Our Church’s Deacons

Our Church’s Deacons

“Our Church’s Deacons”

(1 Timothy 3:8-13)

Series: Reality Check: Keeping it Real at FBC

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

First Baptist Church, Henderson KY

(10-26-08) (AM)

 

  • Take God’s Word and open to 1 Timothy, chapter 3.

 

We return this morning to our very practical series of messages from 1 Timothy and we are calling the series “Reality Check” because we want to be sure our church is running according to God’s Word.  Paul writes a very practical letter to the young man Timothy, whom he has left behind as a sort of missionary delegate and temporary pastor there at the church in Ephesus.  Paul is writing Timothy, telling him how things should be set up and done there at the church.

 

Last time we were together in this book we looked at the role of the pastor of the church.  Paul wrote about that in the first seven verses of chapter 3.  He wrote about the role of the elder, or bishop, or pastor of the local church.  Then he turns his attention to the other office in the church, the office of the deacon; not “office” in the sense of a physical room with a desk and chair, but office in the sense of a group or organization.  As such there are two organizations, or groups, within the local church: the office of the elder and the office of deacons.  Well, let’s read about these deacons this morning.

 

  • Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

 

8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,

9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.  11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.  12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

  • Pray.

 

Introduction:

 

One of the mistakes I made in high school was that if I couldn’t understand how a particular topic spoke to me and my situation, I tuned it out as something for other people, but not for me.  So when I was studying Algebra II, I remember thinking so often, “Well, how is this stuff going to help me balance my checkbook?!”  Or, when faced with a word problem about Train A leaving New York headed to San Francisco and Train B leaving San Francisco heading for New York and Train A is traveling at this rate and Train B at another, at what time will they pass each other at Denver?  I remember thinking, “Man, ask the engineers for crying out loud.  Aren’t there people employed to know this stuff?!” Why am I learning about this?  I’m not going to drive a train.”

 

If we’re not careful we may make the same mistake this morning as we turn to the Scriptures.  We may reason to ourselves, “Well, I’m not a deacon, nor am I a deacon’s wife.  This is for other people, but it’s not for me.”  But one of the blessings of God’s Word is its remarkable profitability to all of us in all that it teaches.

 

When we study this text not only will we find direct application with respect to what it teaches about deacons, but we will also find implied application to every one of us, not only because we learn how to select deacons, but also because we read of the kind of behavior that glorifies God.  Many of these qualifications, particularly those about the deacon’s behavior, are really expectations of all Christians.  As Timothy looks out at the congregation there at Ephesus he notices that there are certain persons whose lives characterize faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  So in this sense, imagine a person surveying our congregation.  Who among us would give evidence of living-out many of these qualifications for God’s glory?

 

Our message this morning centers upon three main considerations.  First:

 

I.  Consider the Deacon’s Behavior (8-10)

 

Verses 8-10 speak to the deacon’s behavior.  Before we look at some of these behaviors, note with me that the word “deacon” there in verse 8 is a word that means “servant.”  Originally, the word referred to a person who was something of a water carrier or table waiter.  In fact, the word is comprised of two root words, a preposition “dia,” which means “through” and a noun, “konos,” which means “dust.”  So originally the word was associated with a person who literally walked “through the dust,” a person who “stirred-up the dust” as he served others.  Over time, the word came to mean a person who simply served.

 

In Acts 6, you will remember that the church grew so quickly that some people in the church were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  So the ministerial leaders of the church encouraged the congregation to select seven men—men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom—to serve food to others so that the leaders were freed-up to pray and teach the Word.  While it was not an official office at that time, those first seven men really served as the first deacons of the church.  They served in order to free-up the ministerial leadership to pray and teach the Word.

 

By the time we get to 1 Timothy we have an official office or organization of deacons.  It is not to be considered a “deacon board.”  That nomenclature is not appropriate.  It suggests a kind of “executive committee.”  Deacons are servants.  For that reason, it is better to refer to a “deacon body.”  Not a deacon board, but a deacon body—say that with me—“Not a deacon board, but a deacon body.” Now these behaviors; verse 8:

 

First Paul says deacons “must be reverent.”  The word means men of dignity, men worthy of respect, men who are serious about following the Lord Jesus Christ.  Then he says deacons are not to be “double-tongued.”  That’s a very picturesque way of remembering that deacons are to be consistent in their speech.  Politicians are sometimes accused of being “double-tongued,” speaking one way before one person and then, in an effort to win the support of the opposing side, they make sure no one is looking and then speak in another way to that person.  Imagine such a person in a church!  Such behavior fuels the sin of gossip and should be avoided by every Christian.  Here’s a practical way to avoid the sin of being double-tongued: always speak as though everyone were present.  If someone asks you about so-and-so, speak about so-and-so as though so-and-so was right there and you’ll never regret your words and you’ll never give way to ungodly gossip.

 

Then the Bible says deacons are “not given to much wine.”  They are sober in their dealings, not allowing alcohol to cloud their judgment.  It is very likely that deacons in the early church handled money and made house calls.  So it stands to reason that men had to be sober and above board in all their dealings.  As Paul says to all Christians in Ephesians 5:18: “Be not drunk with wine wherein is dissipation, but be filled—or controlled—by the Holy Spirit.”

 

It would be wrong for us to read this phrase, “not given to much wine” without considering the cultural context of Paul’s day and the cultural context of our day.  Paul’s day of 2,000 years ago in the Near Eastern climate, was a period of time before refrigeration.  Much of the water was impure and was made pure by adding fermented wine.  The wine used in the Lord’s Supper for example contained very little alcohol.  It was heavily diluted so that no one became intoxicated by drinking it for the Supper.  We live in a period of time of refrigeration and a time where we have pure drinking water and a number of other drinking beverages as well.  We also live in a time where alcohol is not diluted to make it weaker as much as it is distilled to make it stronger.

 

Our American culture is very different from the days of the New Testament.  Nearly everything a person buys at the drug store or the liquor store would be considered “strong drink” by biblical standards, a beverage the Bible always condemns as sinful.  We are to live blamelessly before non-Christians.  It’s a matter of our Christian testimony.  So I believe that not only should every deacon abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages, but every Christian should abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages.  You may not agree with me.  You have a right to be wrong!

 

Then the Bible says, “not greedy for money.”  Again, if the office of deacon included the handling of money, you can see why this qualification is important.  We don’t want a man serving as deacon who may be tempted to slip a little bit of the church’s money into his own pocket.  The deacon is to be, as Paul writes later in this book, in chapter 6, verse 8, “content” in all things.  One of the best indications of a Christian who is content in all things is a Christian who faithfully tithes.  He returns to the Lord the tithe, literally, “the tenth.”  He trusts in the Lord to meet his needs and faithfully gives to support the ministries of the church.  Verse 9:

 

9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

 

This phrase refers to holding dear the biblical truths of the Gospel.  It means, of course, that deacons will love the Word of God and study the Bible.  They yearn to learn the teachings of Scripture and then live them out for the glory of God.

 

10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

 

This phrase suggests that the congregation is to observe the life of a man who may be considered a deacon candidate.  The idea is that he is to be observed as he goes about his service in the church.  If he looks like the kind of man who should serve in the office of deacon, then he may be selected.  He is “blameless” not in the sense of being “perfect,” but rather, there is no obvious behavioral flaw that would cause others to question his Christian commitment.

So we consider the deacon’s behavior.  Secondly:

 

II.  Consider the Deacon’s Bride (11-12)

 

Verse 11 speaks to the behavior of the deacon’s wife:

 

11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

 

There are some who wish to translate the Greek word “wives” in verse 11 with the general word “woman” and so argue for a separate group of deacon women, but the context suggests that “wives” is the better translation.  It is rendered this way in every other occurrence in chapter 3 and the very next verse, verse 12, mentions that these deacons are by definition “husbands of one wife.”  So the weight of the evidence favors the way this verse is translated by the majority of translations.  It speaks about the deacon’s bride; his wife.

 

Why are there qualifications listed here of the deacon’s wife?  Apparently because she has a role of serving alongside her husband.  Unlike the pastor, whose role is that of leader, shepherd, and teacher of the flock, whose wife does not share his responsibilities of leading and teaching, the deacon who serves is supported and assisted by his wife.  She serves alongside him.  So what are her qualifications?

 

She is to be “reverent.”  It’s the same word used of the deacon in verse 8.  She is a person worthy of respect and serious about her following the Lord Jesus Christ.  Verse 11 also says deacons wives are “not slanderers.”  The NASB has, “not malicious gossips.”  Do not select a deacon to serve whose wife gossips about other people in the church.

 

And then the deacon’s wife is to be “temperate,” and “faithful in all things.”  Like her husband, she shows self-control and is trustworthy in all she does.

 

12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

 

This phrase “husband of one wife” is literally in the Greek, “Of one-woman, a man.”  It speaks of the faithfulness of the deacon to his bride.  He is a “one-woman kind of man.”  Some have interpreted it to mean that a deacon can never have been previously married and divorced.  Certainly, a current divorce disqualifies a man from serving.  It shows he has not ruled his children and house well.  But the verse does not speak to what may have happened years ago in a man’s past.  Perhaps there was a divorce on biblical grounds many years ago.  These qualifications here in chapter 3 are all in the present tense.  The idea here is to examine a man in his present situation.  Is he faithful to his wife?  Does his marriage evince years of commitment to and love for his spouse?  That is the idea.

 

And he must “rule his children” and “house” well.  This is characterized first and foremost by a desire to raise a family who is in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.  To that end, employing those things such as we learned last week when Dr. Don Whitney was with us.  Like all Christian men, the deacon shows honor to his wife, prays with his wife, reads the Scripture to his children, and makes sure everyone in the home is in a growing relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We have considered the deacon’s behavior and the deacon’s bride.  Thirdly:

 

III.  Consider the Deacon’s Blessing (13)

 

Verse 13 speaks of the blessing that redounds to the godly deacon.  What blessing may the deacon expect who lives in accordance with these Scriptural qualifications?

 

13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

First, note that this blessing is not for those deacons who merely serve, but for those “who have served well.”  Those deacons who have served well, who start and finish well in their service, will obtain a twofold blessing: they will obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

A “good standing” suggests that others will regard him as a particularly godly and influential man.  The NLT says the deacon “will be rewarded with respect from others.”  So he is held in high regard.

 

The other blessing to the deacon that serves well is that he will obtain “great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”  This speaks to the deacon’s growing confidence and assurance in the faith.  He becomes increasingly strong and sure in his walk with the Lord.  He becomes a mighty man of God.

 

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t say a word or two about our own deacons here at First Baptist Church.  Let me say as we begin a new church year together that we are a blessed congregation here at First Baptist.  We have a great ministerial staff, great support staff, great volunteers, and a great deacon body.  Not a board, but a what?—a body.

 

We have good men who serve this church.  Good men.  I know a lot of preachers who frequently tell “deacon jokes” for a quick and easy laugh.  These jokes are not hard to find.  They’re like jokes about preachers.  They’re all over the internet.

 

I have never, ever, told a single joke about our deacons.  To do so demeans their office.  It suggests that we’re not really serious about all of this stuff.  It’s to be taken lightly; something to joke about.

 

Well this is nothing to joke about.  It is to be taken seriously.  Oh, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a sense of humor, but we dare not make fun of the office of deacon.  We have godly men who serve this church and we do so, in part, because we take their role of service very seriously.

 

Praise God for First Baptist Church’s deacon body!

  • Stand for prayer.

 

If deacon means one who serves, then the greatest example of one who serves is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do you know Him?  Have you received Him into your life?  Turn to Him today and be saved from sin…

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