The Philosophy of Ministry
By
Patrick Neiswinger
Summary Statement
In a world that is increasingly wicked our ultimate goal is to establish an atmosphere of solid Biblical Exposition of the Word of God. All around us in the world in which we live are many false teachers. It is our goal to ground people in their faith so that they can be able to live and defend the truth of God's word. It is our goal to get everyone in the church involved in the various ministries of the church and equip them for the battle we all face every day, the battle of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Purpose Statement
Our Purpose is composed of three things, evangelism, instruction, and inspiration. By evangelism our goal is to reach as many people as possible with the gospel. This can be done by solid Biblical preaching, intensive soul winning, and dynamic Christian living. With instruction, our goal is to ground people in their faith by solid, Biblical expositional preaching. The Word of God will be taught in the proper way, line upon line; precept upon precept. We will preach the whole counsel of God in order to ground people in faith and prepare them to stand up against false teachers. By inspiration our goal is to get everyone involved in the church service as well as active Christian service. Our goal is to get everyone involved, both men and women, in helping those in need (shut-ins, widows, etc.). With this we desire to glorify God and edify the body of Christ.
Qualifications of Pastors and Deacons
Pastor
The local New Testament church is composed two offices, the Pastor and the deacons. No doubt the most important office is that of the Pastor. In order to have a successful ministry in the church, the Pastor must meet several qualifications. First and foremost according to I Timothy 3 a Pastor must be blameless. I Timothy 3:2 says "A bishop [pastor] then must be blameless…" This means that he must be a man of integrity.
According to Webster's 1828 Dictionary, integrity is defined as "The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty." A Pastor should live in such a way as to keep himself from corruptness. That is why it is a necessity that he live above reproach. The pastor first of all must be blameless.
Secondly, according to verse two again it says that he must be "the husband of one wife." There are many people in our circles even in the Fundamentalist circles that misinterpret this phrase. They try to compromise and say that it means one woman at a time. They say that this is a command against polygamy. But this is simply not true. The Greek word for one in this verse is mia which literally means one or first. The application is literally a one woman man. If a pastor has been divorced he would really be in violation of the first qualification which is to be blameless. How could he be blameless if he is carrying around this guilt of divorce in his life? This is not one woman at a time, rather, this is one woman, for one man, for one lifetime. Now if a pastor has lost his wife to death and decides to remarry, that would be fine. Marriage is a lifetime covenant that ends at death. After death the covenant is broken and the person that is still living is able to remarry and qualify for the ministry. The second qualification of the pastor is to be "the husband of one wife."
Continuing on in verse two of I Timothy 3, the third qualification of the pastor is that of being vigilant. Again in Webster's dictionary we find the definition of vigilant. It is defined as "Watchful; circumspect; attentive to discover and avoid danger, or to provide for safety." This is one of the qualifications that is very important. The pastor is the shepherd of the people [his flock] and there are many opposing dangers out in the world that he is to guard them against. A pastor must be very aware of what is going on around them as to protect them from things such as wrong philosophies, false teachers and false doctrines. There are many materials out on the market for Sunday schools that are full of false doctrine and wrong philosophical writings. As a pastor he must be careful what comes into the Sunday school program. He should look through it and be aware of these teachings and philosophies so he can protect his flock from such things. The pastor must be vigilant.
Not only must a pastor be vigilant but fourthly he must be sober. The word sober means safe in mind or self controlled. He should not be a person who is "short fused." He is to be a man that is able to control himself at the ball games when the referee gives on of those bad calls. A pastor must be sober
The fifth qualification of the pastor is that he is to be of good behavior. This applies both when he is in the pulpit and when he is at home. He should conduct himself in a dignified and a respectable way. The pastor is the example setter and is responsible for the well being of the people of his church. So if he is to expect is flock to be of good behavior he should be as well.
The next qualification is that he must be given to hospitality. Noah Webster defines hospitality as, "The act or practice of receiving and entertaining strangers or guests without reward, or with kind and generous liberality." If there is anybody that should make the church guests feel at home in the church it ought to be the pastor. The pastor's heart should be open to minister to these guests and make them feel welcome. It may be that they are searching for answers to life and need to be saved and have decided to turn to the church for those answers. If the pastor is not careful he can drive guests away because of his lack of hospitality. It is very essential that the pastor be given to hospitality.
The next qualification is very important because it deals with one of the jobs of the pastor that is seen the most. The seventh qualification is that the pastor must be apt to teach. The pastor must be well versed in the Bible and be ready to preach it at any time at any season. In 1 Timothy 4:2 Paul gives Pastor Timothy a strong imperative. He says, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." The pastor must always be ready to give a message to his people that he has been given by God. Paul charges Timothy to "preach the word" this is obviously talking about God's word. The pastor must preach the Word, not Reader's Digest, not Oprah or Dr. Phil. He is to preach the Word, God's Word; that word which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, that word which is a lamp into our feet and a light unto our path, that word which is the infallible and inspired Word of God. He must be able to preach and teach the whole counsel of God. The pastor must be apt to teach.
Back in 1 Timothy chapter 3 we continue in verse three and discover the next pastoral qualification. All of the previous qualifications have been positive qualifications in verse three we have the negative qualifications, in other words the pastor must not… First of all the pastor must be not given to wine. By this we are speaking of a total abstinence from wine or any alcoholic beverage. This qualification kind of ties back to the first qualification of being blameless, if a pastor sips a little booze now and then how can he be one who is blameless? The pastor must not be given to wine. He must have a total abstinence of it.
The next "negative" qualification of the pastor is that he is not to be quarrelsome. The King James Version uses the word striker by this it means one who quarrels with another. The King James Dictionary defines striker as "One apt to inflict blows or to hit another." He must be a man that will do no physical harm to any one under any conditions. The pastor must not be quarrelsome.
Not only must a pastor not be quarrelsome but he must also not be greedy of filthy lucre. Pastors please take careful heed to this qualification! One of the biggest problems in the modern day church in America is finances. Many pastors are using God's money for their own pleasure. This is a shame and a disgrace to Almighty God. Pastors must not be greedy of filthy lucre. Webster's 1828 dictionary says that lucre is "gain in money or goods; profit; usually in an ill sense, or with the sense of something base or unworthy." Pastors pay attention; you must not be greedy of filthy lucre.
Paul then gives Timothy a little break from the negative qualifications and gives another positive qualification. A pastor must be patient. He is basically to be mild, or gentle. The flock will come to their pastor with problem after problem and it will be very easy for him to get frustrated with them. This is why it is very important the pastor be patient.
Paul then turns back to the negative and says that a pastor must not be a brawler. This qualification may seem a lot like he previous one of being a striker but it is a little different. By this we mean the pastor must not be contentious. The striker part focuses more on the physical whereas the brawler part focuses more on the verbal. The pastor must always watch what he says because words used in a wrong way can be very damaging to someone else. If a pastor is angry with someone he should never engage in any kind of verbal quarreling whether he thinks it is edifying to the other or not. More than likely it will do more harm than good. The pastor must not be a brawler.
Not only must a pastor not be a brawler but he must also not be covetous. The tenth commandment is "Thou shalt not covet." Again in regards to the first qualification, how can a pastor be blameless if he violates one of God's commandments? A pastor must not covet.
In verse four we see another positive qualification; he must be one that rules his house well. The verse goes on and tells how he is to do this; it says "having his children in subjection with all gravity." He is to lead his home in such a way as to instill in his children the issues of dignity and respect. His children must be well behaved and trustworthy in the community. They must not be constantly into mischief. He must bring his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. A pastor must rule his house well.
The last negative qualification that Paul gives in I Timothy chapter 3 is found in verse 6. The pastor is not to be a novice. A novice in this context means a new convert. If someone is saved today he cannot be a pastor tomorrow because he is a new convert. He must have time to grow in the Lord and in the knowledge of His Word. A pastor must not be a novice.
Finally a pastor must have a good report to those around him. Pastors are to live above reproach not only to be an example to others but also that he can have a good report among others. He must have a great and undefiled testimony to all around him. The pastor must have a good report.
Deacons
The second office of the church is that of the deacons. Just as the pastor has many qualifications the deacons have many as well. Most of the qualifications of the deacons are shared with the pastor, but there are a few that are specifically for them. Most of these qualifications have already been covered so we will look at the specific ones for deacons.
The first qualification we will mention is that the deacons must be grave. These men must be dignified. They must be men of integrity. They must be men who have made a good name for themselves. The deacons must be grave
Secondly the deacons must not be double-tongued. Webster says that a double-tongued person is "one who makes contrary declarations on the same subject at different times." This is a person who is very deceitful. Deacons must not be double-tongued.
There is one qualification that the pastor and the deacon do not share. A deacon does not have to be apt to teach, but there is another qualification that he is to have in regards to the Word of God. He must be sound in his doctrine. In chapter 3 of I Timothy and verse number nine we read, "Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." It is very important the deacon know his Bible. He may not have the giftedness to preach or teach but he can be a great asset to the pastor or other laymen of the church by his knowledge of the true Word of God. It is vitally important that the deacon be sound in his doctrine. If there is a deacon in your church that is unsound in his doctrine or maybe corrupted in his doctrine, your church is in grave danger. The deacon must be sound in his doctrine.
The final qualification of the deacon we will discuss is one that is interesting. This qualification does apply to him to some degree but it involves someone else as well. The final qualification is that his wife must be righteous in God's eyes. There are four ways in which they are to do this, they are to be grave (dignified), not slanderous (false accusers), sober (self-controlled), and are faithful in all things. The deacons' wives must be righteous in God's eyes.
Both the pastor and his deacons have a vital roll in the church this is why their qualifications are very important. These are the people that make up the leadership of the church and they are what keeps the church a living a breathing organism. Without proper leadership the church will die. Just as the pastor and deacons play a vital roll in the church there are also several different rolls that are vital as well. These rolls include worship, prayer, and the ministry of women in the church.
Various Church Roles
Worship
Many people in our churches today have a false view of worship. Webster defines worship as: "the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to him in religious exercises, consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like." Most churches think that worship is the singing and praise services that they have in the church. This is true to some degree but it is a very broad view of what true worship is. But as we saw in the definition it is more than that. Worship in the church setting should consist of several different elements.
First of all, in First Timothy chapter four and verse thirteen we see the element of the proclamation of God's Word. This consists of three areas. The first area is that of reading. Part of the church worship service should be that of the corporate reading of the word of God. The second area is exhortation. Exhortation is the encouragement and the application of God's word. The idea here is to encourage the congregation to study the word of God for themselves and apply its principles on a daily basis. The final area is doctrine. Doctrine is the solid expositional preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Doctrine is simply what we believe in, in light of the Bible.
Secondly, the worship service must have the element of the exhalation of God. This is the part where we sing our praises and lift our voices to God. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The parallel passage in Ephesians says "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” We must have the element of the exhalation of God.
The final element is the edification of the body of Christ. God has given each and every one of us that are believers in Christ what is called a spiritual gift. It is our duty and responsibility as individuals of the body of Christ to use these gifts for His glory. All of the gifts we have can be used to edify each other. They are the God given instruments that we have to help out our brothers and sisters in Christ that are in need. In first Timothy four and verse fourteen Paul says that we should not neglect those gifts, "Neglect not the gift that is in thee…" In our services we must edify the body of Christ.
Prayer
The Second role of the church is that of Prayer. Prayer is the most essential roll of the church. This role can be fulfilled by anyone in the church, both men and women. Chapter two of first Timothy deals with this issue. Verse one gives four ways in which this role of prayer is to be accomplished. Again this can be done both by men and women. The Greek word at the end of verse one is the word anthropos, which is literally mankind or humankind. So they can accomplish this in four ways.
The first way this can be accomplished is by supplications. Another word for this is petition. This is where we give our various requests to God. We cast our burdens and our requests at His feet and He will take care of us by taking them upon Himself. This supplication reminds us of our dependency on Him. There are many concerns and needs of the church that need to be lifted up to God and placed at His feet. We must have supplications.
The second way is prayers. This is the part of communion and fellowship of God. This is where we develop our intimate and personal relationship with God. This is where we can praise Him and worship Him in our prayers. These prayers are specifically addressed to God and are for the purpose of the glorification and edification of Him. This is very vital in our prayer in the church. Prayers are important
The third way is that of intersession. As supplications are basically for ourselves, and prayers are addressed specifically to God, intercessions are addressed for the behalf of men. There are many people out in the world that need prayer. We must intercede on there behalf. The needs are endless they could be physical, emotional, spiritual, and many others. We must go before God and provide intercession for others.
The final way is thanksgiving. We serve a great God and He is worthy of all our honor and praise. We should be thankful and return that thanksgiving to Him for everything that He has done, is doing, and is going to do. Our God is an awesome God and is worthy of our thanksgiving.
Women
The final role that we will focus on is that of women in the church. Women play a very important part in the church. A woman of deep faith and a consistent prayer life can support the church in a wonderful way. In the church the woman must meet several guidelines. We can find these guidelines in 1st Timothy 2:9-15
The first guideline is that she must have a godly appearance. Verse nine says "In like manner also, that woman adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." The word adorn carries the idea that she should be of good taste; that which is moderate. Modesty communicates the idea of decency. The word shamefacedness speaks of self restraint, that which is wise and discreet. Sobriety communicates the idea of self control. The woman must have a heart of decency in the way that she dresses. The woman in the church must have a godly appearance.
The second guideline is that she must keep her tongue under control. In regard to the woman's use of the tongue, Paul gives a positive command and a negative command. First of all he gives a positive command. Verse 11 says, "Let the Woman learn in silence with all subjection." The woman of the church should maintain the attitude of listening to the instruction and wisdom from God's word as it is preached rather than talking. The woman should listen in silence.
The second command is the negative command found in verse 12, "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Now this is not saying that women cannot teach in the church. The church would not survive without women Sunday school and Children's Church teachers. What this is talking about is that women are not to teach in such a way as to usurp the authority of the men in the church. This is referring to the formal preaching and teaching of the word of God. God has placed in the church certain leaders in the church, the pastor and the deacons. God gave the position of leadership to the men here on earth. The reason for this is in the following verses. It says that Adam was created before Eve. So we see according to the order of creation that this was the original intent. Also as a result of the fall we have this male authority as well. Verse 14 says, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Men are to be the leaders of the church not women. Women can have a teaching position as long as it does not take away or diminish the authority of the church leadership. The woman is to control her tongue.
The final guideline of the woman's role in the church is to delight in God's presence. There are four virtues that women can have to make this come to pass.
The First is faith. Faith here is speaking of fidelity. According to Webster, fidelity is "Faithfulness; careful and exact observance of duty, or performance of obligations." The woman is to remain faithful in her calling and her service to Christ and His church.
The Second virtue is that of charity or love. This is the affectionate or benevolent love for others. She should place this love in her Savior Jesus Christ and to all those around her. A woman must have the virtue of love.
The Third virtue is holiness. Webster gives two great definitions of holiness. The first definition is "purity or integrity of moral character." He also gives the definition, "that which is separated to the service of God." A person who is holy is one who is pure in their moral character and is separated from the ways of the world. A woman must live a holy, separated life. If she does so she will bring glory and honor to God. The woman must have the virtue of holiness.
The final virtue is sobriety. Sobriety is simply, soundness of mind or self control. Women should not be flighty. They should be very dignified and calm. They must keep themselves under control in the church. The 1828 Dictionary has the following definition of sobriety: "Habitual freedom from enthusiasm, inordinate passion or overheated imagination; calmness; coolness; as the sobriety of riper years; the sobriety of age." A woman should have the virtue of sobriety. Women play very vital role in the church and it is very important that they know how to act and conduct themselves within the church setting. The church has many roles to fill but by having all of these roles filled the church is able to run and operate smoothly bring praise and honor to God.
As stated before our goal of ministry is three fold; evangelism, instruction, and inspiration. There are several ministries in which we will accomplish these three goals.
Various Ministries to Accomplish Our Goals
In evangelism we will have a soul winning program. Every week on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings we will go out on soul winning/visitation. By this we will go door to door and witness one on one to the people we come in contact with. Also we will have a Saturday afternoon Bible Club for children in the church neighborhood so we can evangelize them as well. We will also have an annual Soul Winning conference to help provide some encouragement and tools to those who are out doing the work of evangelism. The Bible tells us to go out into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, evangelism is very important.
The part of instruction is accomplished by the Worship Service of the church. Within this service we will provide Christ honoring music and solid, Biblical, expositional preaching of God's Word. We also will have an annual Bible Conference where we will have some of the greatest Fundamentalist speakers and statesmen of the faith speak at these conferences. We are able to grow in the faith by having the proper instruction of the Word of God.
The final part of the ministry of the church is that of inspiration. This gives everybody the opportunity to get involved in the ministry themselves. Some of the ministries of this will include, Nursing Home Visitation/ Shut in Visitation, Soul winning follow up/ discipleship visitation, and a food pantry. By the food pantry people can get involved in taking meals or food supplies to those who are struggling financially or physically and are not able to provide for themselves.
The church is the greatest institution of all and it is important that it is run and maintained in a way which would honor and glorify God. With the proper rolls in place and the right people in those places this can be accomplished. The church is falling apart in many ways and it is very important that it is properly maintained. It needs to be guarded from false teachers. The battle is raging and we need the church to take its stand in this lost and dieing world.