Sermon Tone Analysis

/The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.

Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning/.

Churches will either fire up their pastor … or they will shortly fire their pastor.

Either God’s people will encourage the man of God, or they will discourage him.

I enjoy a great freedom to speak on the manner in which a church should receive God’s appointed undershepherd.

I taught ministerial students for a period and I have been privileged to address student assemblies.

I have on several occasions served as either a field representative or a mentor for students pursuing an advanced pastoral degree.

I am a student of church~/pastor relationships.

Furthermore, in the employment of my gift and calling to be prophetic, I enjoy great freedom in the pulpit.

Blessed is the congregation which encourages the pastor through demonstrating love and a willingness to follow.

Blessed is the congregation which has a pastor that can speak with divine authority to build up the people of God.

Blessed is the congregation which enjoys the ministry of a man of God who can call the people to follow his example even as he follows the example of Christ.

Blessed are the people who labour together in harmony, recognising the presence of Christ the Lord among them.

I am compelled to state that the message today does not arise from frustration with my personal situation – God has graciously provided for me and I am content with His appointment.

The message is rather designed to fulfil the ministry God has assigned.

It is my responsibility to instruct you in how to build a church to the glory of God.

I am responsible to lay a solid foundation, teaching you in all things how to honour God through honouring those whom He chooses to appoint among you.

Whether I should long remain in this present charge or whether I should remain for only a short period, I am responsible to instruct you in practical righteousness; and that includes instructing you how to honour God through honouring the man He appoints to shepherd this flock.

The caricature of the world is that preachers are avaricious, greedy and grasping.

The world sees preachers as motivated by money and always manoeuvring to protect their own self-interest.

Unfortunately, the popular image has sufficient substance to be credible.

Had there never been a scandal with the televangelists, there would still be sufficient cause for alarm because of the constant exchange of pulpits as preachers manoeuvre to advance their careers.

The sense of call is too frequently obscured by the lure of money, and preachers do fall under the apostolic condemnation which exposes the thinking that /godliness is a means to financial gain/ [*1 Timothy 6:5*].

I ruefully acknowledge that preachers do often appear to forget the warning the Apostle issued which warns that /the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil/ [*1 Timothy 6:10*].

Yet I cannot help but wonder if churches again practised biblical honour if the reign of contemporary avarice would be as severe as it now is?

I am convinced that it is time to return to a biblical foundation for pastor~/congregation relationships as taught through the Apostle’s First Letter to Timothy.

*Discovering the Pastor Whom God has Appointed* – In three particular areas is the church to honour the Pastor: *through provision of financial support*; *through protection against unjust accusation*; and *through dignifying the office by expecting accountability*.

Before considering in their turn each of these areas for honouring pastors, I believe it necessary to speak for a brief moment of the basis for honouring the shepherd of the flock.

How does a church find a pastor?

What is done to discover the mind of God and to find His servant?

Too often today the church focuses on credentials and connections in her attempts to find a servant to occupy the pulpit.

For the most of us, this is the way it has always been done and we suppose that this is the way it shall always be done.

We assume that our practise has biblical sanction, though we are uncertain where in the Word that sanction is found.

We appoint a committee and give it the title of Pulpit Committee, assigning the members the task of seeking out a likely candidate to present to the church.

If some on the Pulpit Committee are familiar with a particular school which trains students for pastoral ministry, they will naturally look to that school to provide a suitable candidate.

The recommendations of instructors at that school are vital as we make our decision.

Perhaps we will invite the candidate to preach to the church.

We may even ask the candidate to visit the church for a few days and ask a few perfunctory questions.

If the congregation is small, it frequently acts out of desperation, accepting whomever they can attract.

I recall the ego-building explanation of one man who told me why the church had issued a call to me … I was the only one willing to come.

Usually small churches are constrained to accept either younger ministers or those nearing retirement because those with a solid reputation and experience are unlikely to want to jeopardise their future by labouring in an area isolated from the mainstream of pastoral recognition.

If those on the Pulpit Committee are less familiar with particular schools, or if they are inclined to look to the denomination with which the congregation is affiliated, they will frequently turn to denominational leadership, asking for help in finding suitable pastoral leadership.

While it is hoped that denominational leaders are unbiased, I am chary enough to caution that such individuals are mere mortals.

They put their pants on one leg at a time.

Unfortunately, each of us brings certain biases to our work and denominational leaders are no different.

When asked to recommend candidates for pastoral office, they also have their favourites.

Loyalty to the denomination or connections through friends plays a large role in recommendations.

This is not altogether a bad thing, but it must be recognised as an area of potential concern.

God can work through such means as appeal to schools and appeal to denominational leadership, but shouldn’t we look first to the Word of God to discover how God has chosen to work in the past?

Even if the recommendations do come from an outside source, shouldn’t we insure that biblical requirements are met?

Quickly review the two primary areas in which the Word of God speaks of those appointed to pastoral oversight.

*First Timothy 3:2-6* presents the following characteristics to be sought in a pastor.

/T//he overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgement as the devil.

He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap/.

*Titus 1:5-9* augments these characteristics.

The young missionary is admonished: /The reason I left you in Crete was that you might … appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it/.

What I would have you see is that among the characteristics which are listed (some twenty-three in total), every one deals with character.

In other words, the church is to know the preacher through association sufficiently long to assess character in these areas.

In short, under the ideal situation, the one appointed as teaching elder will have been a member of the congregation for a period sufficient to draw conclusions in these areas including: interaction with outsiders; family management; lifestyle; reaction to pressures; spiritual gifts.

There is not one concern about who the pastor knows or about the degree of education.

I am not suggesting that education is unimportant, but I am cautioning that first priority should be character, and that character is assessed through observation.

This is a congregational responsibility.

Do not leave here thinking that I have said you should ignore exploring schools with a good reputation or that I have said you should not speak with denominational representatives.

I did not say that!

I am saying that you are responsible to first look among yourselves to see if God has raised up an individual with the gifts and character which will suit that one to pastoral oversight.

In support of this view, I remind you that Titus was to /appoint/ [or ordain] /elders in every town/ [*Titus 1:5*].

Presumably these elders came from the very congregations they were to oversee.

This was in keeping with the practise of Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

/Paul and Barnabas appointed elders … in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed/ [those appointed] /to the Lord in whom they had put their trust/ [*Acts 14:23*].

Again, the practise was that elders were appointed from those within and known to the congregation.

This was far more than a utilitarian act.

The apostolic practise of appointing elders from within the immediate congregation was not a mere matter of necessity.

Christ Himself had instituted the practise of appointing those immediately known when He appointed the Twelve to be Apostles [cf.

*Mark 3:13-19*].

Paul and Barnabas were appointed to their task by the Holy Spirit and the church recognised that appointment [*Acts 13:1-3*].

The churches are responsible to appoint to specific tasks those whom God directs [cf.

*Acts 6:2-6* and *1 Corinthians 6:4*].

All appointive action to missionary service or to specific ministries within the congregation is predicated upon the recognition that Christ appoints to eternal life whom He wills [cf.

*Acts 13:48*].

Christ the Lord appoints those known to Him and in turn the church is to appoint those known to her.

If someone should dissent, saying that God has not raised up a pastor, I only ask, “Have you prayed for Him to do so?

Have you asked Him whom He would appoint?

Have you specifically requested that He reveal the one in whom He now works?”

I wonder if James’ words should not apply here: /You do not have, because you do not ask God/ [*James** 4:2b*].

God does appoint to pastoral office.

What are we doing to now see God prepare a pastor for the future of the congregation?

What steps are we now taking to assist in preparing that one whom God will appoint?

It should be the goal and constant prayer of every congregation that God will be raising up a future pastor.

Those whom God so appoints should be recognised and the congregation should assume responsibility for assisting in their preparation.

They can so enter into the equipping of that pastor for future ministry by specifically praying for the man, by investing funds in that one to assist in the solid biblical education, and through providing opportunity to exercise the gifts which Christ has given by His Spirit.

However, we need to return to the text and consider the question of how we should honour the pastor God has given.