Leading God's Way

1 Timothy 3:14–15 (ESV)

¹⁴I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that,

¹⁵if 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.

According to this passage, Paul’s main concern in writing this epistle was that Timothy would “know how one ought to behave in the household of God” (verse 15). In fact, in the Greek, the wording is even stronger: Paul uses the little word “dei” which means, “it is necessary.” This makes the verse read, “how it is necessary for one to behave in the household of God.” In other words, God has “house rules” that leaders are to be aware of and, by necessity, are to follow.

This isn’t something we like to think about, quite frankly. We are quick to sound the trumpet and cry “Grace!” and "Freedom in Christ!" but are much slower to give thought to what God has laid down for house rules. We somehow think a little word like “dei” is incompatible with the freedom of the Gospel. Not so, however! In fact, just the opposite is true. Before coming to Christ, we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:20). But when the Gospel of God’s grace comes into our hearts and sets us free from sin, it also makes us slaves to God and to righteousness (Romans 6:17-18.) The Gospel, in this sense, is the message of our transfer from one slavery to another.

As leaders, it is incredibly important that we daily grasp this. We are not our own, we were bought with a price. As it applies to our leadership, it means that we cannot merely invent our own methodology and means. We must go to God, our Master, and to his Word, and from them learn “how it is necessary for us to behave in the household of God.”

Learning with you,

aaron

Are you qualified to lead?

First Timothy 3:1-13

This passage is about one thing: qualified leadership.

Paul’s concern is for the church to be led by individuals who are qualified. That is not to say that he required perfection, but rather that he saw the very real need for a certain level of Christian growth and skill to be present in those who lead.

Now, our role as Life Group leaders is not the same as that of elders and deacons, to whom this passage directly applies. But still, we have no less of a responsibility to be qualified to lead than they do. So what does this mean?

It means that both holiness and competency must be present and increasing in our lives in order to lead with the blessing of God. Again, the issue is not perfection- we all stumble in many ways. Don't let momentary discouragements keep you from leading. But, ask yourself: Am I living a life worth following? And am I capable of passing such a life on to others? And, ultimately, am I growing in all of this? If so, you are qualified for leadership. If not, why not ask God this day for his help, that you can better walk before him in holiness and help others to do the same. 

Structured Life Groups

1 Timothy 2:8–15 (ESV)

⁸I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

⁹likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

¹⁰but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

¹¹Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve;

¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

¹⁵Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

So, after a little break, I’ve resumed going through First Timothy in an attempt to draw from that letter some principles for Life Group leadership. I’ve got to admit though: when I came to this passage, I seriously thought about scrapping the whole project!

Simply put, this is a sticky passage. No matter how you slice it, Paul is saying some things that are plain ol’ hard to understand, let alone to apply to Life Group leadership. But, since it is God’s Word, and all Scripture is useful to us, I’ve decided not to pass over it. And I’m glad. Because, this passage gives us a very important lesson to hold onto as we seek to lead God’s people.

The lesson has to do with order.

How orderly is your Life Group? What I mean is, does your group have a healthy structure to it that reflects what God is like and reflects how he desires things to be done? Or, does your group just sort-of…happen? Because that is what Paul is talking about in these verses. Regardless of how we interpret the apostle’s statements about men and women in the church, at the core of what he is saying is that there should be a thoughtful, organized, God-honoring way we go about our ministries.

This is difficult to accomplish in an age of busyness and in an era that prizes spontaneity over structure. We often simply lack the time to prepare well and, quite frankly, many of us are resistant to defined ways of doing things. But, as Paul points out in this passage, from the very beginning God has been a God of order. And at least in some sense, God’s ordering of things at creation becomes a template for us in terms of ordering our ministries today.

So, does your Life Group have order to it? Not rigid inflexibility, but a thoughtfulness that lays a foundation for growth? If so, then this is reflective of the God who made all things. If not, why not begin to think through fresh ways in which to bring a divinely patterned structure to your group so that it can thrive, bearing fruit to God and bringing blessing to those around you?