As we would look for God's leaders, one of the best ways we does this is to remember the sage wisdom offered to us from 1 Samuel 16 concerning the section of King David. For it is there that we learn that we are not to look for outward appearances (who is more stately, taller, more handsome and influential than others), but rather we are to look as the Lord God does, and that upon the heart of the person as we are searching out for our leaders.
But how do we look upon the heart? We are not like God that we can see the heart? True, but we can see the fruit of the heart through the behavior and character of the person. And that is exactly the reason, Paul in 1 Timothy 3 enumerates for us qualifications for church officers. That is, as we are in the hunt for good and godly men to nominate to office, we are to look for the men who have the character and quality of a heart that would please God. To use another very memorable term associated with Kind David, to have men who have hearts after God! Men who have hearts after God display these characters and qualities, and therefore these become the qualifications for the offices.
So what we are going to look through is the qualifications for elder and deacon, and explain each so that we may understand what is meant by each qualification and so that we might rightly discern which candidates to nominate. And in this we find a fascinating providential and majestic outworking of our sovereign God, namely, that as we look to find the right men to represent us as our spiritual leaders, what we are really doing is acknowledging the ones that God in His grace has already chosen to be called to such an office! For really and truly, though we nominate and these men represent us as spiritual leaders, all the more so, the opposite perspective is true: God has already singled these men out through a work of divine grace to call them to serve and have them represent Christ to us! It’s a thing of beauty! God looks upon the heart for His leaders, and so are we.
What type of men must they be? I’m going to group as many as I can together under headings describing the heart in order to help us move through all these qualifications in one sermon. I will also often group both offices together as several qualifications are required for both offices, but then I will make a distinction where one office differs from another. I also will give a couple brief applications for each as I know we will not only be comparing our future officers to these standards, but likely also our own hearts. So God looks upon the hearts and what does He wish to see for leaders in His church? Four points this morning.
Men with Faithful Hearts
The Lord looks upon the hearts of men and desires men to lead who have faithful hearts, and faithful in two ways: Marriage & Family. This is to be true of both elders and deacons. We see this concerning elders in v. 2 & v. 5, and then as well for deacons v. 12.
Faithful in Marriage - v. 2 & v. 12, “the husbands of only one wife…” The original language Greek is literally “one-woman men”. And though there are a lot of ways to interpret this, such as ‘must be married’, ‘no second marriages’, ‘no polygamy’, the best way to interpret this is that God’s man for office must be faithful to the wife God has given him. This permits for a widowed officer to marry again, and could even allow for a man’s wife to have been unfaithful, but he true to still be an officer. It allows for a single person to serve, who is faithful to the Lord. It could also permit the rare exception for a man to have fallen in his past either before he became a believer or even after, so long as he demonstrates a proven track record since over many years of faithfulness to his present wife. In all, perfection is not the goal here, but faithfulness. And what is faithfulness? But being filled with faith in the Lord that has worked its way out into our lives! Though we may be tempted to wander, our hearts being filled with faith remain faithful! Faithful Hearts in Marriage, isn’t that the kind of man you want above you serving?
But wouldn’t you also want that man to be…Faithful to Family? Yes, that’s why in vv. 5 & 12, the other qualification is being a good manager at home, “manages his own household well” and who’s in the house? v. 12, “children” and whomever else is there, i.e. “household”. And the reason being is obvious isn’t it? v. 5, “But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” Or, how can he be faithful with more at church if he isn’t faithful with less at home first?!? Men who genuinely love their children and are faithful to pray, plan, and intentionally invest in their children through love, thoughtful teaching, time spent, and discipline where needed. Faithful!
Men with faithful hearts, that’s whom the Lord has chosen for His leaders.
By way of application, it’s never too late to become faithful. A good number of men will hear this first qualification and they’ll say, “Well that does it, count me out!” And in this they are thinking of their private life, whether in their worlds of thoughts or past. Let me say this, as Christ is our redeemer and is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It’s never too late to become a man filled with faith who is then faithful. Has there ever been a man that has been faithful in all things? No, only one, Jesus! But He is the One who would redeem you and call you to believe in Him all the more (i.e. have faith) so that you might become faithful! It’s never too late! Dwell not on the past, but Christ beloved!
Men with Undivided Hearts
The Lord looks upon the hearts of men and desires men to lead who have undivided hearts. And here we are thinking of men that are not gripped by anything other than grace! Of course, but what else may we be gripped by? Three examples listed for both elder & deacon.
I love that verse in 1 John 3, “He is greater than our hearts”! And what that means is that He can heal, restore, unite our hearts to fear and love Him alone! He can do this, He is the Lord our Healer! And then when He has restored your heart, then let’s talk about serving. Some of the best men serving have had at one time a divide heart for the purpose that once they have been restored, they may minister to others with a care as one who only knows what it is like! Undivided hearts, God choses those men to serve Him!
Men with Proven Hearts
This blends into areas already mentioned, but we pull it out further to accentuate the point. I am looking to address the phrase in v. 2, “above reproach”, as well as the ideas of the new convert & reputation discussed in vv. 6-7 as well as the testing period for deacons in v. 9. What are they each after? A proven-ness of heart. Look with me at the descriptions given:
But let’s note this: God doesn’t waste any time. I was talking with a younger friend about this this past week. Often times, we feel that God’s plan is just a little too slow to develop, don’t we all? But in the end wasn’t it perfect? Also, did He not even use the down time to help round out our person, giving us gifts and skills we would have never known we would have needed? God doesn’t waste time, He’s playing the long game, and He wants officers to have proven themselves, tested, to bear the weight they are about to shoulder! Proven Hearts!
(& Lastly) Men with Gracious Hearts
I want to come back to what we have missed in v. 2 about elders, “temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…” But then some others will say you also missed v. 11, talking about women or wives of deacons. But I’ll say to you, that’s what I’m doing here underneath this point of men with gracious hearts. And how’s that? Well, God choses men whose hearts have been touched or impacted greatly by His grace. And what do these things have to do with grace? Well, when God’s great free grace has touched your heart…
Then in these four ways the Lord is indicating His leaders in the church, those with faithful, undivided, proven, and gracious hearts.
But how do we look upon the heart? We are not like God that we can see the heart? True, but we can see the fruit of the heart through the behavior and character of the person. And that is exactly the reason, Paul in 1 Timothy 3 enumerates for us qualifications for church officers. That is, as we are in the hunt for good and godly men to nominate to office, we are to look for the men who have the character and quality of a heart that would please God. To use another very memorable term associated with Kind David, to have men who have hearts after God! Men who have hearts after God display these characters and qualities, and therefore these become the qualifications for the offices.
So what we are going to look through is the qualifications for elder and deacon, and explain each so that we may understand what is meant by each qualification and so that we might rightly discern which candidates to nominate. And in this we find a fascinating providential and majestic outworking of our sovereign God, namely, that as we look to find the right men to represent us as our spiritual leaders, what we are really doing is acknowledging the ones that God in His grace has already chosen to be called to such an office! For really and truly, though we nominate and these men represent us as spiritual leaders, all the more so, the opposite perspective is true: God has already singled these men out through a work of divine grace to call them to serve and have them represent Christ to us! It’s a thing of beauty! God looks upon the heart for His leaders, and so are we.
What type of men must they be? I’m going to group as many as I can together under headings describing the heart in order to help us move through all these qualifications in one sermon. I will also often group both offices together as several qualifications are required for both offices, but then I will make a distinction where one office differs from another. I also will give a couple brief applications for each as I know we will not only be comparing our future officers to these standards, but likely also our own hearts. So God looks upon the hearts and what does He wish to see for leaders in His church? Four points this morning.
Men with Faithful Hearts
The Lord looks upon the hearts of men and desires men to lead who have faithful hearts, and faithful in two ways: Marriage & Family. This is to be true of both elders and deacons. We see this concerning elders in v. 2 & v. 5, and then as well for deacons v. 12.
Faithful in Marriage - v. 2 & v. 12, “the husbands of only one wife…” The original language Greek is literally “one-woman men”. And though there are a lot of ways to interpret this, such as ‘must be married’, ‘no second marriages’, ‘no polygamy’, the best way to interpret this is that God’s man for office must be faithful to the wife God has given him. This permits for a widowed officer to marry again, and could even allow for a man’s wife to have been unfaithful, but he true to still be an officer. It allows for a single person to serve, who is faithful to the Lord. It could also permit the rare exception for a man to have fallen in his past either before he became a believer or even after, so long as he demonstrates a proven track record since over many years of faithfulness to his present wife. In all, perfection is not the goal here, but faithfulness. And what is faithfulness? But being filled with faith in the Lord that has worked its way out into our lives! Though we may be tempted to wander, our hearts being filled with faith remain faithful! Faithful Hearts in Marriage, isn’t that the kind of man you want above you serving?
But wouldn’t you also want that man to be…Faithful to Family? Yes, that’s why in vv. 5 & 12, the other qualification is being a good manager at home, “manages his own household well” and who’s in the house? v. 12, “children” and whomever else is there, i.e. “household”. And the reason being is obvious isn’t it? v. 5, “But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?” Or, how can he be faithful with more at church if he isn’t faithful with less at home first?!? Men who genuinely love their children and are faithful to pray, plan, and intentionally invest in their children through love, thoughtful teaching, time spent, and discipline where needed. Faithful!
Men with faithful hearts, that’s whom the Lord has chosen for His leaders.
By way of application, it’s never too late to become faithful. A good number of men will hear this first qualification and they’ll say, “Well that does it, count me out!” And in this they are thinking of their private life, whether in their worlds of thoughts or past. Let me say this, as Christ is our redeemer and is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It’s never too late to become a man filled with faith who is then faithful. Has there ever been a man that has been faithful in all things? No, only one, Jesus! But He is the One who would redeem you and call you to believe in Him all the more (i.e. have faith) so that you might become faithful! It’s never too late! Dwell not on the past, but Christ beloved!
Men with Undivided Hearts
The Lord looks upon the hearts of men and desires men to lead who have undivided hearts. And here we are thinking of men that are not gripped by anything other than grace! Of course, but what else may we be gripped by? Three examples listed for both elder & deacon.
- By Wine - In our English translations they are the same, “not addicted to [much] wine”. But in the original language they are different. In v. 3, the original single word is a compound word which speaks of the one who is always found alongside wine. You close your eyes and think of the person and you always seem to picture them with a glass of wine near them. In v. 8 speaking of deacons, there are several words and though it has a similar end meaning, this describes one who brings much wine to the lips. And of what does all this speak, one who is found alongside of wine or always bringing it to their lips? One whose heart loves wine. Though that person may still love the Lord, that’s not a man for elder or deacon, for he has a divided heart.
- By Money - two long English phrases used here all seeking to unpack two Greek words, and they are spot on for both, v. 3, “free from the love of money” (you can say that all in one Greek word, how efficient) and likewise in v. 8, “fond of the sordid gain”. But of what do they both speak? Well it’s the danger James speaks of, the love of money. And see when you love money and God, you have a problem, because as Jesus says, you can’t love them both, though we try. As wrong as that is, it certainly should never be true of an officer in the church, because he then has a divided heart!
- By Anger & Malice - Two different verses, but many words. First of elders, v. 3 , “not…pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable…” Pugnacious means that you love to fight and argue, get angry fast, and gentle and peaceable mean the opposite. For deacons, its v. 8, “men of dignity, not double-tongued…” Dignity could be applied to anything but when it’s nearby double-tongued, it speaks of a man’s dignity who doesn’t stoop low to speak one way to some and another way to another. But what kind of undignified man does that? A man whose heart is divided either by anger or just general malice towards others.
I love that verse in 1 John 3, “He is greater than our hearts”! And what that means is that He can heal, restore, unite our hearts to fear and love Him alone! He can do this, He is the Lord our Healer! And then when He has restored your heart, then let’s talk about serving. Some of the best men serving have had at one time a divide heart for the purpose that once they have been restored, they may minister to others with a care as one who only knows what it is like! Undivided hearts, God choses those men to serve Him!
Men with Proven Hearts
This blends into areas already mentioned, but we pull it out further to accentuate the point. I am looking to address the phrase in v. 2, “above reproach”, as well as the ideas of the new convert & reputation discussed in vv. 6-7 as well as the testing period for deacons in v. 9. What are they each after? A proven-ness of heart. Look with me at the descriptions given:
- “Above Reproach” = not open to criticism or attack because of a proven track record.
- “Not a new convert” - v. 6, The word here is neophyte. And why may neophyte not be an elder? Because as the rest of the verse spells out, “so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.” Young men will often say this isn’t an issue for them, but we all know better than they and can see it in them. And so we are telling them to wait and prove it over time. Proven-ness.
- “Good Reputation with Outsiders” - v. 7. Why this? Well there could be several reasons, and yet among the top in my mind is, great he acts this way at church, but what is he like in the world? What do they say of him? Not looking for 5 star ratings, but a good reputation/name among unbelievers means this guy is a proven person!
- The Testing Period - Spelled out explicitly for deacons in v. 10, but the idea helps both offices, that’s why we do have a training and evaluation period, “The men must be tested, then let them see as deacons if they are beyond reproach.” Same as above.
But let’s note this: God doesn’t waste any time. I was talking with a younger friend about this this past week. Often times, we feel that God’s plan is just a little too slow to develop, don’t we all? But in the end wasn’t it perfect? Also, did He not even use the down time to help round out our person, giving us gifts and skills we would have never known we would have needed? God doesn’t waste time, He’s playing the long game, and He wants officers to have proven themselves, tested, to bear the weight they are about to shoulder! Proven Hearts!
(& Lastly) Men with Gracious Hearts
I want to come back to what we have missed in v. 2 about elders, “temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…” But then some others will say you also missed v. 11, talking about women or wives of deacons. But I’ll say to you, that’s what I’m doing here underneath this point of men with gracious hearts. And how’s that? Well, God choses men whose hearts have been touched or impacted greatly by His grace. And what do these things have to do with grace? Well, when God’s great free grace has touched your heart…
- You Gain Great Wisdom - “temperate, prudent, respectable” Of course there’s overlap here into previous categories, but notice with me how they all have to do with how God’s grace has taught us wisdom. It takes not only wisdom, but a lot of God’s grace and patience to teach us the wisdom to shut our mouth and listen, doesn’t it? Sure we may have become prudent or wise, perhaps even respectable. But did that not come to us by a series of failures, which God graciously forgave us and then taught us to do differently? Yes, that’s God’s Grace making you wise! God’s grace also teaches…
- You Share Grace With Others - “hospitable”, it literally means lover of strangers. But it implies what happened back in ancient times, which was the hosting those strangers to a meal or a stay at your home, hence the hospitable word. And where in the world could we have learned to host strangers not only to us but potentially to God’s kingdom? Is this not what God has graciously done for us? While we still strangers and enemies, God demonstrated his love and grace towards us! For what purpose? That we may share that same love & grace with others!
- You Teach Grace to Others - “Able to teach” for here don’t think the classroom exclusively, because some of our best teachers have never stepped foot in a classroom. Think of those that know well God’s grace and are able to articulate that to others. That’s a need for elders.
- You Partner in Grace - I think that’s where v. 10 comes in. Here specifically in a diaconal/serving type of ministry, you are going to need women and your wives to minister alongside of you to other women! And it’s not that women should have authority and maintain office (1 Timothy 2:12 makes that very plain), but that partner in sharing the grace of God with you to others, and these are the types of women who should serve—ones who themselves have been touched by God’s grace!
Then in these four ways the Lord is indicating His leaders in the church, those with faithful, undivided, proven, and gracious hearts.
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