Theological Commentary: Click Here
The two chapters
for today are all about sensibility in leadership. Paul sends these words as guidance to the
fledgling church. He also sends these
words as guidance to the young Timothy.
Overseers – what
some people call bishops – should have a level head about them. They shouldn’t be tempted by alcohol. They should be self-controlled. They should be in a monogamous relationship. They should be respectable and
hospitable. In other words, they should
be able to tend to the matters of their life sensibly. People should know what to expect from them
and they should know that they cannot be bought or tempted into bad decisions.
Likewise,
deacons should be level-headed as well. They should be able to make sound
decisions. They should also be
respectable and reliable.
As I read through
the paragraph for deacons, however, I noticed that the paragraph on deacons
specifically calls out that they should keep to the mystery of the faith with a
clear conscience. Looking back, I
realized that they paragraph for overseers actually doesn’t say anything about
spiritual matters (other than teaching, but that’s a very generic reference). It could be that Paul is making an assumption
that we all know what overseers do; it could also be that overseers are for the
more practical areas of leadership while the deacons have a more spiritual bent.
Moving into
chapter 4, Paul gives more advice to Timothy.
Note that Paul advises Timothy to stay strong in his faith and to not be
led astray by more legalistic people.
Paul encourages him to be an example for others. In this light, he encourages him to not be
ashamed of his youth as well as to not neglect his gift. In short, Paul is advising Timothy of the
same things that he has spoken about for overseers and deacons. Timothy needs to be level-headed and lead by
example. He needs to practice what the
Gospel that they preach.
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