Stumbled across some old sermon notes on “Submission to Authority” tucked in an old notebook that I grabbed to record my 4 yr old’s prayer closet revelations. It stood out because as I was reading to the little ones on the morning of May 9th, Sally Ride – the first American woman in space – is quoted as saying, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
The sermon was in a setting I can’t remember, not dated, by a gentleman called Johnny Drieger. He may be a face I can’t place but my notes taken from his words are still powerful to this day. My new insights are asterisked (*) with some revelation at the end.
Submission to Authority
– We’ve developed a distaste to authority of elders in the church. Why?
– What does the Bible say?
– Just because the position has been abused, mishandled, or practiced wrongly, doesn’t mean we should toss it out.
– There IS an authority structure whether we like it or not. We need balance (*not control). Elders have qualifications. 1 Tim 3:1-7. Paul ordained elders in every church (*which met in homes, a place where the leaders of the home already have God-given spiritual authority that was already established and could not be contested by outsiders. You have the authority to command anyone to leave your home after they have overstayed their welcome, but you don’t have that same freedom in a government institution that requires cultural tolerance, adherence to all the controlling rules of public facilities, )
– Desiring to be an elder is a GOOD thing, not a thing to be proud of.
– Those who are serving are DOING a good work.
– Blameless – there shouldn’t be anything we can hold against him (1 Tim 5:19) (**meaning they have had a season to be proved to demonstrate their maturity, understanding of the scriptures, and a solid relationship with the LORD )
o Need 2 or more accusers, otherwise don’t believe it.
o Doesn’t mean “perfection”, don’t go hunting for faults.
– Husband of one wife – Not a divorced and remarried man; not polygamy. (**proving he has the character, faithfulness, and spiritual maturity to endure and overcome the inherent difficulties of intimate family relationships and create unity.)
– Vigilant – watchful of false doctrine / prophets. (**As per Deut 13, a false prophet can be identified as one who does not walk in the true Fear of the LORD and obey God’s commandments, requiring elders to KNOW God’s commandments and have discernment. One needs to intimately know the entirety of the word of God and the Word of God in order to discern false doctrine, not just the New Testament.)
– Sober – not giddy, not taking life lightly (*living life for instant gratification and not planning long-term), stands out as sober
– Good behavior – not wild, unruly, loose, should be proper.
– Given to hospitality – his door is always open, place of refuge, actively practicing it, helps him be efficient.
– Apt to teach – need to be able to open people’s eyes in order to feed the flock and minister to the saints.
– Not given to wine – drunkards are disqualified (*priests are forbidden from consuming alcohol while on duty in the tabernacle. Those like John the Baptist who are always on duty, due to being set apart prophets, they are to live a life of continually feasting strictly on the wine of the Holy Spirit)
– No striker – doesn’t beat up his wife / kids, doesn’t lash out verbally (*doesn’t have a spirit of anger manifesting in his home); merciful.
– Not greedy of filthy lucre – Not working as a pastor for an income or to get rich.
– Patient – has self control and ability to wait for God’s leading (*not following culture or what the next congregation over is doing, but patiently following the leading of the Good Shepherd)
– Not a brawler – no fist fights! (*not given to engaging in tongue punches aka arguing)
– Not covetous – not desiring their own gain or envying what their parishioners have.
– Ruleth well his own house – example of ability to rule the church (*if his own house is out of order and he’s not the spiritual head of his home, he does not have the character, leadership ability, nor spiritual authority to steward God’s flock wisely).
– Children in subjection with all gravity – children must be in order, wife submissive. If not able to win the trust of the persons he’s closest to, how can he win the church? If you can’t train your children who you’re with all the time, how will you succeed with church families? (*If you can’t gain the trust and respect and love of those who know you the most, why should a church family trust you?)
– Not a novice – not needing milk but on strong meat; not promoted too quickly and getting proud. (**Not only should he be able to handle chewing strong meat himself but he should be capable of preparing it for others also, and training new believers to transition from milk of the word to strong meat of revelation and discernment so they no longer require his bottle feeding (Matt 24:19).
– Good report out in the community – let he fall into trouble from rumors and accusations that would hinder.
Titus 1:5-9
– Not self-willed – directed by God, not for his own desires (**Following the will of God requires obeying His commandments out of a love relationship with Him and living righteously.)
– Not soon angry – able to stay calm under the tension, keep a clear mind (**not easily provoked by the proddings of the devil nor swallow the bait of offense & bitterness)
– Lover of good men – those who will grow wise by walking with the wise
– Just – no concerns of unfairness (**Just is another word for righteous = obedient to God’s commandments and living without sin, fearing God more than favouring man)
– Holy – can’t live in sin, must follow and remind you of Jesus, can see the relationship with the Father thru him (**set apart for God in all aspects of his life)
– Temperate – well controlled, his body under subjection, doing things with a clear mind (**not controlled by addictions of any kind be it food or fleshly desires)
– Hold fast the faithful word (*meaning they have endured season of testing to prove their faith by fire to produce endurance so you lack nothing. 1 Peter 1:6-7, James 1:2-4)
– Know sound doctrine
– Exhort – encourage others with the word. (**Exhort means to strongly encourage or urge someone to do something, to incite, ardent admonishing of an orator or preacher. In other words, he has the balls to confront the sin in the congregation and the anointing to lead them them to live righteously.)
– Convince gainsayers – not afraid. (**They are able to operate with the spiritual gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and prophecy to demonstrate God’s love for them by revealing the secrets of their heart. They are able to present truth instead of arguing their opinion.)
May 26/2019 tid bit while worshiping at the piano.
As I was reviewing the list above, it was bugging me about the husband of one wife detail. Many times throughout our church life, the church leadership contained divorced elders. By Biblical standards in those lists, they did not qualify to be an elder right off the bat because marriage is until death do you part, not divorce do you part leaving the man with 2 wives (or wife with 2 husbands) in God’s eyes. Yet, the argument was always that the divorce and remarriage happened before conversion (or was repented of after conversion in one case), so we were not to “judge” them where God has forgiven them. The classic “You’re judging me!” argument as an excuse not to conform to God’s strict standards.
The LORD highlighted the reason for this strict standard lay within Numbers 5 – the spirit of Jealousy. When there is even an accusation of biblical adultery as per Numbers 5:12-31 KJV, a spirit of jealousy comes upon the family line as well as bitterness. Throughout scripture, we see that adultery can be literal or spiritual, individually like watching pornography by lusting with one’s eyes or corporately as a nation committing spiritual whoredom. We have literal families and spiritual families. If the accusation of adultery accurate, the woman (wife, bride, the church) would be cursed with infertility (fruitlessness), her belly will swell and her thigh would rot. Ever notice the significantly higher ratio of females with broken hips compared to men? This is one reason why. Envy, the other side of the Jealousy coin, also rotteth the bones. Jealousy says, you can’t have what I have. Envy says, I want what you have.
One cannot be a godly leader when there is a spirit of jealousy, because they will be jockeying for power, position, and preeminence and opening the door for pride to destroy the flock. Anyone who is deemed a threat will end up being chased out or threatened into compliance/silence (i.e. Absalom spirit, spirit of Korah, Athaliah spirit, Jezebel spirit to name just a few that destroy God’s shepherd’s). Unity will be impossible when a spirit of jealousy is present. A house divided cannot stand. Just like their marriage disintegrated, the church family under their care will also implode upon itself. Another thing that was brought to my attention was that every single church I knew of that endured a church split also had a divorced man or woman on their leadership team. Ever notice that churches who has divorced elders also tend to have a significantly higher ratio of divorced members than a congregation of a leader with a healthy marriage? The sins of the spiritual fathers also flow down to their children, which is why deliverance ministries have you cut off any soul ties and ungodly covenants (aka Gibeonite contracts) with churches/denominations. What is tolerated within one generation will be openly embraced by the next generation.
We are to love those who have endured painful divorces but we are never to lower God’s standard of one sexual partner for life in the manifestation of one husband – one wife for LIFE just to make the wounded and the compromisers feel better. Rather, we should train up our youth on how to rise UP to God’s standard, not pat them on the head and lower the bar when they fail to meet that standard. The Olympics has the reputation for being the best of the best because they only accept the best. Eldership is like the Olympics in within the race for the crown. Not all will attain it, but some will! We should cast the vision before our youth then train them how to become and identify godly spouses that are free from beseting sin and demonic strongholds BEFORE they get married. (This is where the testimony of divorcees would have great impact of what to avoid and the reality of the severe cost of broken marriages!)
The other part of the puzzle is that wherever there is a divorce and remarriage (or common law then marriage, which spiritually carries the same weight when it comes to being infected with spiritual curses), the family line is cursed. When we see the presence of divorce in a person, it exposes a cracked foundation upon which a Jezebel/Ahab stronghold will build itself that only gets stronger as those ungodly beliefs get passed down from one generation to the next. One will see a pattern of broken marriages infecting that entire family line going down. Can it be redeemed? Yes. Generational curses can be broken off and godly foundations relaid and breached walls repaired with much intentional hard work. Can those people serve in ministry? Absolutely! We need all hands on deck. However, they do not qualify for the specific position of a biblical elder.
An elder is to be above reproach. They are to be a living example of a blameless life. A healthy marriage and family is HARD work. They need to be a physical living example that God’s ways DO work and are actually possible in the midst of a disposable, microwave happy society. Their marriages and healthy families are to be a beacon of hope and a role model to the youngers of what to aim for. If they have not been able to maintain unity in a family relationship when the going got tough, how will they maintain unity when they are now responsible for restoring multiple families? How can they lead others where they have not been able to reach themselves? They need to have the experience proven over time that they are able to demonstrate unconditional love and unity over the long haul through the most challenging of times. They need to be able to say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” Not, “Do the opposite of what I did so that you don’t suffer the pain I have.” Yes, there’s value in that message but a tested unbroken vessel will always prove to be stronger, having weathered the same pressures that shattered other vessels who ended up needing to be gently and lovingly restored.
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