We’re reading 1 Timothy together and we’ve slowed down to consider the qualifications for overseers in chapter three. These qualifications are worth slowing down for because they help us make sure of two things:
- That we are qualified to serve as overseers
- That those we will train to be the next generation of overseers are qualified
Overseeing God’s church is noble work; therefore, overseers must be noble. Today we’ll add another word to our study.
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach… (1 Timothy 3:2)
Three words in the ESV; one in the Greek: didaktikos. It means apt at teaching. This qualification is an aptitude, rather than a quality. This one isn’t about what a person is like; it’s about what a person can do.
When we read the rest of the letters to Timothy and Titus, we learn three things about the ability to teach.
The Ability to Teach is the Ability to Teach God’s Word
Follow the train of teaching in the New Testament:
- Jesus taught his disciples.
- The Holy Spirit taught them further and reminded them of everything Jesus taught them (John 14:26).
- As they passed this teaching along to the early church, they and their associates wrote it down.
- Their writings were canonized into the New Testament.
- This is the content overseers must be able to teach.
Timothy was to “preach the word,” not his own ideas (2 Timothy 4:2). An overseer “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9).
As overseers, we do not need to be creative thinkers; we need to understand and communicate Jesus’ teaching as recorded in scripture. We are more like stewards than gurus. Which brings us to the second point.
The Ability to Teach Involves Disciplined Work
In 2 Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Literally, this means to “cut straight” when explaining and proclaiming God’s word. To get it right. To interpret and communicate it correctly. This stands in contrast to the false teachers in Ephesus who quarreled about words and swerved from the truth (2:14-18).
Overseers must be able to resist getting distracted by the hot-topics and controversies around them and to keep their bibles open. They must be able to read, study, and meditate on scripture so that they have a thorough and accurate understanding of it.
They must be able to teach their people scripture and only scripture; but that’s not to say we want to recruit a bunch of academics and professors into the pastorate. The ability to teach is both an intellectual aptitude and an interpersonal aptitude. Teaching involves a disciplined approach to scripture as well as a devotion to people.
The Ability to Teach Involves Dealing with People
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Those with the ability to teach pass along Jesus’ teaching peaceably. They’re able to correct opponents with kindness and gentleness rather than verbal violence.
This is important because our teaching ministry goes beyond the pulpit and lectern. It’s a well-rounded ministry that includes preaching, reproving, exhorting, charging, rebuking, and correcting. We’re not drone pilots; we’re engaged in hand-to-hand combat. And we mean to make a real difference in the real lives of real people.
The teaching we’re after is not meant to merely inform minds. It’s meant to transform hearts. The effectiveness of our teaching can be measured by the sanctification of our people.
So, putting all of this together, we can say that an overseer must be able to teach. This means that he must be able to grasp scriptural truth and communicate it effectively to the people under his care. He must be willing to do the disciplined work of studying and communicating God’s word to God’s people. He must be capable of both the intellectual and interpersonal aspects of this ministry.
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Let's test those who wish to serve as deacons before throwing them in there. ”For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:10).