A Noble Task (1 Timothy 3:1)

I hope your worship gathering went well yesterday and that you’re starting off this new week encouraged.

That’s not always the case. Sometimes Sundays seem to go poorly. They can be discouraging and exhausting. Some weeks, we wake up on Monday mornings so depleted we can’t imagine going on.

If that’s your situation today, let me encourage you with just one verse. 1 Timothy 3:1 says…

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

This saying is reliable. You can count on this being true. There is no reason for any confusion over this. It is as true as 1 Timothy 1:5, where Paul wrote…

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Jesus came to save sinners and overseeing his church is noble work. Even if some pastors have made it look bad and even if outsiders view it with suspicion, the work of overseeing God’s church is noble.

Because the aspiration toward overseeing the church is a desire for a noble task, it’s important that the aspirants be noble as well. Hence verses two through thirteen, which we’ll get into later.

For this week, I just want to remind you that yours is noble work. Note how Paul talks about it in this verse.  

• Aspires means stretches toward. It’s used in 1 Timothy 6:10 for the way greedy people crave money and Hebrews 11:16 for how God’s people desired a homeland.
• Desires is often translated lusts or covets when in negative contexts.
• Noble means good, fine, and beautiful.

Pastor, the work you will do this week is not only work you must do; it’s work you get to do. It’s not the odious work no one else has the stomach to do; it’s the glorious work you have the privilege to do.

And as we consider our need for pastors, let’s not think that we must drag people against their wills into this office. The right people will aspire toward it and desire it. They will stretch toward it, craving the opportunity to do it. Our job will be to disciple them toward the noble character of Christ as the rest of the passage will indicate.

So, as you get the wheels turning on this Sunday’s sermon, start to lay out this Sunday’s order of service, follow up on those conversations yesterday in the foyer, schedule lunch with that church member you need to reconnect with, pray your way through your church directory, and take off to the hospital, remember, these are all noble tasks.