We all want to know that we’re being led by people with good morals. Let that be the reason why Paul urges Timothy to make sure that the leaders of the church be wholesome, well respected, “blameless”, people. If you remember in the first chapter of this letter when Paul said we should pray for our government officials, it was because he knew that they need to be extraordinarily honorable people and prayer is very powerful. Let’s read along in his letter to Timothy about the expected morals of the leaders of the church.

          If a man wants to be a bishop (overseer), he desires an honorable position. A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, dedicated, sober (responsible), of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine (not a heavy drinker), not violent, not greedy for money, but patient, not a fighter, and not covetous.

        He should rule his own house well, having his children in subjection (disciplined) with all reverence (because if a man doesn’t know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?)

         A bishop should not be a novice (newly converted), lest (in case) being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. In addition he must have a good reputation of those who are without (outside), lest he fall into shame and the snare (trap) of the devil.

          Likewise, the deacons (church helpers) must be reverent, not two-faced, not heavy drinkers, not greedy for money, and holding the hidden TRUTH of the Faith in a pure conscience. And let these (deacons) also first be proved (tested), then let them serve in the office of deacon, after they’re found blameless.

           Also, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, but sober (responsible) and faithful in all things. The deacons should be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well, because those that have served well in the position of a deacon, obtains a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Jesus Christ.

            I write these things to you, hoping to come to you shortly, but in case it is a long while, that you should know how people ought to conduct themselves in the house of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the TRUTH. And without question, great is the mystery (hidden truth) of godliness. God was manifest (revealed) in the flesh (in Jesus), justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed in, and received into glory.

           Did you notice that Paul stresses that having control of the family is a prerequisite of being involved in the leadership of the Church? Although Paul wasn’t married and had no children, he certainly knew what he was talking about when he threw in his little side note in parenthesis: (If a man can’t control his own family, how can he be expected to manage the church of God?) Control of the family is a rare thing nowadays, and many people just shrug it off and deem it as normal because it’s so common that children, and spouses as well, are wayward. It used to be that children didn’t start straying until they were late into their teens. So what’s happened that makes even our little ones go astray so easily now? Well, the answer is that they experience the world much earlier now. Television alone is probably the biggest influence, but we’re gonna take a little field trip now, and you’re gonna see an example of how the control is slipping out of the hands of parents, right before their very eyes.

Scene 1:

          Little Junior was an adorable child. His parents loved him dearly and were very cautious and protective, as parents of infants and toddlers normally are. His mom made sure his formula was always perfect and when he started eating solid foods, she made sure he ate just the right amounts of fruits and vegetables and cereal. Junior’s dad was equally careful about making sure the locks on the cabinets were always tight and that any outlet that wasn’t being used, always had a little plastic plug in it. Junior took a nap every day, and went to sleep at the same time every night. He was very well protected, always scrupulously clean and all around, he was a very much loved little tot.

          The scene fades out with mommy and daddy putting little Junior to bed with a lullaby playing in the background, while he gazes up at his little mobile hanging from the ceiling with little angels turning in circles above his bed.

Scene 2:

          The music . . . A more sinister, Ring around the Rosie, is heard in the background as the new scene fades in. Junior is sitting at the lunch table at his pre-school, unpacking his lunch, when Buster, the most popular kid in the morning session, starts teasing him about the contents of his little plastic lunchbox. “Ewwwww, you like carrots? Grosssssss!” Junior thinks Buster is cool because he makes all the other kids laugh all the time, so when Buster does something, in Junior’s little mushy brain, he thinks “I like him, he’s cool, I’ll do that too!” Junior slowly pushes the carrots back into his lunchbox, and a lie is planted in his determined bitty little mind . . . I don’t like carrots, they’re gross, I’ll never eat them again.

          Junior’s mom can’t understand why yesterday Junior loved carrots, and now today, he won’t touch them. They’d been one of his favorite foods ever since the first time he ate them out of a jar. Now, he makes horrible faces every time they’re on his plate and Junior’s mom could cut them in sticks, cut them in circles, shred them in coleslaw, sliver them in salad, make fancy dips for them, and even make little race cars out of them and Junior wouldn’t eat them for love or money.

            I don’t need to elaborate for you to get the idea of what happens next. Scene 3 would be in kindergarten about clothes. Scene 4 would be about disrespecting your elders. Scene 5, smoking. Scene 6, drugs. Scene 7, stealing. Scene 8, sex. Scene 9, crime. And horrifyingly enough, there are even more scenes between each of these and even after them. And frighteningly enough, they don’t always happen in this order. Peer pressure is an ugly and powerful thing.

         Now, what do you think happens when our children encounter other children who doubt the existence of God? Well, heck, we don’t need other children to do that, our public school systems have taken care of that for us already. Yep, Paul certainly knew what he was talking about, if a man cannot control his own family, how can he manage the business of the Lord?

          So, how do you keep this from happening? You have to be persistent. Monitor what television viewing is allowed in your home. Each and every time you recognize something that is a potential threat to your family’s integrity, address it. Say out loud to your children that it is wrong. Know who your children’s friends are. Make your home a more desirable place to be than out in the world, where immorality awaits at every corner. Why do you think James 4:4 says that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Be a good example. Point out what happens to people who are immoral. Be alert. I promise, your children aren’t gonna come up to you and say, Uh, hey Dad, I’m thinking about taking up cigarette smoking, can you give me a few tips? Make it your business to prevent disaster before it happens.

          Of course, I’m just giving you examples of the little baby problems that face people in the world today. There used to be a saying that went something like this, Little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems. Unfortunately, now we have, little kids, big problems. Fight. Stand. Persist. Pray.

         We went on a ride, did we not? Went all the way from the conduct of a bishop to Junior and his preschool. That just goes to show, that you never know what you can get out of scripture. Each time you read it, you may come out with a different lesson, a different point, a different reward. Actually, we began with talking about scandals of our government officials, and we ended with how to prevent scandals in our own families, so the ride we took was really very close to home after all.