Freedom For Today

“A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.”

“Why?”  There is no question more infamous in parenting. “Why do I have to study my spelling words?  Why do I have to clean my room? Why do I need to turn the music down? Why do I have to stop watching TV?”  As a parent, I try to answer the “why” questions as honestly as possible. Unfortunately, however, some of the directions I give my kids are hard to explain.  Sometimes I have to simply say “I don’t know how to help you understand this one, so I need you to trust me, ok?”

Many of God’s rules and standards seem to be like that.  We have to trust Him because His reasoning may be beyond us.  It may address blindspots we don’t even know that we have. Therefore, it can be refreshing when a rule or standard is explained.  Such is the case as Paul’s first  list of standards for church leaders comes to a close. He finishes it with two important character traits. First, leaders must have been following Jesus for a while.  Why? Because otherwise Satan might use their position of influence to tempt them to pride. Second, they must have a positive reputation outside the church. Why? Because people who “fall into disgrace” with outsiders are easily tempted to fall into Satan’s traps.  What do all these leadership standards have in common?  They are all attainable by anyone who is willing to let Jesus lead their life.  

Here’s your freedom for today:  God’s leadership standards are attainable.  God’s leadership standards is that can be met by anyone who is willing to grow and mature under Jesus’ training and leadership.  God doesn’t limit leadership to people with brown hair or people who are six feet tall. He limits leadership to those who are wholeheartedly and passionately growing through their relationship with him.  Hopefully, that means you.

 

“This is a trustworthy saying: ‘If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.’ So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?”

Leading the church is hard work, but it is also a position of great honor. Spiritually speaking, when God appoints leaders to the church, he is entrusting the care of his people into their hands. It’s no surprise that there are some pretty important qualifications. You’ve got to have integrity inside and out, be faithful to your spouse, live wisely, be a skilled teacher, and enjoy having guests. Most of us are probably checking out already. But wait, there’s more! No heavy drinking, no violence, no major family drama, and no desire for big money. That certainly doesn’t sound like most people, and it’s not even what most leaders are like in our society.

Why is church leadership so important? Why are leaders required to go beyond the norm? Turn on the news and you’ll get your answer: people get hurt when leaders mess up. And when those leaders are in the church, people walk away from God. Since relationship with his people is what God wants most, he is beyond angry when spiritual leaders get in the way.

Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to protect you. Leaders may have failed you, and perhaps you’ve walked away from church as a result. As we can see from these verses, God is angry too. He set up standards to protect you, and there are serious consequences for those who take on leadership positions without meeting the qualifications. On the other hand, those who do lead well will be greatly honored and rewarded. If you are an aspiring leader, take a look at this description and identify the areas in which you need to grow to become ready. Pray and ask how God might use you to build up his church.

“Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.”

I remember a worksheet that I had to do in third grade science class.  It had 8 different circles, and in each circle there was a photo of something with a pattern.  One had a pattern of blue and teal. Another had a cross-hatched pattern of tan and yellow. The assignment was to figure out what was in each circle.  What the worksheet did not explain is that each image was zoomed in very close so it looked different than expected. Zoomed out, the blue and teal picture was easily recognized as a fish.  Zoomed out, the tan and yellow picture was easily recognized as a giraffe.

This current passage is somewhat like that worksheet.  It can only be understood if we zoom out and look at the broader context of the Bible.  If we were to read the Bible from cover to cover, we would find a long line of women who lead and teach: Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), Philip’s daughters (Acts 21:8,9), Priscilla (Philippians 4:2,3), as well as many others like the handful of  women mentioned in Romans 16. Several of these examples are of Paul commending women as leaders and teachers. What, then, is going on in this passage? Is Paul contradicting himself? That seems unlikely. Some experts suggest that Paul is addressing a specific situation in which the women of the church needed to be removed from leading because they were abusing the leadership role.  Is that correct? Perhaps. It is more important, however, to always let the big-picture view of the Bible set the limits for how we understand specific passages like this one.

Here’s your freedom for today: you CAN understand the Bible.  Sometimes the Bible seems overwhelming. Who can possibly understand it? The exciting answer is: anyone. It doesn’t take a special level of education.  It doesn’t take special training. It just takes time, which is a resource everyone has.  Regular, daily reading will eventually help you build up an understanding of what the Bible is saying – of it’s larger themes and storyline. The goal is not to understand the Bible perfectly today. The goal is to understand the Bible a little bit better every, single day.  

 

“In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.”

Throughout the years, there have been several moments at our church when someone became a distraction.  One man stood in an aisle and flipped off the Pastor while he preached. Another week someone decided to get up and greet each person in the front row while the Pastor preached.  Each time something like this happens, I walk the person out of the auditorium and we have a short conversation. During that conversation I want to make one thing very clear: church is a place where Jesus is the center of attention. No one gets to act in any way that distracts the rest of the church from Jesus.

That is the essence of what Paul is writing here.  When people are trying to focus on worshipping God, there shouldn’t be distractions.  Paul lists several potential distractions. Men should avoid causing distraction through “anger” or “controversy.” Women should avoid causing distraction through “their appearance.”  Beyond these specifics, however, is an important principle. Every follower of Jesus is responsible for helping to create a distraction-free environment for everyone one else who is trying to worship Jesus.  

Here’s your freedom for today: worshipping God together is dynamically powerful.  Each of us has the power to help everyone else to worship.  We do this by how we dress and how we act when we arrive at church.  We do this through our posture and our attitude during church services.  We do this especially through how we relate to others. When we choose to give our full attention and effort to encountering God through the service, we not only help ourselves, but we help everyone else around us.  The inverse is also true. If you are ever having a hard time connecting with God, go find a giant crowd of people who are wholeheartedly worshipping. If you let it, their passion and attitude will rub off.

“For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.”

I went for a daddy-daughter walk last week.  We grabbed a game called Beat the Parents, walked down to Dunkin Donuts, and spent an hour or so just having fun together.  On the way home, my phone buzzed. While I didn’t answer it, it still distracted me. When I finally got my attention back onto my  daughter, she was saying “…the one with the pink and the purple. What do you think?” I had two choices: I could pretend I’d had been listening and just generally agree, or I could admit I got distracted and ask her to repeat herself.  

When a section of the Bible begins with the word “for” we find ourselves having to make a similar decision.  Do we go back and see what the writer is talking about? Or do we just assume we’ll figure it out? In this case, the previous sentence was really important: God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”  Everyone means everyone. God wants every single person on earth to know that he loves them and forgives them and wants to lead their lives. God wants to rescue every single person out of whatever brokenness, sin, and pain they are in.  That is what leads to Paul’s comment that there is only one God and one mediator. The idea is that God wants everyone to be rescued, and he offered a way for that rescue to happen: Jesus.

Here is your freedom for today: God sent Jesus to make a plan specifically to rescue you.  That is what a mediator does – he makes a plan. Jesus serves as a mediator between us and God.  He makes a plan for restoring the broken relationship between us. We are each offered that plan.  We can accept his forgiveness or we can choose not to. The one option we are not given is to ask for a second plan.  Jesus is God’s best and only offer. There is no need for alternatives – Jesus is enough.