I Timothy 3:1-7
There are two official offices in the church today, bishops and deacons. Deacons serve the Lord by serving the Lord's church. Bishops serve the Lord by shepherding the Lord's church. The bishop can also be called elder, pastor, overseer, and shepherd. No matter which title he is called by, he must first be called by God to that office, and he must meet God's qualifications for that office. If he is called by God, then he will meet God's qualifications. God doesn't need these qualifications to see who can or can't be a bishop, we do. You and I are apt to make exceptions for people we like and for people we look up to. There are a lot of people who have been ordained into the ministry from outside the true church. Once these are ordained, they ordain others just like them. Over time those who do not know any better just accept them without examining to see if they are biblically qualified. God gave us qualifications for leaders in the church for our benefit. One of the blessings God gives His church is a pastor; one of the judgments of God on a church is a pastor. The qualifications in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are given to us by God. The church would do well to take heed to them. Let us turn again to I Timothy 3:1-7.
"Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous," I Timothy 3:3. This study has been a blessing to me personally. Through this study we have a clear understanding of these qualifications and with this a clear understanding of who can and who can't be an elder, according to the Bible, not man. Man has different opinions. For example, some don't think that a pastor should have a beard; others think that all pastors should have beards. Some think a pastor should only wear a white shirt with black pants and a black jacket and black tie. These are opinions and there are no Scriptures in the bible for us to stand on to say one way or the other. Obviously, the bishop is a leader so he should dress in such a way that glorifies God and doesn't promote the praises of men. If he is biblically qualified to be a pastor, then his clothes will also show it. We must remember that we cannot Americanize all of Christianity. If you were to go to a third world country you would be hard pressed to find people wearing shoes, much less suits and ties.
Besides all of man's opinions, I can't imagine the confusion and division we would have if God hadn't given us these clear qualifications. Even though we have these clear qualifications, many still don't submit to these qualifications. It is real simple; if you do not fit these qualifications, then God has not called you to be an elder. You may do something to be disqualified, but if you aren't qualified to begin with you have no business being what God has not called you to be no matter how strong your desire is to be a pastor. Many desire the office of a bishop, and it is a good thing to desire, but desire alone doesn't make someone qualified. Let's pick up here in verse 3.
The first qualification in verse 3 is the bishop is not given to wine. This is not referencing being drunk, a drunk is obviously disqualified from being an elder; but this is speaking of drinking period. The elder is not to drink. The elder is to set the example for others to follow. I was talking to a lady one day about the Lord and she kept wanting to talk about the church: and she got to telling me about how she liked her former pastor more than the current one, but the only problem with the former pastor is that he got drunk often. Of course in her mind this made it ok for her to drink, and get drunk. A bishop is not to be a drinker or a boozer. If he is he will lead the people wrongly, and his counsel will be tainted. Turn to Isaiah 28:7-8. Wine and strong drink causes one to err in judgment. This leads way for compromise. Think about it for a second, if you drink, not get drunk, but drink, you open the door to compromise in your own life, and the life of those whom you are leading. Especially when others want to do something and you tell them they can't, they will bring up the fact that you drink, therefore it is ok for them to compromise and the end result is there is no place clean because no one is clean. With every action there is a reaction. Sinful man wants to justify his actions, and he will look to the pastors life in a criticizing way to find a reason to justify his own actions.
Turn to Isaiah 56:9-12. Watch someone's life who drinks, and you will find a life full of compromise, no matter how religious they appear on the outside. Some want to find reasons and take Scripture out of context so they can fulfill their fleshly desire to drink. People love going to John 2 where Jesus turned the water into wine. The word "wine" in this verse is the Greek word oinos and it means wine (literal or figurative):- wine. In John 2 this is speaking of new wine.
Understand that Jesus made real wine out of the water. This wine would not have been fermented, as wine is today. The wine back then was taken with three to ten parts of water. Obviously when Jesus made this wine, no one had to add or take away anything from it. It is blasphemy to say that Jesus made wine to allow people to become drunk. It is even worse to say that Jesus made wine to justify someone's own fleshly desire to drink. The wine that Jesus made is not like the wine of today. Let me remind you of some Scriptures: "Nor thieves, not covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, not extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God," I Corinthians 6:10. "Abstain from all appearance of evil," I Thessalonians 5:22. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me," Psalm 101:3. Show me someone who drinks and I will show you someone who has many compromises in their life. What they watch, the music they listen to, the places they go, etc… one compromise leads to another. There will be much in their life that does not honour Jesus Christ. This person is apt to give in to the pleasing of the flesh.
People say they can drink a glass of wine or a can of beer etc. and still tell others about Christ. Ok, do that with what ever you are drinking in your hand. Any lost person will look at you as a hypocrite. Your words will not carry any weight with them. You will become like a tinkling cymbal or sounding brass. Back in Isaiah the leaders of Israel were given to wine. They lead the people away from the Lord, not closer to Him. With their mouth they worshipped the Lord, but their heart was far from Him. "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart," Hosea 4:11. Turn to Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35. There are many more Scriptures we could look at, but let's get back to I Timothy. Someone who wants to drink will twist the Scriptures to justify their actions, just like any other sin that someone wants to do. You can present to them all these Scriptures and more, but if their mind is made up, nothing you say or show them will change it. Drinking leads to other problems. Lord willing, next week we will continue in verse 3. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
