seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Timothy 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
8 In the same way, deacons[b] are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
11 In the same way, the women[c] are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,[d]
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
was vindicated by the Spirit,[d]
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
a. 1 Timothy 3:4 Or him with proper
b. 1 Timothy 3:8 The word deacons refers here to Christians designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the church in a variety of ways; similarly in verse 12; and in Romans 16:1 and Phil. 1:1.
c. 1 Timothy 3:11 Possibly deacons’ wives or women who are deacons
d. 1 Timothy 3:16 Or vindicated in spirit
This is from the easy English site. I've been using it this far... might as well stick with it.
The local churches each had a group of men who were the leaders. These were the elders or bishops. The word elder did not mean that they were old. It was a title for a leader. The word bishop here is not the same function as bishops have now in some churches. It just meant one of the leaders.
A leader must be a good man. No one should be able to accuse him of doing wrong things. His life must be a good model for the church members to follow.
If he is a married man, he must have only one wife. He must be a loyal husband to his wife.
He needs to be able to think clearly so that he can make wise decisions. He must always be in control of himself. Those who drink too much tend to lose that control. He should earn the respect of both Christians and those who are not Christians.
The word deacon means a servant. But it became a job in the church. While the elders led, the deacons did much of the practical work in the church. There would be a group of deacons in each local church. In the time of Paul, these would usually be men. Like the elders, they had to have the right qualities for this work. These were similar to but a little less than those of the elders.
Deacons must live good lives so that people can respect them. They must always speak the truth. They will not vary what they say. And people will be able to depend on their word. They must be careful how they live. And they must not drink too much strong drink. They must be honest in all that they do. The desire for gain for themselves must not be their aim or the reason for what they do. Their purpose in this work must be to serve God and the church members.
From the beginning of time, God planned to send Jesus. When Jesus Christ came, he died to take away the sins of us all. God spoke about the coming of Jesus all through the Old Testament. But none of the people seemed to understand what he said. They expected the Christ (Messiah) to come as a strong king like the kings of the nations. But he was humble like a servant and died on a cross. Now God showed to the people what they could not know. God has shown the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ to those who believe. This is the centre of the Christian faith. God will save from their sins all those who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus. The deacons must be firm in their belief in this gospel.
As they maintain this truth, they must have clean consciences. They must not allow any sin to spoil their life with God. If they do sin, they must repent. And they must ask God to forgive them. What they believe must show in how they live.
In the church at that time, deacons were usually men. There were women in the church who did the work of a deacon. For example, there was Phoebe who was a deacon in the church at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1). So the women here are those who take part in the work of the deacons. Some of them may have been the wives of deacons. Some of them could have been women that the church members had appointed to do this work.
Just as the deacons had to live good lives, so must these women. They must not gossip or find fault with other people. They will know about things that should be kept private. They must not talk about these things. People must be able to trust them. They must not drink too much strong drink. They must be steady and honest in all their work.
The church is not the building in which they meet. It is all the believers when they meet to worship and serve God. They are the house of God. God is with them. They are the church of the living God. The strength and the foundation of that church are in God.
God has trusted Christians with his truth. Each local church of Christians has a duty to protect that truth from all that is false. There were some people in Ephesus who opposed the truth. And those people taught wrong things. Timothy had to tell them to stop doing so. The church members must not accept what these people taught. They must hold on to and spread the truth that is from God.
The secret of true religion that God has shown to us is great. All must agree with this because there can be no doubt about it. The secret that he has shown to us is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is about what he has done. It was a secret because people did not know God’s plan. He had promised that the Christ would come to save us from our sins. All through the Old Testament, God speaks about the future when Christ would come. When he came, the Christ had to suffer and die for us. But nobody understood that. Now we know that the Lord Jesus has come. He has done all that God had said that he would do.
This is from enduringword.com.
If a man desires the position of a bishop: The office Paul described is that of bishop. Our religious culture has given us a particular idea of what a bishop is; but the word bishop in New Testament Greek [episkopos] literally means “over” (epi) “watcher” (skopos) – an overseer.
He desires a good work: The idea isn’t, “Good for you, you want to have a place of spiritual leadership,” even though that can be a godly desire. The idea is more like this: “This is a good, noble, honorable work. Timothy, you need to look for good, noble, honorable men.”
Likewise deacons: An example of the appointment of deacons is in Acts 6:1-6, where the apostles saw the need to distribute the daily assistance to the widows among the church yet did not have the time to distribute the aid themselves. They chose men to act essentially as deacons in that church.
Deacons must be: Their qualifications are much the same as those for “bishops”; practical service (especially when recognized by an office) is leadership also.
I remember a lot of Sunday afternoons ..... playing out in the back yard at the church while Daddy straightened up after the service and got ready for the evening prayer service. I was young....just old enough to give a profession of faith but 5th or 6th grade young. Daddy was a deacon. Mom said he "had to do it". She thought he did it for the praise. She was raised in a church. Her mom was the preacher when the regular preacher couldn't make it up into the mountains. My mom didn't get Baptized until Daddy wanted to be a Deacon. Oh I'm gossiping.... stop....
Back in the days of the early church... as I keep harping.... women were no better than an ox. They were property. Children were everywhere. There was no birth control. Pulling out or masterbation were illegal.... according to the Jewish traditions. Now the Christians weren't stuck with the Jewish traditions... so they wouldn't be stoned to death for pulling out or masterbating.... but they were use to completing the task at hand.... so there were children everywhere. When Paul says control your children.... it must have been almost like controlling a laughing, running, loud flock of sheep.... of course, the sheep would follow the directions of the sheep dog..... and I don't know if a sheep dog could coral children.. Back to the main point.... women were property.... and according to Paul... humans had now moved from having multiple wives and concubines...... [Remember king Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines] to monogamy. So the man how would be deacon should not be the type who marries a woman, sleeps with her... and then walks out in the street and declares "I divorce her" three times turning her into a useless second hand rose. Back in the days of Paul and Timothy.... only virgin women were worth a marrying.
Ok... so an elder and a deacon should be a respectable person. I say person because not all of the churches had enough men to fill the positions necessary to feed the church. Most of the men had to work full time.... and the position of elder or deacon required a lot of time. Some times the church had to ask a woman if she wouldn't mind pitching in.... picking up a deacon spot. Now she couldn't teach or preach... but she could serve... and that's the main job description of the deacon... a servant. So there were women who became deacons.
This chapter is one that was used to put women in their place throughout my brick and mortar church days. Women were known as gossips. There was no TV and no Radio. There weren't any movies or malls. Women were charged with childcare.... and housework... Women hung out with women... raising the children... and they would converse with their friends. They considered those conversations "entertainment" and sometimes they would share those conversations with their hubby.... if he spent any time with her, that is.... after all they were working a full time job and they were leaders in the church... in charge of procurement and distribution... so they were busy.
On a side thought.... I wonder if any of the hookers in Corinth were nominated as deacons. How interesting is that topic?
Anyway... I'm really pretty sure the only reason Paul brought this topic of gossip up with Timothy was because Timothy's mom was a deacon. She taught Timothy and she would have been teaching others by way of natural conversation. I don't think she was the kind to gossip... I think she was the kind to work for those less fortunate. I figure God was using the "gossip" tag because that's what a woman would most likely be accused of while the men would be accused of bad business practices and messing around with another woman. Women in those days.... property.... stuck pretty much at home... where the worst thing they would do during the day was repeat news they heard during the day.
I think the "gossip" conversation.... may have been a "sarcastic" or "humorous" reference rather than a real admonition. The women in Timothy's life would have stepped up to any task to help the less fortunate. Timothy's mom and her friends would have been far too busy to just sit around gossiping all day.
So... men were the elders and the deacons of the first church.... but when there weren't enough men to do the job... women could be appointed to be a deacon.
An "elder" was the leader of the church. An "elder" was not a saint..... An "elder" was an "overseer". Only a man could be an "elder".
A "deacon "was not a saint.... A "deacon" could be a woman..... A "deacon" was a servant.
