1テモテ3:1-13 『人格の成熟と良い評判』2018/11/25 David Hawley

Passage I Timothy 3:1-13
Other passages Ephesians 4:11-13, Luke 8:14
Background
Synopsis of the passage Qualifications for overseers and deacons
Message Outline Leadership qualities are mostly about Maturity, which is goal for all.
What is maturity, and why is it important?
Requirements of an overseer #1 – Good reputation
Q: Small group discussion & sharing
Discipleship
Application Focus on Qualification: Beyond Reproach
Title 成熟的と良い評判 Mature and of good reputation
1 Tim 3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he
desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate,
prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle,
peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well,
keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own
household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not
become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good
reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of
sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 These men must also
first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 Women must likewise be
dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Deacons must be husbands of
only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have
served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in
Christ Jesus.
1. Introduction
● Pre-introduction
○ I am going to try something different for a while, coming from recent training about
discipleship.
■ focusing away from 30 min lecture to a short lecture + small group discussion
■ to allow better engagement with the scriptures
■ to shift focus from to discipleship, putting what we learn into action
○ So please quickly move into small groups.
■ For the first 10 min or so, I’ll be speaking from the front, so you may want to turn
your chairs around later.
Okay, now let’s start.
● How good are you at being you?
○ Are you able to use your abilities effectively?
○ Do you have a positive influence on other people?
○ Do people admire and trust you?
● We are looking in 1 Tim 3
○ at the list of qualifications of leadership in the church
○ given by Paul, the second most influential person in Western culture
● Today, we’ll
○ first set the stage by talking about maturity
○ then dive into the first quality: having good reputation,and break into small groups to
discuss
2. Maturity
● In this chapter, Paul is telling Timothy the qualities that mark someone as a potential leader in the
church
○ As we looked at them, we notice that these are mostly about character qualities of a
mature Christian
○ So this also about maturity, not just for leaders, and applies to everyone.
○ So before we talk about the first item in the list of qualities today, I’d like to think together
about maturity
● What is maturity?
○ Maturity means to grow up into the fullness of who you are
■ If you are a seed, you grow into a plant, and produce fruit and seeds
■ If you are a baby, you grow up into an adult, and maybe have your own babies
■ And if you become a Christian, you should grow into a mature one.
● Okay, so what does it mean to be a mature Christian?
○ First of all, we need to become a Christian.
○ (As we learned 6 months or so ago in Romans 12), a Christian is:
■ Foreknown and chosen by God to be in relationship to Him
■ Is being transformed by the Holy Spirit
■ Is given gifts so that
● we can serve as members of the body of Christ which is the church,
● we can be a means of God’s blessing to the world
○ And of course, this is what God wants for every human being
■ To be in relationship to Him
■ To become a blessing
● The goal for Christians is maturity:
○ First we must be born
○ Then, we grow to become like Jesus, who is our model of maturity
○ Jesus has given us what we need to become mature:
■ Ephesians 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity
in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
■ The process is then to be in community, growing up together in our faith and
knowledge of God
● as we serve one another with our gifts
● until we reach maturity together
○ Jesus also warns us that we can fail to become mature. In Luke 8, the parable of seed
and sower:
■ Luke 8:14 The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who
have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and
riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
■ We need to pay attention to this process of maturation and not get distracted
● But why should I become mature like that? What use is maturity?
○ First of all, this is what God has designed us for, and becoming mature pleases God.
○ Secondly, a mature person is able to fulfill his/her role, and contribute in the full measure
of who s/he is
■ If you are a teacher, maturity is required so you can teach well and demonstrate
well
■ If you have the gift of helping others, maturity helps you to maximize your positive
impact
■ Our maturity is necessary so others can receive the benefit and reach maturity
■ All the gifts are necessary to our mutual growth
■ Immaturity gets in the way of our using our gifts and fulfilling our role.
● Inability to control your emotions, your tongue;
Bad attitudes of pride, independence, selfishness;
etc.
● will prevent us from realizing our potential contribution, and the joy that
comes from that.
● It is a very hard thing to find that immaturity has destroyed your chance of
doing what you were created to do. I know this first hand, and maybe your
do too.
○ Secondly, a mature person is able to model to the immature what maturity looks like
■ People want to know how they will change if they choose to follow Jesus. They
want to know what they are getting into.
■ Looking at mature Christians lets them know that it is going to be something good,
and gives them a model to which they can aspire.
● Maturity connects gifts with outcomes
○ If we are going to realize the meaning of our lives, the reason why we were created, we
need to pay attention to becoming mature
■ A plant grows into maturity or not, based on its environment
■ A kitten grows into a cat, naturally
■ But people need to make the choice to become mature.
3. Of Good Reputation
3.1. Introduction (3min: )
● So, we’ve talked about maturity.
Now let’s look at the first quality in 1 Tim 3 which expresses our maturity:
○ Being “beyond reproach“
○ Or in other words, having a good reputation.
● Reputation
○ Examples
■ He is reliable. She is an angry person.
■ He talks too much. She is clever.
■ He likes to be the center of attention. She is a serious person.
■ He is passionate. She is a drama queen.
○ Reputation is the reflection in others eyes of your level of maturity
■ So it is the result of all the other things shown in 1 Tim 3.
○ What other people think of us is a limitation on how much we can influence them.
■ If people don’t think well of us, they won’t let us use our gifts
■ Reputation is critical to effectiveness, especially in leadership.
● If people don’t trust us, they won’t follow us
○ Reputation reflects our maturity level to the extent we are known
■ It is possible to have a good reputation without being mature
● We can fake it if our interactions with people are limited and superficial
● As time goes on, our real level of maturity tends to come out
● It takes time and exposure to build a reputation that people will really trust.
○ We can judge our reputation by questions like:
■ Do people share their lives with me? Do people trust confidential information to
me?
■ Do my relationships with people grow deeper the longer they know me and the
closer they get to me? Or do my friendships tend to become shallow and strained
over time?
■ Does my circle of friends get wider and wider? Do an increasing number of people
admire and trust me?
■ Do people recommend me for significant or difficult tasks because they trust me to
get it done?
● Gospel reminder
○ Remember that our growth is
■ a work of the Holy Spirit in us,
■ as we remain in relationship and grow closer to him.
■ as we learn to walk by faith in God’s love for us and ability to change us
○ So we are talking here about
■ evaluating various aspects of our character and people’s perception of us,
■ so that we can bring these aspects before God and
■ ask him to help us grow in the areas he brings to mind.
3.2. Small Group time (20 min)
● Small group (w/discipleship focus => practical goal and actions)
○ What did you learn today?
○ Discussion
■ Steps we can take to assess our reputation?
■ Are there areas where people have a false view of us? Without being defensive,
can we correct that misperception?
■ Are there attitudes and actions in our lives now that hurt our reputation?
■ Are there steps we can take to improve our reputations in those areas, in the
month ahead?
○ Share (optional)
○ Pray
4. Closure (1 min)
● Everything we do is either positively or negatively affected by how mature we have become
● And our reputation, including our reputation for maturity, affects anything we do that involves
other people.
● I’ll mention here that I am using a book ‘The Measure of a Man: Twenty Attributes of a Godly
Man’ which looks at 1 Timothy chapter 3, and to compliment that ‘The Measure of a Woman:
What Really Makes a Woman Beautiful’ on the book of Titus chapter 2, by the Getzes.
● So, as we go through each area Paul points out in this chapter, I hope that you are encouraged
and challenged to grow in specific ways.
● That is what I will attempt to do personally, and I invite you to do the same.
Let’s pray