1 Timothy 3:8
8 Likewise [hosautos] must the deacons [diakonos] be grave, [semnos] not [me] doubletongued, [dilogos] not [me] given [prosecho] to much [polus] wine, [oinos] not [me] greedy of filthy lucre; [aischrokerdes] KJV-Interlinear
8 Deacons likewise must be men of
dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, NASB
Paul now makes a
transition from the elder of the church, who is the teacher or pastor as it
were, to the deacons of the church, which includes virtually everyone.
When God looks for
those who are to serve, He looks for those whose hearts are right. This has nothing to do with talent, ability,
or social status, but with the content of their soul. And this certainly excludes those who try to
do things themselves, apart from the mandates specified within the Bible.
Unfortunately this
includes most Christians, because most Christians do not take up their daily
study and get themselves prepared for life.
They prefer to float in their emotional rationalization of what they are
doing is sufficient, and nothing more is required of them.
We already saw the other
day, that this amounts to smoke or air, with which
they inflate themselves.Meaning, that
they have nothing of substance within themselves.
Deacons,
diakonos, means one who is an attendant, a waiter, one who serves,
a servant.It is taken from the role of
a waiter or waitress or staff person who serves others as to their needs.
Every believer in
Christ has a role to fulfill, but God uses prepared believers, not unprepared
believers.God has established a
mechanism for spiritual growth, and that requires you
to fall in with an instructor and listen and learn everyday of your life.
You cannot do things on
your own, and you cannot succeed, if you do not comply with Gods requirements,
by setting up your own rules.That is a
subtle form of arrogance.
Neh 9:8
8 "And Thou didst
find his heart faithful before Thee, NASB
1 Sam 16:7
7 for God sees not as
man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart." NASB
Your soul must be
prepared with doctrine. That, and nothing else, is the substance for spiritual
growth and success and fulfillment in your life.
Eph 4:12
12 for the equipping of
the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; NASB
Having concluded the
requirements of teachers, Paul now begins, over the next several verses, to
list five requirements for service in the Christian life character, spiritual
maturity, testing, morality, and stability.
These are five of the fundamental attributes required of the qualified
believer.
The believer must be grave. The word for grave semnos,
means honorable, honest, serious. It is non-generic so it applies to all
believers.
It indicates that the
person has his priorities in order, that he looks to God first and not to the world,
with respect to responsibility and accountability for ones thoughts and actions
in life.
The deacon, the servant,
must not be fickle, not flippant, must not be one who makes light of serious
matters.But at the same time he is
human and cannot be a stuffed shirt or humorless, either.
He must not be double-tongued,
addicted to substances, and not greedy for worldly things.
Double-tongued means to
be inconsistent in how one approaches life, with double standards. He must not be a hypocrite, biased, or
prejudiced in any way.Therefore, the
believer must be consistent in his life, fair in dealing with others, and
objective in all things.
Addicted to wine, means
having to rely on substances like alcohol or drugs, etc. Those things mess up the mind and lead to sin
and worse, even an unstable life.The believer
must be stable, and is held to a higher sense of responsibility, than others.
The believer must not
use his faith to take advantage of others.
He must be honest in all things, not deceitful. He must not attempt to take advantage of
others, especially those to whom he is serving.
And since the believer is in a role of service, then that includes his
having a fair and open and honest relationship with everyone.
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