He said, This is a faithful saying, it's worthy of all acceptation. It is interesting as Paul writes to Timothy on several occasions, he uses phrases that are interesting to me. Tonight we will be studying First Timothy three and four. He also gives a warning against gossip, since deacons are likely to know about the personal affairs of those who give to and receive from the church’s finances (8-13). Although he does not require deacons to have an ability to teach, he does require them to have a sound understanding of basic Christian truth. Paul gives a similar list of qualities to test the suitability of deacons, both men and women. They must each have a good reputation, not only among Christians but also among those who are not Christians (6-7). They should not be recent converts, as time is necessary for spiritual character and gift to develop. Their behaviour should be blameless and they should have some ability to understand and teach the Scriptures (3:1-5). Elders should maintain a quality of personal and family life that is a good example to others in the church. Rather they are minimum requirements that otherwise suitable people must fulfil if the church is to recognize them as elders or deacons. The qualities he lists are not qualifications in the sense that anyone who fulfils these requirements is an elder (for such a person may not have the elder-shepherd qualities outlined above).
Paul therefore gave Timothy some guidelines concerning those who might hold office in the church. These disorders, in spite of otherwise good qualities, would make such people a poor example to the church should they be in leadership positions as elders or deacons.
Although some of these converts may have developed spiritually, they may also have retained disorders in their marriages, families and personal habits. Most of the New Testament churches were founded in heathen cities, where many of the converts came from a background of low moral standards. However, deacons were not limited to routine affairs, and some were also preachers (cf. (The Greek diakonos was the common word for servant or minister.) It seems that deacons looked after many of the everyday tasks in the church so that the elders had more time for prayer and teaching ( Acts 6:2-4 cf. Their responsibility was to lead, rule, guide, teach and care for the church ( Acts 20:28 1 Timothy 3:5 1 Timothy 3:5 1 Timothy 5:17 Hebrews 13:17 1 Peter 5:1-3 1 Peter 5:1-3).Įarly churches also developed an order of deacons, or church helpers. Elders were like shepherds over the flock. Likewise in Titus 1:5 he told Titus to appoint elders ( presbuteroi), then in verse 7 he called them bishops ( episkopoi). For example (in the words of the RSV), in Acts 20:17 Paul sent for the elders ( presbuteroi) of the Ephesian church, but in verse 28 he called them guardians ( episkopoi). These two Greek words refer to the same office and people. Elders were also known as shepherds, overseers, guardians, leaders and bishops, but these names represent only two words in the original Greek, presbuteroi and episkopoi. Churches of the New Testament era were self-governing bodies that were independent of each other and under the control of local elders.
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