“Deacons Likewise”

Let's take our Bibles please and turn to the book of 1 Timothy Chapter 3.  First Timothy Chapter 3 we are going to begin reading in just a moment in Verse 8.  As soon as you see that I can hear your minds thinking, "Oh, after the song on Psalm 3 that the Lord is the lifter of my head and when my enemies surround me and I seek him in prayer I can lay down in sleep and awake in safety, when we hear Jenny's song about ' you can have the world, but give me Jesus, and that last phrase, 'and when we come to die.."  you just have the essence that what we're dealing with in worship is that of great seriousness and the pastor stands and reads…. "Deacons likewise."

I'm going to talk about deacons in the church beginning next week you are, as the church, are going to begin the selection process for those men who are going to serve this church as deacons.  I do find it terribly interesting that the phrase begins…."Deacons likewise must be dignified."  Serious would be the English word that I'm going to use to describe that in a little more detail in just a few minutes.  So, we'll see that this intense worship of God, this great delight in his protection, the fact that he is the one who is the lifter of our head and the one who can take us through death is actually directly related to the issues of deacon service in the church, and one of the reasons that the church has difficulty today, not ours, but the church in general with both offices of the church, deacons and pastors, is because we have neglected to realize the utter seriousness of the work their called to do.

Let's read along, 1 Timothy 3:8:

1 Tim. 3:8

[8]Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain; [9] they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.  And let them also be tested first and let them serve as deacons. [10] If they prove themselves blameless. [11] Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. [12] Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their  households well. [13] For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confident in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. [14] I hope to come to you soon; [15] But I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you  may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth.

We too often cut that off because in our Bibles we have verses and chapters and we probably have a little caption that cuts off verse 13 from verse 14 and that's a bad thing because it wasn't cut off that way when Paul wrote the letter.  And when we read those personal remarks that come right out of seeming those so institutional remarks we're reminded that this is real life.  This is a real place.  Timothy is a real person.  Paul is away and writing to him and hopes to come to him soon, but while Timothy is there at Ephesus he is giving him some instructions for church living.  It's real.  This is plain.  This is not stodgy and stiff and simply organization material for the church.  This is the church's life, plus it is the following verses, verse 14, 15, and 16 that give the context in which deacons serve so that we can understand them, so the first thing we have to do is answer this question, why does God ask for this type of leadership in his church?

Now we've spent a lot of time in our church understanding the issues of pastors and deacons.  I believe it is very strong in the New Testament that the word, bishop, in the King James Version, or the office of overseer in the newer ones, so it's overseer, elder is and pastor is another one.  Overseer, elder and pastor, if you chase those down, they are all one in the same.  We prefer in our day the word, pastor.  But those are the men in the church God has called and especially gifted for both leadership and more than that, teaching the scriptures in the church.  There is very little difference in the moral requirements, the life requirements, the family requirements for deacons and overseers, but there is a difference in their function in the church.  Why, why this type of leadership in the local church? 

Now you read the list, and I know sometimes we think, "Well, who in the world could ever be qualified to be one?" But if you simply read it and look at it, all he is listing is someone who is living up to what they claim to be anyway, a Christian.  There is not a great deal of special requirement there.  It's an idea of showing us how much we need the grace of God to be the Christian we need to be.  But it still makes me ask why this type of leadership in God's church?

The clue for us is in Verse 14 and following:

[14] I hope to come to you soon; [15] But I am writing these things to you so that [here's our purpose] if I delay, [If I the apostle, the leader here, if I delay and can't make, so you, Timothy, my representative] you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth.

Why this type of leadership?  Because of who lives in the church.  It is the household of God, the church of the Living God.  The phrase, Living God, was used often in the Old Testament to designate Jehovah God as apart from the dead idols who had been crafted with the hands of men and set upon a pedestal to be worshiped.  It is always fun and also huge intelligence to create a God and then worship your own creation.  And Paul is telling us the truth, even in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1, Verse 9, we see that in the New Testament people were turning from the dead idols to serve the living and the true God.

The reason this type of leadership is demanded in the church is because God dwells in the church!  Which brings up a particular issue in the New Testament, that the Old Testament community of Israel was to be aware, as Joshua told them, God dwelt among them.  We, we are told that we as individuals, are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  And that the church, as a whole, according to 2 Corinthians 16 is the temple of the Living God, and according to Ephesians 2:22, We, together, Jew, Gentile, all races, nations and tongues are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.  We of all people ought to be aware of the fact that God dwells among us.

[Sometimes that was the reasoning and good thinking behind where we dressed up to come to church.  But God really isn't interested in if you dress up to come to church, he is interested in how you dress your soul to come to church.  A tie never covers sin; all they do is choke you to death.  Whoever came up with the idea that preachers ought to preach in coats and ties on Sunday morning may need to rethink that idea.  I think ties are of the devil! [Laughter]]

But what about your soul this morning?  Did it come prepared to sit in the presence of God?  Have you weighed that out lately?  That when you come to church, you are in a place where there is a whole number of people gathered and God dwells in their very soul and then he dwells in our midst.  He is especially present with us.  But, better than that, have you recognized especially when we read passages like this, that not only does God dwell in our midst as his people, there is no line drawn between the church and you outside because this building is not the church.  You, my friend, are the church. I'm pretty confident that when Paul wrote this there was no First Baptist Church of Ephesus.  If they met anywhere they probably met in homes.  So, when he spoke of the church and how people ought to behave in the church, he wasn't talking about a place or a house of God.  He's talking about the household of God, which is the household, the people of God; that's where he dwelt.  So, one reason God demands seriousness among his leadership is because of who lives in the church.  And when I look at what church leadership has been up to in our day, we obviously don't think much of God.

I turned on a television broadcast not too long ago and it just nauseates me when I see certain religions.  Some of them are GREAT!  And some of them are blasphemous.  When I see what men are doing to build a name for them under a false Christ.  And then the issues of moralities among today's church leaders.  None of us is immune, my friend, but the closer you stay into the presence of God the further you do stay away from immoral shenanigans.  We need to take seriously that God dwells in his church. 

But not only that, who lives in the church, but because of what the church does and what the church is.  Paul said that you would behave in the household of God which is the church of the Living God, the one who is alive and present, a pillar and a buttress of truth.  A buttress is a bulwark; it can refer to the foundation of a building and sometimes does.  That means the church.  The mainstay of the church, the buttress, that which holds it up.  It is the buttress of truth.  That means the church is the place that holds the truth of the gospel and it stands against unbelief and heresy.  You take the church out of the world and you take salvation out of the world.  We don't save people, but God has ordained that his church is the guardian of truth.  We are the platform of that, the foundation of that, but we are also the pillar of that truth and pillars are that which lift the roof high and hold it firm. We are to exalt Christ and his truth so the world can see that. 

Now, when I think of that I begin to understand why God has specific leadership requirements for deacons and pastors in his church. Let's take a look at them. 

We'll say in 4 words, alright.  The first word in thinking of this is about a deacon's seriousness.  Now, dignified has the idea that this is a man that you would have respect for.  Some would even define it as revering.

[Now, what it doesn’t mean is that you cut your grass in your coat and tie.  Greg Wills and I were just talking about Martin Lloyd-Jones and he was just a unique bird, and on their family vacations, I think his children would play at the beach while he read books in his coat, tie and top hat.  Now, this was the beach - and Greg reminded me that- this was the beach in England, so it's not like South Florida! However, I've never enjoyed playing in the beach with my coat and tie on, have you?]

He's not that kind of guy, but there is a seriousness about this man that is reflected  in his behavior.  A deacon is serious.  And then there's two issues that he talks about in this serious man's life and one of those is his faith, or the faith and his family life.  Then he comes down to the actual issue of his service.  That's what we're going to talk about.  The seriousness of a deacon, his faith, his family life and then his actual service.

Do you know how hard it is to preach on a passage like this?  Ninety (90%) percent of the church just said, "Well, I'm not a deacon so it doesn't apply to me."  The deacon said, "Well, I've heard this sermon 10 times before so I don't need to listen, I've already got it down."  I doubt it.   Not that you have it down, but I doubt that we as a church don't need to hear it again; it is good to repeat. 

The messages that help me the best are those that repeat the basics to me in the plainest forms. 

He's dignified.  What in the world does that mean?  I have to take it to be related to the other words in the list.  Deacons likewise must be dignified; not double-tongued.  You like that one, don't you, double-tongued? It means talking out of both sides of your mouth.  It means saying one thing in one way in one set of company and the same thing in a different way in another set of company.  You know what that says to me?  You know what I think, he's not just dealing with the tongue issue because Jesus told us that that which is in the heart comes out through the tongue, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So, I think what we are dealing here with, the deacons of seriousness, these men who are to be our servant leaders in the church, he's dealing with the issue of personal security.  Because I have found over the years that people couch their terms depending on the level of their security, with God, themselves and other people.  And the reason I know that is that is how I couch my terms.  When I'm wanting to make an impression , when I'm a little insecure, when I need to raise myself in the elevation of the crowd around me, I have to think harder about what I'm going to say.  That's called couching your terms. Why don't you just say what you mean?  When we're secure, we can.  But when we are insecure we are double-tongued and God does not want not serious, insecure men. It doesn’t mean that you're deadly serious about everything you do, but it does mean if everything in life to you is a joke, or you have to turn it to a funny side, you're not qualified to serve in this type of leadership.

Not addicted to much wine.  That's always been a fun one for the Baptist church.  I get really tickled about how very, very socially conservative Baptist tiptoe around what the Bible really says and they make excuses for God when our Lord turned water into wine.  I also get very tickled at those guys who like to be real free, and I agree with Vance Havner, when Paul told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake, he said "it seems to me a lot of pastors are having a little stomach trouble these days." [Laughter]

I really don't think the whole issue is wine.  I think that is part of the issue, and no, the Bible doesn’t tell us to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages.  It does condemn drunkenness and being controlled by an alcoholic beverage.  We are to be filled with the spirit, not with wine.  However, there are multitudes of issues in our day that we must consider very seriously in a choice of participating in beverage alcohol or not: Genetic disposition, you have the discipline not to drive a car, do you know you can drink in temperance? What will your children think?  What will your fellow Christians think?  And many cultures are very different.  I'm just telling you I think you need to think long and hard before you casually make any kind of decision about this.  For me, especially because I am a pastor, before the Lord I have liberty to take a glass of wine, but I never do.  Because before you I don't and I would never ever cause you to stumble just because I wanted to do something for Tony.  There's a principle involved here.  I wouldn't condemn anybody for doing it, but my goodness, friends, I'd sure confront you over your Christian testimony if I saw you blowing it for something as silly as that.  Make sense? 

The Bible is very sensible, but I think it is far deeper than that.  I think he's talking about if you are addicted to wine one of the things you are doing is self- medicating.  You can self-medicate with a bowl of Cheerio's if it's your 10^th one!

Some of use self-medicate with television.  We just use that as our drug of numbness.  Some of use self-medicate with prescription painkillers.  Some self-medicate with pornography.  You wouldn't believe the men that I have talked to that stress is the trigger that pushes them back to the screen.  It is self-medication and that's sin.  Paul said, for deacons, you cannot do that.  You need to be self-controlled because that's the fruit of the Spirit.

A dignified serious deacon is secure in himself, is self-controlled, not self-medicated, and then it says he's not greedy for dishonest gain.  It means his heart is satisfied in God, in the Lord Jesus above all things.  The Bible tells us in the New Testament that greed is covetousness which is idolatry.  So, when we are idolaters, it simply means we are satisfying our heart on something besides God and anything that gets in front of God is an idol, and for those who are going to serve as deacons, not greedy for dishonest gain, you put the New Testament together, it seems the deacons did have a lot to do with the possessions of the church, we know how Judas pilfered the bag of the disciples, he said, you can't do that, but it's bigger than that.  You can't be covetousness, you can't be an idolater.  Deacons are serious men.  And when you know God lives in the household of the church, it kind of makes you want to be serious.

The scriptures go on and say this, "They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience."  Let me be very direct please.  We're doing a much, much better job here over the years.  I was telling somebody the other day about a deacon ordination council I went to in the first church out of seminary.  I was only on staff, but I was invited to attend this and there were probably 5 men up front being interrogated, going through the council and probably 25 or 30 men in the back asking the questions.  You heard a few things about their wives, their families, their testimonies, a hand went up in the back and one guy said, "Do you believe the Bible?" "Well, yes sir I do."  "Good."  "Do you tithe?"  "Well, yes sir I do."  "Good, I think they ought to be deacons."  Got any problem with that?  I have a huge problem with that.  Anybody can give away 10% of their income; that doesn’t prove your piety.  I think deacons ought to be tithers; I mean, if we can't lead the way in our stewardship, what can we do?  But, do you believe the Bible?  I know people who say they believe the Bible and they've never read it!  How can you believe something you've never read?

Deacons, my friend, don't get off the hook of being, "Oh, we don't need to know the Bible, we're deacons, that's up to the pastors."  You are to hold, you are to have, you are to grasp this mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.  The mystery is all the New Testament revelation about the secrets of God hidden in Christ.  You are supposed to understand that.  You need to understand what redemption is; what propitiation is; what God's satisfied wrath through Christ is; you need to understand what adoption is and the spirit of adoption through the Holy Spirit is.  You are to understand how to explain that the scriptures are inspired.  You may not be able to use all the words that I or somebody who is educated in the seminary can use, but you can explain all those things if you are a deacon.  God says you've got to be able to do that; how else can you hold fast to it and to do it with a clear conscience, meaning that you not only have to be clearly convicted of that, but you need to be living that or your conscience isn't clear.  Nobody's conscience is clear if they say they believe one thing and they live another.

So….. you are to be serious, you are to have a grasp on the faith and you are to be a clear example of a family man.  Verse 11:

[11] Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

Let me just make a couple of comments here out of sheer honesty.  Good godly Biblical scholars go back and forth as to whether this is addressing the wives of deacons or female deacons in the church.  Now, for some conservative Southern Baptists, the idea of a woman deacon just makes you think that who ever would even pronounce that would be an out-and-out liberal.  It has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative.  It has to do with being honest with the text of God's word.  Frankly from this passage of scripture alone we cannot know which way it goes.  You can use evidence both ways; there are strong indicators.  Our position through the years is that with the evidence of all of scripture, we are holding to the fact that deacons are to be men.  I have no argument with my brothers and sisters in Christ and their churches when they have women deacons according to a biblical interpretation.  But for anyone who does it from a social standing, saying, "Well women are equal with men," whoever came up with that stupid idea anyway?  I don't want my wife to be like me.  I’m really glad she's different.  I've never forgotten the phrase that Gary Smalley said that, that ever since it took more fig leaves to cover Eve than it did Adam, we know we're different! [Laughter]   Some of you caught that, thank you for catching up!

We are different; equal before God, yes, before God there is neither male nor female, slave nor free, that's not the issue here.  So, this is not a text to argue over, this is a text to submit to and the best way we think for us to submit to that is to say our deacons are going to be men.  It has nothing to do with downgrading women or pushing men up.  So, let's go back to verse 12:

[12] Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their  households well.

Same qualifications as for pastors.  This one stings, men.  This is another social issue that we just cop out by saying deacons ought not be men who have ever been divorced.   Frankly that's a cop out.  The statement is a one woman man.  I know men who have been married all their lives who aren't one woman men.  They just happen to live with the same woman their whole life, but they've been unfaithful in their mind, they've been unfaithful in their actions.  That person is not qualified to be a deacon because God lives here.  God can't be honored by that kind of living.

But what about, Joie, my wife is the greatest thing I have on this earth other than Christ, and God has blessed us with great faithfulness to one another and I'm thankful for that, greatly thankful for that.  He's blessed us with four children; 2 in college, a senior in high school and a freshman in high school now.  Managing their children and their own households well comes down hard, doesn’t it?  It's not just 'Can you rear children?' But can you manage a household? And did you notice, he didn't put it on mom's shoulders like we do?  He put it on Dad's.  Our family….. By the way, when you manage them well, managing means to rule, to care for, to give attention to, to guide, it means to be active in helping and to do that well means you do that beautifully, finely, excellently and honorably.

Fourth, a deacon should be a serious man, he should be a man who holds the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, he should be a family man that is very evident to all, then he's ready to serve.

Verse 10 says, "Let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless." 

As I understand it that test is ongoing; it's not just an ordination council, and this is where the church comes in.  You are the ones, [I can tell this is weighty, because you're still, I can hear your paper twitching, somebody is going to open a plastic peppermint here in a minute  and everybody in the church is going to hear it.  [Laughter]]

This is heavy.  Don't let it just be heavy.  I mean, heavy - weight - has to do with glory.  That's where glory comes from.  Glory is what God has.  And the reason God wants these things is because he's glorious and if he has a trashy, half-hearted church, then God doesn't look glorious to the world.  He's not looking for stodgy, stiff, ugly, unattractive in spirit kind of people.  He's looking for somebody that is filled with delight because he sees God as the satisfier of his heart.  He's looking for somebody who is faithful and learning and growing all the time in this mystery of Christ.  He's looking for a man who loves his family, enjoys spending time with them.  That doesn't look heavy to me, that looks delightful.  But it is after all of that that you begin your service. You pass this test as the church sees you.  It's your responsibility to nominate this kind of man.  "Let him be tested."  You know what that says to me?  "Let him be tested, then let him serve."  It says to me you can start and then the rest of the text says, 'but can you finish?'  "For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves."  What that means is when you passed the test and you continue in your service, people in the church do begin to look up to you.  Rightly so!  You have earned that.  You have gained that standing in the church.  But, not only that, you gain a good standing for yourself but also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.  Not confident in you, not confident in your service, but confident in your Savior.  You have a grasp on the mystery of the truth, you've lived with your family and your faith the way you're supposed to, you've served in your office well, and now you walk with this certain humble confidence that your faith rests in Christ alone.  It's not dependent upon your performance.  He's taken your sins away.  You know you are loved by God and therefore this confidence that you have breathes out into the church and it doesn’t breathe out, "Hey look at me, I'm a great deacon!"  It says, "Look at me, I've got a great Savior!"  Confidence…. In THE faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Alright… I have to assume that the question going through your mind is the question going through my mind.  Could I ever do this and be this?  Yes. 

God did not lay these qualifications down to put such a burden on his people, that nobody would come to the point of the church recognizing them.  He gave it as his wisdom to the church to say, 'Those are the men we need to lead us.'  You don't become a deacon to become a good man.  You are a good man in Christ and by that visibility you become a deacon.  You don't run a marathon to get in shape; you get in shape to run a marathon.

So, how is this possible?  Because every word I've said I've said to myself because the requirements are exactly the same for a pastor.  It's heavy!  Until I remember just a few things.  Things get sized up when I recognize I live in the presence of God and this is a God, who in his Gospel, has told me in one hand immediately I'll never measure up, and then he says right next to that, "But my son has.  Why don't you find your faith in him." So, when I rest in that I see that he has his Holy Spirit come inside me and dwell as his temple just as he has in you. And the power of God's Holy Spirit is dwelling in you to shape and form you and mold you into the image of his dear son, to help you combat sin, to help you transform that mind so that you're secure in him, you are not double-tongued, so that you are dignified and serious in life, so that you are self-controlled by the Spirit, not self-medicating, and so that you are satisfied in Christ alone.  When that happens, my friend, these kind of requirements are not burdens to us, but blessings and we are set free because when we have found satisfaction in Christ, we want to serve that up to others.  That's what being a deacon is.  That's what being a church is.  The household of God, the church of the Living God.  And did you know that a pastor's reputation is to be known by outsiders?  And since conduct like not being double-tongued and being dignified and not addicted to wine and not greedy for dishonest gain doesn’t happen just inside the walls of the church or inside the walls of our houses, I assume that deacons are known the same way in public as they are in church buildings, because the most foolish thing I've ever heard of in my life, three of them:

1.                 Hiding things from God in prayer.

2.                 Being someone in church that is different than the person you are outside of church as if God is here and not there.

3.                 When people in public find out I'm a preacher and they don't say bad words anymore because I'm there.  [Laughter]  That is stupid!  God's there all the time.

But that gives you the picture, that God doesn’t just dwell in this building, but he does dwell in us, so when you select deacons, pray about it.  There are no super Christians in our church.  All of our men, myself included, are full of flaws.  But when you see an aim for this kind of life by the grace of God, there are men in this church that measure up fine.  There are a few men I'd like to speak to who have served in the past as deacons and you just kind of coasted, just kind of slipped away…. You probably need to step back up to the plate. It doesn’t matter  if you want your name put in to be an active deacon or not, just because you’re active doesn’t change who you are.  Maybe you want to think about that.  And, church, we all want to recognize that God's presence is with us.  Let's pray together.