1Timothy 3:1-6 (CJB)
Here is a statement you can trust: …
A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. He must not … get into fights; …, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money. … if a man can't manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God's Messianic Community? He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary.
The concerns and intentions God wanted to express in this statement seem to be lost either in translation or in the chauvinist bias of the translator. Instead of “helper fit for him”, the Hebrew says, “a helper against him”. It seems that the help man most often needs is someone to be ‘against’ him; not someone to fight him, but someone to be a balance to him. Because of this, Judaism even advises to not trust the teaching of a man who is not married. Such a man doesn’t have balance.
As much as it goes against his grain, a wise man will invite the counsel of his wife. Not only his life will be more harmonious if he willingly listens to her, but he will make wiser decisions. A wise woman needs to learn how to ‘fitly’ advise her husband. If she nags him or makes him feel inferior, he’ll turn off and she won’t be able to fulfill her God-given duty. She needs also not to do it as an attempt to control him. If because of control issues, passiveness, or a lack of wisdom a wife is not able to advise her husband, she fails in her main reason for being. The same goes for one who fans her husband. A woman usually does that because she wants to bask in his glory. She will then be responsible for his downfall.. A beautiful example of a married relationship in American History is that of the second president of the Unite States John Adams, and his wife Abigail Adams. It is even said that one time Georges Washington went to Abigail Adams to convey an important piece of advice to her husband.
When Roman Emperor Tiberias started commandeering the Senate, one senator protested and compared his governing body to an unheard and ignored wife. If a man, if a leader does not have a wife, he should at least be able to listen to the counsel of those wise people God put around him. It is a wise man who surrounds himself with people who are wiser than him. Paul was not married, but he worked within counsel. Though he took some liberties, he went to Jerusalem to make sure that his race was not in vain. He sought the approval of his own apostolic leaders..
Sad to say though, many leaders in their pride, fear, and insecurity surround themselves with passive people, or people who adulate them. There are also those who find an interest in the relationship. All those will not balance a leader or a teacher. Even if they try, they eventually will give in. The leader knows it and it will be his downfall in the sight of God if not in the sight of men.
May God give us leaders men who have a right spirit before Him; leaders whom the position of office does not corrupt with pride; true humble ministers of God’s flock who only wish to serve.
Here is a statement you can trust: …
A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. He must not … get into fights; …, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money. … if a man can't manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God's Messianic Community? He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary.
The concerns and intentions God wanted to express in this statement seem to be lost either in translation or in the chauvinist bias of the translator. Instead of “helper fit for him”, the Hebrew says, “a helper against him”. It seems that the help man most often needs is someone to be ‘against’ him; not someone to fight him, but someone to be a balance to him. Because of this, Judaism even advises to not trust the teaching of a man who is not married. Such a man doesn’t have balance.
As much as it goes against his grain, a wise man will invite the counsel of his wife. Not only his life will be more harmonious if he willingly listens to her, but he will make wiser decisions. A wise woman needs to learn how to ‘fitly’ advise her husband. If she nags him or makes him feel inferior, he’ll turn off and she won’t be able to fulfill her God-given duty. She needs also not to do it as an attempt to control him. If because of control issues, passiveness, or a lack of wisdom a wife is not able to advise her husband, she fails in her main reason for being. The same goes for one who fans her husband. A woman usually does that because she wants to bask in his glory. She will then be responsible for his downfall.. A beautiful example of a married relationship in American History is that of the second president of the Unite States John Adams, and his wife Abigail Adams. It is even said that one time Georges Washington went to Abigail Adams to convey an important piece of advice to her husband.
When Roman Emperor Tiberias started commandeering the Senate, one senator protested and compared his governing body to an unheard and ignored wife. If a man, if a leader does not have a wife, he should at least be able to listen to the counsel of those wise people God put around him. It is a wise man who surrounds himself with people who are wiser than him. Paul was not married, but he worked within counsel. Though he took some liberties, he went to Jerusalem to make sure that his race was not in vain. He sought the approval of his own apostolic leaders..
Sad to say though, many leaders in their pride, fear, and insecurity surround themselves with passive people, or people who adulate them. There are also those who find an interest in the relationship. All those will not balance a leader or a teacher. Even if they try, they eventually will give in. The leader knows it and it will be his downfall in the sight of God if not in the sight of men.
May God give us leaders men who have a right spirit before Him; leaders whom the position of office does not corrupt with pride; true humble ministers of God’s flock who only wish to serve.
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