Timothy, These Are the Indispensable Characters of A Leader (1 Timothy 3:1-3)

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money"
(1 Timothy 3:1-3, NIV)

The most important character for very Christian is holiness. But for Timothy or Church's leaders, God's Word lays down some special standards for those who are in leadership positions. These characters are very important and indispensable for Christian leaders. "Overseer" also means "bishop" or "elder" (emphasizing spiritual maturity) mentioned in the New Testament are the same office and also apply to the pastor. When I read 1 Timothy 3:1-3, the word "above reproach" or "blameless" make me want to quit the ministry. But the word "he desires a noble task" is an encouragement to stay. Dear leaders, you must be:

#1 Above Reproach. No more quitting! The good news, Paul was not talking about sinless perfection. It simply and plainly means that a leader who led others spiritually must be blameless. There is to be nothing in his life toward which anyone – believers and unbelievers alike – can point an accusing finger against him (of course there will be lies, rumors, and gossips). In Greek, the word means "to take hold of." Thus, there is to be nothing that anyone can take hold of to accuse the man of God that would keep him from leading others spiritually.

#2 The Husband of But One Wife. There are few interpretations of this one. As for me, I understand it as being a one-woman man, have been married only once (unless his wife is dead, in which case the Scripture permits him to remarriage), and he should not be a divorced man. Why? Because verses 4-5 only make sense when I interpreted it that way. How about a young and unmarried man? I have no clear Scriptural support but I believe that as long as he is "not a recent convert" (v.6) and has all the characters but single, he is qualified to be a leader in the church. Paul, who wrote this letter was not married.

#3 Temperate. This word is also translated as "vigilant." It carries the idea of sound judgment. This can refer to everything from a sound judgment in his discipline to sound judgment in doctrinal matters.

#4 Self-Controlled. Or "sober" which refers to "sober-minded." Now, this doesn't mean he must not have a sense of humor. Being humorous is one way for leaders to gain trust and build a relationship. But what Paul would mean, I believe, was to remind leaders that the business of God has called to "overseer" is the most important and serious business in the world. Therefore, this duty requires men who are self-control, sober and serious about it.

#5 Respectable. Most English Bibles translated this word as "well-order" or something about "of good behavior." This is not only referred to the order of the Word that he preaches but to his whole manner of life. As a leader, he needs this! His duties will be so many and responsibilities so great (and he will meet lots of people with many personalities and problems too) that if his life is not ordered he will accomplish nothing. An unrespectable leader will only taint the Name of God he preached.

#6 Hospitable. This characteristic is not only very important for a leader, it should always characterize the Lord's people. In the New Testament, the Greek word means “love of strangers.” Hospitality is a virtue that is both commanded and commended throughout the Bible.

#7 Able to Teach. In Christian leadership: Not all teachers should be leaders, but all leaders (pastors) should be teachers. In Ephesians 4:11, the pastor and teacher are referred to as one ministry. If he is to be a leader he had to be able to teach God's Word.

#8 Not Given to Drunkenness. In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul shows that "the acts of the sinful nature" include "drunkenness" together with "idolatry" and "witchcraft." No self-controlled and respectable leader is also a drunkard!

#9 Not Violent But Gentle. To be violent is to be out of control. A leader not only needs to be self-controlled, but he also needs to be controlled by the Spirit of God. When the Spirit-controlled him, he will be gentle (not soft) and kind toward others. A gentle leader can win others back to Christ. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently" (Galatians 6:1). A violent leader will only chase people away from Christ.

#10 Not Quarrelsome. A godly leader will never promote quarrels or foolish arguments. Whether he teach, preach, or led others, he should listen to people's questions and complaints respectfully while avoiding foolish debates. Paul reminded this warning again in his second letter: "[The Lord's servant] must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful" (1 Timothy 2:24).

#11 Not A Lover of Money. This warning (4th "not") is so much needed today as it was during Timothy's time. Today it is very easy for the man of God to let economic pressures so preoccupy his thinking that money has a more important place in his life than it ought to have. One of the signs of the end time is people will be "lovers of money" (2 Timothy 3:2). To false teachers and leaders, Paul warned again: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people [leaders who "want to get rich", v.9], eager for money, have wandered from their faith…" (1 Timothy 6:10). If Christian apologetics can become quarrelsome, Christian leaders can be trapped into prosperity ‘false' gospel. On the other hand, churches should do their best in meeting the leader’s needs so that these pressures will not cause him to stumble and even possibly deny his faith and calling.

I like how Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses in The Message: "If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he's talking about, not be overfond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money hunger." So, as a leader, do you have all of the characteristics above? Or, when you choose leaders, do you take all of the above into considerations?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Young Men and Women, Consider the Meekness of Jesus

“I am gentle and humble in heart…”
(Matthew 11:29, NIV)

In these words, Jesus crowned the modest grace of meekness queen of virtues. In the Lord’s time, as in our own, meekness was regarded as feminine and self-abasing. Do we not usually associate the word with someone who is insignificant and labours under an inferiority complex?

The word “meekness” was one of the great ethical words of the Greeks. Aristotle, the philosopher, viewed it as the happy mean between two extremes: between too much anger and too little anger, for example. It was also used of the breaking-in of a horse in which the animal learned to accept control and bow to the will of another. With this background, let us consider its application to the Lord.

It might be said that meekness plus lowliness equals humility. Meekness is humility toward God. Lowliness is humility toward men. Jesus claimed both qualities for Himself. For this it is clear that meekness is not the equivalent of mildness or weakness of character. His activity in cleansing the Temple (John 2; Mark 11) was anything but mild. Meekness is strong, but it is strength held in control. When the glory of God is involved, the meek person can fight with vigour.

In what ways did Jesus display this lowly grace? He demonstrated it in His boyhood when, after His experience in the Temple, He went home and was subject to His parents (Luke 2:41-52). Without complaint He was willing to perform the lowliest duties. He made ploughs and yokes for the farmers of Nazareth. What an occupation for Him who made the world! He meekly accepted the Father’s plan for His life, even though it involved exchanging the freedom of the universe for the restrictions of a village carpenter’s shop.

Jesus was meek in His dealings with fallen humanity – even His own disciples – with doubting Thomas, with traitorous Judas, with denying Peter, and with thunderous James and John. Meekness is essentially the attitude that does not insist on its own rights, but it always ready to let go of privilege in the interests of others. Is this grace prominent in our lives? Meekness is measured by what we can endure without complaint or retaliation or demanding our rights. The meek person is willingly to submit to the will of God.  

How can we learn this grace of meekness?

“The fruit of the Spirit is… meekness” (Galatians 5:22-23, ASV).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus care (More) about the Quality of Fruit in our Lives, Not Quantity

Good tree bears good fruit

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgement day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”
(Matthew 12:33-37, NLT).

Trees are identified by leaf structure and organization, bark, shape, fruit and even DNA. Some trees like walnuts produce seeds without fruit – nuts. So what was Jesus’ first point? He was talking about identifying a type of tree; he was talking about the qualities within a certain type of tree. He wasn’t comparing apple trees and orange trees; he was pointing to the difference between a good apple tree and a bad apple tree, a desirable orange tree and an undesirable orange tree. In that case, the proof is in the fruit.

The kind of fruit (in this context) Jesus had in mind was words. He was directing his comments to the Pharisees who had mocked the healing of the demon-possessed man by accusing Jesus of operating under the influence of Satan (Matthew 12:24). By this point Jesus had demonstrated that the opposite was actually true – his accusers had revealed that they (the Pharisees) were producing the fruit of Satan (blaspheming the Holy Spirit).

In Matthew 12:30-32 (refer to previous post), we read about what happens when we resist the work of the Holy Spirit. But the wider teaching of Scripture gives us good clues about the positive side of that process – what happens when we cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let God bring forth fruit in our lives. Apostle Paul put it very well in Galatians 5:22-23: “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Jesus’ words of confrontation in Scripture portion above may seem harsh to us, but his awareness of the Pharisees’ deep-seated unbelief required a kind of shocking language. The Holy Spirit used his words to crack their internal hardness or they simply rejected what he had said. Either way, they could never say they weren’t sternly warned. Think about this: Fruit quantity is not the same as quality. What a disappointment to bite into a beautiful fruit that is mealy or rotten inside. We must go beyond asking for fruit to ask God to grow good fruit in us. What kind of fruit have you been producing lately? And what is contained in the treasury of your heart?

Jesus, my Master Gardener, please in charge of growing good fruit in my life. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Be Gentleman, Treat Women Respectfully

Since half of the world’s population (or more) is female, a man who can’t get on with women is seriously handicapped in his social life. There is a greater need for men to be firm and yet – gentlemen.

Treat women with respect, just as Jesus did. He never looked down on them, ridiculed them or ignores their feelings. He was understanding and patient. He was a good listener. Notice how Jesus dealt with the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John chapter 4. Even though she was sort of bad moral character Jesus treated her with the utmost respect.

In Galatians 5:22-23: “[The] Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (NLT). Here is one aspect of the Spirit’s fruit that a man should develop in his relationships with woman at every level: Gentleness. The New Spirit Filled Life Bible defines gentleness as "a disposition that is even-tempered, tranquil, balanced in spirit, unpretentious, and that has the passions under control. The word is best translated 'meekness,' not as an indication of weakness, but of power and strength under control. The person who possesses this quality pardons injuries, corrects faults, and rules his own spirit well".

“Gentleness” is being warm and considerate, qualities which flow from security in God and a reserve of inner power. The man who, by contrast, is pushy, self-assertive and abusive towards women is not real gentleman at all!

Be like Jesus

Be gentleman

Treat all women with respect

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

You Can Only Spill What is Inside

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness…”
(Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

“We had long known the Lord without realizing that
meekness and lowliness of heart should be
the distinguishing feature of the disciple” (Andrew Murray)

A nurse in the hospital complained to her pastor that she had been rudely treated by some of the patients. The wise pastor answered,

“Thank God for that!”

“What do you mean?” she inquired in astonishment.

“Well,” he explained, “if you are holding a glass and someone knocks against you, you can only spill out what is inside! When people misjudge and persecute us, we soon reveal what is in our hearts. If we are Christ-filled and governed by the Holy Spirit, we will manifest the gentleness and meekness of our Savior. In fact, God often allows us to be pushed around and mistreated so that the-not-yet-saved men may be astonished at His grace as we overflow with love and forbearance.”

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary defines ‘Gentleness’ as

“Sensitivity of disposition and kindness of behavior,
founded on strength and prompted by love”
THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

The Fruit of Gentleness

As I studied the Fruits of the Spirit from Galatians – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (5:22-23aNIV) – I realized that those traits are the very things the way the Father relates to us as His children. One of the greatest [often missed, but I believe] characteristics of God is His gentleness. He is the real gentleman. How often He had dealt with me gently and tenderly as my Father… God knows how often too He had dealt with you up to this moment; especially in the training of our spiritual life… Oh, God is gentleman.

But note this: Gentleness doesn’t mean weakness; it’s actually requires more strength to be gentle and kind than to be mean. It’s not softness as what we think of today as being ‘gentle’. It’s like what St. Francis De Sales said, “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing is so gentle as real strength.”

I want to share with you; recently I had been a little mean with someone. I’d forgotten to feast on the fruit of gentleness, a fruit that help us to be angry and yet not sin. I repeat – to be angry and yet not sin. I knew I had to repent, so I went to that someone and asked for forgiveness. I told that someone I was very sorry for losing my cool, uncontrolled my temper and allow the situation to boss it over me. Deep in my heart I knew that God had a better way for us to interact with one another… more gently.

Every time I blown up, I’ve found that asking for forgiveness is the best remedy for anger and troubled heart. It may take a while for the healing process, but our Father promises to help us and guide us. And His gentleness and grace toward us makes all the difference. He helps us by giving us the fruit of the Spirit – including, the fruit of gentleness.

Question: How do I know this?

When that someone forgave me that day, I felt the strength of our relationship grow and the distance between us fade away. When you gather your strength to be more gentle and kind, and when Father gives you the spirit of gentleness, people will praise the Lord because they have ‘see that you are gentle and kind’ (Philippians 4:5). 

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.