In review…Every church family has these three groups of believers according to 1 John 2:12-14:
Little Children – immature believers, just getting their spiritual footing. They need to observe and learn from those more mature than themselves.
Young men – believers who are transitioning into adulthood – spiritual adolescence. These participate in ministry under the guidance of mature believers.
Fathers – mature believers who lead by example and handle the word of God carefully with knowledge and wisdom.
These three groups can be understood in the business world by these titles:
Apprentice – little children – Know very little about the business, but must be trained in order to become a profitable member of the team.
Journeyman – young men – knows the basics of the business and can be trusted to complete projects that have been given to them.
Master craftsman – Fathers – knows the business, whether it is plumbing, carpentry, tech related, etc., and trains those in his care to broaden their understanding and ability within that business to become a valuable team member.
No church can be healthy if it only has immature believers who sit and wait to be fed and have their personal needs looked after by a precious few mature believers. There must always be older believers lifting up the young to maturity.
Disclaimer – I want to reiterate that I am all for our church leadership to have as much education as possible. The study of scripture is the most noble pursuit, but it should not be the main criteria for selecting leaders. Reading Titus 1 reveals five negative attributes that can destroy a ministry and seven positive attributes that will build a strong ministry.
Today, we were able to look at the qualifications for church leadership, as directed by Paul in Titus 1:5-9. We will continue our discussion of these qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and 5:17-22 next Sunday.
We first had to determine who is called into the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-21). Of course, every born again saved person is called. 1 Cor. 1:21-31 clearly teaches that all saved people are the called. Now, if while on their journey into Christlikeness, there are men who want to make their living of the gospel, this is an honorable pursuit. The persuasion of the Holy Spirit to take that step of ministry leadership should always be obeyed. Ephesians 4:11-16
Allow me to state this point again, everyone is a minister, everyone is a missionary, and everyone is a teacher. We are all called into this three-phase ministry regardless of what we do for a living.
Ephesians 4:1-6: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Our vocation is our life in Christ! In our day to day lives, sometimes we are not always the best missionary, or teacher, or minister, but we are called to walk worthy of this life in Christ that has been freely given to us at salvation. We are stewards of the mysteries revealed to Paul, and it is required in our stewardship that we be found faithful. As we saw this morning that a mystery is a secret, but it is more…it is the hidden wisdom of God! We are given this great privilege to share the unsearchable riches of Christ, sharing life with one another, and building each other in our most holy faith. 1 Cor. 2:7-16
We will continue our study of this incredibly important teaching this coming Sunday.