Tag: Follower

Husband of One Wife

“2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,” – 1 Timothy 3:2a (ESV)

“12Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.” – 1 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)

“5This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.” – Titus 1:5-6 (ESV)

The above verses speak to the qualification to be an overseer, deacon, and elder in the church. I also consider this to be the same for the followers of Christ. Whereas I have listed these four verses, they are not the only qualification. Regardless of the number of them, Paul has written of the specifics of being a leader or caretaker in Christ’s Church.

As I am studying the word “wife”, I am going to keep my eyes there in my writing this morning. In the qualifications of each of the positions in the church “the husband of one wife” is mentioned in each of them. And to go along with it, there is the “managing their children and their own households well”. How can someone be considered a leader of the church if their ow house and relationship is in chaos? If there is a lack of stability in the home that is led by the husband, how can there be stability elsewhere the husband works in.

“5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” – 1 Timothy 3:5 (ESV)

I did say earlier that I believe these qualifications should be for the followers of Christ and not just those who are in positions of leadership or caretaker. I really mean that. When we are in Christ, we are to be fully in Christ and where it starts with our relationship with Him, it extends to our relationship in our home. The relationship with our wife and household is to be one of stability and lacking chaos from the world view. As Paul writes in verse 5 above, how can there be calm in church when there is not calm in the personal life. As a Christian, I am called to have the calm in my personal life to have calm in the church.

Removing the chaos starts with the relationship with our wife. She is the other half of us. Remember that she has a role in the household and we are to honor her and love her only. We are one (half me and half her). There is no room for another, as Paul mentions in the qualification of each, overseer, deacon, and elder. The same is for us as followers of Christ. There is only room for her and no other. When there is another, there is division of loyalty and that adds to chaos in the home, remember we cannot have stability in the church if there is not stability in the home.

Love your wife and hold her dear. She is the other half of you and she is the representation of the calm in your home that you can carry into being a follower of Christ.

What is your home like? Is there chaos? What if you were to calm things by managing your household, starting with being the “husband of one wife”?

Disciples and Christians

This morning I was surprised by my reading a bit. I am sure that I knew this as I have been in the passage at least a couple of times, but I had not put it together until now.

“25So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” – Acts 11:25-26 (ESV)

It was here in Antioch as a result of the teaching of Christ by Saul and Barnabas that those followers, or disciples of Christ were first labeled as “Christians”. I guess I had not really considered that these disciples were the first Christians on record.

How and what does this mean to me? Well, I see this as a telling example of what actions I should have as a follower of Christ. I determine myself to be a Christian thanks to my following of Christ, and as such I should be a disciple of Christ as well. I have to be more vested in my relationship with Christ than just labeling myself as a Christian.

You see, the disciples of Christ in Antioch did not call themselves Christians, they were called Christians by others. “The unbelieving public in Antioch” gave them the label as they “were beginning to have an identity of their own apart from other Jews” as noted in the commentary of my ESV bible for verse 26. Their actions spoke volumes as to who they followed and it was obvious to those around them that they were in fact different.

So we should be visibly different in our work for the Father. We should be disciples of Him to the extent that the people will label us Christians and not that we label ourselves. It is not what I think of myself and how I label myself that matters. It is how the LORD sees and labels me. Yes, I am a child of God and a brother of Jesus, yet it is my being a disciple that is where I should be striving to be with Christ. Remember our commission:

“19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teahing them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

We are to be disciples first for the LORD and teach others to be disciples of the Father. We are not labeling folks as converts or Christians or any other name. We are working for Christ to teach so they will “go” and teach others. If the outside world would label us as Christians, then so be it. We are disciples of Christ and Christians as seen by others.

What is your identity with Christ? Are you looking to have a label according to the world? What if you focused on being a disciple of Christ and allowed others to see you and not be concerned with the label they place on you?