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INTRODUCTION:
1. As we stated in our general lesson regarding elders, we are preaching a second lesson to deal with the elder\'s family qualifications in more depth.
2. Many in our movement have recently restudied these particular family requirements, most likely in a desire not to disqualify anyone from serving that God\'s Word actually qualifies.
3. Re-examining traditional views is a good idea, especially in areas where the consequences of our conclusions can have a decided impact on the church -- positively or negatively.
4. In areas of judgment, where good brothers have differing viewpoints, some suggestions are in order:
Dogmatism must be avoided, no matter how strong our opinions.
We should fight for an open mind as we consider ideas that may be new to us.
As long as a good case can be made for either side of an issue, surely we are not going to incur God\'s wrath by taking one side or the other.
5. Having said that, let\'s proceed to deal with three basic family qualifications.
6. Brief mention should be made of how to view these requirements generally -- are they strict requirements or character indicators? (They should not be viewed as some sort of a legalistic checklist, and they should definitely show the nature of a man\'s character, but the details cannot be ignored or explained away.)
BODY:
I. The Marriage History of an Elder
A. He is to be \the husband of but one wife.\
B. The literal translation of the Greek text is \one woman man.\
C. What does this mean? Several interpretations are often mentioned by writers:
1. He would have to be a married man who had been neither widowed or divorced, before or after becoming a Christian. (This is the most conservative view.)
2. The next view is less strict -- he could serve as an elder if divorced, but only if the divorce occurred prior to his conversion.
3. An even less strict approach would be to allow a man to be an elder as long as he had only one biblically allowable wife. (In other words, if divorced even as a Christian due to his mate\'s sexual unfaithfulness or her desertion, he could still serve as an elder.)
4. The least restrictive interpretation would say that he could serve if he was not a polygamist with multiple wives.
D. An examination of these four views:
1. View one.
a. If one\'s pre-Christian experiences in marriage disqualify him, that would be unique, since all other wrongful experiences would not.
b. Further, it would make for some seemingly inequitable conclusions.
c. For example, one person in Ephesus could have been immoral with hundreds of temple priestesses while avoiding the marriage altar, while another was much more moral, yet had a failed first marriage.
d. But this view would allow the former to serve as an elder, while the latter could not.
2. View two.
a. This seems the most logical and consistent.
b. The main potential drawback would be if the brother had a wife or family by the first marriage that negatively affected his present reputation.
c. The biggest question might simply be how the church viewed his ability to effectively shepherd them.
3. View three -- this view would usher in a number of issues related to his reputation.
4. View four -- polygamy was historically not a widespread practice in the areas where these epistles were sent.
E. Which seems biblically and practically best?
1. View two seems best, but as in all cases that are less than ideal, the best approach is to look at each person\'s situation on a case-by-case basis.
2. In the first century setting where sexual immorality was so widely practiced, before and after marriage, a \one woman man\ likely meant simply that such a man was faithful to his wife after becoming a Christian. (Those who were stood in stark contrast to husbands in the general populace.)
II. The Children of an Elder
A. Two verses deal with this particular qualification:
1. 1 Timothy 3:4-5 -- \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?)\
2. Titus 1:6 -- \An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.\
B. The interpretation issue of Titus 1:6 is the definition of the Greek word pistos, translated \believe.\
1. Pistos is used over 60 times in the New Testament.
2. In the large majority of those times, pistos is translated by the word \trustworthy\ or its equivalent, rather than as \believer.\
3. However, a closer examination of the passages shows that we can easily be comparing apples to oranges if we aren\'t careful.
a. The word is found 12 times in the Gospel accounts, before you would find the word applying to Christians anyway.
b. The word is used about 10 times to refer to non-persons (\faithful sayings,\ for example).
c. Pistos is used 15 times in reference to Deity (God or Jesus).
d. Taking into account that a couple of the occurrences may be questionable, including Titus 1:6, the remaining usages of pistos (which refer to humans) are just about equally divided between indicating a Christian believer and a trustworthy person.
e. Therefore, the evidence is not overwhelming either way, and the context alone must determine the correct translation.
4. Perhaps more significant is the usage of pistos in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus (the Pastoral Epistles), where it occurs 17 times.
a. In 1 & 2 Timothy, it is translated eight times as \faithful,\ \reliable\ or \dutiful\ (1 Timothy 1:12, 1:15, 3:1, 3:11, 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:2, 2:11, 2:13).
b. It is translated six times in the sense of \believing\, \believer\, etc. (1 Timothy 4:3, 4:10, 4:12, 5:16, 6:2).
c. In Titus, pistos is used three times, two of which are indisputably in the sense of \trust-worthy\ or \reliable\ (Titus 1:9, 3:8). The third is the passage in question (Titus 1:6).
d. In all three books, a close examination of these passages shows the following:
(1) Of 17 instances of pistos found in the Pastoral Epistles, 11 refer to persons.
(2) Of those 11, only 4 clearly do not use the term in the sense of \believer,\ with the Titus passage being the one in question.
(3) So, the ratio is either 6 to 5 or 7 to 4 (\believer\ to \reliable\), depending on how Titus 1:6 is viewed.
(4) Therefore, the numbers alone would favor \believer\ in the Pastorals but not overwhelmingly so.
C. There are three plausible interpretations of Paul\'s meaning in Titus 1:6.
1. Pistos, translated \believe\ in Titus 1:6, means \faithful\ in a general sense.
a. An elder\'s children are to be \faithful\ in the sense of being trustworthy, reliable, obedient and respectful to their father, but not necessarily in relation to faith in God or being faithful to God.
b. This would parallel Paul\'s elder qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:4: \his children obey him with proper respect.\
c. Thus, the contrast in Titus is not between \believing\ and \unbelieving\ children, but between \faithful, dutiful\ children and \wild and disobedient\ children.
d. The parallel passage in 1 Timothy 3:4 states that the prospective elder must \see that his children obey him with proper respect.\
2. Pistos in this context indicates a child who believes in God and Jesus in contrast to a child who does not believe in God or Jesus.
a. Matthew 18:1-6 refers to little ones (young children) \who believe in me.\
b. This child may have a \childlike faith\ that responds to God in an age-appropriate way.
c. This child has an obvious spiritual bent which reflects on the parent\'s heart.
d. Therefore, a prospective elder need only have children that have an age-appropriate faith, who shows every sign of becoming a Christian at the appropriate age and level of maturity.
3. Pistos refers to a child who has made Jesus Lord of his life, repented of his sins, and been baptized into Christ.
a. The word pistos is used of \believers\ (= Christians) in this sense many times in the New Testament, several times in the Pastoral Epistles.
b. This view says that the children of the prospective elder must be baptized believers.
c. What about the lack of this qualification in 1 Timothy 3 -- Does it make sense that men could serve as elders in Ephesus who would not have qualified to be elders in Crete?
(1) Since there were already elders in Ephesus where Timothy was, the difference might simply be explained by this.
(2) If true, Timothy was being told how to treat elders (and many other types of people in context), while Titus was being told how to appoint them.
D. Regardless of which view is accepted, questions and potential problems remain.
1. Conversion is a supernatural act of God, not simply of good parenting (John 1:12-13).
a. Can even the best Christian fathers guarantee their children will believe?
b. The free moral agency of all people comes into play here.
2. Often children of spiritual parents are baptized at an early age (12 or 13 years), at which point their faith has probably not been tested in a significant way.
a. Is baptism the goal or having a child who is a disciple of Jesus?
b. One could become and elder when his child is baptized at 12 years old only to have to resign several years later if the child falls away in the high school or college years.
c. Must one or all of an elder\'s children be baptized before he is qualified to serve?
3. Potential danger: Shifting the emphasis and scrutiny from the spiritual character of the man to that of his children as the overriding criterion for selection.
E. What is the best approach to follow regarding these views?
1. Unquestionably, the best possible scenario would be for a man\'s children to be adults and regarded as tested and found to be living as strong disciples.
2. However, making this a hard-line requirement would be questionable for a number of reasons.
3. It would seem best to consider each elder candidate case by case, with the primary focus on assuring that the man\'s family is an adequate and acceptable example of his ability to raise responsible, respectable children.
4. The primary approach to this qualification would be to consider if the candidate\'s family adequately shows his ability to (a) raise and manage his own household well and (b) gain the respect of those who know him best (his family) for his life and convictions.
III. The Wife of the Elder
A. The fundamental question arises: are there any biblical qualifications for the elder\'s wife?
B. In 1 Timothy 3:8-13, the qualifications of deacons are listed.
1. In the midst of that passage, we find the following verse:
2. \In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything (1 Timothy 3:11).
C. Three possibilities exist:
1. Only the wives of deacons are being addressed.
2. Both the wives and elders and deacons are being addressed, by a parenthetical statement dropped in at this point by Paul.
3. Women deacons (deaconesses) are being described, a separate but related role.
D. Considerations of these three possibilities:
1. Case one.
a. Contextually, this would be the strongest case.
b. However, assuming that the elder\'s role is at least as important as the deacon\'s, and assuming that his wife will usually be more connected to his role than the deacon\'s wife will be to his, we are left wondering why Paul would have made such an omission.
2. Case two.
a. Practically, this would be the most logical approach.
b. However, the wording of verse 11 begins very similarly to verse 8, which addresses the deacons.
3. Case three.
a. The word translated \wives\ here can also be translated \women.\ It is a matter of judgment based on context.
b. Phoebe is called in Romans 16:1, \a servant of the church in Cenchrea.\
c. The translation \servant\ comes from the feminine form of the Greek word sometimes translated \deacon.\
d. However, the term is used most often for a servant generally, not appointed deacons.
e. Most would question the existence of a biblical role of deaconess based on the scant evidence of these two verses.
4. Best interpretation? Either case one or case two.
E. If case two is not accepted, is anything said about an elder\'s wife?
1. The idea of an elder shepherd comes first from the Old Testament, with the term used nearly 150 times.
2. One of the best known verses in the OT along these lines is actually found in Proverbs 31:23, in the midst of a passage describing the wife of noble character. It reads: \Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.\
3. If the most lofty description of a man\'s mature spiritual character is found in the elder qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, surely the most lofty description of a wife\'s mature spiritual character is found in Proverbs 31 as the wife of an elder is described.
4. On a purely practical basis, an elder\'s wife is either an asset or a detraction to him carrying out his shepherding role.
a. If her spiritual character does not match his, his appointment should be seen as questionable.
b. However, if she obtains the needed help to make the needed changes, he could and should be appointed.
c. Bottom line, the wife of any leader is crucial to his function and to theirs as a couple. The questions to be asked are these: Is she respected? Can she keep a confidence? Can she be trusted?
CONCLUSION:
1. After dealing with areas of judgment which are less than crystal clear, it would be good to remind us all of what was said in the Introduction.
2. In areas of judgment, where good brothers have differing viewpoints, some suggestions are in order:
Dogmatism must be avoided, no matter how strong our opinions.
We should fight for an open mind as we consider ideas that may be new to us.
As long as a good case can be made for either side of an issue, surely we are not going to incur God\'s wrath by taking one side or the other.
3. We would ask you to get copies of this outline and again dig into the Scriptures to develop your own convictions.
4. Finally, for all of those who are confused or unsettled about the matters discussed in this lesson, we are going to have a question/answer time at the church office led by Gordon Ferguson and the more experienced staff members.
In the midst of having to wrestle with a few more difficult issues, let\'s not lose sight of the exciting historical threshold we are on as a church -- having a biblically organized congregation, complete with all of the leadership roles described in the New Testament!
©2005 PhxVCC
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