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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.
Amen. So good to be back with our
students again. I got to spend the weekend
praising the Lord with them. I know that many of you are
thankful that you're here today. I told the early service and
some people in the early service that they missed out because
they didn't come to the. Late service today because our
students have been learning about how worthy Christ is.
How worthless they are and how undone they are apart from his
grace and His mercy. Is he worthy?
He's worthy and he's worthy of. All of our praise and honor and
adoration. He's worthy of all glory and
honor and power and dominion, forever and forever.
Amen. We spent the weekend focusing on
Christ, taking journeys into heaven and seeing His worth,
which I'm very thankful that we did.
It's always good to be reminded of how worthy he is, and I know
that these students are going to go back into the world.
The different perspective on Christ.
That's what we prayed for. That's what we hoped for.
Today as we open our Bibles, we will be in First Timothy chapter
3 as we continue our study looking at the Pastoral
Epistles. Biblical Ministers and Biblical
ministry. Looking at Part 2 of this
section on the role of church leaders and how we are called by
God to be above reproach, we'll talk much about what that means
to be above reproach. But let me just make that very
clear right off the bat. That doesn't mean sinless
perfection. I say that because if it meant
sinless perfection, no one would ever be qualified for ministry.
What it does for us point to what we as leaders in the church
and those who may aspire to be leaders in the church one day.
Should aim for. It should be what they're
striving for. I know I've got all the
students, the junior high high school students sitting in front
of me, right, who could easily turn me off and say, you know
what? It doesn't really matter.
We're tired because we stayed up most of this weekend and we're
not church leaders. And so let's just turn Kirk off
this morning because this. Doesn't apply to us.
I I told many of them out there a moment ago.
The at least the males who were there at our men's prayer don't
turn me off. Because you know what?
One day you could be a leader in the church.
One day you could be a pastor. One day you could be a
missionary on the mission field. One day.
You could be a staff pastor in a church.
I know to you right now that is a crazy impossibility.
God does crazy things with us. I remember not too terribly long
ago, two young men we serve as pastors on the staff here at Key
Life Fellowship who are leaders in this church who were sitting
out there as students. You know Jake, of course, and
you know Jacob Carroll, both pastors here at this church who
grew up through our youth ministry learning the Word of
God, being taught sound doctrine, being taught what it
means to be a leader, fulfilling those qualifications as God
placed on their heart a calling to follow him.
And yet we won't be long if God is consistent to what I have
seen for some of you will be used in that same capacity.
And So what we talked about today in regard to the role of
church leaders, it may not apply to you right now, but it could
apply to you soon. It could apply to you at some
point in time. So pay attention.
Maybe you're here today and you say I'm never going to be a
church leader. That's OK.
Can you do something for those of us that are for those of us
that will be can you hold us accountable?
Can you pray for us? Can you hold us accountable
based on not what you think or what your expectations of a
pastor are, but what we're going to see today that a.
Pastor, an elder, a leader in the church ought to strive to
be. Can you hold us to that?
We ask that you would. We ask that you would petition
God on our behalf, that you would intercede for us, that you
would pray for the strength that we need?
Because you're going to see this is a very daunting task to live
your life above reproach, to live in a fishbowl, to be
examined at every turn, and to see that it is very important
that we see the responsibility that we have been called to.
And so much of today I will be preaching to myself as I did
last week when we began this in the first part, looking at verse
one, we're talked about if anyone sets his heart on being
an overseer, he desires a noble task.
And we talked about that overseer and that noble task
that he has. But this week Paul's going to
lay down some specifics. He's going to lay down specifics
for those who are aspiring to be leaders in the church, those who
are in leadership in the church, those who may perhaps one day be
leaders in his church. He's.
Going to give us great detail on what kind of.
Lives they should live, how they should continue always as a
leader to strive to be above reproach in every area of their
life and ministry. We begin here first Timothy
chapter 3 verse two. He says now the overseer must be
above reproach. He says that statement and he's
going to go on and tell us what that is, the details of it.
The husband of but one wife, temperate, self controlled,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness,
not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of
money. He must manage his own family
well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can
he take care of God's church? He must not be a recent convert,
or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as
the devil. He must also have a good
reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into
disgrace and into the devil's trap.
Let's pray together, Father, in the name of.
Jesus, we come to you, thanking you for your word, thanking you.
And you have instructed us in your Word everything that we
need for life and godliness. You have instructed us in your
Word everything that we as leaders need to know and to be
equipped with. To serve you and to serve you
well, to serve your church well. God, I pray that you would use
this, this passage of Scripture once again.
Call all of those in leadership and all of those who aspire to
be leaders in the church to do a strict inventory in their lives
and to see to it that they are striving to be above reproach in
all of the areas that we will examine today.
We ask that you would be glorified in their life and
their ministry. God, I pray for the soul who's
here today who does not know Christ, who has heard the gospel
over and over and over again, but as yet to surrender to
Christ. I pray today that this be the
day that you regenerate them to a place that they can truly
believe and surrender to Christ, repenting of their sin and
turning to Helm and Him alone, that you would save the lost
soul by your mercy. Today we'll give you all the
praise for it. We pray these things in Christ's
name, Amen. So we see here, as we look at
the role of the church leader, what is the standard?
Paul makes it very clear very quickly.
The standard is what he calls above.
Reproach. Again, I want to remind you,
this is not a sinless perfection.
This is not being whatever everyone else wants you to be as
a leader. This is being exactly what God
has called you to be as a leader above reproach.
And this means to be free from any current or continual
accusation in your life. It means to literally be
blameless. That's what it means that no one
can bring a charge or a valid charge against you that would
stand up in court. John Calvin described above
reproach like this. He called it to be not marred by
disgrace, meaning that you are not living a life that is
disgraceful. You're not proclaiming to be a
leader in the church, in one aspect an area of your life, and
in the other areas of your life being a disgrace to that which
you are called or say that you were called.
To do above reproach means to be.
Striving for holiness and righteousness and did not
tolerate open and willful wickedness and sin in any area
of your life and to do this willingly.
And so Paul says that the standard is above reproach.
But what does he mean by this? As we looked at it a moment ago,
I said, he says to be above reproach.
And then he's going to tell us what that looks like.
Where are we to be above reproach?
How are we to be above reproach? How do we implement this way of
thinking as leaders? He begins in verse 2.
And he says now the overseer must be above reproach.
The husband of but one life, temperate, self controlled,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness,
not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of
money. Paul begins with those who may
be aspiring to be a leader in the church.
And you know what he says. Take inventory of your life.
Check and see if you are blameless in these specific
areas. Can we all agree that an
overseer ought to be serving as an example to?
The Church to Christ's flock. And so if he's serving as an
example to Christ's flock, he needs to be above reproach as he
examines his own life. It's very clear in Scripture
that that is what we are called to do.
An overseer is called to be striving to be above reproach
first and foremost in his personal and internal
convictions. We all agree that if a person is
not first internally convicted by the Holy Spirit through the
Word of God to be holy, that they're never going to be holy
on the outside. And so Paul starts with this,
and I don't want you to miss this.
I don't want you to lose sight of how he breaks this down.
Then the overseer is to be above reproach regarding himself, his
relationship to yours truly. In his personal internal
convictions. He begins with this statement,
the husband of but one wife. Now let me just go ahead and say
this. This statement has not been
without controversy throughout church history.
What does this mean? Now I can tell you this in the
first service I took probably a little too much time and telling
them what this means. But I want you to understand it
clearly because it doesn't mean what so many people have made it
out to mean based on what their preconceived notions were
because of the church that they attended as a child, the husband
of but one wife. Does that mean, and is he
talking about that the overseer can never have been divorced and
remarried? Is that what he's talking about?
And then there are the other schools of thought, one being
this, perhaps he's talking about polygamy, multiple wives.
Now, many would immediately jump on this and they would say this
very quickly, but but the Roman culture did not believe in
polygamy. Yes, but we're not only dealing
with the Roman culture here. We're also dealing with the
Jewish culture. The Jewish culture actually saw
multiple wives. As a status symbol and continued
to carry that tradition. Could they be talking about,
could Paul be talking about polygamy?
Multiple wives and saying that we have to abstain from that and
be the husband of just one wife. Did you know this?
John Calvin thought that many don't understand that.
John Calvin actually interpreted this as talking about polygamy
because it was though not prominent in Roman culture, it
was still prominent in Jewish culture.
There are the others who say this when he says the husband of
but one wife, he is meaning to be faithful to his one wife.
Is that a pretty good answer? Yeah.
It is a pretty good answer. In fact, it's a pretty good
expectation, not only indeed, but also in thought.
And many people have through the years had their own idea of what
this means, right? We've all seen where no one can
be considered as leadership in the church because they had a
divorce 20 years before they were ever saved or they can't be
a minister in the church because they were married when they're
they were young and yes, they were a believer and then their
unbelieving wife actually left them from for another man.
Many people would say, well, he's still bound to that
relationship. God's word says he's not bound
to that relationship anymore. He's free to remarry.
So if he were to remarry, he would only have one.
Why? What about this?
The pastor was married and unfortunately his wife became
sick with cancer and she died. I have a pastor, though it
wasn't cancer. I served under a pastor whose
wife had passed away. And you know what?
The critics came at him because he remarried.
Is he free to remarry? Yes, Paul says that he is.
He's not bound by that relationship anymore.
Why? Death cancelled it.
So when he remarried his second wife, he still only had one
wife. And this has been an argument
back and forth throughout the ages because you know what they
do? They say, here's what I think
this means. Why do that?
Why don't we actually look at what does Scripture say that
this means? And then when we say this, what
does Scripture say that this means?
We're going to see that all of these ideas are right because
what Scripture says that this mean in the original language it
means as a one woman man. You know what that tells me?
If a person has an unbiblical divorce, he's not a one woman
man. He's still married to his first
wife. According to God, he violates
this. But if a person does have a
biblical divorce, he's no longer held and no.
Longer bound by that, so he is now a candidate because he is a
one woman man when he marries his second wife.
When we look at this term, a one woman man again, that's what it
means in the Greek we can say this polygamy is out of the
question, right? Can't have multiple wives.
I scratch my head and say, man, why would you?
Wow Sir, how could you handle such a blessing?
What did y'all think I meant? So polygamy's out of the
question. So what he's saying here, he's
saying a one woman man is a man who is faithful to his wife unto
God. This is what he is striving for.
One who is not, is not fit. He is saying this, that a man
internally, we'll be faithful to his wife and that will come out
externally, but he's addressing the internal first.
How many of you, we're not going to be faithful to anything
outwardly until we're faithful to that thing inwardly.
That includes your relationship to God.
You students have learned this week God has done a work in your
life. You know what, He didn't start
the work on the outside, He started the work on the inside.
If you're going to live as if Christ is worthy, you're going
to realize that he's worthy internally.
You're going to bow and worship him before that ever manifest to
anything external. So what is he saying here?
He's saying that the candidate for leadership in the church
will have a desire and will aim to be faithful to his one wife
for his entire lifetime. And so no matter how you want to
twist this, no matter how you want to improperly interpret
this, what it is saying is this. It is saying that the the leader
in the Church who is above reproach will be striving for
faithful. In his marriage again, beginning
internally and working toward the external.
That means this. A man who is constantly in his
struggle with pornography. He's not a candidate.
You're not a candidate until the Lord masters that in your life.
Why? Because you were constantly
being unfaithful to your one wife by committing adultery in
your heart with others. Is that not what Jesus said?
If you look lustfully at a woman, you've committed adultery
in your heart. We don't think about these
things. Remember, this is being written
to the pastor of this church. Paul is saying teach these
leaders to take inventory internally.
Are they fit for this? Is there an ounce or there an
inclination in their heart to be unfaithful to their one wife and
there's a deficiency in them and they're not yet?
Ready for this role? They've lost sight of the
importance of this role, he says.
The husband of one wife. He next goes into this.
He says temperate above reproach looks like the husband of one
wife, one who desires inwardly to be faithful to his wife, and
that inward faithfulness then coming out externally.
But then he says also above reproach is temperate.
The Greek word and term for temperate here means to be sober
or to be sober minded, to be watchful, to be vigilant, not to
be lazy, not to be complacent, not to be apathetic.
In his spiritual life and in his ministry, spiritual apathy
begins internally long before you ever see it externally.
He's saying he can't be spiritually apathetic.
He must be sober, he must be awake, he must be vigilant, he
must be watchful. Watchfulness and sobriety as an
overseer is important. Why?
Because he is a watchman. He is a watchman for the
spiritual souls and lives of others.
And how can he be a watchman over others spiritually if he's
not first being a watchman over himself, guarding his heart,
guarding his mind in Christ Jesus, focusing on the things
that are pure and holy and right, taking his mind and his
thoughts off of the wicked things of this world.
He speaks here when he says tempered of being sober minded.
It is what Jesus speaks up in Matthew 2641 where he says this.
His disciples watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak. What was he saying to his
disciples? Wake up, be sober minded.
Why? Because you might think you're
strong, but you're really weak and you need to watch and you
need to pray. Peter grabs a hold of this same
theme, knowing full well what it's like to ignore Jesus words,
to be sober and to be temperate sober minded, because he was one
of the ones who heard Jesus say to watch and pray, who did not
watch and pray so they didn't fall into temptation.
And you know what he did? He fell into temptation.
Peter learned his lesson, though.
First, Peter 580 says be alert. And a sober mind.
Why? Because your enemy, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. You say, well, Kirk, that's not
specifically talking to the pastors and the leaders.
No, it's not. It's actually talking to the
congregation. But if we don't give you an
example of that, how will you see what that looks like?
We're to be temperate, sober. Minded, Paul says those in
Thessalonikan, First Thessalonians 5-6.
So then let us not be like others who are asleep, but let
us be awake and sober minded. Let us be temperate.
Let us know what's going on. Let us pay attention to what's
going on. Let us keep our fingers on our
spiritual pulse. As leaders, where are we?
Have we spent enough time in prayer and we spent enough time
in devotional and personal Bible study?
Do we have anything to pour out? Do we need to go to the throne
and have our spiritual batteries?
If you would recharge just by communing with God.
For a little while. Do we know what's going on in
our lives? Because we can't help.
People with what's going on in their lives, if we don't pay
attention to what's going on in ours, begins with understanding
that you are a watchman and overseer, a leader who must be
temperate, sober of mind, vigilant in his thoughts.
Colossians 42, Paul says devote yourselves to prayer, being
watchful, sober minded, temperate, being watchful and
thankful. Why?
So that you don't become apathetic and lazy, complacent,
and then raise up disciples who are apathetic, lazy and
complacent. Because that's our job, isn't
it? As leaders to raise up others as
disciples. Be temperate, he goes on, and he
then uses the term self controlled.
What this really means is sensible and prudent.
Self-control is an English variation of this that a lot of
times we get confused about. What?
Isn't God supposed to be controlling us?
Yes, His Spirit is going to control self.
That is why it's called self-control.
Well, here's what it means so that we can understand it.
It means to be sensible and prudent.
It's a command for all believers, of course, but it's
especially for those of us who are in leadership or who are
aspiring to be in leadership. It begins with the pastors and
the elders. If we are not self controlled,
sensible and prudent, we can't expect to have others in the
church who are living lives that are sensible and prudent, self
controlled, internally, governed by the Spirit that then being
worked out externally in our lives.
He moves on and he says respectable, respectable.
This Greek word, though, it would connotate some type of
respect. This is internal, as I have
already told you and what he's saying here.
In the Greek it means orderly. It means that internally your
thoughts are ordered, your intentions are ordered, your
motives are ordered, and they are guided and ordered by
virtue, Virtue that only God Himself can teach you.
It requires spending time with the Lord in His Word and in
prayer, being respectable, being able to look yourself in the
mirror, eye to eye. And not turn away in shame.
Well, I can tell you there have been times in my life,
unfortunately, that I would admit I couldn't do that.
I would look at myself in the mirror, whether I was brushing
my teeth, shaving, combing my hair, and I couldn't look at
myself eye to eye. Why?
Because internally I was not respectable.
I could not even respect myself. No, no, none of you have ever,
ever, ever struggled with anything like that.
But isn't that a reality? When our thoughts are not
ordered properly, when we're not being guided by virtue, when
we're not following the leadership of the Holy Spirit in
our life, We're called to be respectable, orderly in our
thoughts and in our mind, disciplined and organized in
that same mind. A well disciplined mind inwardly
will always lead to a well disciplined life outwardly.
But if you're not well disciplined in your mind through
the renewing of the mind as prescribed by the Word of God,
you can't even know the will of God, much less live the will of
God. He says to be respectable.
So the leader in his personal internal convictions regarding
himself, he is called to live above reproach, husband of one
wife, temperate, self controlled, respectable.
Now what Paul is going to do, he's going to move to the
obvious, right? I've already been telling you
this it what you are inside is what is eventually going to come
out. And he moves to this, as he
speaks about it, the overseer and his personal life as it
comes out. He has to be above reproach not
only in his personal internal convictions, he used to be above
reproach in his personal, external practices, what comes
out of his life. And he starts this section with
this hospitable. You know what this means?
It literally means loving of strangers to love others.
Strangers, people who are not of your group.
To be one who is welcoming and inviting to all, even those who
might be different, even those who might have just come in off
the street. Even those who it's their first
time to visit. This church, he's to be
hospitable. I've had critics in churches,
even in this church, throughout time, church members who should
have grown beyond this and their level of maturity, but yet they
just didn't. Who found themselves upset with
me as their pastor? You know why they were upset
with me? It was their charge against me.
All he's concerned about are the new people who were coming in.
Who aren't a part of our original group.
You bet. Because I'm called to be
hospitable to everybody who walks in the store.
I'm called to be hospitable. Why?
Because I'm going to have an opportunity to share the gospel
with that person who walked in the back door if I don't welcome
him as if he is my long lost cousin.
That may mean I walk past you and I don't get to say anything
to you that morning. I talk to you all the time and I
make the error of thinking this, that once I'm your friend, I'm
always your friend. So just know that there's
nothing you can do to change that.
But I go to that outsider. Refusing to stay in my little
group that you're in and I'm hospitable to them.
That better be what each and every one of our staff members
do. Anyone has ever worked under me
on the staff? Any type of children's ministry,
student ministry, You know, I, I tell them.
I've told them quite often. I'm thankful I don't have to.
Reiterate it anymore. Look for that young kid.
Who's got a bad home life? Well, you don't know he has a
bad long home life, but you can tell he needs love.
You know what you need to do in that situation?
Love him. Love him with all the energy and
all the effort that you have. Look for that.
Student who comes in, they don't have a lot of friends.
In fact, they've never been to this church before.
Give them a reason to stay. Show them the love of Christ.
Can we be perfect in this? No.
This is what we're striving for. There's always going to be the
person who sits on the outside and hides from everybody and
then turns around and says, nobody talked to me.
We didn't even know you were there.
You were hiding. But we as leaders are to make
that effort to be hospitable, loving strangers doing what
James tells us to do in James Chapter 2 when he says this.
Verse one my brothers and sisters, believers in our
glorious Lord Jesus Christ, he must not show favoritism.
Suppose a man comes in into your meeting wearing a gold ring and
fine clothes, and poor man and filthy old clothes also comes
in. If you show special attention to
the man wearing fine clothes and say here's a good seat for you.
But say to the poor man, you stand there, sit on the floor by
my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves
and become judges with evil thoughts?
He's saying his pastors as leaders, we can't do this.
Why? Because we need to raise up a
congregation who doesn't do. This.
And they're following our example.
It's by design. We saw that last week.
This is God's ordained design for the church, and he appoint
leaders. To equip you to do the work of
the ministry. Part of the work of the ministry
is to be hospitable. How can I ask you to be
hospitable? And I'm not hospitable.
How can I expect you to stay around in fellowship with other
believers if when I'm done preaching, I jump in my car and
go feed myself? I can't expect that of you
because I'm not living up to the expectations the Lord has for me
to be hospitable. Jesus.
And Matthew chapter 25 talks about this, and he talks about
this in regard to people's eternal salvation.
Did you know this? At the end of days there will be
a judgement for the Sinner. This is what marks the Sinner.
Jesus judges them and cast them into hell.
And he says the reason for this is because when I was hungry,
you didn't feed me. When I was thirsty, you didn't
give me anything to drink. When I need to close, I was
naked. You gave me nothing to wear.
And they come back as if they could really talk back to Jesus.
And they said, when did we do this?
He said, if you've done it under the least of these, you've done
it unto me every time. You weren't hospitable to
others. You were not hospitable to
Christ. Those of you who are aspiring to
be ministers, those of you who are elders or leaders in His
church, pay attention to that because see the other side of
this coin where Jesus commenced those, I was thirsty, you gave
me something to drink, I was hungry, You gave me some food, I
needed clothing. You provided clothing for me.
And you know what they did? They said, when did we do this?
Because they were unaware of it. Isn't it interesting how a true
Christian's unaware of that? He just does what he does
because he's saved and Jesus. Said because you fed, you gave
water and you clothed the least of these.
You did that for me. That's why we're called to be
hospitable as leaders, to teach the rest of the church that this
is what we are to do, to reach out to the unreached and to love
the unlovable and. To show attention and compassion
to the stranger, welcoming them and inviting them to hear the
glorious good news of the Gospel and to be saved.
He's just hospitable and he's just able to teach.
Able to teach. Now what does that mean?
Does that mean that he can stand up and give a lesson?
No, that's not what he's saying. Anybody could stand up and give
a lesson. Where does that lesson go?
Able to teach. You can't teach what you have
not lived. Now you can recite what you have
not lived. You can preach what you have not
lived, you can orotate what you have not lived, but you can't
teach what you have not lived. So he's saying that this person
must be able or apartment to teach, to soundly teach others.
That comes with learning to rightly divide the word of
truth, to rightly divide the Scriptures, to be well trained
in the word. Second Timothy chapter 2, verse
15. Do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved. He's saying this to the pastor
Timothy. Do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved a worker who does.
Not need to be ashamed. And who correctly handles the
word of truth? Who teaches rightly and
effectively person who can't teach rightly and effectively be
found in their doctrine. They have no place in a
leadership role in the church attempting to teach people.
Amen. I'll say it.
He must be able to teach and then he says not given to
drunkenness. This of course, at first glance
would be Speaking of he doesn't need to be addicted to alcohol.
That's true. In fact, my stance is I'm going
to leave it alone so that I don't fall into that danger.
Some of you, you're stronger than that, so you dabble in it.
That's between you and the Lord. And I pray that it doesn't grab
you and bring you down. But he says not given to
drunkenness. He's talking about physical
sobriety, as he talked about a moment ago, internal and
spiritual sobriety. He talked about being temperate.
He's now talking about external sobriety.
He's not just talking about being addicted to alcohol.
He's talking about being addicted to anything.
Food, love of money, sex. All the things that a person can
become addicted to gambling, he is saying don't be brought down
because you're given to some type of.
Addiction. Be very careful of that because
I've seen preachers stand in the pulpit 150 a 160 lbs overweight,
beat the pulpit and rail people because they're addicted to
other thing. You're not above reproach.
You can't even walk away from the buffet line and you're
trying to tell people how they can overcome their addiction.
You can't even say no to a Twinkie.
I know I might offend some of you.
It's factual information. They're not to be given to
things that control us. Christ is to be our soul Lord,
not given to excessive overindulgences in this life.
And men aren't there, many of them.
He goes on. I'll leave that because you're
all questioning now. Is that true?
Yeah, it's true. It's offensive to God.
How can I preach self-control and have none?
That's what above reproach is. He then goes on and he says not
violent but gentle. Not violent but gentle.
He's talking about being violent.
In our temper. It literally means to be a
striker, one who is quick to strike back.
It is that person, right? We've all learned this.
We all have a response to fear, and that's either fight, flight
or fright. He's talking about that person
who is naturally a fighter. I don't know anyone like that,
and he's saying this. You can't be quick to strike.
Back. Even if that's your natural
propensity, 'cause I, I can tell you this, that is my natural
propensity. If I'm overdoing something and
you come up behind me and you scare me, prepare yourself.
I don't think, I don't have time to think.
I react and my reaction is going to be violent and it's going to
hurt you. And so I have to be aware of
that, don't I? Because this doesn't just
doesn't go for physical things. Not violent, but gentle.
One who is not quick to strike back or to throw a blow of any
kind. Whether verbally or physically
in retaliation to someone, I will tell you this as a pastor,
that is difficult. It has been difficult and God
has been so gracious to me to teach me a difficult lesson of
Kirk Hall. Don't try to defend yourself
because naturally I'm a defender.
I'm thinkable that he has called me to live beyond my natural
self. Do not defend myself verbally or
physically when the assaults come because in the role of
leadership, those of you who are aspiring to be leaders just know
this Unfair. Untrue, hateful, mean, awful
assaults will come at you from all directions all the time,
just like they did to Jesus. Just like they did to the
apostles. And what did Jesus do when they
came? He said nothing.
Why? He didn't have to defend
himself. He had to stand in truth.
You know what's good about truth?
Truth always defends. So God.
Has taught me to just trust in the truth, to not try to defend
myself. And oh, in the age that we live
in, right where all of the courageous people can get on
that keyboard and just hack away trying to bring accusation
against you, accusation against the body of Christ.
All while they hide behind the screen, have people and they see
someone blast me on social media, or they see someone blast
the church on social media, or they hear about perhaps an
e-mail that I received those fun emails, and what are you going
to do about it Now? I'm going to go back to my
office. I'm going to open up the word of
God. I'm going to pray for those
people that God would have mercy on their soul because unless
they repent, they're going to answer to Him, not me.
I'm going to get back in the Word.
I'm going to prepare for my message next time.
And I'm going to understand this, that when I get done,
there may be critics, they may say untrue things about me, and
that's fine, that's OK. You know what?
Blessed is he when men say all kind of false things about Him.
As long as I in my heart know that they're false things, I'm
going to rest in the truth of the Word of God.
I'm going to rest in the promises of God.
I'm going to count on God to take care of any vengeance that
needs to be had. Why?
Because I'm not called to be a striker.
I'm called to be meek. You know what meek means?
It doesn't mean that you're weak.
It means that you choose not to use the resources that you have
and you do it for the glory of God.
I don't have to lash back at them.
I can do exactly what James tells me to do.
In James chapter one verse 19 where he says, my dear brothers
and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
Quick to listen. You know what?
When the critics come, you know what I do?
I listen. Is what they're saying true most
of the time? You know what?
I go, yeah, I guess there is some truth to that.
And if they wanted it to be worse than what it is, I could
probably give them worse things to say about me.
Quick to listen, slow to speed, slow to become angry.
Why do I want to let people who are lying, people who are
stirring up strive, people who are being over critical?
Why do I want to let them ruin my day?
Why do I want to let them ruin all the good things that God is
doing in this church? Why would I let them do that?
You know you have to let them do it.
You know what the Lord has taught me to do, And being above
reproach, striving for that. Don't be violent, be gentle, and
sometimes the best way to be gentle is this.
Don't say anything at all, just as Jesus did nothing at all.
Walk away from the situation and pray that God would do a work in
their heart. He goes on.
Then he says not quarrelsome. I get it guys, we're only on .1.
You got nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, not quarrelsome.
What are you saying here? He's talking about, again, being
peaceable and me not looking for fight.
Have you noticed there are a lot of preachers and a lot of
theologians that just go around looking for a fight, right?
If there are some theological persuasion, what they'll do is
they'll get around other Christians and they'll start
talking about the theological thing that they know that they
don't agree with just so they can start a quarrel that's
quarrelsome. We as leaders ought not to be
that. We ought to be looking.
For a fight. He goes on and says not a lover
of money. What does that mean?
And you're not prone to excessive wealth or lustful
greed or unlawful or ungodly gain.
You're not driven by money. First Timothy, chapter 6.
We'll get there eventually. But in verse 10, it says for the
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
He says some people eager for money have wandered from the
faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Pay attention to that, those of you who aspire to be leaders.
Money can distract you. The love of money can tear apart
your ministry, what God has called you to do.
You can't be concerned was that? Why are these?
Things important. Why have we taken so much time
this morning and breaking them down 1 by 1?
Thomas Watson said this. He said the sins of of teachers
are teachers of sin. Wow.
If I don't live a pattern in a life that is above reproach, you
know what I'm going to do for all of you.
If our pastors in our church and our elders in our church don't
live a life that is above reproach, you know what they're
going to do for all of you. They're going to give you an
example that says. It's OK for you to send, and
haven't we seen enough of that in the church as of late?
It's not acceptable. We must be above reproach.
Overseers in the church, leaders, pastors, they're called
to live a life that is above reproach, including both
internal convictions and external practice practices.
So we have to ask ourselves, does our life reflect that and.
We're striving to live above reproach in these areas.
Secondly, Paul says in verse four he must manage his own
family well and see that his children obey him with proper
respect. If anyone does not know how to
manage his own family, how? Can he take care of God's
church? Wow.
Paul being so logical, so practical here, don't miss this.
He asked that question. If this guy can't even manage
his own wife and children, is that's what you as men are
called to do. And because we are pastors, we
don't get an exemption from that.
In fact, we ought to do it, and do it well, so that others will
see that example. We ought to be above reproach
regarding not only ourselves but also our homes.
The overseer should strive for this regarding his home.
How does he do this? He does it through proper
leadership. The leadership roles in the home
being clearly defined and those roles being managed.
He is a steward, a manager of his home, that means of his wife
and of his children. He has to take that proper role
of leadership. Why?
Because a man who can't, he can't manage his home and his
wife runs all over him and his kids disrespect him.
They're rebellious and worldly. He's not fit to lead in the
church. Now I know for a generation
pastors have gotten the pass on this.
They've been fired for things that aren't even on this list.
But they get a pass for this. There is no pass.
Passes are not handed out. Pay attention to what he says.
He must manage his own family well and see that his children
obey him with proper respect. And if he doesn't do this, he's
not fit to even attempt to manage all the other families
that he has been entrusted with in the church.
He can't even manage his own. Can't take a mediocre, passive
approach to leadership in the home.
He's got to be a leader who leads well, who leads with
tenacity, who leads properly. Who leads biblically?
Who honors God by the way He leads first in his home and then
in the church, in that order. You aspire to be a leader.
Is your leadership properly displayed in the home?
Proper leadership according to Scripture.
Knowing what is. Required.
That's where we start. What is required of me as a
leader of my home? Get in the word and find out
what is required of my life, my wife in the home.
Get in the word, find out. Teach it to her.
What is required of my children? Get in the word, find out, teach
it to them. That's your job.
Be a leader in your home to manage it well according to the
scriptures. Knowing what is required and
then aligning your home with those scriptures.
Many of you know the right answer, but you're afraid to do
it or you're not doing it. Or you're apathetic.
Or you're lazy in regard to your home.
Stop doing it. That as ministers, we can't
afford to do it. In fact, we're not fit ministers
if we do. We have to refuse to preach one
thing in the pulpit and to live another thing in front of our
family. It's essential, it has to be
proper leadership, but not only does it have to be proper
leadership in regard to the leadership and being above
reproach and home, it has to be proven leadership.
This is where it gets scary. It has to be proven.
What's the proof here? He said he must manage his own
family well and see that his children obey him with proper
respect. And if anyone does not know how
to manage his own family, how can he take care of Church of
God's church? What does proven leadership look
like? According to Paul, proven
leadership looks like his children obey him with proper
respect. That doesn't say his children
like everything that he does, that he doesn't get on their
nerves because he will. He's a dad, but it says that
they will respect him. What is Paul saying?
Leadership in the home. The proof is in the pudding.
You want to know if someone is leading their home properly.
You know how to find out. Talk to their wife, talk to
their children. You'll find out.
And you'll find out very quickly that no, they're not leading
their home perfectly. They can't.
They're flawed. But they're going to be leading
their home properly and attempting to do that and to be
above. Reproach as the Word of God
commands us to do here at Key Life Fellowship, before any of
our pastors are ever hired. You know what happens?
Our elders interview them and their wives.
You know what we do? We read these things from First
Timothy chapter 3, and we ask the wife.
We don't ask the husband. He wants a job.
He could lie to us. We ask the wife, does he meet
these requirements? Is he fit for ministry?
We don't look for her answer. We look at her face.
We discern the situation. If she's confident in her
husband's leadership, You know what she does smile on her face.
She looks, she's square in the eyes and says, Oh yeah, my man
is a candidate to lead in God's church.
If he's not, you know what she's going to do.
She's going to put her. Yeah, I guess he's OK.
You know what? Because ladies, I mean, correct
me if I'm wrong, there's nothing that thrills you more as a
Christian woman and to see your husband being exactly what God
wants him to be. It means something and it means
something to us and it means something to us as leaders of
the church. Why?
Because we don't see if there's proven leadership in the home.
Because if there's not proven leadership in the home, there's
going to be a train wreck in the church.
You'll never be able to teach anyone how to be a good father.
You'll never be able to teach anyone how to be a good husband.
You'll never be able to teach anyone how to discipline their
children, to love their children, to minister to their
children. You'll never be.
Able to teach these things because you don't practice these
things. It's proven leadership.
Titus, 16, takes it a little step further.
A little more clarity shed on this.
He says an elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife.
That's why I told you. That's why I leaned toward the
faithful to the wife. And Paul says here in Timothy,
he says, a man whose children. Believe and are not open to the
charge of being wild and disobedient.
Haven't we in the past just tolerated it?
In fact, we expect it. That was the greatest insult to
me that I could hear as a pastor when my kids were growing up in
my home, for people just to expect that they were
rebellious. What do you have no confidence
that I'm striving to live above reproach?
That I will not let my children be rebellious, you say?
How do you stop your children from being rebellious parents?
You don't let them rebel. You take every avenue of
rebellion away from them. You actually act like a father.
You actually discipline them. Your wife actually backs you up
and doesn't sneak around your back and give them what they
want anyway. You have to be above reproach
and how you lead your family so that your children will believe,
not be open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
Let me just tell you something. I won't even look their way
because I can't. That chapter of my life is
closed to which I'm very thankful for.
Now I just get to be a diesel. There are no rules.
I listen to critic after critic after endless critic trying to
tell me how I was supposed to raise my children, knowing full
well exactly how God said to do it.
And I made-up my mind that I am not going to listen to them.
I am going to listen to my heavenly Father and I'm going to
listen to His Word. And He is faithful to do that.
But she said that He will do. I don't say this to highlight my
grown children, my godly wife, or myself.
God is faithful to His Word. Just this weekend I got to
witness one of the greatest blessings that I've had and will
have this side of heaven. Brandy and I got to keep our
grandbabies both together for the first time.
Boy, it's been a long time since we've had kids, but what a
blessing, what a joy I got to see my adult children but their
God honoring and God loving spouses lead students lead
adults by their example. Love Jesus.
Never one time in my life did I ever lay my head on a pillow at
night and wonder what my children were going to do that
would cause me grief and heartache.
I can remember the day that I found out that I was going to be
a father. I had very few, if any, good
examples of what a godly family looks like.
It wasn't until later in life that God began to put people
into my life who love Christ and live for Him, which I'm very
thankful. I remember that desperate prayer
where I said, Lord, I don't know anything about raising kids.
I don't know anything about being a dad.
Truth be told, I don't know anything about anything.
And I said, Lord, will you help me?
Will you help me? Because I don't know.
But I know that you are a good and glorious, loving and kind
father. It was all at the same time.
Endless love, fierce discipline. Teach me to be that, so that my
children will turn out to serve you.
That was my only prayer. They will know you and that they
will serve you. I'm thankful.
And for whatever reason, He has spared me long enough to get to
see that I'm thankful for. We must be proven in our
leadership that proof will be in our homes, our wives, and our
children. Ephesians 6 forces fathers, do
not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the
training and the instruction of the Lord's, the best of my
ability, with the wisdom that God has given me that I could
even obtain. That's what I did as a leader.
We did as parents and proofs in the pudding.
That's what we ought to strive for.
We ought to strive to live lives so that our children respect us.
And what I mean by that, they respect Christ in US.
I'm not going to ask my children they respect me.
I don't have to. They show it by how they honor
their mother and father and how that is important to them.
Proven leadership above reproach regarding the home.
Thirdly, I'll move fast, I promise.
Regarding the church. Who must be above reproach
regarding the Church? He says he must not be a recent
convert. He may become conceited and fall
under the same judgment as the devil.
He's warning that this is not a job for someone who's only been
saved for a little while, a short time, who has not grown
and who has not matured and is maturing in Christ.
He's letting us know that if someone aspires to be a leader
in the Church, he must be securely vetted, not a recent
convert. Isn't it interesting?
We've all been in churches where they do this, right?
Someone gets saved, they need a leadership role filled.
We need a Sunday school teacher. Hey, man, can you teach Sunday
school? I don't know.
I'll try, man. The guy's been saved. 15
minutes. You're not going to vet him at
all. Can I tell you this?
Here at Key Life Fellowship, I spoke about two of our pastors
who grew up in our youth group. They've been being vetted for
years. Another one who was saved here
in this church, actually in the building next door many years
ago, who was vetted for years before.
Another who was here serving as an elder, who is vetted and now
a staff pastor. All of our elders vetted for
years before they're even considered for a leadership
role. It's a serious business.
This is not to be some recent convert.
This is not to say because we think we're high and mighty
because we're more spiritually mature.
No, it is to protect them from a fall.
It is to keep them from becoming conceited and to fall under the
same judgement as the devil. Wasn't it the devil's pride that
got him? How many of you were raised
Southern Baptist? Just raise your hand.
You only have to admit it quickly, then put it down so
that you're not embarrassed all morning.
How many of you remember 5th Sunday singings?
Not singing, singing. Now I'm going to disclose some
information that many of you are not Privy to. 5th Sunday
singings were for the people who couldn't sing, that wanted to
sing, but they were no way ever going to be trusted to sing on a
Sunday morning. True story.
They would just sign up to sing. Now here's what would happen if
this Sunday's singing is when we would trust a novice with this
position who couldn't sing, who couldn't play, who was tone
deaf, who couldn't hear the melody of a song.
They would get up and they would sing and then.
After the service. All the well meaning.
People would say, oh that, bless my heart.
Yeah, but what to do to your ears?
They didn't even know if this person was a Christian.
They just wanted to sing. So I put him on stage.
Now what happens is they say that, bless my heart, you ought
to sing more. I'm good.
You're going. No, you're not.
And before you know it, at the end of.
One of the services, they got the worship pastor back in the
corner. They got him pegged up.
It is fifth Sunday singer and all of her family.
You need to let her sing on a Sunday morning.
Why do you let other people sing on a Sunday morning?
You don't let her sing on a Sunday morning.
She's not ready. She #1 Can't Sing #2 we don't
even know if she's a Christian. Yeah, we're pressured to put
people in these roles. We can't be pressured to put
those people in these roles. Why?
Because they're going to think that they're ready to stand when
they're not like the 5th Sunday singer.
They're going to think they're good when they're not really
good. You don't just throw a person
that the day that they say I feel like God's calling me to
preach, well, jump up there, bud.
Why? Because at the end, they're
going to be people at the back of the door and you know what
they're going to say. Man, that was some good
preaching. I'm sitting there going exegesis
horrible, outline horrible. He didn't hold people's
attention. He didn't make any sense.
He knows nothing about the word of God.
His exposition was awful. Everybody else is going to say,
man, that's a good job. And pat him on the back.
They're going to ingratiate him. They're going to tell him things
like this won't be long. You'll be having your own
church. It better be long.
It better take some time. This guy's got to grow up.
He's still wet behind the ears. He needs nurturing.
He needs maturing. He needs discipleship.
What do they do? Throw him to the wolves?
Next thing you know, months later, he's pastoring the
Antioch Baptist. Church.
Before you know it, you get news that he's quit ministry.
He's never going back to church. Those people are mean and awful
to him. He thought he was something, but
he realized he's nothing and all came crashing down upon him.
We do people an injustice when we don't securely vet them.
I'm not saying this to say, oh, I'm mature, you're not.
I'm saying we have to make sure that leaders are vetted.
We know it in today's society, right?
Anybody can get on social media and pretend to be a preacher or
a theologian. That's why you have all the mess
that you have. I told the men just the other
night with social media we are seeing the revival of.
So many ancient heresies. Why?
Because these people haven't been vetted.
Again, an audience. Just because you have an
audience doesn't mean that you've been vetted.
You haven't grown spiritually to the point where you should be
trusted in any kind of leadership.
Recent convert hasn't grown to the point where he's ready for
that fact. James says in James chapter 3
verse one, not many of you should become teachers, my
fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be
judged more strictly. We got to teach this young man
every word that comes out of your mouth.
When you stand there with that Bible open, you're going to give
an answer for it. You better take this seriously.
Now we throw him in the pulpit and say say whatever you want to
say. Heresy and false teaching,
unbiblical things spew from their mouth, causing confusion,
leading people down the wrong path and leading them to a fall.
They have to be securely vetted. I'll harp on this no longer, but
even secular companies vet their people, don't they?
The company you work for. They're not going to hire a new
CEO who has zero experience, 0 expertise, 0.
Knowledge of the industry. They're going to hire somebody
who's been vetted, somebody who's mature in the industry,
somebody who knows it backward and forward.
That's what they're paying him to do.
Even the secular world knows this.
Leaders have to be vetted. I know it's hard for you guys.
You young people pay attention to this.
It's hard for you to be vetted. Even microwave waving your food
since you were born, you have a meal at McDonald's in 32
seconds. Chick-fil-A, you got it in a
minute. And they even say, my pleasure,
you're not used to waiting on something.
You're not used to being vetted. Please know in the church, just
because that's not what you're used to doesn't mean that's what
we have to do. You have to be approved.
A Workman who rightly divides the word truth so that you don't
fall to your own pride, so you don't fall to promoting yourself
and your own agenda so that you realize that it's Christ and
Christ alone whom we serve. You do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit. As Paul says in Philippians
chapter 2, shoot all for the glory of God above reproach
regarding the church securely vetted striving then towards
humility. We got to leave pride.
We have to strive towards humility, he said.
Or you may be come conceited and fall under the same judgement as
the devil without humility. Please know this, without
humility, you'll never be effective as a leader.
Without humility, without humility walking in your pride
as a leader, you were headed toward a fall.
Why? Because the word of God is true.
Proverbs 1618 You know what pride goes before destruction?
The haughty spirit before fall 19 says better to be lowly in
spirit along with the oppressed and to share the plunder with
the proud. We have to strive as leaders for
humility. That's what I want to see.
You know what I want to see in our staff more than anything?
That's not about us, about Christ.
Christ alone and nothing else, nothing more.
Because He's everything. Isn't he right?
Rightly students worthy. He is seen so many times in the
church though, where we puff people up and build their pride
instead of praying that God would tear that down.
Jesus made it very clear, Matthew's Gospel also in Mark's
Gospel, Matthew's Gospel, he says this in 2027.
Whoever wants to be first must be your slave.
Just the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom for many.
He must be brought low. He must be humble.
Mark 9 verse 35. He says anyone who wants to be
first must be the very last in the servant of all.
You know, I look for in a good minister, a good leader, when we
have a meal at church, is he at the front of the line, driven by
selfish ambition to get all the good stuff?
Or will he wait and be at the end of the line and get up the
scraps, eat those things and be thankful that he has them, that
he gets to lead God's people? It's important, isn't it
humility? Because the opposite of that is
pride, and a good leader who leads only by his pride is
destined for a fall. Lastly, any of y'all still here?
You just thought I'd preached a long time to you.
I told you I'm preaching to myself above reproach.
Regarding himself, regarding his home, regarding the church, and
I'll make this as quickly as possible.
Regarding the community, I'll make it quickly because.
Very simply, he must also have a good reputation with outsiders,
he said. You must have a good reputation
within yourself, your character, within your home, within the.
Church Now he says within the community, the world, he says he
must have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not
fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
The devil wants to trap you. And how does he trap you?
By you not taking your testimony of Christ seriously as a leader.
And then allowing reproach to be brought upon your name and the
name of Christ and the name of the church that you serve at.
Paul now shifts the fact that the overseer not only should be
above reproach as he relates to himself, his home, the church.
He says we also have to consider those on the outside who are
watching us. Let me just tell you this, if
you aspire to be a leader in the church, you're going to live in
a fish bowl. Just get ready for.
It nothing you can do about it being the Aquarius that I am,
Yeah, Look it up. That's a real word.
Keep the tank clean. Manage the tank because once it
gets out of control, it's just out of control.
There's really nothing you can do about it.
Live your life to to where there is a clear difference.
The lost world should see a distinct difference between your
life and their life. You ought to shine like the
stars in the sky. That's what Paul says in
Philippians chapter 2, verse 14 and verse 15 as he describes
what we ought to be doing as believers living pure and
blameless lives, as children of God without fault and a warped
and crooked and perverse generation.
We ought to shine like stars among the darkness.
I once knew of a church with a pastor every single week, at the
risk of sounding like a broken record, would remind his
congregation that they are and that they are going out into
They need to go out and they need.
Shine the light, go be the light, shine like stars in the
sky, be that different that people take note of you.
Our lives should clearly stand out as Christians.
How much more so as leaders and pastors and elders in the
church. Because you know what the Lost
World loves to do more than anything?
When they see something in your life that could be seen as
reproach, they like to blast it everywhere because they love to.
Blast Christ. They love to blast Christ,
people. It's our job as ministers to
take their ammo away, living a life that clearly stands out as
light in the darkness, letting our light shine before others.
That they see our good deeds and they just can't help but glorify
our Father who is in heaven. They should notice a difference
in US and how we. Speak.
How we act, how we react, our convictions, the places that we
go, the things that we do, how we conduct our business.
You think they're not paying attention?
I'll tell you this, they're paying attention.
Not too long ago I sold a truck to a guy.
If I would have known how much trucks were going for these
days. Man I am clueless.
No wonder he brought me cash money envelope full of $100
bills. He came and he test drove the
truck. I'm over in the passenger seat.
He's driving the truck. We drive up the road, down the
road. He reaches into a backpack that
he brought with him, pulls out this envelope, $15,000 in $100
bills. You said, man, you sold your
truck that cheap? Yeah, sorry, I didn't sell it to
you. I didn't know I was trying to
make money. I just want to get somebody a
good deal. He gives me that envelope.
He said it all should be there, he said, but you can count it.
I said, OK, I counted. Going through those $100 bills
now, I understand it's not many times in my life where I had
$15,000 a $100 bills and in my hand I want to open up and fan
myself with it. I wasn't going to keep it long.
I'm counting. Something's not right.
I counted again. Still, something's not right.
I counted the third time and I looked over at him.
I said, hey, man, I think you've given me $100 too much.
He said. I sure did.
Said I stalked you on Facebook and I saw you were a pastor and
I was going to see if you'd be honest when you counted that
money and you were. I looked him right in the eyes
and said, let me tell you something son, I'm not going to
sell my soul for measly $100. He laughed.
He said thank you for being honest, Said you bet you think
they're not watching. We're to show a clear
difference. Everything we do and everything
that we say, how we handle, conduct our lives, how we love
people, how we love the Lord. Jesus said that's the thing
that's going to set us apart, our love for one another, our
love for him, clear difference regarding our relationship to
the community. They need to see that and a
clean testimony. I won't belabor this last one.
Leaders should strive for a holy life even before the launch to
people. We should take our testimony
seriously. I remember when I was coming up
in the church as a young believer, they talked about that
a lot, the importance of our Christian testimony, it seems.
It seems like like when you turn on church services or you watch
them online, nobody talks about that.
It's like it's not important. We're all trying to be cool and
worldly, so we're not really worried about our testimony.
But leaders in the church have to worry about their testimony.
Why? Because the Lost World's
watching on Peter says in chapter 2 of First Peter.
He says this in verse 12. Live such good lives among the
pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see
your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.
He said live such a good life that though they want to say
something bad about you, they can't say anything bad about
you. They have to see that Christ is
real and they have to bow to His.
Glory that's above reproach. That's what we as leaders are
called to live so that we can be an example to you, because
you're called to live the same thing.
Peter keeps that theme, the 3rd chapter of the same letter.
He's just keeping a clear conscience so that those who
speak maliciously against you and your good behavior in Christ
may be ashamed of their slander. There's such a good life that
those who want to rail you will be ashamed of that.
Even the lost people in the world.
No, seemingly unimportant to keep clean testimony in the
church today. I think it's high time that we
as church leaders stand up and say no longer will we accept
this. Why?
Because he's called us to live a life that is above reproach.
A life that is above reproach regarding ourselves, regarding
our homes, regarding the church, regarding the community.
If you're not willing to do this, you're not able to lead in
the church. You're not qualified to lead.
You're not a candidate for leadership.
This is so important that we understand this.
Why? So that the leadership in the
church will be what it's supposed to be.
Why is that important? So the congregation will be what
they're supposed to be. May we lead?
Well, seeking proper leadership
in the church or seeking to be a leader in the church should be
examined. We should examine ourselves.
Do I qualify as a candidate for leadership in the church as it
pertains to the Scriptures? Will my conscience verify that
I'm striving to live beyond reproach?
Will my family verify that I'm striving to live beyond
reproach? Would those in the church verify
that I'm striving to live beyond reproach?
I'm not talking about Would any of them say that I'm perfect?
I am not perfect. Whether we say, would they say
striving, would they say that about our other pastors and
elders, they better with the outside world testify that we're
different, that we're striving to live a godly life, even
though they don't even understand what that is.
So you do you desire to serve as a church leader?
That's what he's talking about here.
One who aspires to be a leader. Has God called you?
Is God calling you? Then examine yourself.
Examine yourself in the light of what we've seen today.
See if you meet the standard. These are not tests you pass.
You just simply never have to worry about again, right?
You don't just take this one time.
So I passed and I'm good. I'm certified.
This is the standard that we constantly strive for every
single day of the rest of our lives.
Lord, let me be above reproach. Believers, I know you've sat
here and you've listened to me, preached to myself for a very
long time today, and I would love to apologize to you, but I
couldn't sincerely do that. I need this.
I need this reminder. Our pastors, our elders need
this. They need this reminder.
And it doesn't really matter how long it takes because your
spiritual well-being is at hand. What can you do?
Pray for us as all hell comes against us and you don't even
know about it. Pray for us and no matter what
comes against us, we seek to live our lives above reproach so
that we don't bring harm upon the name of this church and
ultimately upon the name of Christ.
Hold us accountable as you pray for us, Love us as we lead you,
and we love you, the unbeliever. Just a moment.
There's going to be some people standing here to my right and to
my left. In fact, they're welcome.
Now, here are those who take part in our prayer and our
counseling time at the end of the service.
If you would come and just stand to my left and to my right.
These people are going to be here.
For those of you who might not be believers this morning, who
perhaps you've heard the gospel over and over and over and over
again, and today God is drawing you unto himself to be saved, I
would encourage you. We're going to dismiss in an
abnormal way today. But I would.
Encourage you after we dismiss, I would encourage you if you
need to talk to someone about what it means to truly know
Christ as your Savior. These folks are going to be
standing here until the building is empty.
He would come to them. All you have to do is simply
say, I need to know what it means to be saved.
And they're going to take the word of God and they're going to
show you what it means to know Christ.
Let's pray together and then we're dismissed.
Father, we thank you for this today.
We thank you for your word. May we live accordingly.
The things that we have seen today as leaders, may we lead
well within ourselves as we follow the leadership of your
spirit within our homes, within the church, within this world.
May we bring you glory and all that we do and all that we say
as we lead your people. What a responsibility that we
have. Let us never, ever, ever
discount that responsibility. But I pray for each and every
church member here today that they would see our willingness
to lead well. They would follow us as we
follow Christ. We'll give you all the glory for
it in Jesus name, Amen. You've been listening to Key
Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.
Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.