Hold the Mystery with a Clear Conscience

In one paragraph

This message continued a two-week look at 1 Timothy 3, moving from the attributes of elders to the attributes of deacons and the women or wives who serve alongside them. The pastor walked the congregation through what these lists are actually asking for, and then closed with communion as a reminder that none of us meets the standard on our own. The sermon opened by revisiting last week's ground....

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 3:8-13 the main text for the sermon, attributes of deacons and their wives or women who serve
2. Titus 1 overseers and elders referred to in the same sentence, reviewed from prior week
3. 1 Timothy 1 the aim of our charge is love, issuing from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith
4. 1 John 1:9 if you confess your sins he is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness
5. Ephesians 3 mysteries once hidden are now revealed in the gospel
6. Romans 16:1-2 Paul commending Phoebe, described as a deacon or servant of the church at Cenchreae
7. Philippians 1 Paul addressing overseers and deacons together in his greeting
8. 2 Corinthians 13:11 quoted as the benediction: rejoice, strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the difference between elders and deacons as leaders of the church versus servants of the church, and said it is not a varsity versus junior varsity situation. What do you think happens in a church when one of those roles gets treated as more important than the other?
2. The pastor said he prefers to use the word 'attributes' rather than 'qualifications' for these lists, because the lists describe the kind of person someone is rather than a set of skills they have checked off. How does that distinction change the way you read a list like this?
3. The pastor talked about holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and shared his own story of holding a grudge against a seminary professor for two years over a test grade. What gets in the way of having a clear conscience, and what did his story say about how we deal with that?
4. The pastor said that those who serve well as deacons gain not only a good standing but also a greater confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus, and he asked people in the room who had served whether that was true for them. Has serving in any capacity in the church changed your own faith? How?
5. Toward the end of the sermon, the pastor said that if people live out these offices well, it acts as a buttress for the truth in front of a world that does not believe. What do you think he meant by that, and where have you seen it prove true or fail to prove true?