The Elder and the Congregation

Father in heaven, we come before You this evening, we come humbly before Your Word, and we do ask that You would teach us, that You would instruct us in Your ways.  I pray that You would guide the words of my mouth, Christ would be glorified, for it’s in His name that we pray.  Amen.   

Well, good evening.  We are continuing our series in the book of 1 Timothy.  We’ll be in chapter 5 and verses 17 through 25.  The title of this sermon is The Elder and the Congregation.  It’s going to be very practical in nature.  I was thinking about this season, you know, Thanksgiving is a few weeks away and if you’re like me, you kind of need Thanksgiving and the Advent season to sort of propel you through this 5:30 dark time that we’re in right now.  That really does help me, it helps me get through.  So we go through Thanksgiving, we go through Advent season, and then on the other side we have nothing.  January and February, basically you just buckle up and you hang on until spring.

I love this time of year for that reason, just for Thanksgiving and Advent season coming up.  If you’re like us, you are already making meal preparations.  Michelle’s brother called us this week to talk about the Thanksgiving meal, you know, turkey and mashed potatoes and dressing, just kind of a meat and potatoes kind of meal, that’s the Thanksgiving meal.  I know some of you might be like me and you might not enjoy all aspects of that Thanksgiving meal.

So the Wells’ family, we called an audible several years ago, and we switched to steak instead of turkey.  You might say, well, why would you switch to steak?  Well, why wouldn’t you switch to steak instead of turkey?  That’s my question.

Well, of course, the Thanksgiving meal probably ends up being one of the more unhealthy meals of the year for you, but generally speaking a basic meat and potatoes diet with some manner of portion control, it leads to good health. 

In some ways, that’s what Paul has been serving up to Timothy in this letter.  The basic meat and potatoes of godliness in life is the Church.  Very practical instructions about the structure of the Church and the character of its leaders and guidelines for godliness, both corporately and individually.  Nothing fancy, but sometimes the basic things are the most important things in terms of spiritual health.  

So that’s what we’re going to talk about tonight in relationship to the elder and the congregation.  Chapter 5 is another solid dish of meat and potatoes, Christianity for the Church.  Paul gives some final instructions to Timothy around three practical areas, all pertaining to elders and the congregation.

Number one.  He gives some instruction on finances as it relates to wages for elders.

Number two.  He gives some instruction on conflict.  Specifically how to go about conflict in regard to accusations against and sins of elders.

And finally, he gives some instruction about expectations in regard to ordination and ministry.

So finances, conflict, and expectations, or perhaps a better outline I saw in Phil Ryken’s commentary, Paul covers remuneration in verses 17 and 18, accusations in 19 through 21, and ordination in 22 through 25.  Between Derek and Phil Ryken, go with Phil Ryken’s sermon outline.

So let’s read from 1 Timothy chapter 5, beginning in verse 17.  Hear the word of the Lord.     

“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.  For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”  Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.  In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.  Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.  (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)  The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.  So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.”

Well, the subject of money is always a sensitive topic as it relates to pastoral ministry.  For those of you who don’t know, when pastors are called, we get something called a call letter.  In that letter is a salary and benefits and housing allowance.  Now, if you want to have a lot of fun, try figuring out your taxes in relation to your salary and your housing allowance.  Trust me, that’s a lot of fun.  But thankfully I’m married to a CPA who by some mysterious and merciful providence enjoys these types of things and I’m really grateful for that so I don’t have to worry about that.

But pastoral work involves remuneration, and I think we all generally accept that.  I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a member of Christ Covenant protesting a pastor’s salary; I’m grateful for that.  But this is one of those passages that speaks to it.

You might be relieved to know that none of the pastors reached out to me this week and said, “Derek, this is our one chance.  Get us all raises.  Lean on them hard.  We’ve got a lot riding on this sermon.  Don’t swing and miss.”  That didn’t happen.

But for Paul, this is an important issue and we might wonder why.  Likely he’s correcting some misgivings about paying ministers, but in doing so he touches on some important things for the Church.  He raises it to Timothy under the rubric of honoring elders.  He says let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching and teaching.

So there’s this consideration of giving double honor, which is conditional in two ways.  First he says let the elders who rule well, and of course this insinuates that there may be some elders who do not rule well, and we’ll get to that.  But when Paul speaks of ruling well, I think he has in mind the trustworthy character of an elder and his faithfulness in his calling.  We might think of 1 Timothy chapter 3 where Paul lists the qualifications of an elder.  Those qualifications, as you read them, they’re not just to be past tense but they’re to be present tense in the life of an elder.

Also you might think of the instructions for an elder to keep a close watch over his life and over his doctrine and to serve as a model for godliness.  We’ve heard about all of these things, and I’m so grateful that many elders here in our congregation, and also from years gone by, model this kind of faithfulness and trustworthiness and character and calling.

Now if you think about that, you probably have maybe an elder in your mind, someone who’s really had an impact on your life, there’s just kind of a natural esteem that you give to them.  Right?  Kind of hold them up and regard them in a high place.  You honor them in your mind and in your heart, and there are many elders here, past and present, that we honor in our congregation.  What a gift it is to have elders like that in our lives.  That’s a sign of a spiritually healthy church.  We are right to show them esteem in that sense.

But here Paul makes a distinction.  It’s not just for elders who rule well, but regarding the work of elders.  He says especially, give double honor, especially to those who labor in preaching and teaching.  This verse indicates there are some who are set aside especially for the task of preaching and teaching.

This is one of the verses where we get the distinction between a ruling elder and a teaching elder.  Not a distinction in terms of office but in terms of focus.  Previously Paul has said that elders, all elders, should be able to teach or apt to teach, that is, all elders are to understand doctrine and be able to instruct in it, but Paul makes a distinction between those who are set apart to labor in this task.

That makes sense if you think about it given the priority and importance that Paul places on the public ministry of the Word.  It’s throughout this letter, the public ministry of Word.  He says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, verses 13 through 14.  He says, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching, and do not neglect the gift you have which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”

So there are some who have been called by God, especially set apart and trained, for this task, teaching elders.  That is who Paul has in mind ultimately when he thinks of bestowing double honor.

We know that this has relation to financial support.  You might think of an honorarium that a pastor gets when you do a wedding or a funeral or special speaking.  You get an honorarium for that.

Paul also spoke of honoring widows earlier in the chapter with obvious connections to financially supporting those widows. 

But it is explicit here in verse 18.  Look at what he says:  For the Scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the laborer deserves his wages.

I’m grateful for this verse because Paul makes no distinction between the work of preaching and teaching and other forms of labor that bring wages.  Paul says the work of preaching and teaching is in fact real work.  It’s like real-world work.  Actually, the word here is exertion, exertion.  The kind of work that would make one tired.

Now you probably don’t associate sermon preparation with exhausting, sweat of the brow, blue collar kind of work.  But there is exertion in it.  When the pastor labors and studies to get to the point of the text, or the mood of the text, all of that effort to exegete the text accurately.  But the pastor also labors in terms of thinking about the congregation, exegeting the congregation, thinking about who is here, who is under the preaching of the Word, thinking about how it might apply to you.  So all of this requires a lot of emotional, spiritual, mental, and even physical exertion as you think about staying up at night or getting up early in the morning.

Whenever I am preparing a sermon, I often think of William Faulkner, the famous southern novelist who once said that writing a novel is like trying to build a chicken coop in the middle of a hurricane.  The second you have a good idea, you have to nail it down before it goes all flying away, and sometimes as you work you see it sort of coming together and then other times the wind just kind of blows and it all goes flying everywhere and you’re trying to grasp it.  That’s sermon preparation, folks, let me tell you.

So teaching elders, they labor at the public ministry of the Word, and I think a subset of that is that we labor at the ongoing ministry of the Word in the life of the congregation.  As you know, we have multiple teaching elders here at Christ Covenant and we engage in many different ministry avenues.  We seek to apply the Word in the life of the congregation.  But primarily this is the public ministry of the Word so there’s a back principle here at work, what Paul is talking about, and that is of not robbing the worker of his wages.

But there’s a more fundamental aspect of why this is important, and this is our financial support of ministers is a reflection of the value that we place on the ministry of the Word.  You know the old adage that if we want to know where you place value, you look at two commodities – number one time and number two money.  So where do you spend your time and then where do you invest your money?

So Christians invest in things like seminary education and pastoral salaries and ongoing ministry of the Word that it might go forward.  Why?  Why do we do those things?  Because that is where our treasure is.  Our treasure is in the Gospel, knowing that God has set aside certain men, especially gifted and trained to proclaim the Gospel.  So we’re invested in that Gospel proclamation.

Now you just think about that.  Just remember whenever you’ve heard a great sermon, what do you do?  Usually push it out on social media or share it with your friends.  I mean, just think about when you heard John Piper’s famous sermon, “Don’t Waste Your Life” about collecting shells on the sand and you swore off retirement for the rest of your life.  Or Matt Chandler’s sermon, “Jesus Wants the Rose” and if you don’t know that sermon, just YouTube it and you’ll get saved all over again, it’s going to be great.

When we hear the Gospel proclaimed and we think yes, we push it out on social media, we support it, we invest in it, we get behind it.  Why?  Because that’s where our treasure is.  That is what we value.  So our financial support is a sign of that value.

Finally, the last reason this is important is practical.  It’s simply the personal care of the minister.  It’s implicit here.  There is an assumption that there’s a mutual affection between the teaching elders and their congregation, the ones that they are serving, and from the congregation to them there’s a desire to show honor to them.  One of the ways that we honor our ministers is by caring for their physical needs, relieving the concern of financial strain.

Now some of that depends on church size and circumstances, but generally the salary of a teaching elder should be commensurate with wages that will lessen, not increase, his worldly cares.  That’s what the BCO tells us.  In order to allow him to focus on ministry, not always worrying about how to make ends meet.

So this kind of honor is a key component of health in the congregation and leadership in the congregation, not just because of the minister but because it reflects our values and our priorities and the work of the Gospel and I’m so glad to see that kind of honor is present here at Christ Covenant Church, that you all care for your pastors very well.

That leads us to point number two, Paul instructions Timothy on conflict as it relates to accusations and the sins of elders.  Verse 19:  Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

So Paul anticipates that in ministry there’s going to be conflict.  Why?  Because elders are sinners, and members are sinners alike.  Certainly we see that in the public today.  Do we not?  Headlines of fallen ministers, moral failings.  These are turbulent times and we might wonder, are they guilty?  Are they innocent?  How do we navigate these things as a church?  It is particularly relevant during this day and age.

Well, here’s what I want you to see.  Paul instructs Timothy to take care in how accusations are handled.  He says do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evident of two or three witnesses.  Now this seems on the surface to kind of give an elder some kind of special immunity against accusations, but it’s important to remember that this is simply taken from a broader Christian principle, and that is we do not assign guilt just because of an accusation, nor do we believe something just because it is said.

What Paul says here is simply an echo of Deuteronomy 19:15.  Moses says this:  A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed, only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

Paul also gives instructions to Christians regarding one another in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 in verse 1 – every charge should have two or three witnesses to it.

So if we quickly survey the Scriptures, what we find is Moses appointing judges and trying cases which involve the use of witnesses.  In Mathew 18 when Jesus addresses grievances between individual Christians and how that should be handled, a key component of that is plurality.  So this emphasis on plurality, it assumes some form of due process.

Our Book of Church Order I think rightly follows this scriptural pattern, usually taking the form of an investigation inviting witnesses, which must result in a strong presumption of guilt before charges are brought.  If you want to a riveting read tonight, go home and read BCO chapters 27 through 46.  It’s a page-turner.  The rules of discipline.

Again, it’s important to note here we’re not talking about expressing a concern directly to a pastor.  Right?  Maybe they said something or there’s something that was slightly hurtful to you and you approach them.  This is not expressing a concern, it’s about accusations.  The point is that there is a careful process for handling individual grievances but accusations against elders as well and it involves plurality and the need for accusations to be substantiated.

Now why is this important?  Well, when we neglect this, we behave in a presumptuous and ultimately dangerous and destructive way.  There is such a thing we all know called the court of public opinion and that rushes to judgment and draws premature conclusions.  What it can do is it can create a culture where the starting point with leaders is one of suspicion and not trust. 

Now you may come to a point where you’re in a place of suspicion with a leader, but that should not be our starting point with them.  That’s not healthy.  To be sure, ministers can do incredible damage through their transgressions, and through their violations of trust, that happens, and when that happens, that must be dealt with when that is the case.  But we must remember Proverbs 18:17 which says the one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him.

What that means, church of God, is we can do great damage when we traffic in mere accusations or trade in gossip or hearsay or half-truths about a minister or about situations when we don’t know the whole truth or the whole story.

What I want us to see this evening is that the call for us to exercise this kind of caution in this area, both individually and corporately, is biblical.  It doesn’t come from somewhere else.  It is biblical.

So we see Paul lays out a process, yes, to protect ministers from false accusations of gossip or slander, but also to probe the truth of things, and we see that in verse 20.  He says, “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear.” 

So we know from this there is recourse when an elder is in sin.  We don’t know what kind of sin this is, but presumably it’s the kind of sin that strikes at the credibility of his vows and his trustworthiness, threatens the trust of the congregation.  There’s a case of someone who’s not above reproach in their lives.  Maybe they’re living in blatant sin, or perhaps an elder is abusing his authority, and that has been established.  Well, when that is the case, it must be challenged.  When the response to the elder is not one of humility and not one of repentance and he persists in sin, he says he should be rebuked in the presence of all.

Now that’s sobering to those of us who are elders.  But public rebuke, it’s appropriate because we hold a public office and we have taken public vows before God and have a responsibility to the congregation to be faithful in upholding those vows.  When those vows are broken, public rebuke is necessary.

Now again, this is the kind of sin or sin pattern that strikes at the credibility of those vows and the trust of the congregation.  But verse 20 tells us that a minister is not above the law.  No one is above God’s Word and you need to hear us say this as your pastors, you need to know that we believe this and affirm this.  Listen, we are men under authority.  We are under authority.  We’re under the authority of God’s Word. 

It’s incumbent that we rely on the biblical structures and processes that have been prescribed to hold leaders accountable when that is needed.

So Paul reminds us of that.  In verse 21, he says, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.”

Paul reminds Timothy that there is a heavenly court watching.  He says not to show partiality or favoritism.  So on the one hand not entertaining unfounded accusations, but also not turning a blind eye when there are credible charges no matter who it is.

Now do you see the point here?  The point is it’s a balanced understanding of authority that helps us to handle conflict and accusations well.  That’s what Paul gives us.

The last area of great importance has to do with the exercise of patience then.  Patience in regard to ordination.

Paul says in verse 22, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, not take part in the sins of others, but keep yourself pure.” 

So first in regard to ordination, he says do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.  So Paul says don’t be too quick to ordain someone.  In chapter 3 he says that an elder should not be a recent convert lest he become puffed up with pride and he fall into the snare of the devil.  So Paul says be circumspect, Timothy, as you appoint leaders.

Now perhaps Paul has in mind verse 20, perhaps some elders were ordained too quickly, and maybe that’s the backdrop here, but we might ask what would lead us to be hasty in ordaining someone.  What would lead us, why would we be tempted to do that?  Maybe particularly I’ll start in our context.

With a church our size, we need elders.  We need officers.  There can be a temptation to be driven by expedience or pragmatism there rather than really seeing about a man’s spiritual readiness and his maturity.  So it’s a good word of caution for us to be slow in that and to not be driven by pragmatism and need but to trust the Lord to raise up men who are qualified.

But more than that, I think when we think of laying on hands too quickly, I think there’s a temptation to prize gifts over graces.  Many of you have listened to the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and I don’t think everything in that series is good, but I think there are some lessons that we can learn.  In one I was listening to an interview with Tim Keller in that series about fallen ministers and mistakes that churches make in ordaining guys too quickly, and he said the common temptation is to prize gifts over graces.  It’s to look at a guy and to see great leadership skills, speaking gifts, presence, personality, all of those things that he can draw people in, but to fail to adequately consider their character.

I think there are many hard lessons about that in the Church at large today.  So more than gifts we should ask what are the marks, what are the marks of Christian maturity in his life?  Is there humility?  Is there dependence upon God?  Is there growth and grace?  What are his sin struggles?  What’s the health of his relationship with his wife?  With his children?  Does he have friends?  Does he have friends?  That’s a question that we increasingly ask guys coming out of seminary because if he’s unable to build and maintain personal healthy relationships, then what does that say about his ability to build and maintain good relationships and leadership in the church?

These are all important questions.  Paul’s criteria has much more to do with graces rather than gifts and that kind of assessment requires patience from us as we think about elders.

Verse 23, Paul says, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.”  So Paul is going down the practical list here, the list of practical wisdom, and essentially what he’s saying in this verse is take care of yourself, Timothy.  Take care of yourself.  Be mindful of your bodily needs.  Don’t take on the false ascetic idea that inattentiveness to physical things is a sign of holiness or being spiritual.

A friend of mine was talking with a pastoral colleague one time and the pastoral colleague, he mentioned that he said, “You know, it’s been years since I’ve taken a day off.  I’ve just worked so hard at ministry.  It’s been years since I’ve taken a day off.”  And my friend looked at him and he said, “That’s not righteousness.”  That’s not righteousness.  It’s good counsel for pastors and good counsel for Christians.  Wringing yourself out, taking on an ascetic life, denying your human limitations, is not righteousness. 

That’s not the counsel that Paul gives to Timothy, but he says take a little wine for your ailments.  You know what, Timothy, you get sick.  You get tired sometimes.  Don’t try to be superhuman.  That’s not what God is calling you to do.  Pay attention to your physical needs as well as your spiritual needs.

I think there’s a shared responsibility as we think about elders or teaching elders and pastors and the congregation here.  One is we have to be good managers of our time and our energy.  We have to know where we’re at with that.  But it’s the Church that provides a structure and freedom for rest as well, and that’s why I’m so grateful that this church provides a day off for the pastors on Friday.  It doesn’t mean work never spills over or bleeds over into Friday, but it does give us that leeway and that flexibility to think about our week, what’s our week been like, and to take time to rest and to unplug.  I’m so grateful for that.  That is one way that you truly do care for your pastors.

Don’t be superhuman, Timothy. 

Well, verses 24 and 25.  Paul says, “The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.  So also good works are conspicuous, even those that are not cannot remain hidden.”  Once again, I think there’s a general principle here for all Christians, but Paul is speaking in relation to elders I believe here.  He says there are some sins that are just plain and obvious.  They reveal that person.  They reveal them for who they are.  They go before them to judgment.

But there are others where it’s more hidden.  It’s beneath the surface and it comes out later.  So there might be hidden weakness that have yet to come to light and that’s another admonition to be patient, an exhortation to be patient.

He says the same thing is true of good works as well.  He says some are quite easily seen and known while others are not, so there may be hidden weaknesses, but there also might be hidden strengths as well that have yet to come to light.  The message is, the message is what is underneath eventually will come to the surface if we’re patient.

So one might not appear as they are.  They might be far better or they might be far worse and time will tell.  So he says don’t anoint a guy too quickly, and neither should you dismiss someone too quickly either.  It can be surprising as to what strengths emerge in the life of a minister or the life of an elder through time.  Sometimes you don’t see them coming.  It can also be surprising what weaknesses begin to emerge as well.

This is sobering, Christ Covenant.  Sobering to me as a pastor to preach this because time, relationships, and life, they have a way of bringing everything to the surface, not just for elders but for all of us.  These are sobering realities, and in some ways difficult times for the Church at large.

So the question before us this evening then is how do we get healthy, how do we stay healthy, how do we get healthier?  And the answer is, that Paul gives Timothy and we need to put before us, is go back to the basics.  We need a steady diet of what Paul is serving – meat and potatoes Christianity.  That’s all we need.  Nothing fancy.  Basic.

So knowing what’s good in us and what’s bad in us then should remind us of our need for repentance in our lives and it should remind us of our need for the Gospel and God’s grace, and if we’re reminded of those things and we go back to those things, then guess what?  That keeps our values as a church in place because we will proclaim the Gospel, not only to ourselves but to others.  So back to the basics.

Number two.  It should also take us back to God’s Word.  It should take us back to the Gospel, it should take us back to God’s Word as well.  Reliance upon His Word for instruction and for wisdom.  So what do we do?  What is our knee-jerk reaction when we find ourselves in difficult situations, in complicated situations?  Where is our first go-to?  It should be to God’s Word.  We should rely upon God’s Word for direction and guidance, especially when we find ourselves in difficult places.

So it should take us back to the Gospel, it should take us back to God’s Word, and humble reliance upon God’s Word, and it should also keep us in prayer.  Again, third part of the basics, it should keep us in prayer, on our knees, knowing our need for God, for God’s intervention, for His help and for His aid for us both individually and corporately.

So back to the Gospel, back to God’s Word, and back to prayer.  That’s the steady diet, Church of God, of a healthy church.  It might be basic, it might be simple, but it’s what will make us healthy and it’s what will keep us healthy.

So let’s pray that God would take us there.    

Father in heaven, we thank You for these profound simple truths in some way, but profound truths in so many others.  We thank You for the Gospel that saves us, and we’re reminded, Lord, as we look within our hearts, of our need for Jesus.  So we pray that You would continue to bring us there.  Lord, we’re also reminded of our need for Your Word and the wisdom of Your Word as we navigate difficult situations personally in our lives and maybe collectively as Your people.  Keep us humbly reliant upon Your Word.  O Lord, may we continually open ourselves up to You in prayer and to seek Your help and Your aid and Your guidance for us.  Lord, we call upon You for these things and we ask, O Lord, that You would feed us and nurture us, that we would be a spiritually healthy people, vibrant with the Gospel in the life of our congregation, and faithful in its proclamation.  We make this prayer in Jesus’ name.  Amen.