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In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. ~ 1 Timothy 3:8
Today, we dive back into the Apostle Paul's instructions to Timothy about the leadership in the local church. Although these teachings are primarily for the leaders in the church, these teachings are applicable to anyone who is a leader.
Having instructed the overseers or the elders, the Apostle Paul now turns to addressing those who are known as deacons. The Greek word used for deacon means servant. In Acts 8, we learn that the first deacons were appointed to be assistants to the apostles.
The qualifications for being a deacon are not in any sense inferior to the qualifications of that of an elder. In fact, the qualifications for the deacon and the elder are basically the same. They both look at a man’s personal life, character, home life, leadership capability, and commitment to the service of the Lord. John Wooden once said, "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
At the beginning of v.8 we read, "In the same way." This means in the same way as the Apostle had instructed the elders. The various word forms for deacon are used at least 100 times in the New Testament. This word diakonos simply means “servant” which in its original meaning, had the idea of serving tables. Through time of usage, it has come to mean servant, serve, serves, or service.
Now, in John 12:26, the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me.” To be a follower of the Lord Jesus is to be a servant, but this doesn't mean that a person who serves the Lord is to be recognized as a deacon. Even though it is characteristic of the believer in Christ to be a servant, there are specific marks of the deacon that qualifies him as a deacon.
The work of the Deacon is not specifically mentioned in the scriptures until our text for today, 1 Timothy 3:8-10. This passage is the only discussion of the specific work of the deacon.
Now, the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Timothy to try to set things in order in the church at Ephesus. It had become clear that the church in Ephesus needed not only instructions for the teachers of the Word who were the overseers or the elders, they also needed instruction for the deacons, those who would provide support leadership to the elders.
In v.8 we read, "deacons are to be worthy of respect." This phrase "worthy of respect" comes from a root verb sebōmai, which means “to venerate” or “to worship.” It brings with it the idea that this person has a carriage about him that demands respect. This is a person who by virtue of his spirituality has a certain awe about him because of his walk with the Lord.
In v.8 the Apostle Paul gives the second mark of the deacon which is: "he is to be sincere." This is the only place in the Scripture where this word appears. It is dilogos in the Greek and it literally means two-tongued. This simply means that a deacon is not to be gossipy person. He doesn’t say one thing to one person and another thing to another. He doesn't go around giving out inside information about others in the church, especially the deeply felt needs of others. The idea here is integrity of speech.
The third mark of a deacon in v.8 is "not indulging in much wine." Note the Apostle Paul wrote "much wine" because wine was not prohibited, but drunkenness was. The Apostle used the Greek word prosechō
which means “to hold near” or “to turn one’s mind to” or “to occupy oneself with.” The deacon
is not to be preoccupied with too much wine. He is not to develop the habit of drunkenness.
The fourth mark of the deacon is he is "not pursuing dishonest gain." Basically, he is not to be greedy, because the deacons handled the gifts and offerings that were collected during the various meetings of the church. And, then they had the responsibility of passing out money to widows, to orphans, and to those who were needy.
Undoubtedly, it was tempting to the deacon to borrow funds from the church. And, then, once he borrowed from the church, he could have gotten to the point that he could rationalize that he was needy like the widows or the orphans and it would be okay for him to be helped by the church. This scenario merely underscores the way sin works into our lives. We rarely take large leaps into sin. No, it usually happens through a series of small choices that lead us to sin. This is why the Apostle addresses the heart of the deacon in the very next verse which we will consider in our next blog and next podcast.
Finally, I leave you with another great quote from the late John Wooden. "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."
