A Noble Task

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened a sermon on 1 Timothy 3:1-7, walking through Paul's qualifications for the office of overseer. He set it in the context of First B's practice of moving through the New Testament in the order it was written, and he anchored the whole passage in the church's recurring theme from 1 Timothy 1:5, that the aim of the charge is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 1:15 trustworthy saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom Paul calls himself the foremost
2. 1 Timothy 1:5 the aim of our charge is love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith, used as a framing verse throughout the series
3. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 the main passage for the sermon, qualifications for the office of overseer
4. James 3:1 not many should be teachers, cited as one reason few aspire to the office of overseer
5. 1 John 1:9 if you confess your sins God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse, used to explain what above reproach does not mean sinless
6. Psalm 51 where David admitted sin to God, cited as an example of how an overseer teaches through difficult situations
7. Luke 10:33-35 the Good Samaritan caring for the beaten man, used to illustrate how overseers are to care for the church
8. 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul telling Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach, cited to show the drunkard prohibition is not total abstinence
9. Proverbs 16:18 pride goes before a fall, cited in connection with warning against a recent convert becoming puffed up
10. Proverbs 22:6 train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it
11. 1 Samuel 16:7 God does not look at outward appearance but at the heart, used to balance the outward qualifications list
12. Matthew 5:16 let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven
13. James 2:17-18 faith without works is dead, used to affirm that outward conduct reflects what one believes
14. Romans 15:5-6 benediction: may the God of endurance and encouragement grant harmony to live with one voice glorifying God
15. Mark 4:1-20 parable of the four soils, cited to explain why a recent convert may not be a true or mature believer

Talk about it

1. The pastor pointed out that Paul calls being an overseer a 'noble task' at the same time he says most people don't seem to aspire to it. Why do you think that is, and what does it tell us about how we tend to think about leadership in the church?
2. The word translated 'above reproach' or 'blameless' does not mean sinless, but rather that an accuser would be shown groundless when the full picture is known. How does that distinction change the way you think about what God expects of leaders, and of believers in general?
3. The pastor described hospitality using the Greek 'philoxenos', a brotherly love toward strangers and outsiders, not just the ability to set a good table. Where do you see that kind of hospitality practiced well, and where do you find it hardest to live out?
4. The care an overseer is to give the church is the same word used for the Good Samaritan's care of the man left on the road. What would it look like, practically, for a church's leadership to care for people that way rather than simply managing an organization?
5. The pastor closed by holding two things in tension: the outward list in 1 Timothy 3 is what we can observe, but 1 Samuel 16 reminds us that God looks at the heart. How do we take both seriously when we are trying to recognize godly leadership in someone?