“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1Tim 3:6).
They’re classic cases of too far too fast. Hollywood has seen an endless parade of child stars who flame out and burn up on reentry. Need an example? Miley Cyrus took a wrecking ball to Hannah Montana. It’s the same sad story in sports as well. The hot shot rookie who believes he’s Superman discovers that fame and money are his kryptonite. We’re looking right at you, Johnny Football.
We can’t say the Bible didn’t warn us. Paul did his best to tell Timothy to pump his brakes when it came to placing inexperienced believers in places of leadership. “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (v6). A few thousand years before TMZ turned on its sleazy cameras, the writers of Scripture tell the sordid story of Satan’s power grab and eventual fall from grace. If we’re not careful, those pushed into leadership will suffer the same fate. I’m not saying its a guarantee that a disgraced pastor or elder is going to end up in the tabloids, but why take the chance? Newbies need not apply.
That may have been a big part of what’s led to the leadership crisis in the Ephesian church. Paul has left his protege as pastor of the church in the big port city while the apostle is on divine assignment in Macedonia. Tim’s job is pretty clear. Put out the dumpster fire started by a team of false teachers (1Tim 1:3-7). As a result, the church needs a new leadership team. The apostle leaves the pastor a list of traits for what he calls overseers (1Tim 3:1-7). First and foremost, look for integrity or, as the ESV tells us, men who are “above reproach” (1Tim 3:2). These are leaders who aren’t just scandal-free but scandal-proof. There’s too much at stake in guiding and directing the local church.
Near the end of the list, we read something that may DQ a number of candidates. “He must not be a recent convert” (v6). Paul uses the Greek word neophutos. It’s where we get our word neophyte and literally means “newly (neo-) planted (-phutos)” or freshly sprung up. He’s talking about new believer who has just begun following Jesus. A seedling that’s just springing up out of the soil is incredibly vulnerable to elements. This is a warning against drying off some dude as he steps out of the baptismal pool and walking him right into a leadership meeting. The church shouldn’t be checking out the new believers class for its next pastor, elder, or overseer. This is NOT a role for a rookie.
Freshmen may be eligible to start at QB for your favorite college team but they can’t be the coach. (And if your alma mater hands the headset to some kid right out of high school, you can be sure they’ll be looking for a new AD before the end of the week!) A new believer hasn’t really explored the deep end of the doctrinal pool yet. They won’t be able to provide guidance and counsel for those in the congregation who’s lives are spinning out of control. The most effective leaders have some miles on their tires. They’ve had more than a handful of at bats. They know their way around their Bibles as they’ve looked for God’s answers to the problems we all face in a fallen world.
We’re NOT talking about someone young in years but in faith. Be careful of handing the keys to the church to a person who’s a little older but a new believer. You’re setting them up to fail. Just because they’ve got a little grey in their hair doesn’t mean they’re not wet behind the ears. This is about spiritual maturity.
That’s NOT to say we don’t want young leaders. There are plenty of young guns who’ve been walking with Jesus for more than a couple of weeks. As a matter of fact, Paul tells his spiritual son Tim not to let anybody hold his youth against him (1Tim 4:12). If he’s got the stamp of approval from the man who wrote most of the New Testament, he’s good enough for me! While the idea of a young elder may sound like an oxymoron, it’s not. A great young leader shows his savvy by surrounding himself with wise counsel. He’s ready to listen and learn from those with experience.
The main reason we don’t want a rookie running the joint is that “he may become puffed up with conceit” (v6). Here Paul uses the verb tupho’o, which you can translate as being arrogant, swollen with pride, insanely conceited, or deluded. The term has the idea of smoke or gas. This word only shows up three times in the entire Bible and all of them are in Paul’s two letters to Timothy. Someone who teaches a counterfeit gospel “is puffed up with conceit (Gr. tupho’o) and understands nothing” (1Tim 6:4). As the world spins more and more out of control, you’ll see people who are “treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit (Gr. tupho’o), lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2Tim 3:4).
We’ve all seen someone who’s risen to leadership too fast only to have it inflate their ego. A new convert can get the big head. They become easily clouded in their thinking. Being an overseer is all about vision and clarity. Their leadership is soon exposed as all smoke and mirrors. At the first sign of trouble, poof. There’s no substance. Talent only takes you so far. A leader needs experience. It’s been said that your leadership height won’t exceed your spiritual depth. Without a strong foundation, rookie leader will come crashing down in the first heavy wind.
Paul tells Tim there’s a very specific pothole just waiting for new believer who’s thrown into leadership too quickly. He calls it “the condemnation of the devil” (v6). You might read that and think Satan has the power to bring down an overseer. Oh, our enemy will certain throw everything he’s got to take down a godly leader, but we must remember “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). So the apostle must be talking about something else.
While you don’t see it in the ESV, several other translations (NKJV, NIV, NASB, AMP) clue us in on what’s going on here. The warning lights are flashing about falling into the same kind of condemnation as the devil. A couple of times in Scripture, God allows us a front row seat for Satan’s failed coup d’etat (Is 14:12-15; Ezek 28:11-19). When we put all the pieces together, we see that our enemy was originally “guardian cherub” (Ezek 28:14, 16). He was literally a handsome devil who fell in love with his own reflection (Ezek 28:17).
Satan became so full of himself that eventually announced, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Is 14:14). But this supernatural civil war was over before it started. Almighty God tossed the Evil One and his toadies out of heaven faster than Patrick Swayze cleaned up the “Road House” (Is 14:14-15; Ezek 28:17; Rev 12:7-9). Let’s face it, challenging God is a bad idea. VERY bad idea. You always lose. Every. Single. Time.
That’s probably when our enemy decided to turn his evil attention on you and me. If you can’t beat God, why not mess with those He created in His image. Creation still has the new Earth smell when the satanic snake dangles the very same temptation in front of our first parents. Don’t you want to “be like God” (Gen 3:4)? We all know how that turned out. And the crazy thing is we’ve been making the same stupid mistake over and over ever since. King Solomon desperately wants us to avoid the painful face plant of arrogance. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov 16:18).
There’s so much on the line in the local church that Paul later tells Tim, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands” (1Tim 5:22). In other words, don’t rush into a new elder ceremony of without a proper investigation of his background! Could that be what happened before? Did the Ephesian church know the pain of rushing a rookie pastor or elder into leadership before checking his references?
No comments:
Post a Comment