(7) …and it is necessary that an overseer continually have a good witness from those who are outside so that he won’t fall into reproach, which is a snare of the devil.
God here ends his list of what is required for a pastor. He actually reiterates the term ‘it is necessary’ here again to denote what is absolutely always required of an elder/pastor – since a pastor is to, in essence, shepherd Jesus’ people in Jesus’ physical stead, with the word Jesus gave, in the power of the Spirit Jesus sent.
The requirement here is that outsiders give a good testimony about the pastor candidate. It’s worth noticing that the term ‘outsiders’ is used. This means that there are those in the Church and those outside the Church. In other words, these are people that make no claim to belief in Jesus. These are in every sense of the word, non-Christians.
And this is more than a good reputation. Paul here says that people on the outside have to speak well of the pastor. That means that an elder-candidate must have relationships with non-Christians. He must have a continual public witness and ministry. He can’t be holed up with a bunch of Christians.
There’s a tension here. God also says that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
So which is it? 1 Peter 2 can help us here. “Keep your conduct among the nations honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation… this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people”(vv. 12, 15).
Peter goes on to specifically talk about the responsibilities of slaves: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust”(18).
And he gives us Jesus’ example in vv.21-24: “For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you all, leaving to you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Jesus never sinned. His opponents knew that he never sinned. But we had – and he died for us, in our places for our sins – and healed us. And because God is just, he was vindicated by being raised from the dead. Jesus is alive and reigning, having perfectly saved everyone who trusts him.
And how did his opponents think of him? Even Pilate said, “I find no guilt in him”(John 18:38). Yet, it was Jesus’ accusers that Pilate was speaking to.
And so we see that the world will deal with Christians in one of three general ways – by becoming Christians, by holding Christians in high esteem, or by hating Christians.
And with a pastor, we’re considering those in the second category. And that means that, just like Jesus did, an elder candidate has to hang with non-Christians, have an above-reproach witness to non-Christians, and be respected by non-Christians – in so much as it is possible.
Why? Well, first, because Jesus did and it honors Jesus. Second, because it may be what God uses to bring some of them to Christ. Third, because it silences the ignorance of fools – which, well, honors Jesus.
And fourth – for the reason given in 1 Timothy 3:7 – so he won’t fall into reproach. In other words, so he won’t be able to be fairly insulted. Oh he’ll be insulted; Jesus was. It was just never with any reason. The idea is that the insults are known to be stupid – even by those who cast them. BUT – the idea of this text is to minimize insults by having someone who has good relationships with unbelievers – they speak well of the guy.
Why’s this important? Simple. The pastor represents Jesus, the word of God, and the leadership of Christ’s body, the Church. Anything he does will represent the Church. What happens when a pastor falls into sin in public? The whole Church gets maligned.
But what happens when non-Christians like and respect the pastor? The pastor is diminished, and the message – the Gospel of Christ – is seen.
God raises the stakes here and calls ‘reproach’ the ‘snare of the devil.’ He uses this phrase in another verse in 2 Timothy 2:26: “they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
A snare is basically a trap. It keeps you from going where you should be going and causes you to be a slave to whoever trapped you.
Well, why is ‘reproach’ the snare of the devil? Simple. It stops the work of the Church – the glory of Jesus in the salvation of souls – and if grave enough, does damage to the pastor’s own soul.
We’d do well to take care, here. The devil is active. He wants to stop the Church. Now, we know he won’t. After all, didn’t Jesus say that he would build his Church and that the gates of hell would not overcome it? That he’s gathering all his sheep? Quite.
However, the enemy is still attacking – still trying to make Jesus look bad. But we’re in the business of honoring Jesus so that people will be saved by seeing him.
Summary:
-It’s necessary that a pastor have relationships with non-Christians
-It’s necessary that non-Christians speak well of a pastor for him to be a pastor
-This is because the Church’s job is to show Jesus to the world
-This is against the devil’s schemes – lying and killing people to, if it were possible, rob God of his due glory
Prayer:
Holy God, Jesus bore the reproaches we deserved. We are sinners, and our guilt is known by you. Yet you loved us and executed your Son in our place for our sins. Thank you! Cause us to live in such a way that Jesus is honored. Cause us to recognize how high the stakes are – that this is a microcosm of a cosmic conflict. Thank you that Jesus has secured his victory. We want to participate in it; so give us eyes to see how grave the conflict is and how high the stakes are and strength to live like Jesus, loving this world and all in it, for the sake of his glory. And it’s for his sake we pray, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment