one sitting. I could re-read this tomorrow and find 500 things I need to work on. For today, I have the desire. I want my wife to be number 1. I want to live a life that my kids will praise and those outside cannot accuse me of anything wrong, I want to seek wisdom - thats why Im on sabbatical and talking to pastors - and I want to ENJOY having LOST people in my home - just like Jesus enjoyed having whores and thieves at the dinner table.
And you missed my Romans 12 one cuz its private - but my God given gift is teaching. I want to be a better teacher of the Gospel and that means I need to focus on my calling as a pastor and not all the other crap I worry about that gives me heartburn that puts me in the ER with chest pain and such. Im done with that!
If you read this - and think im nuts. I am nuts for the bible and the gospel and Jesus is my Hero. I want to be QUALIFIED to teach people about Him!
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