Title Qualifications for office (1 Timothy 3:8-10)
Contents
When it comes to dealing with people, there is a character that suits the work and a life that matches the work. Hospitality, for example, would like a person with a personality that gets along well with others. For those whose Bibles are obsolete, hospitality is not a pleasure and can be torture. However, if you are an open-minded person, it can be a pleasure to entertain others. This is commonly referred to as aptitude.
There is an old saying that even a Pyongyang auditor can't do it if he doesn't like it. Because if you don't enjoy it, it can be a burden to you, even if everyone else likes it. So, in order to do a job well, it is good to do a job that suits your aptitude. Some housewives have a lot of interest in hairdressing. In this case, you may see people doing what they want to do to their pet dog.
In order to do the church job well, there is definitely an aptitude for the job. It is correct to work according to your aptitude for the work of the world. You can do it according to your aptitude. All you have to do is find what you like and work hard. However, the work of the church must fit into its mission. Because mission is an area that is more important than yourself.
At work, there are always times when I have to change the situation, or there are times when I have to change. If you change the situation, the problem will be solved. But if the problem needs to be changed, even if the situation changes, the problem remains. For this reason, those who serve the church must have the heart to fix or change the parts that might interfere with the Lord's work.
The Bible clearly does not tell us to change the work of the office holders in fulfilling their offices, but it does say that the ministers must change. If you are more important than the mission of the church, you cannot fulfill your mission. The Apostle Paul (Acts 20:24) said, “I do not regard my life of any value as being of any value in order to complete my course and the mission I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
When you go to the hospital and get a checkup, the teacher gives you an opinion with the test results. They tell you what you shouldn't eat or what you should eat regularly to stay healthy in the future. If you want to keep your health, you need to fix what needs to be fixed and protect what needs to be protected. I've seen someone ignore a doctor's advice despite having high blood pressure and only regret it after suffering a stroke.
1. The official must change his words.
In today's sermon, "A deacon is modest and does not speak one word or another." In order for us to carry out the duties the Lord has given us, we must first of all change our language life. In the New Standard Version, it is said that deacons are prudent and do not speak two words with one mouth.
For church officers, correcting their wrong language life is the first gateway to loyalty to their office. There are some people who have not crossed this gate for the rest of their life, and have not passed the gate of this language life and have collapsed on the spot. These things need to be fixed. All service of the church is linguistic service. Therefore, people who are ill in language life cannot do church work well.
First of all, when we say we need to change our words, we need to fix what we talk about a lot. Talking too much is easy to make mistakes. Furthermore, since we have to take responsibility for our words, the more we talk, the greater our responsibility. (Ecclesiastes 5:2) “Do not open your mouth recklessly before God, and do not speak in a hurry, for God is in heaven and you are on earth.
The word to speak one tongue is "Dyllogos" and has two meanings, one is to "say the same thing twice" and the other to "say the same thing to two people" To borrow the second interpretation, it refers to saying the same thing to one person or another. I was told not to speak in one go. Believers are not to repeat the things that have already happened, and personally, it means that one word should be said to one person, not to another person.
There is one wisdom that I have gained through my long years of church life. It is to beware of talkative people. Try not to get close to people who talk a lot. And he doesn't talk much to others.
2. The official must correct what he eats and drinks.
The office of a deacon was created to help the poor. If the butler is addicted to alcohol, he is wary of eating and drinking himself by helping others. In other words, it means eating and drinking with public money. When eating and drinking, believers should always think about whether it is okay for me to eat and drink. In Korean society, strangely, it is easy to take things lightly when eating and drinking with public money.
A person who eats and drinks with public money must not assume the office of the church. After all, even what should be used for the poor can be used for eating and drinking. Officials must change their eating and drinking habits.
3. The direct bearer must be clean in his material life.
Those who covet unclean teeth must not become officers. You must not focus on material interests while living in the church. This would be unfortunate. If possible, the church should not build up material parts. An official is dishonest with material things, and in the end, his honesty is questioned in everything he does. Material life is an important measure of conscience and honesty.
God applied very strict rules to the material life of the preceding people. As we well know, it was Judas who lost the most precious office in the New Testament era, the apostleship. The reason why Judas Iscariot lost his precious position was because his attitude toward material things was wrong. In the end, he sold Jesus for money because he could not give up his greed for material things.
When you say that you sold Jesus for money, the Bible says that you sold your office for money. In other words, if an official is not clean about money, his position will not be a position for loyalty, but will be reduced to a position for interest. The starting point of the fall of any office is its association with material things. Although Solomon is a great king, his extravagant life ended up splitting the country. After Solomon's death, the people demanded a tax cut was that his life was ultimately a burden to the people.
After the Kimcheon Presbytery was established, the first thing the servants of the Lord who served the church decided to do was to eliminate all travel expenses while doing the work of the presbytery. It is truly grateful that the church leaders gathered their hearts to avoid using public funds as much as possible. When that happens, a lot of budget is saved and the burden on the church is reduced.