Recognizing Biblical Pastors and Pastoring (6 of 8)
An Elder Must be Peaceable and Free from Love of Money
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to 1 Timothy 3:3. Find and bookmark Titus 1:7 too. 1 Timothy 3:3, and Titus 1:7 are our primary passages under study this morning. While everyone is turning there, I will reorient us to the sermon series we are currently in. We have been examining the qualifications for overseers. In doing so, we have been recognizing that God gave the qualification markers to us to help us determine a man's giftedness for being a steward in God's household. These qualifiers are identifiers. At the same time, they are not supposed to be legalistic requirements for perfection. We need to consider this because there is an element of subjectivity to how the qualifiers are interpreted and applied. Knowing this forces us to seek God's wisdom and grace in analyzing and applying the qualification markers. Without grace, nobody could qualify to be an elder except Christ Himself. Keeping these things in mind, I'll read the portions that we are focusing upon this morning where Paul says that someone who desires to be an elder must not be,
"... pugnacious [which is someone prone to fighting], but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money." 1 Timothy 3:3
In Titus, we read,
"For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered ... not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain," Titus 1:7
Please prepare your heart to learn along with me in this sermon,
Recognizing Biblical Pastors and Pastoring (6 of 8)
"An Elder Must be Peaceable and Free from Love of Money"
[prayer]
/1/
As we get into this, I want to point out a first principle once again. It is Paul's overarching qualifier that sets the tone for the rest of the qualifiers. An elder must be above reproach, meaning he must be unindictable for wrongdoing. Paul first mentions this in connection with polygamy. Polygamy was being practiced by Israelite Christians in the legacy of semitic tradition. But it was illegal under Roman jurisdiction. Reproach meant you were indictable for an offense, like for example, polygamy. This is what Paul said in Titus 1:6. Being above reproach was something that applies to other areas too. Paul realized he needed to repeat the qualifier aside from just polygamy, so he does so in the very next sentence. It is our passage under study. The reason why this qualifier is so important is because an elder is entrusted with caring for the church in teaching and preaching. He is the one who is looking over his Master's household which is called the household and church of the living God in 1 Timothy 3:15, (cf. 3:5). If a man wants to be a pastor, and he is indictable for wrongdoing, then he sets a bad example for the church in general. His marred reputation is reflected in the local church he ministers to. Being known as a Christian leader, the rest of his fame follows him. This is what we must keep in mind as we explore the second principle concerning the qualifications for recognizing Biblical Pastors and Pastoring.
/2/
Essentially an elder must be above reproach as God's steward. What exactly does it mean to be God's steward? I touched upon it last week. It is an important term that has a distinct meaning that we need to know. "Steward" is a word that comes from "house" and "law." Its root word is "household." The simple definition is that stewards, in the church context, are God's assigned servants over God's household. To understand this thoroughly, I think it is important for us to realize that in the Greco-Roman world, the typical steward was a slave. Sometimes a steward was a former slave who had become a willing bond slave in which he continued to work for a master as a kind of employee (somewhat in a similar sense of Exodus 21:5-6, Deuteronomy 15:16-17). The main point is that the steward servant had responsibility with a certain level of authority under the master in running and taking care of his master's household. While the owner was home, the steward would be the one who helped the master accomplish his will concerning the household program. Whenever the owner was away, the steward acted on the master's behalf. He implemented the will of the master concerning His household. Stewards would do things like accounting. They would write letters and important documents for the owner of the household. Much of the time, the steward was the organizer. He would make sure that the crops were tended to. He would make sure that all the chores got accomplished. Typically the steward of a household would oversee all the other household servants if there were any. A household steward's authority even involved applying disciplinary action to insubordinates. So we see how important it would have been for a steward to be trustworthy and above reproach. This is the kind of thing Paul is getting at in using this distinct terminology for pastoral stewards. God's steward's are men who oversee the Master-God's household, and so they must be blame resistant in respect to charges that can be brought against them. At this point, it is important for us to realize that being beyond reproach has to do with what is presently the lifestyle of the man. It is not something that has to do with digging up dirt from the past. This is important for us to try and grasp because of the necessity to have grace concerning a person's past life that the man has left behind. Consider the mistakes you made years ago in your youth. We all did stupid things when we were young. Many of us have done things so abhorrent (even within the last decade, or in older age) that when we think about those things we just cringe. After cringing, we think,
"Thank you Lord. The past is behind me now. You've forgiven me in Christ. I am so glad that junk is gone. It's time to move on. Help me to go forward in confidence of my cleansing, my value, and my calling."
But if we were to resurrect those past things now in qualifying for eldership, then we would be acting like the junk really isn't gone after all. We would be acting like the man is somehow attached to what he did years ago. With branding irons in hand, we would be marking the man with something from his past that was repented from and left behind. To do this in consistency, then we must brand every Christian in a perpetual state of being reproachable, including ourselves. If we are honest, then we know that this would be the case. Nobody would be able to be an elder. Everybody has old dried-out skeletons in their closets. The point is that those skeletons should stay there--locked away as distant memories. They were lessons learned from, but now the class is over. This is why it is imperative that we recognize that this qualification must be concerning the man's true character and actions right now as his affinity today. Is he above reproach concerning his lifestyle at this very moment? This is the issue, and it means that we must apply this qualification in godly wisdom and grace.
/3/
This leads to the next principle qualification for recognizing Biblical Pastors and Pastoring. It is where 1 Timothy and Titus seem to flow right into one another in a tight relationship. They give us some things to look for in the man's lifestyle and character arena that he is living out right now. In Titus Paul says;
"the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed," Titus 1:7
Here we are concerned about the self-willed man. Once again, I want us to keep in mind the household stewards of the Greco-Roman world. Think about how they were intensely concerned with the will of the master of the house. God's house-steward can not be self-willed as an affinity. He must be God-willed in his ambition. When you think of someone who is self willed, what comes to mind? In the biblical language "self willed" is being obstinate, and self pleasing. A self willed man arrogantly asserts his own will over God's. There are many ways that this can be manifested. One way this is manifested in the church today is by being driven by philosophies that do not conform to the Bible. In other words, the man is always trying to conform others to his own views on things even though there is not a clear Biblical basis for what he is asserting. Or he tries to bend certain Scriptures to his own will to make them mean what he wants them to mean. The man who has God's will at the forefront, while being sensitive to what others think and want to do, is much different. For example, the God willed man acknowledges sin. He doesn't overlook certain sins because he thinks it is convenient. The God willed man also confronts sin. This is important for a man who is an overseer. It may not be comfortable, but he needs to confront sin based upon the biblical mandate to do so. If a Christian is fornicating, the Scriptures show that it is God's will to confront that person with their sin. On the other hand, the man is not a trustworthy steward if he thinks that confronting sin is not necessary. Another manifestation of a self willed steward would be to do something like support, and even promote, sinful practices as normal and good. What do I mean? Well, it could be something like thinking that it is okay to ordain homosexuals to be elders; or that homosexuality is really just an alternate lifestyle that God approves of biblically. I think one of the worst symptoms in our day, of being self willed in respect to our Master, is for the man to never take a solid stand on difficult Bible doctrines that the man knows with 100% surety to be true. Being self-willed can also come in a subtle codependency upon the will of other men. Take for example creedal allegiance. There are men who have abandoned the foundation of the protestant reformation of sola scripture for self willed codependence upon other men's creeds. Follow what I am saying because I have an exact meaning and I do not want to be taken wrongly. For example, if you confront the kind of men I am talking about with an exegetical inconsistency in a part of their particular stripe of creed, they simply resort to circular reasoning. In self-will that is codependent on the will of others, they say,
"I believe the [insert name of creed] must be the will of God as the word of God because it is really old and so many Christians have held to it that it must be right. And besides, they used the Bible to come up with the points in it."
Such a posture has the cursory appearance of being God-willed. In actuality, it is self that is willing to create personal faith in codependence upon the will of other men, demonstrated in the fact that such devotees refuse to study to show whether each creedal decree is really God's will from the Scriptures rightly exegeted and interpreted to the point of 100 percent certainty and consistency. It can also be seen in the self-willed philosophy of tailoring sermons and the atmosphere of the household of God for non-Christians rather than for the body of Christ. The church is the called out and gathered in Christ. It should be tailored for the called out and gathered in Christ. Another big manifestation of being self willed is to just not care about what God's recorded will is when it comes to overseeing the household of God. The man just wants to pastor according to whatever way he thinks is beneficial to his whims. Also, a self willed man will control others. In his self will, he can sway people. He can even sway them with falsehood. A self willed man is generally not very teachable either. He wants everything his way according to his desires. Whenever his desires are confronted and checked with God's word, he does not show any desire to change his mind. These kinds of men are dangerous. Such men should never be considered as pastors. If such a man becomes a leader in God's household, the problem has been cemented. Now what happens? His self will grows outward to others. He becomes a choking force that brings everyone else under bondage to his own whims. This leads to an important question;
How are we to know who is God-willed rather than self willed?
Primarily, we know by comparing the man with God's will as recorded in the New Covenant Scriptures. Most of what God wants us to compare the man to is right here in the qualifications for overseers. The qualifications describe a man who is hungering and craving for God's will on a consistent basis in an insatiable desire that never ends and is never satisfied. He always wants more of God's will to be foremost in his life. He recognizes that there is always room for more of God's will, and less of his own. I want us to think about something else. It is profound. I am talking about the fact that this attribute of not being self-willed walks hand in hand with the manifestation of humbleness. Humbleness is when a man diminishes his own importance. A prideful man sees self-will as more important than any other thing. Humbleness or pride--either one is a sermon a man always preaches with his life. Each will tell us volumes about men in our day who already claim to be pastors. Is he preaching humbleness or pride with his life? Of course God-willed men are not perfect in every choice, but they want their choices to be governed by God's will, so they seek God's will on a consistent basis. But the big point is that such men are showcased with humility. Finally, we must recognize that the man who is not self willed is concerned about the wants, ways, and wills of others. God's steward must have a passion for the people in God's church. He sees the inherent value of others. He respects the lowly. He wants to see others become God-willed. He wants this even if it doesn't profit him in some way. It is great for me to study the Bible all week and get all kinds of keen insights. But, that is not God's primary will for Kerry. God's primary will is that I do things like study the Bible all week and get all kinds of keen insights for a very important reason. It is the reason of pastoring. It is so that I can build us all up and help equip us all in being God-willed. All of us Christians are the people of God's household. I'm just a steward--a house slave. It is God's will that I help equip you and motivate you to study, and live, what the Bible says on your own in your endeavor to be God-willed too. When Paul mentions this in Titus he immediately adds to it. He says that an overseer should not be "quick-tempered."
/4/
This leads to the next principle qualification for recognizing Biblical Pastors and Pastoring. One of the best metaphors I know for this is to think that a necessary for a man not to have what is called "a short fuse." It doesn't take much to figure out what someone is like who has a short fused temper. I don't know if you've ever shot off fireworks before. I have. Sometimes a fuse will burn down to the edge of the casing of a firework and then it will just stop burning. Now you have a firework with this tiny nub of a fuse peeking out of one end. That nub is a short fuse. If you attempt to re-light that little piece of fuse, you will find that you can barely get your hand back and instantly the firework goes off. If you do this enough, you can even feel the results of fireworks that have short fuses. I know this for a fact because I've done it. If it is an exploding firecracker, you can get stung by the blast. You may even get hit by pieces of casing blowing up and hitting you. Sand from the ground may sting you. You will even get that lingering ringing, and numbness in your ear from the deafening noise. I also know this for a fact because I've also experienced these things too! Now listen to me carefully;
This is how it is with people who have short fused tempers. Someone with a short fuse lets you barely get out of the way--if you are able to get out of the way at all. He leaves you with a stinging feeling; and he leaves you with a ringing numbness in your ear.
This is the result of being easily angered and provoked. Whenever such a reactionary nature exists like this, then unrigteousness is accomplished. We read in James,
"... be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; because the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20
@1 The ___________________ of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20
This is an unbreakable principle. Make no mistake about it, an elder that is operating out of anger, through anger, with anger, can never, ever, achieve the righteousness of God. But some men think that the anger of man does achieve God's righteousness. Listen to me, those men should not be elders, overseers, shepherds, pastors, who are stewards in God's household. But again we must seek Godly wisdom on this--governed by grace. Why? Think about how most everyone experiences anger to some degree. There are times that most qualified men may experience it instantly. But this does not necessarily mean that being quick tempered is the man's affinity. Notice the qualifiers again. Paul's qualifier for elders has to do with not being known as having the affinity of being quick tempered. James urges to "be slow to anger." Notice that James and Paul do not say that a man can never be angry. Paul says to be briefly angry, if you are going to be angry at all. He says
"Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger," Ephesians 4:26
The proper way to be angry is without sinning. The proper way for overseers to be angry without sin is to be angry at sin. God-willed anger is to be angry at injustice, bitterness, wrath, slander, malice, division, and hatred. So a man must be angry with everything that angers God and hurts other people in ungodliness. But an elder is not to hold a grudge,
"Don't let the sun go down on your anger."
If you do, then the sunset, will be a sin-set. The next morning there will be a sin rise with the sun rise. If the man does not let the anger go, then it will consume and control him until it becomes a grudge-filled obsession. For some people, this is their affinity. A quick-tempered person is not one who generally has God-willed thinking going on in upsetting moments. A quick-tempered person is reactionary; so he tears down the body of Christ when he should be building it up. When we look back at Paul's culture under a microscope again, we can consider the two primary Rabbinic schools among the Jews. One was associated with the Rabbi Hillel. Hillel was known to be a fair and gentle man. The other rabbinic school was associated with Rabbi Shammai. Shammai was known to be particularly harsh. He was known to be angry. Rabbi Hillel, the one with the long temper, said,
"neither one that is ashamed (to ask questions) learns well, nor one that is 'angry' teaches well'' (Pirke Abot, c. 2. sect. 5.)
This reflects a quote found in the Jewish talmud;
"the law is not rightly explained but by one that is not angry.'' (Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. col. 2026)
Consequently, Jewish leaders had a saying that they used to repeat. They would say,
"Forever let a man be meek as Hillel, and not angry as Shammai;'' (T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 30. 2.)
Now think about that. God's will, as revealed through the scriptures, states essentially the same thing. Paul says to Timothy,
"The Lord's bond-servant, must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged" 2 Timothy 2:24
@2 The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be ________________ to all. 2 Timothy 2:24
These are vital attributes of the Lord's bond-servant that keep Him above reproach as a steward in God's household. This whole point reminds me of when I once served at a church where the senior pastor was known for having a quick temper. It was such a shame because people could not approach the man for a conversation without wondering if it was going to be the time that he was going to blow up. I knew people who were literally afraid of their own pastor--yes, their own pastor! Why? Because they thought that at any moment they might make him angry. Not only that, but he held and kept grudges against people. Sadly, he fell into grievous sin and had to resign as a pastor. In retrospect we know that this is not the kind of steward God wanted over his household to begin with. That man not only used to blow up and get angry for what seemed like minor non-issues, but he was also known for looking for fights. God does not like this kind of thing in an overseer. In fact this is the next qualification that Paul says to look out for.
/5/
The overseer must not be pugnacious. I don't know about you, but to me, pugnacious is an odd term. I don't know of anyone who uses the word in typical conversations. At least I don't typically use it. When I first read it, I had to look it up. When Paul says that an elder is not to be pugnacious, he is using a phrase that literally means that the man is not to be a "striker." Literally, he is not to be one who goes around hitting people. The Biblical sense here is someone prone to fighting. Paul's broader meaning is probably that the elder must not be a man who looks for trouble, causes trouble, or nurtures trouble. It goes along with being quick tempered. This is the negative requirement, but Paul gives us the remedy in the form of the positive follow up to this. He says that on the other hand the overseer is to be gentle and peaceable. This follow up part leaves no doubt as to what Paul is describing, right? Paul is saying that the man must be well balanced in his approach and response to people even when there is a dispute. Rather than being a hard nosed fighter, he is the one who nurtures peace. He is the nurturer who uses gentleness as his ally. As a matter of further background, the false teachers at Ephesus (where Paul sent the letter to Timothy) were known for being pugnacious, and abusive. They were also known for their love of money. They were the exact opposite of these qualifications that Paul is laying down by God's Spirit. Paul says this kind of man is,
"... conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain," 1 Timothy 6:4-5
This is the antithesis description of the kind and peaceable man who is concerned with the edification of the body. A pugnacious kind of guy is manifesting his inability to get along with other people. He is showing that he does not want to put up with them if he disagrees with their views. Obviously, the Spirit does not want this in His pastors. God's people don't want this in their pastor either. Is it any wonder that in Proverbs, we find the logical assertion;
"What is desirable in a man is his kindness," Proverbs 19:22
@3 What is desirable in a man is his _________________________. Proverbs 19:22
Unkind, un-gentle, un-peaceable, people are undesirable, which means they are undesirable for the office of overseer. They are not fit to be God's stewards. Don't we know what the main reason for this is? The house steward should reflect the master as much as possible while tending to the household. The main reason for these particular qualifications is the reflection of Christ and His grace to others around us. The qualifiers are attributes of Christ. They are how we bring Jesus out to be seen and experienced as part of our actions. They are fruits of the Spirit,
"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control ..." Galatians 5:22
@4 The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, ____________________, goodness, faithfulness, __________________, self-control. Galatians 5:22
These fruits of the Holy Spirit are what we look for in an elder. He is full of the Spirit, and so he is full of the Spirit's fruit. Think about Paul; Paul was constantly put in positions where he had opportunity to be self willed, quick tempered, pugnacious, unkind, and unpeaceable. But Paul sought to manifest the Holy Spirit out of his heart and throughout his life as God's steward. Paul's Spirit led affinity was to seek to act in meekness and gentleness as a direct expression of Christ. Paul demonstrated this to the Corinthian church saying,
"Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. ..." 2 Corinthians 10:1
Notice that Paul sought to act like Christ, which is the summation of all the qualifications for eldership. Also notice that the way of Christ Himself is that of meekness and gentleness. Urging by the gentleness and meekness of Christ is to manifest pure godliness. Think about it; Christ is God, and God wants us to manifest Christ out of our hearts as elders. This is the only way that true harmony and authentic unity will be nurtured in the church. A leader prone to the weakness of being pugnacious, and who lacks manifesting the meekness and gentleness of Christ, will ultimately produce conflict instead of harmony in Christ's church. There's one more thing I want us to see from what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:1 when he said that he urges by the meekness and gentleness of Christ; essentially Paul was being an object lesson in himself. Paul was demonstrating how an overseer should be when relating to people as a leader. Paul was already reflecting Christ. Paul was already manifesting the sweet nutritious fruit of the Spirit out of His heart for people to taste. This is the way it is with people who think God has called them to be elders. They can not be contentious and unkind people who assure you that everything will change as soon as they become a pastor. They are people who have been gentle peacemakers already. They are gentle peacemakers right now. This is how there will be no doubt that they will likely do this later on as a pastor. So, God says that an elder must not be pugnacious. He must be gentle. He must be peaceable. These are the manifestations of the Spirit of His Son.
/6/
This leads to the next qualification. Paul shifts from the temper side of a man into the ambition side of a man. The requirement is that an overseer must not be fond of sordid gain. He should not be fond of eagerly or greedily pursuing dishonorable or shameful profit for himself. Peter said the same thing,
"shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain" 1 Peter 5:2
Clearly, the office of overseer is not meant to be an opportunity for an ambitious man to use people to try to become wealthy. No ministry of Christ is to be thought of as an opportunity to get materially rich off of others. When it comes to ministry in our generation, this qualification has been shamefully ignored by a great segment of Christians who claim to be ministers. Ironically, what is ignored by God's people is astutely detected by the world. Have you ever noticed this trend? People in the lost world culture have a keen ability to recognize a greedy Christian in a heartbeat. The world is familiar with greed. They can sense scam artist techniques a mile away. The lost world culture wrote the book on it. The lost can discern who a lover of money is. So, when Paul says in our very same 1 Timothy letter here, in 6:10 that,
"the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10
Paul knows that the love-manual for money comes from the sinful world.
@5 The love of money is the root of all sorts of _______________________. 1 Timothy 6:10
Consequently the lost world culture has a certain set of subjective standards for evaluating whether someone is greedy, fond of sordid gain, and is a lover of money. So the world understands this; but what is astonishing is that the flock of God gets taken in by greedy Christians who call themselves ministers, and it happens every single day. It is amazing that the tactics that the world sees and scoffs at, are the same tactics that regenerated Christians grasp willingly with one hand while loosing their grip on their hard earned incomes with the other. It is as if the greedy minister is immune to the same standards of scrutiny that are dealt out to business owners, politicians, and neighbors. What is worse is that we have the Spirit and the Scriptures to guide us. One reason for this is because of the huge amount of trust Christians have in Christian leaders. We do not typically expect that someone who is a vocational minister who is in need of financial support, is someone who is wanting money because he is fond of sordid gain and a lover of money. We are usually thinking that the man really needs some help because he is serving the Lord in a full-time capacity. We generally trust people who claim to be God's stewards. There's another reason why I think that ministers who are fond of sordid gain are able to thrive. It has to do with their position of authority. I mean, it's not that people are not aware that some of these guys are raking in a lot of money. People know that they like to buy expensive clothes. They have seen them driving the most expensive cars. They know they live in the huge, expensive homes. They know that they are always buying the latest and greatest stuff. They jet-set all over the world where they stay in the very nicest hotels while eating in expensive restaurants and so forth. People actually recognize that these guys have an odd penchant for the expensive, the best, and the most. Those so called ministers, do all of this at the expense of those same people who can barely pay their rent each month and can hardly afford the gas it takes to get to work. The blinders go on because the so-called "minister" man (or woman) is in a position of authority as one who represents God's household. So the Christians who support his lifestyle says,
"Well, he must be God's anointed. God has given him special authority and so what is happening is that God is blessing Him financially."
And then there is his teaching influence. It seems to paint over his materialism; and so people think because he is a teacher who uses Bible talk, then he must be who God elected to especially bless with extravagance. But, there is another reason why I think that ministers who are fond of sordid gain are able to flourish in our day. It closely relates to everything I just covered. I'm talking about the bizarre trend that instantly associates financial exuberance and materialistic concerns with God's blessing. Of course it is true that God makes people wealthy in the financial sense. But it is also true that there are men who want to be leaders in the church who are the kind of people who love money and seek sordid gain. Greediness and love of money are not God's will for anyone--especially his household stewards. What the church needs to do today is learn to discern these types of people and shun them from consideration as God's stewards. This leads us to ask the question:
How do we know if a spiritual leader is greedy and fond of sordid gain as a lover of money?
When we look at church leaders, which includes television and high profile ministers, missionaries out on the mission field, book authors, or local pastors like me, and whoever else is relying on donations for ministry needs, we need to ask ourselves how to apply Paul's teaching to that person in discernment. We want to be careful because God likes to materially bless people. We must be careful because material abundance itself proves nothing either way. Good honest work and wise responsibility with money produces material abundance. Let me add that living in a country that is conducive to gaining wealth also helps. There are Christian men who have two or three large houses, and a lot of money in the bank. They might have untold material possessions. Even so, it doesn't mean they are lovers of money. In fact, their own giving practices (in terms of percentage) might put some of us tightwads to shame in comparison. A man who has worked hard in a secular profession may have what seems like extravagance to some people, but he is simply living in what he can afford, so he purchases what he can afford with no sense of greediness dominating his motivations. Maybe he inherited all that he has. Maybe somebody gave it all to him unexpectedly. We do not always know how someone has become wealthy, do we? What we need are some practical items to look for in a greedy, materialistic, minister. Look for a continuously relentless norm in the man's operation of consistently making appeals for money. Is he known for that very thing. If so, then it is inordinate, and we need to recognize it. I'm not talking about emergencies. I'm not talking about needs. You know what I mean. We should also recognize that because his give, give, give appeals are so consistent, he makes it somehow look like his sales tactic begging is normal activity. But, the fact is that just because he does this all the time as if it is normal doesn't make it normal. Relentless solicitation for money is a sign of inordinate desire for it. Along this line, Christians need to be suspicious when the man says it's God's will for you to give just because he wants you to. It is difficult for Christians to resist giving money to someone who looks like they are a spiritual authority. It is doubly difficult when that same person assures you that God will make you wealthy if you give your money to the man's ministry. These things require discernment because it is valid for a minister to make an appeal for help in filling financial needs. There is a valid scriptural basis for someone to tell you that God brings blessing to those who sacrificially give to his work. It is God's will for the church to support their full time pastors. This is why we need to utilize wisdom in this qualifier that God has commanded us to follow. We need to look to the example of Paul when he said
"we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness--nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority." 1 Thessalonians 2:5-8
This is the kind of example we should be looking for in stewards of Gods' household--No pretext for greed. Greediness is different from having needs that must be met by the flock being led by God's Spirit in respect to His word.
In summation, what we have seen is that an elder should not be a contentious fighter. He can not be a guy who has a short fused temper. He needs to be a man who has a gentle, peaceable demeanor. He must not be obstinate and given over to being self-willed. He must manifest being God-willed. And of course, he must not be a lover of money. He must not be fond of sordid gain. The bottom line is that the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward. It is important that we keep these qualifiers in mind in discerning those who have been truly called and truly Spirit-made into God's pastoring ministers.
[Prayer]
@1 The ___________________ of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20
@2 The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be ________________ to all. 2 Timothy 2:24
@3 What is desirable in a man is his _________________________. Proverbs 19:22
@4 The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, ____________________, goodness, faithfulness, __________________, self-control. Galatians 5:22
@5 The love of money is the root of all sorts of _______________________. 1 Timothy 6:10
