Page 51 - Pastoral Epistles student textbook

V15. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not
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believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

No elder will ever match every quality perfectly. But it’s the direction we need to be growing in. No
elder should be in obvious violation of any of these qualities.
A farmer had a team of horses in which one horse consistently worked harder
than the others. The farmer said, “They’re all willin’ horses. The one’s willin’ to
pull, and the rest are willin’ to let him.”
Sadly, that’s how it often is in the local church. Everybody is willing: a few are
willing to work, and the rest are willing to let them.
That attitude carries over into the Christian life. When it comes to serving in
some practical way in the church, some Christians have a built-in reflex that causes them to run for
cover.
The Greek word that is often translated as deacon comes from a word that means serve or servant.
Diakonos … servant of the king.
We have a saying in our church at home: yo – do something!

All Christians are servants; some serve in official capacities, but all are expected to serve.
We should all be known as servants to the Lord and His church.

While all Christians must serve in various ways, some are specially gifted by God for service in
supportive, practical, and often behind-the-scenes ways. So, while some Christians will have the gift of
serving and devote themselves to that area, all believers should be involved in a lifestyle of serving,
because our Lord and Savior did not come to be served, but to serve and we are to be like Him.

If you were to ask someone who does not go to church - is the church important?” we would get a
wide range of answers.
• Some would say the church is not important.
• Some would say it is a nice place to visit on rainy days.
• Some would say it reminds them of their childhood.
But we need to show the world around us that the church is important because it reveals Christ, even
as Christ reveals God in human flesh.
The church is important because God has left it here to reveal His Son to the world, even as Jesus
revealed God when He was on this earth. We are the current expression of Jesus Christ in the world
until He comes.

7.4 Let’s Practice…

1. Please define what it means to “Not be quarrelsome.”

2. Explain how the love for riches can become a problem for a pastor.

3. Why is it important that a pastor not be a recent convert?

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