The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy
Chapter 3
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Research
Bishop in the Bible Explained
Hello again! This is our Daily Bread study of Paul's first letter to
Timothy. There are many duties within the Church, and many servants
which fulfill them. As much as government likes to separate church
and state, moral behavior will always be respected. Although many
special interest groups make big noise about rights supporting their
immoral acts, they're not the majority, they just talk loud because
they know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
We all know that queasy sick feeling we get in our stomach when we
hear about scandal within our government. It's called shame. You can
bet that most people you know, whether they're Christian or not, get
that feeling of disappointment, disgust, and doubt about the people
involved. If a person is running for public office, their opponents
best tactic for victory would be to dig up some immoral incident of
their challenger's past.
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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Research
Bishop in the Bible Explained
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 a heavy drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but
patient, not a short-tempered, and not covetous.
He should rule his own house (family) well, having his children
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
outside the church, lest he fall into shame and the trap of the devil.
Also, 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 tested, then let them serve in the office of deacon, after
they are found blameless.
Also, their wives must be reverent, not gossips, but 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 visit 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 revealed in the flesh (in Jesus),
justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached to the Gentiles,
believed in, and received into glory.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Truth
Bishop in the Bible Meaning
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, one 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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Research
Bishop in the Bible Explained
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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Lesson
Who Can Be a Bishop in the Bible
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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Scenarios
Bishop in the Bible Questions
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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse on Family
Bishop in the Bible Answers
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.
Christian Bishop Bible Verse Summary
Bishop in the Bible Conclusion
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.
The Body of Christ is the Christian Family
When we come back, we're sure to find more interesting things in
Paul's letter to Timothy, so be sure and join in again, right here at
Daily Bread.
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