日期： 04/11/2010

經文：提摩太前書 3 ： 1-7

題目： 教會領袖十則

主旨：因為教會是神在世界上可見的國度，所以她的領袖必須具有崇高的品質

引言：

     Woody Densen 最近因為去年用鑰匙刮到鄰居的車，因罪名成立被處罰。我知道用鑰匙刮車的事情經常發生，可能我們也曾經是這個受害者。但是 woody Densen 是一位曾任法官的人士。

有這樣的一句話「如果我愛上你的話，那就會搞亂了我作總統的計畫」，這是在 2008 年總統競選的時候一位競選人所說的話，在他競選的過程中有一個婚外情，同時他的太太正罹患癌症。

一位卸任的亞洲國家總統，因為在任期期間的貪污，現在仍然在坐牢並審理當中。

我們也經常看到一些新聞有關神父或者一些教會人士捲入了性的不道德和虐待兒童的事件裡。

這些都是社會裡的領袖。在一段時間裡，我們會非常尊重領袖而且視他們為我們的榜樣。今天我們往往帶著一種輕視藐視的態度來看領袖。也很可惜在教會裡也不例外。

在教會裡在世界各地方都遍滿了對領導包括長老、執事、和牧師的不滿，會眾對他們的牧師長老感覺到失望，同時長老和牧師因為覺得沒有被尊重而感到困擾。

但這不只是一個二十一世紀才有的問題，因為在基督教會的早期，或者在舊約時代，先知和以後的長老執事也曾經讓神的子民感到失望。

因為這個緣故，提摩太前書第三章 15 節，我們有這些話語“如我來遲了，你也可以知道在　神的家裡應該怎樣行”。保羅要提摩太清楚的知道並且要教導他的會眾有關在神的家，在教會應該如何行事為人。今天我們知道在他的家裡有什麼樣的家規。在過去的幾個月我們一起看如何敬拜、如何禱告。在今天的經文是對教會領袖有哪些的期望。在這段經文裡講到在教會裡作領袖的資格以及對他們的要求。

我在這個教會有 14 年，我曾經在很多場合教導過這一段經文，並且也曾經有一次或兩次在講道時用這段經文。在這段經文列出了作教會領袖的 10 個準則。就好像保羅告訴提摩太說如果有任何人在你的教會裡面要作領袖的話，這裡有十個問題你要去問的。為了使我們清楚的明白這些字句的意思，我會和以前講過的道有一點不一樣，我會更加深入的進入每一個準則，因此我會用兩個星期來講完這一段經文。

I •  教會領 袖 是十分尊貴的服事。

   在第一節我們看到這裡提到“ 這話是可信的 ”，這是第二次這樣說，第一次是在第一章的 15 節“可信的話就是耶穌基督來到世上，為的是要拯救罪人”。現在是第二句“可信的話” “ 如果有人渴慕監督的職分，他就是愛慕善工。 ” 在第一世紀，監督是指教會領導的角色、職位，是看顧教會的，是屬靈領導的地位。一個監督在原文裡跟長老或者是牧師是同樣的一個字。因為這原因，監督也往往是用來描寫一位長老或牧師。今天早上我會將這幾個字互相交替的來用，就是長老、監督、牧師、或是傳道，我也會用屬靈的領袖做一個大傘，將這幾個觀念都放在一起。做教會裡做一個屬靈的領導在教會裡是一個可羨慕，崇高的職位。

   為什麼這是一個崇高的職分呢？這是在神家裡做一個領導。不錯，神是在所有教會上做領導的，但是祂卻是透過人的領導來工作。第二個，這是一個善工，是一個可羨慕的，這是一個崇高的職位乃是因為這一個事工的內容，從使徒行傳二十章 25-35, 並加上彼得前書第五章 2-3 節，我們看到這一個事工內容的圖畫包括教導神救贖的計畫，留心照顧神的羊，照顧神的羊不是用 轄制 ，而是做榜樣，並且也要保護神的兒女。這一個事工也是一個無私的服事。這就是一個監督、長老、牧師所該做的事，其實這也就是代替神做神的工作，因為這個緣故所以這是一個善工，是一個崇高的地位。

II •  教會領 袖要有特殊的資格。

   因為這是個崇高的事工，做這工的人必須要有高的標準。但是要記住 , 信徒生命的成長是一個過程 . 我們要看見這些準則在領袖生命中的表現 , 一天比一天的更明顯 .

1 •  他的聲譽

第一個作長老牧師的一般性資格乃是要無可指責，那是指可以看的見的行為，這並不是說他沒有罪，如果是的話那沒有人可以作長老牧師監督。無可指責的意思是當我們犯了罪，當我們犯了錯我們要承認，我們向神悔改尋求神和人的饒恕，然後靠著神的幫助我們不再重複這些過犯。當我們將第 2 節和第 7 節放在一起，這是指著一位屬靈的領導、監督、牧師在教會內和教會外要有好的聲譽，我們怎麼知道呢？我們要觀察要問，這也就是推薦的來由，我們要跟別人問有關一個我們不熟悉的人的事情，我們知道這個人在這段經文裡所提到的 10 個準則他的行為和態度是如何。、

我們也是要問當別人問起我們有關一個人的時候又怎麼樣？同樣我們也要有這 10 個準則在我們心中並且要很誠實的回答對方。最近有一間教會的長老跟我這樣子的分享，他說“我們教會以前的牧師跟我們在一起有七年的時間，當他離開的時候我們的教會經歷到分裂，傷害了基督的身體，也成為我們社區一個很不好的見證。因為我們就打電話給八年前介紹他來這我們這裡的那一位牧師，問他有關這一位傳道人的性情，他很簡單的回答說「我非常的抱歉，我是知道這一些但是我以為他會改變」”。因為缺少了誠實所有許多神父、許多傳道牧師從一個教會去到另外一個教會對神的教會造成莫大的傷害，也傷害到神的聲譽。

所以身為教會的成員需要知道屬靈的領袖，長老、監督、牧師在教會內和外一定要有好的聲譽和一個無可指責的行為。

2 •  他的 婚姻

這段經文也說 “只作一個妻子的丈夫”，這是與婚姻或是家庭生活有關。這不是說一個長老監督一定要結婚的，這也不是有關離婚或再婚的事，這也不有關配偶去世再婚的。在 Kent Hughes 的書裡說我們往往在這段經文注重的是量，比如說結了多少次婚，或在一生中有多少個太太等等。這些都是考慮的，但是在這段經文有關的重點是有關我們婚姻的質素，是講到對妻子的忠心。如果對婚姻有不忠的話，那這個人就沒有資格作長老，作一位屬靈的領袖。

   電影明星 Peter Graves 在 3 月 14 日去世。他最有名的是電視節目 是 叫 Mission: Impossible 。報上說他是一個虔誠的基督徒，他與妻子結婚了 60 年，這在好萊塢的確是一個少有的現象，他是一個妻子的丈夫。

   為了一個長老要能夠教導、執行教會的紀律，他自己在婚姻上必須要有一個高標準，有些政治家、運動家、一些電影明星，甚至有許多傳道人都是不夠資格的。

3 •  他的自我約束

在下面有三個字“節制自律和莊重”我把他放在一起稱為自我約束。我用大衛生平的故事來解釋這一點。在大衛兒子押沙龍背叛的時候，大衛就從耶路撒冷逃跑。掃羅的一位後裔叫做示每跟著他向他丟石頭丟塵土然後咒詛他。大衛只有說一句話他的士兵就會將示每處理掉，但是大衛用自我約束一句話也沒有這樣講，他相信神會替他申冤。這個故事用這樣的話結束“大衛和他跟隨他的人上了路，示每在路邊抵抗他咒詛他然後向他丟石頭，然後這個王和所有跟隨他的人都非常疲倦的到了約旦河，在那裡他們得到了更新”。這是自我約束的最高峰。

節制這個字應該翻為清醒的頭腦，這就是大衛在很多壓力的情況下，受欺負被冤枉的處境裡，他有一個清楚的頭腦，這與喝醉酒是剛好相反。一個領袖需要思考需要教導需要做決定，如果帶著一顆不清醒的頭腦是很難做的。就如我最近坐了 15 個鐘頭的飛機從中國飛到紐約，當我在等班機轉機回休士頓的時候，我在登機口打瞌睡，當我一醒過來看手錶的時候發現糟糕飛機還有 15 分鐘就要起飛，難怪周圍一個人也沒有，同時我也發現他們換了一個登機口，所以我立刻找一個小電車跳上去到新的登機口，當我到那裡的時候我發現一個人也沒有。我就問服務人員是不是已經飛走了，他們看著我說這班機還沒有開已經延遲了兩個小時，這時候我完全的混亂忘了現在是幾點，我忘了這是紐約的時間還是休士頓的時間，我的頭腦一點也不清楚，在那一個狀況我是不可能做決定也不可能做任何的教導。

自律應該翻譯為節制就是自我控制，這也就是大衛在那次逃亡的處境裡所做的自我節制。這也是當耶穌基督被人羞辱，被猶太和羅馬領袖羞辱的時候表現做的自我控制。這也是聖靈的果子。在箴言 25 章 28 節“人若不控制自己的心，就像沒有城牆，毀壞了的城一樣”。沒有節制就像一個破壞的城，是一個打敗仗的軍隊。在箴言 16 章 32 節“不輕易動怒的，勝過勇士；克服己心的，勝過把城攻取的人”。真正的權勢不在乎你有多強盛，乃在乎你能不能夠控制你的心靈。

在自我約束的第三句話中文翻成莊重，英文的意思是尊重尊敬，這是指著別人如何看你。自我控制是一個內在的質素，當這個內在自我控制被表現出來的時候就得到了別人的尊重。我們如何知道別人尊重我們呢？就是當他們在問我們的意見，當他們聽我們說話的時候。做為長老牧師很多時候忙於給人答案，忙於告訴別人要做什麼，應該怎麼樣，我們往往忘記了別人有沒有問我們的意見，甚至有沒有在聽。這在婚姻裡也是一樣，一個作丈夫的要怎麼樣才能使妻子感覺到她被尊重，就是問她，徵求她的意見，和聆聽她所說話。尊重是內在節制的一個表現 .

身為一個領袖特別是做牧師長老，很多時候缺少了別人的督促，當我們在家裡 , 在外，我們往往都是一個人工作，也因為這個緣故，自我約束是多麼的重要。很多時候聽到會眾問怎樣監督督促傳道人，我心中非常的納悶，為什麼我們傳道人需要人家來監督我們，就是因為我們沒有好好的自我約束。聖經講的非常的清楚，一個沒有自我約束的人，是沒有資格作長老作牧師。

我們要求神幫助我們使我們能夠有自主約束，這是從神來的，身為一個屬靈的領袖、長老、牧師，自我約束是必須要有的。

4 •  他的待人接物

在這裡經文說要樂意接待客旅。在自我約束之後的另外一個資格是對客旅的接待。這個字的真正意義是去愛那些陌生人，要關懷他們，將自己的將向他們開放，在那些的日子沒有旅館，路邊的招待所往往也是非常不乾淨而且相當危險，所以當一些的傳道人或信徒到不同城市的時候，他們就需要靠當地的信徒來接待他們，向他們打開自己的家門，有一個牧師這樣跟我分享在國內培訓的經驗，他在某一個農村的地方做培訓，那裡最寶貴的食物就是雞蛋，所以在那裡培訓了 10 天，每一天他們給他吃 7 個雞蛋，他怎麼能夠拒絕人家給他最好的食物呢？你可以試想一下 10 之內他吃了 70 個雞蛋，這是弟兄姊妹對他的款待，對他的接納，這是他們接待客旅的表示。

身為一個屬靈的領袖我們需要將自己的家向別人開放，邀請他們進來和我們一起的用飯，如果我對這一段經文的瞭解是正確的話，接待客旅或款待客旅不是單單的將自己的家開放，有小組有團契大家來聚餐，這裡所講的款待乃是將我們的家開放給那些孤單那些有需要的人。我知道這是相當消耗精力的事，我也想給一個簡單的建議：接待客旅和請客是不一樣的。我們請客的時候我們會做很多的飯菜，我們要打掃家裡到一塵不染，在今天這個時候，在這忙碌的生活方式，沒有太多的人可以經常請客整理家務，但是款待的意思是將家裡開放服事那些有需要的人，食物可以簡單，房子也不需要一塵不染。一個一塵不染的房子會給人感覺不舒服不自在。不知道應不應該碰這個家具，不知道應該做哪一個地方，而且一個一塵不染的家給人有一個印象，特別是活躍的孩子在這裡是不受歡迎的。要記得這是一個有人住的家，而不是一個三星或五星的酒店。

我清楚記得 15 年前當我到不同地方講道的時候，他們往往邀請我住在會友的家裡，我非常享受與弟兄姊妹的交談，也使我在每一個地方都能認識主內的弟兄姊妹。我開始注意到有一個新的趨勢，大概有十多年前，當我一下飛機牧師說我們這週末會把你放在這一個旅館裡，三個鐘頭之後會有人接你去吃飯然後開始晚上的聚會。現在這已經是相當普遍的現象，我們覺得款待很吃力，所以將客座的講員安放在旅館裡，當然放在旅館裡比較簡單。而在旅館裡有很多隱私能夠很自在，但是同時也失去了和弟兄姊妹來往的寶貴經歷。希伯來書 13 章第二節“不要忘了用愛心接待人，有人就是這樣作，在無意中就款待了天使”。然後彼得也在彼得前書 4 章 9 節說“你們要互相接待，不發怨言”。這些都是神對接待客旅的話語和心意。接待客旅是要無私的，是要將自己給出去的。你看，沒有自我的約束要自我付出的話是非常不容易的。請記得：接待客旅是教會領袖的一個準則。

結論 :

我將會在下星期繼續講解這一段的經文。當我在準備這篇信息，準備到第 5 點的時候，我心裡感覺到有些沈重，我體會到作教會長老牧師的確是一件很嚴肅的事，但也是一件非常崇高的事，不是因為地位崇高乃是因為工作的內容，因此對牧師長老有很高的標準。每當我讀到這些話語的時候，我看見我們是何等的虧欠了神的標準。往往因為我們沒有達到這些標準和資格，我們也將莫大的羞恥和痛苦帶給了神的百姓和神的教會。

   我記得在我牧會的早期，我經常教導這一段經文，在那段時間裡，我時常問自己我是不是給自己和教會領導一個太高的標準，會不會對自己和長老們太過嚴格了。當然在教導的時候，總有很多自我的懷疑，但是當我每一次回到這段經文，無論我看哪一本參考書，哪一本的註釋我都非常清楚知道這是神對教會領袖的期望和要求。為什麼有這樣高的標準？因為這一個工作是善工，是一個崇高的工作。做領袖是神在地上的代表來照顧、看顧神的百姓。因為這個工作是何等崇高，所以神對做工的人有一個更高的標準。

   在世俗的社會裡，我們強調的是成就成果，我們很熟悉鄧小平的話「我不管是黑貓或是白貓，只要能捉到老鼠就是好貓」。但是神卻不是這樣，祂的確在乎是黑貓還是白貓，祂要那些能夠達到祂標準的人來看顧他的子民 , 祂很看重這一些領袖生命的質素。

當然我們沒有一個人能夠完全達到這些要求，但這是我們生命成長的目標。我們需要重複的來到主前，每一天都要來尋找他，求他幫助我們一天比一天更多的將這些質素在生命里表現出來，成為祂要我們成為的人。

Date:   04/11/2010

Text:   1 Timothy 3:1-7

Title:   10 Qualifications for Church Leaders

Theme: Since the church is God's visible kingdom on earth, therefore the leaders are held to high standards.

Introduction:

Woody Densen was convicted of keying his neighbors SUV in Rice Village last year. I know this happened in many places and we may have been victims in the past. Except Woody Densen was a former district judge.

We have heard this, “Falling in love with you could really mess up my plans for becoming president.” Sure, we have heard this before. Except these are from one politician who was in the 2008 presidential race. It not only messed up his presidential bit, his marriage was ruined. He was having an affair while his wife was suffering from terminal cancer.

The former president of an Asian country was imprisoned because he and his family embezzled millions of dollars during his presidency.

There are constant news about priests and clergy members involved in sexual misconduct and child molestation.

They were leaders of one kind or another. In a different time, leaders were often respected and looked upon as role models. Today, we often look at leaders with a sense of contempt and disdain. Unfortunately, the Christian church is no exception.

There is a widespread disappointment with leaders, including the elders, deacons and pastors in churches around the world. Congregation is disappointed with their pastors and elders. While the elders and pastors feel frustrated because they were not respected.

Again, this is not a 21 st century problem. Even in the early years of the Christian church, or for that matter, in the OT, prophets and later elders and deacons had brought disappointments to God's people.

For this reason, in 1 Timothy 3:15, we have these words, “ 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 truth.” Paul wants to make sure Timothy knows and teaches his congregation about how to conduct themselves in church, in God's family. For the last few months, we studied that when believers come together, how we are to worship and pray. Now, in today's passage we are told what to expect from the leaders of the church.

During the last 14 years at HCC, I have taught on this passage many times, and preached once or at the most twice on this passage. In this passage there are 10 qualifications for church leaders. As if Paul was telling Timothy, “if anyone is looking for a position in your church, here are the 10 questions to ask.” In order to make sure we understand the meaning of these words, unlike my previous sermon on this passage, I will spend more time on each of these qualifications. I will need two Sundays to complete this section.

I •  Leadership in church is a honorable task.

In vs. 1 we have the 2 nd trustworthy saying. The first one is found in 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,..” Now, the 2 nd trustworthy saying, “ If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” In that first century, overseer refers to someone in the leadership position that oversees the church. Overseer is the same word as elder or pastor. For this reason, the word overseer is used to describe an elder or pastor. It is a position of spiritual leadership. This morning, I will intermingle the following words; elders, overseers, pastors and ministers. I will also use Spiritual leadership as an umbrella to bring these words together. Here we learn that spiritual leadership is a noble task.

How so? First it is leadership in God's household. Yes, God is the leader of all the churches on earth. But He works through human leaders. The second reason is the nature of the work. From Acts 20:25-35 and 1 Peter 5:2-3, we have a glimpse of such work. “teach God's plan of salvation, pay careful attention to God's flock, caring for God's people through examples and not lording over them, p rotect God's children from enemies, (those who wants to pull away God's children from Him), and self-giving.” This is the work of overseers. It is doing God's work on God's behalf. This is the reason for its nobility.

II •  Leadership in church demands high standards.

Because this is a very noble task, those who do this work must be held to high standards.

1 •  Reputation. The first general quality of an elder/pastor is ‘above reproach'. Vs.2, “ Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,” It is also translated as blameless. It is about observable behavior. This does not mean he is without sin. If so, no one will be able to be an elder. Blameless means that when we sin or make a mistake, we own up to it. We repent and seek forgiveness from God and men. And then with God's help, we do not repeat the same offense. When we put vs. 2 and 7 together, “ Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” it means that the spiritual leader, the elders/pastors are to have good reputation both inside and outside the church. How do we know? We observe and ask around. This is where references come in. We ask others about a person we don't know well. We are to find out the person's observable behavior and attitude in the 10 areas mentioned in these verses.

How about when others ask us about a certain person? Again, we need to have these qualifications in mind and be honest with our answers. Recently an elder of another church shared this with me. “Our previous pastor was with us for 7 years. By the time he left, we had a church split, bringing great hurts to the body of Christ, and bad testimony to the Chinese community. We called the pastor who referred him to us 7 years ago and asked about this pastor's temperament and other issues. He replied by saying, ‘I am truly sorry about this. I was aware of all these but felt he may change.'” Because of the lack of honesty, priests and ministers go from one church to another, creating great damage to God's church and His reputation.

As a church, her members need to have a clear understanding that the spiritual leader, an elder or pastor must have a good reputation and blameless conduct.

2 •  Marriage accountability. “the husband of one wife…” this has to do with his marriage, or domestic accountability. This does not mean to be an elder you have to be married. This is not an issue about divorce and remarriage. It is also not about a widower getting married again. In Kent Hughes words that we often focus on the quantitative aspect of this verse: how many times you have married or how many wives you have of have had. Those are all issues need to be considered. But the emphasis here is about the quality of our marriage. It is about being faithful to one's wife. If there is unfaithfulness in marriage, then this person is not qualified to be an elder, a spiritual leader.

Actor Peter Graves died on 3/14/2010. He was best known for his leading role in Mission: Impossible. It was reported that he was a devote Christian and married to his wife for 60 years. This is certainly a rarity in Hollywood. This is a husband of one wife.

For an elder to teach doctrine, to exercise church discipline, he must be held to a high standard of marital accountability. Many politicians, sports and entertainment celebrities, and even many ministers need not apply.

3 •  Self-mastery. We'll group the next three words together; “ sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable..” We call them Self mastery. Let me use an incident in David's life to illustrate this.

During Absalom's rebellion, David fled from Jerusalem. One of Saul's descendents, Shimei, followed him and threw stones, dirt and cursing him. Only a word from David and one of his soldiers would have taken care of Shimei. With self-mastery, David did nothing and trust that God would revenge for him. This story ends with these words, “ So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.” This is self-mastery at its best.

Sober-minded means clear headed. This is what David did in that stressful and humiliating situation. It is the opposite of being drunk. A leader needs to think, teach and make decisions. It is hard to do that with a fuzzy mind. It's like after 15 hours of flight from China to NY, I dozed off at the gate while waiting for my connecting flight to come home. I woke up and looked at my watch, oh my, the plane will leave in 15 minutes. Then I also realized that they had changed the gate. So I had to get on the transporter to go to the new gate. By the time I got there, no one was there and asked the attendant if I was too late for the flight to Houston. They me the flight was delayed. I was totally confused about the time, for I can't remember if I am on Houston time or NY time. I was not sober minded. There is no way I can think straight under those conditions.

  Self-controlled is straight forward, ability to control oneself. This was what David did in that situation. This was what Jesus did when he was insulted and ridiculed by the Jewish and Roman authorities. This is the fruit of the spirit. Proverbs 25:28 ,“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Without self control, is a broken city, a defeated army. In Proverbs 16:32, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Real power is not how strong you are, but whether or not you can control your spirit.

  Then there is respect. This has to do with how others see you. Self-control is an inner quality. When this self-control is expressed, it will gain other's respect. How do we know when we are respected? When they ask our opinions and listen to us. As elders and pastors, sometimes we are so busy in giving out answers or telling others what to do, we have forgotten if anyone ever asked for our input or even listening to us. Respect is an outward expression of self-control.

As a leader, especially pastor, we often work with little supervision. When we are at home, when we travel, we are often by ourselves. This is why self-mastery is so important. It saddens me when believers here and other churches ask me how they can keep track of their pastors. We are suppose to supervise and master ourselves. The scripture is so clear, that without self-mastery, a person is really not suited to be an elder/pastor.

  We have to ask God to help us with Self-mastery. It is from God. As a spiritual leader, as an elder or minister, self-mastery is a must.

4 •  Hospitality. After self-mastery, the next qualification is Hospitality. Literally it means loving strangers. To care for them and to open one's house to them. In those days, there were no hotels and the roadside inns are often dirty and dangerous. When ministers or believers travel to different cities and villages, they would need to depend the local believers to open their homes to take them in.

A pastor shared this about his teaching ministry in a certain part of China. The most precious food they had there was chicken eggs. During his 10 days of teaching, everyday they would give him 7 eggs. How can you turn down others when they gave you the best? Imagine, by the end of 10 days, he ate70 eggs. This is hospitality.

As spiritual leaders, we are to open our homes to others; inviting them to our dining table. If I understand the scripture correctly, hospitality is more than opening your home to small groups or fellowship pot-lucks. It is opening our homes to those who are lonely and with needs. I know this can be tiring. I like to make a simple suggestion: being hospitable is different from entertaining guests. When we entertain guest, we want cook up a storm and want to make sure the house is spotless. In this day and age, with our busy life-style, not too many of us can do this. To be hospitable means to open my house to minister to others. Food can be simple and house does not has to be spotless. A spotless house can make guess feel uncomfortable, not knowing if it's ok to touch this furniture and can give the impression that little ones, especially the active ones are not welcome here. A home does not need to be spotless, for adults and children live in it. A home is not a 3 or 5 stars hotel.

  Up until 15 years ago, I remember when I was invited to speak at different churches, I usually stayed with one of the church members. I enjoy the fellowship time with them and helping me to know them more. Then I notice there is a new trend. One time after getting off the plane, the pastor said, “we'll put you in this motel for the weekend. We'll come and pick you up in 3 hours.” Now, it has almost becomes the norm; putting the guest speaker in one of the hotels. I have the feeling that we feel hospitality is too much work, therefore put him in a hotel. Certainly, there is more privacy in a hotel, but we also miss out the joy and fruits of receiving guests and missionaries.

Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Peter further instructs us in 1 Peter 4:9, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” These are God's words on hospitality. Hospitality is self-giving. You see, without self-mastery, it is difficult to be self-giving. Remember, hospitality is a requirement for church leadership.

Conclusion:

  I will continue on with this passage next week. As I was working on this sermon, by the time I come to this fifth qualification, my heart becomes heavy. I recognize being an elder/pastor in a local church is a very serious matter. It is serious and honorable, not because of the position, but the content of the work. Because its so honorable, there are high standards for those who serve as elders and pastors. Whenever I read these words, I also see how far we are from it. Because we fail to live up to such standards, we've brought great shame and pain to God's people, God's church.

I remember from the early days of my pastoral ministry, I taught this passage. I often ask myself, am I setting a standard that is too high for the church leaders? Am I being too hard on the elders and ministers? There are plenty of self doubts. But, each time I come back to this passage, I knew this is God's expectation for leaders in his church. Why such high standards? Because their work is very noble. They are to be God's representatives caring and watching over God's people. Because the work is so noble, therefore the works are held to high standards.

In the secular world, we emphasized on accomplishment. In the now famous words of Tang ShaoPing, “I don't care whether it is a white or black cat, as long as it can catch rats.” However, God does care whether or it is a white or black cat. He wants individuals who can live up to his standards to oversee and care for His people.

Certainly none of us is capable and worthy of carrying out such noble task. For this reason, we have to come repeatedly to our lord, on a daily basis to seek his help to be the persons He wants us to be.