1 Timothy 5:17-25
Honoring the Elders
July 12, 2009
Simon Goncharenko
21 FELLOWSHIP, sbc
Outline
How a church can honor its pastor:
I. Remunerate him generously – 17-18.
Financially – money – A hardworking pastor that is a good teacher and preacher ought to be remunerated in a way that is honoring his commitment and sacrifice – 1 Cor. 9:7-14.
a. Hardworking pastors should be paid more (not less) than the average person in the congregation – 17.
b. Like an ox should be allowed sustenance as it works the field, a pastor should be supplied sufficient income to where he and his family are not starving – 18.
The 1st part of the verse is a quotation from the law portion of the OT – Deut. 25:4.
c. Like a laborer that is hired for a day earns his wages at the end of the day, pastor’s work too is worthy of adequate pay – 18.
II. Reject unsubstantiated accusations against him – 19.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” may be a good slogan for a volunteer fire department, but it does not apply to local churches. Sometimes there is a lot of smoke and no fires at all.
III. Require a higher accountability standard from him – 20-22, 24-25.
Due to very high public visibility of a pastor’s job his public accountability is to be stricter than for others -
a. Expose sin - Discipline – when discipline of a pastor is administered, it should be done publically since his sins have a public effect – 20.
b. Avoid partiality – a solemn charge before heavenly witnesses – 21.
c. Examine those you ordain - Ordination – proper testing should be done of the individuals desiring ordination – 22.
(* For health reasons, a little bit of wine is recommended for Timothy’s diet – 23)
i. Whether public or private one’s actions will be found out – 24-25.
1. Sinful actions will be discovered, whether it is prominent or hidden – 24.
2. Good works will be discovered, both the public ones and the ones done in private – 25.
1 Timothy 5:17-25 |
