1 Timothy 3:2 "Complete Christianity"

i'm steve lawson at my side kent stainback we're coming to you from herb's house coffee shop here in dallas texas steadfast hope devotion we are in first timothy 3 and verse 2 and we are going to be looking at the marks of an elder now you may go steve this doesn't apply to me because i'm not an elder in my church i totally understand but here's the deal every one of these marks of an elder is really just a mark of spirituality there's not a higher standard for someone to be in spiritual leadership and then everyone else can just slough it off no this an elder is to model christ's likeness he is to model true spirituality and so this list must be true in his life but it must be true in each one of our lives kent so let me read this first timothy 3 verse 2 i'm calling this complete christianity an overseer then must be above reproach let's just stop right there above reproach i can't because ken is an elder in the church where i preach and so kent um what does this mean above reproach well the idea the word literally again it's a compound word and it means not able to be held and the idea is there really can't be a charge of some glaring or obvious sin in a particular area of a person's life that can be held against him a charge that could be brought against him it doesn't mean sinlessness or no one could serve or no one would be spiritual but it means to be to put it in an old testament word blameless job one verse one says job was blameless that doesn't mean he he was sinless it just means that his spiritual walk with the lord every area of his life at home at work his personal life as he would gather with other believers to worship there was no area of his life in which there was carnality or worldliness and what we learned from this kent is we we cannot compartmentalize spirituality to like sunday morning that if there is worldiness or carnality or unfaithfulness in one area of my life it's going to bleed into other areas of my life i can't just keep it in a closet it's going to come out and show itself in the living room in front of everybody else or out on the front porch for everyone to see it can't be self-contained in a back room that's really the idea of he must be above reproach that that there is no obvious area of his life in which there is an imbalance the word is translated in job 8 verse 20 as integrity and the word integrity just means that there is an integration of every area into a whole so that there's not a segmented separated area that is disconnected from the rest of his life that it's a complete he's a complete package if you will that's why we're calling this complete christianity and it's translated in exodus 26 verse 24 as complete so there is a holistic um consistency about every area of his life and i think sometimes some people think that well i could contain carnality in this one area in my life and there's a moat around that and the drawbridge is pulled up and it won't spread like a a prairie fire into other areas of my life and nothing could be further from the truth that there is a fly in the ointment that affects the whole ointment and to use another metaphor if there's one area in my life that is not under the control of the holy spirit there's no firewall around that uh area it's gonna bleed into other areas of my life it's just a matter of time there's not a disconnect it's wired beneath the surface and so that's what it means that an elder must be above reproach no area can be singled out but it's what it means for every christian every believer we must be um above reproach so kent uh i mean let's let's let's talk about this this the lord is setting before us here what he requires of us yeah and this is as you said this is for every believer men women yeah yeah and women as well you know steve when i was when the lord saved me i was 10 years old and i can remember interestingly there was a diagram and the preacher gave some information out and he said jesus christ if your heart was a home and had all these different rooms in it that jesus needs to come live in every single room yeah of your heart not just that's the idea of them that's the idea that's good well i it was a visual for a young young child you can't keep something back and i think that's part of it isn't it i really like that kent that we just can't have christ living in certain parts of our life but his lordship is excluded from every other areas of our life yeah no he's come into our life to take over right the whole of our life yeah and and so i guess my next question would be i don't think and and you can answer this that any man or woman or a man or woman walking close to the lord would say you know i am above reproach i'm really doing well i'm really doing well on all this i'm not sure if we because the closer we walk with the lord with the more aware we are of our sin and the battle with that absolutely you might can speak to that because i think if we if we say well i am i have reached certain levels then maybe we haven't right yeah no uh first john 1 verse 5 god is light yeah and in him there is no darkness at all the closer we draw to the light the more we see our own imperfections in our own sin and so it's the person who's furthest away from the light goes you know i'm okay i'm doing well right the person who is the closest really has the greatest sensitivity to sin in in their life yeah and ken i have found in the past like as i've been a pastor and would approach certain men to serve as an elder in the church it's the ones who were the most qualified to serve as an elder were the ones i had to talk into doing this because they just felt unworthy yeah they felt like i i haven't met the mark right and the ones that just so quickly kind of the attitude was i can't believe you waited this long to yeah to ask me is the one that gave me second thought like i'm gonna have trouble yeah with this person after he's come on because he thinks he deserves to be here yeah yeah so i i think it carries over to every christian there needs to be a sense of humble unworthiness that we sense that it's only by the grace of god that i'm able to achieve maturity in in any degree of maturity in my christian life i think you've said this too i'll bring this back up and i think maybe you're saying this too is that is that as we battle sin and we grow in our christian life you've always said keep short accounts don't hold anything back yeah don't i guess keep one room locked up and you might speak to that yeah i can't no that is so true i mean we can't let we can't be hoarders in in this back closet letting things stack up and we don't deal with it where in other areas maybe that are more visible for others to see we in the front showroom we keep that cleaned up no it really starts with even he's faithful and little in this back room that there's no hidden area in our lives no rationalization no excuse making because whatever in that back closet it's going to end up in the front showroom sure it's just it's just a matter of time and so ken i think this is a word for every one of us as believers as christians even if you're a young person even if you're in your teenage years or in your 20s and you you need to know that every area there needs to be a holistic completeness about your christian walk with the lord that who you are on sunday morning needs to be exactly who you are on saturday night and friday night and and for businessmen who you are on sunday morning that's got to be who you are on monday morning as you're back in the office so uh this is god's word and this is god's standard and it's only by his grace that is all sufficient that we're able to make this you know steps in the right direction to become this well may you be above reproach in your christian life god bless you thank you for joining us for steadfast hope

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Length: 10min 43sec (643 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021