Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20120603.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Timothy: God's Ministry Roles For Church Leaders And The Local Church
Part XVI: Understanding A Church Leader's Biblical Way To Relate To Other People
A. A Leader's Godly Way Of Relating To Church Members In General
(1 Timothy 5:1-2 et al)
  1. Introduction
    1. A local church leader's focus is to be twofold -- that of the Word of God and that of the people of God.
    2. Of necessity, then, a leader must understand how God wants him to relate to other members of the body, for Church History is rife with abuses both on the part of leaders as well as reactionary abuses of laymen toward their church leaders.
    3. 1 Timothy 5:1-2 begins an important section on a local church leader's relationships with other believers, and verses 1-2 as seen within the entire Biblical context provides an important overview of the subject:
  2. A Leader's Godly Way Of Relating To Church Members In General, 1 Timothy 5:1-2 et al.
    1. In the wide Biblical context, local church leaders, be they pastors or Board members, are in a unique position regarding oversight that is to be neither that of dictator nor that of leaderlessness:
      1. The Apostle Peter taught that though church leaders are shepherds, they are not to view themselves as dictators over the church, for Christ is the Chief Shepherd to whom they themselves must give an account, so they must lead by example versus being lords over God's flock, 1 Peter 5:1, 3-4.
      2. On the other hand, local church leaders are not to be disrespected and abusively resisted by others in the church, for Paul admonished the believers at Corinth not to cause Timothy fear when he ministered among them, for he was performing God's work just as Paul was, 1 Corinthians 16:10.
    2. Thus, a template is needed for a leader that both he and everyone else can use to understand how he is to relate properly and effectively to others in the local church, and Paul supplied it in 1 Timothy 5:1-2:
      1. Since the oversight role of a local church leader is most strained when he must confront sin in another party, Paul directed how he was to do this effectively with an older man who was culturally superior to Timothy. In such a case, Timothy was to treat the older man as he would a dear father he respected and loved, not treating him "harshly," but by "admonishing" him he would his own father, 1 Timothy 5:1a; Wm. Hendriksen, Exp. of the Pastoral Epistles (NTC), 1974, p. 165-166. This implied neither letting the older, culturally "superior" man escape confrontation for his sin, but it also called for Timothy to use "tact, gentleness and moderation" in relating to the man! (Ibid.)
      2. Then, in confronting a younger man, Timothy was not to lord over him nor to avoid giving him the needed correction, but to admonish him as he would a dear brother in his own family, 1 Timothy 5:1b.
      3. Crossing the gender line produces a more delicate set of circumstances, but Paul directed that Timothy still perform his necessary confrontation of sin with an older woman as he would were she his mother, 1 Timothy 5:2a. "To correct one's own mother surely requires deep humility, genuine searching of heart, wrestling at the throne of grace, wisdom" (Ibid.), so these qualities were to be applied.
      4. Even more difficult is the issue of a church leader's confronting sin in a younger women, for, very quickly, the confrontation itself can become inflamed where the leader faces retaliatory false charges of abuse by an upset younger woman, or, worse, he finds himself caught in the temptation of immorality. So, to confront sin in a younger woman, Paul told Timothy to relate to her "in all purity," the context indicating pure righteousness at every level, 1 Timothy 5:2b. [One practical way to achieve this is for the leader to pretend his interaction with the younger woman is being videotaped to be shown before the entire church body at a church meeting, providing a great guide for purity in his conduct!]
    3. If a church leader is to relate to others in the church as if they were his own earthly family members, the local church is a "family" of sorts, so a leader must have a good family life himself even to understand how he is to relate in the church, 1 Timothy 3:2a, 5. Then, once he applies his way of relating well in his earthly family over into church relationships, the body in time will become a smoothly functioning unit!
Lesson: In general, to be effective and foster blessing in the local church, a church leader should apply the way he relates in his own healthy earthly family relationships to his local church relationships.

Application: May we understand the "healthy family" pattern for the church, and "fit in" to our role!