Reading: I Timothy chapter 3
Text: I Timothy 3:1-5

The family: An effective ministry thermometer…

I have been serving in ministry for about 14 years now. I started working with the youth dept. in our church in 1993. In the time I have been in ministry I have noticed how easy it is to become busy and overwhelmed by doing ‘good’ things in the church. I have found that the enemy, besides attacking us with temptation to do things that are wrong in God’s eyes, also attacks us with busyness and good things that are not necessarily evil but that distract us from our primary calling. We can be derailed spiritually and made ineffective even while ‘ministering’ for the Lord.
In our text today, Paul is writing to Timothy about qualifications to be a deacon or overseer, basically a leader in the church. Paul gives a similar word to Titus in Titus 1:6-9. In both texts, there is a definitive priority given to how the overseer should administrate his own life. Firstly, he must exemplify personal character and integrity, “the overseer must be above reproach” as stated in I Timothy 3:2. In Titus 1:6 it says “an elder must be blameless.” Integrity means that we live the exact same standards in public that we do when no one is watching or when we are home alone with our spouses and families. Secondly, the leader must assess the quality of their marriage. Sometimes you’ll find the spouse can be a better judge of that! Spouses also seem to be a better judge of our own character than we are. The have a front row seat to our lives every day.
So what are the marital qualifications that a leader must meet? I Timothy 3:4 says, “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.” Sadly, in today’s church culture this is mostly not the case. Most pastors and leaders seem to sacrifice their families on the altar of ministry. Titus 1:6 says, “…a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being disobedient.” There is no better reflection of a man’s or woman’s character than the attitude of their children. I have often wondered why in so many cases, the father or both parents are so involved with ministry and appear to be so effective in so many lives but at the same time their marriages are not doing so well or their children are rebellious and very often not even serving the Lord. I guess I shouldn’t wonder. I see the temptation within myself to sacrifice time that I should be investing in my marriage for “noble” ministry efforts. Sadly, very often I make the wrong choice too, and pay the price. Satan knows that the family unit is the most important part of the church body, and not only the church but our society as well. He knows that when the family unit starts to disintegrate, the effectiveness of ministries, the effectiveness of entire churches and the moral fabric of a society are soon to unravel.
This exhortation from Paul is not trivial. It’s not a guideline. It’s an essential doctrinal truth that should be followed and strictly adhered to by anyone who is in ministry, who wants to be in ministry or who wants to have a family that serves God. After all, we are all called to ministry. Some ministries are more public and recognizable than others. Some of us will spend our lives focusing on the ministry of our families, providing for them and raising our children and never preach behind a pulpit. There is no more noble a task and no more important a calling than being a Godly husband or wife and raising Godly children. Make it your priority.

How to pray this scripture:

Dear Lord Jesus, I repent of wrong thinking when it comes to the priority of ministry and family. I repent of making bad choices and having bad priorities. I pray Lord that I would seek to be a man/woman who is above reproach. Pray that I would pursue a life as someone who is temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable and able to teach by the example of my life. I pray that I would gentle and not violent or quarrelsome. I pray that I would not be a lover of money. Father in heaven, give me the strength and the wisdom to manage my family well. May I treat my marriage and my family as my primary ministry. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Other Scriptures to Read:
Titus 1:6-9
I Peter 3:1-7
Ephesians 5:15—30