Ep. 336. 1 Timothy 3-4 | Overseers

EPISODE 336

OVERSEERS: 1 TIMOTHY 3-4

As someone who has spent the last thirty years preaching the Bible and the last fifteen years leading a church body, I have to say that it is painfully obvious how little value churches seem to place on 1 Timothy Chapter 3. The number of men I have known in church leadership who were not "respectable," who could not "manage his own household," who were "unable to teach," and still allowed to stay in the pulpit, is astounding. I wonder why we don't take Paul's message about overseers seriously. I said yesterday that the letter to Timothy doesn't have a one-to-one correlation to all the believers in the church, but at least here, the typical churchgoer should be informed on the kind of shepherd/teacher they employ and sit under. I recently asked the question, "How many affairs does a so-called man of God get to have before he is disqualified as a preacher?" Or, "How much money should the so-called man of God be allowed to steal from the church and still stand in the pulpit handling the Scripture?" Why do so many churches vote pastors and deacons (servants) into positions of leadership without holding them to the standard of the Scriptures? No wonder so many churches are weak and powerless. No wonder so many people sitting in the church seats are incapable of mature biblical thought. When the leaders are unqualified, it ought not to surprise us that the people are ill-equipped.

As in Paul's day, it is in ours that teachers are "departing from the faith." I think this could have been avoided so many times by just holding the overseer of the church to the standard that Paul set out for the church in Ephesus. But then, don't get me started on the typical pastoral selection process. What a weird model churches so often use. But this isn't the place for that rant.

I'll leave you with this: if you are in a position to help select the next pastor of your church, be sure to hold them to the standard set forth in 1 Timothy. If you are in a church where a pastor is not being held to this standard, have the courage to ask where else the pastor is disregarding biblical authority.

ADDITIONAL READING: Colossians 2:20-22