Grace Words

A Daily Bible Reader's Blog

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Category: 1 Timothy 3

The Indispensable Church – Keeping It Alive

“Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).

In my last note I wrote about the life-cycle of a church, how that, inevitably, it will die. But no one should read those words as if that truth is inconsequential. When a church dies, it is very consequential.

When a church dies, because it is the presence of Christ in a community (remember, the church is the “body of Christ”), it means that Christ no longer has a presence there or, if the congregation is one of several, the presence of Christ is diminished. It is through the work of the church that the knowledge of God and salvation through Jesus Christ is to be made known in a community (see Ephesians 3:10-11). When a church dies the means of this knowledge is also diminished.

Note our text: The church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth.” The phrase is significant. The church does not “originate” truth. Truth comes from God and is found in His word. But that truth is supported by and rests on the church – the family of God. Without the church, God’s truth is but an idea – perhaps an ideal. But in the church, that idea comes to life, is seen to be real and seen how it can be real in the lives of people. God’s truth is lived, proclaimed, encouraged, and supported by the church and when a church dies, that fleshed out image of God’s truth dies too.

It is a truth, churches die. But it is important that they not die, that they be kept alive (but not on life support), vibrant, healthy, growing as long as possible that the truth of God might not just be proclaimed, but seen in a world that desperately needs it. By the way, none of that happens unless those members who make up the church actively, intentionally, and faithfully, make it so.
Mike Tune

The Indispensable Church – 2

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15)

In a previous blog (see #1 in this series) I pointed out the indispensable nature of the Church to a relationship with God. You should, however, keep in mind that in no sense is the Church is simply an idea or notion without concrete existence.

The word translated “church” in our Bibles is a Greek word for “assembly.” But it was not, in the ancient world, just any assembly. It was specifically the assembly of free voting citizens (always a minority) in a (non-Jewish) city which met to determine the course of that community. Can you imagine then how non-Christians felt when they heard Christians (many of them poor and some even slaves) speak of themselves as the Church? But with their terminology, the Christians were making a not so subtle point: It is God’s people who are the truly free, and as God’s servants, we are the real deciding factors of a community’s future.

Theologians refer to the Church (capital “C”) as the “great church” or the “universal church.” Local churches (congregations) get a small “c” church designation. In this thinking, churches everywhere make up the Great Church. But the Apostle Paul never uses such terminology. The Church is the physical fellowship of God’s people that assembles together in every community.  The congregation is the Church.

Individually, the movers and shakers of ancient communities may have been free, land owning, citizens, but they were not seen as “the assembly” until they gathered. In the same way, disciples of Jesus are seen to be the Church when they gather – which is why the local church (congregation or assembly) is so important, and why being a part of one is indispensable to being a part of the Church. You can’t be a part of the Church if you are apart from the church. Or, stated another way, you can’t be a part of the household of God if you are apart from the household of God.
Mike Tune

The Indispensable Church – 1

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15)

If the Gospels are any indication, Jesus didn’t have much to say about the Church – the word occurs only twice and both times in Matthew (16:18; 18:17). But that doesn’t mean he thought it was unimportant. In fact, Jesus made it plain that the Church was an integral part of His mission. He came to build it. In fact, it is the only thing Jesus ever said he was going to build.

New Testament writers advanced the understanding of the Church in a variety of ways: It is, as our text says, the “household of God” (or God’s family). It belongs to God (a point made explicitly seven times in the New Testament). It is called the “body of Christ” (Ephesians 1:22-23) and “God’s temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

So what’s the point?

There is no relationship with God apart from the family of God. There is no connection with God without belonging to God. There is no relationship with Christ without belonging to His body. There is no indwelling of God’s Spirit without God’s temple, and no temple without the Church. Altogether, the Church is an indispensable part of a relationship with God.
Mike Tune

Wednesday, November 13. 1 Timothy 1 – 3

The official leaders of churches in the New Testament were “Elders.” These were exclusively men and they were known by several titles. They are called “overseers” in 1 Timothy 3:1,2. They are called “elders” in Titus 1:5,6. Their task is to “shepherd.” All three of these terms are used of the same individuals in Acts 20. Paul sent for the “elders” of the church in Ephesus. He told them that the Holy Spirit had appointed them to be “overseers” and they were to “shepherd” the church of God.

The Ephesian church was going through a period of difficulty and most of that difficulty centered on a struggle for power. Since the offices of Elder and Deacon were the main offices in a local church, a struggle for power would involve competition for those offices. When Paul writes in chapter three that a man who “desires” to be an overseer desires a noble task, he is not giving a qualification for the office. He is admitting what is going on: lots of people desire that office.

But.

The office could only be held by men who met specific qualifications, which Paul lists. One of the controversies about these qualifications has to do with the phrase “husband of but one wife” (verses 2 and 12). The phrase had nothing to do with “how many” wives the elder or deacon had, for polygamy was not practiced in Greek and Roman societies and not often in Jewish society. The phrase means “faithful to his wife.”

Another controversy has to do with the “wives” of verse eleven. The Greek word translated “wives” also means “women.” Context determines meaning and in this case, context helps very little. Those who see it as “women” (and therefore authorizing women deacons) are usually inconsistent, for they would translate the word as “wives” in 2:9ff. It seems to me, in absence of contextual restraint, the word ought to be translated “women.” That might lead us to the conclusion that female deacons were a part of the New Testament church. It’s worth noticing that Phoebe (a woman) is called a deacon in Romans 16:1. A conclusive case for female deacons cannot be made, nor can it be ruled out.