1 Tim 3:8-16 (Qualifications of Deacons / Deaconess')

• The theme
• Titus and Timothy are Pastoral letters
• These letters expound on church order not church doctrine
1. The greeting 1:1-2
• Not personal but rather formal -- emphasizes Paul's authority
2. Timothy's Mission 1:3-20
1. The task Timothy faced 1:3-11
2. Exhortations 1:12-20
3. Instructions concerning the life of the local church -- "order" (2:1-4:5)
1. The priority of prayer 2:1-7 -- It is good to pray -- we need prayer
2. The primary responsibilities (roles) of the men and women in church meetings (2:8-15)
1. The men have failed to take a spiritual leadership role
2. There is no argument on the capability of women, only where she should teach and lead
3. The qualifications for Church leaders -- Elders and Deacons 3:1-13
4. The nature of the local Church 3:8-13
5. The problem of apostasy in the Church 4:1-5
4. Instructions concerning leadership of the local Church 4:6-5:25
5. Instructions for groups within the church 6:1-19
6. Concluding charge and benediction 6:20-21


1 Timothy 3:8–10 (ESV) —
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.


• Dignified. Greek word semnos, worthy of respect, grave, serious
• Not saying that they cannot have a sense of humor. They are not foolish
• Why? It is an important ministry of service. While not elders, they represent the body to visitors and to strangers
• Not double-tongued, Grk word me dilogous, meaning two-faced or saying one thing and doing another
• Why is it important? If you are going to serve, you need to follow through on your promise or you end up putting the person you were going to serve in a worse position than before you volunteered
• This applies to all of us because we are all called to serve
• Not addicted to much wine. Grk phrase me oino pollo prosechontas, this is a character fault. I think they are root problems in any kind of addiction
• Why is it important in the church? Well, as a family member to an alcoholic growing up, it certainly is a poor witness for a leader in the church
• Not greedy for dishonest gain, Grk word, me aischrokerdeis, meaning shamefully greedy
• Why?
• Church is a place where the weak can be abused
• It is very important that a servant is not seen as benefitting for their service
• Hold the mystery of faith with a clear conscience
• The deacon doesn't have to teach
• But the deacon must act in accordance with his beliefs
• The deacon must hold to certain central facts of the faith
• Example:
• Authority of the word
• Death and resurrection of Jesus
• Jesus sinless life
• Jesus as God and man
• Testing period after which they can serve if blameless
• Similar to the Elder, except the Elder has shown it already in his life
• Suggests the Deacon can be younger


1 Timothy 3:11 (ESV) — 11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.


• So does this refer to wives or to deaconess'?
• Grk word is gune, and is evenly translated into women or wife in the NT. The ending "aika" basically changes it from the nominative case to the accusative case. So it is not the subject but the direct object
• The qualifications for Elder are much more strict than deacon and yet there is no requirement for Elder wives to act in a certain manner.
• Therefore, I assume this is deaconess, a female deacon
• In context, it makes sense. There is a role for women in the church. It is not their role to spiritually lead but they can serve as deacons do, who are not the spiritual leaders of the church but servants in the church
• The qualifications for deaconess are similar and different
• Similar: dignified and faithful
• Different: not slanders and sober-minded (an elder qualification not applied to the man-deacon)
• Slanderers make sense because of the better communication skills of the woman
• Sober-minded also makes sense. Women have great capacity to lead from the sidelines. They can be very emotional in their support of their ideas. They have to be careful not to get carried away with the latest ideas (For an elder this is especially important since he is a spiritual leader of the church)


1 Timothy 3:12–13 (ESV) —
12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.


• Now he goes back to the male deacon, why?
• One, I think this is because of the failure of the men to lead their homes spiritually as seen in the previous chapter
• Two, now that we have included women in "important" ministry positions in the church, the men are reminded that they still need to lead the household spiritually
• There is also a promise -- it seems to be specific for men
• Good reputation
• An increased confidence (this is interesting because you wonder if it has something to do with confidence that men fail to lead in the church and their family)


1 Timothy 3:14–16 (ESV) —
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.


• Verses 14 and 15 reiterates for us the purpose of the letter. Which is?
• How to behave in the household of God
• We get some key insights from this paragraph, so let's look
• Behave seems to have two ideas in the Greek (anastrepho)
• One is the idea of return or move back to an area (maybe they had started out well but now had to return to the original idea)
• Two is the idea of behave or conduct yourself
• Putting the ideas together is that their conduct needs to go back to the original structure
• Secondly, what do we see?
• The church is a family, not a business or an organization
• Especially not today's business where you cannot discuss certain topics
• The key attribute of a family
• Paul closes this portion with a hymn. What are some observations?
• There are three couplets
• The earthly realm and the heavenly ream
• The hymn is about the mystery of godliness -- I think the mystery (something hidden in the past but made know in the new covenant) -- God became a man and came down to earth



Flesh	Spirit
Angels	Nations
World	Glory




Manifested	Vindicated
Seen	Proclaimed
Believed on	Taken up



• APPLICATION:
• God has given each of the sexes specific roles in the church (we are not talking about all areas of life, only two, the church and to a certain degree, the spiritual home)
• Not all men are qualified to lead
• Not all men and women are qualified for service ministries in the church
• Churches that have strayed from Paul's structure need to return