Having instructed the church to honor, with financial support, widows who were worthy of such honor and had no other source of support, Paul now instructs the church on its proper relationship with Elders. Like with the instructions concerning widows, the church is commanded to honor elders with financial support. However, more than just instructions on elder remuneration, this text teaches the church what it should honor, its responsibility to protect its elders, and a warning to be wise in choosing future elders.

We generally have a love-hate relationship with qualifications. We rightly desire that those who provide services, like doctors and airline pilots, be well-qualified. And yet, when faced with requirements that restrict something you want to do, your appreciation for the goodness of qualifications drastically wanes. In the current cultural context, where personal autonomy is seen as supremely important, any discussion of disqualifying qualifications is not well received.

The church's well-being, health, and effectiveness are greatly affected by and dependant on the leadership of the church. If the church fails to choose qualified men to serve as overseers, it will soon reap disastrous results

No church is perfectly rightly ordered; however, every church must have a heart to be as rightly ordered and faithful to scripture as possible. 1 Timothy 3 continues the teaching on the proper order of the church and the offices of overseer/ elder/ pastor and deacon. To introduce a biblical understanding of the office of overseer/ elder/ pastor, I will discuss these three areas: the problem (Where we are and how we got here), the terms (rediscovering the terms the Bible uses for those who lead the church), and the office (from 3: 1).

Church leadership can be a complicated subject. Tradition and customs often have more weight on how we structure church leadership than the biblical witness. And there is always the human concern of who has more power than who.

The word elder is almost exclusively used in the New Testament in the plural form. The only references to a singular elder are greetings and instructions on how the church should respond to accusations against an elder. The point is simple: the church is to have a plurality of elders.

The office of elder is sometimes referred to as overseer or pastor. Every reference to elders recognizes the elders as the ones who have authority over and responsibility for the church.

I am confident that the more faithful we obey God’s word, the more the church will be effective and blessed. Thus, in this sermon, I hope to be as biblically faithful as possible, knowing that we do not perfectly reflect this teaching in our church and may find this uncomfortable. I do so that we might constantly examine our faithfulness to God’s word and continually move toward more faithful obedience.