1 Timothy 3:1-3; 5:17-18; Hebrew 13:7, 17-18
Related Sunday School Lesson, Family Bible Series, June 20

Leadership is everything. Whether we are talking about a quarterback on a football team or the president of the United States, leadership is everything. No entity is more leadership-dependent than the church. As go the leaders, so goes the church.

I am not the the first to figure this out. The apostle Paul understood this. Much of his writing in the New Testament warned against bad leadership and gave guidelines for Godly leadership. Our lesson this week focuses on what is in some circles a sensitive subject. In a world that does not like authority, it is not always popular to talk about authoritative leadership in the church. But in a world where every mainline denomination is in decline and more than 80 percent of churches are plateaued waiting to decline, leadership is a vital topic. Our focal passages are found in 1 Timothy and Hebrews. In these we will find strong teaching about what leadership requires and how leadership operates.

What leadership requires. In a word, character. 1 Timothy 3:1-13 is what I sometimes call a housekeeping passage. It is given to provide some simple and straightforward direction concerning who should be placed in leadership within the church. The passage addresses the leadership team of the church, which consists of what we refer to as the pastoral staff and the deacon body.

There are several words that seem to be used interchangeably in Paul’s writings. The words “bishop” (overseer), “pastor,” and “elder” are often used to describe the pastoral leader of the church. In Paul’s letter to Titus, he uses the terms “bishop” and “elder” interchangeably, and on another occasion he uses the terms “elder” and “pastor” interchangeably. Though some will disagree, and throughout church history these words often are used to designate different roles, Paul sees them all as the pastoral leadership of the church. Along with the deacon body, they form the leadership team.

The first question that must be answered is: Who is qualified to be set apart to lead? Without question these should be people of unassailable character. Paul uses a word that is key to our understanding of this passage. All of these must be blameless. Do not misinterpret this word. It does not mean faultless. There are no leaders without fault. If we wait to find such, we will be leaderless. The word carries the meaning of recognized character – those leaders whose lives leave no room for accusation. If leadership is everything to the church, character is everything to the leader. Character determines decisions, decisions determine direction, direction determines destiny. Character is to be judged in three ways.

Character is measured by spiritual depth. A leader must be a person of proven spirituality, not a novice in the faith. A person not only of commitment but of substance in spiritual matters (1 Timothy 3:6-7).

Character is measured by personal ethics. A leader is one not given to improper behavior but temperate and sober-minded with a temper under control. A person not given to alcohol nor governed by greed.

Character is measured by family commitment. Leaders must have their act together in the home. If they have children, they must be firmly in charge of them. This does not mean a rebellious child is necessarily a disqualifier for service. However, if the home has a pattern of rebellion, it may show a lack of family commitment.

This commitment is most necessary in the area of marital status. Without question the most difficult statement Paul gives in this passage is the statement that the leader (both bishop and deacon) is to be the husband of one wife. This is sometimes seen as a prohibition against divorce among spiritual leaders. Though divorce is a serious issue and one that must be considered when choosing spiritual leaders, it is not the clear meaning of this passage. The Greek language simply means “a man of one woman.” Or as we might say “a one-woman man.”

Scholars point out that if Paul had meant that a leader could never have been divorced, he could have easily said so. This is a sensitive subject in many churches. I wish the language here had been more specific. As it is, the best way to handle this is to avoid reading into it more than Paul intended. The clearest meaning would simply be that a spiritual leader must be a person who has an understanding of and a commitment to a biblical model of marriage, which is one man with one woman for life.

How leadership operates. The only model of leadership given in the New Testament is servant leadership. Servant leadership takes its model from Christ Himself who came not to be served but to serve. His words to the disciples make the matter crystal clear.

“You know that the rulers of the gentiles rule over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Some people are fearful of this concept, thinking that this in some way diminishes authority. To the contrary, true spiritual authority is derived from service. It should be remembered that the writer of Hebrews left no doubt that spiritual leaders in the church are to be honored and heeded, according to the merit of their character, and prayed for.

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct” (Hebrews 13:7).

“Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things desiring to live honorably.”(Hebrews 13:17, 18)