Troublesome Topic: WHAT SHALL WE CALL LEADERS-IN-TRAINING? LET’S CALL THEM SERVANTS!

1 Timothy 3:8

Translation

Likewise a dusty servant

must be deeply respected,

not double-tongued, not stuck on

lots of wine nor on shameful profit,

Paraphrase

Likewise a servant must be honorable, not one who changes his story, not addicted to alcohol, and not addicted to making a profit even if it means dishonoring himself,

I love this aspect of the early church. Regarding grandfathers they kept the term “elder” which was already in use in their society, and they adopted the term “overseer” from the Greeks, but they did not have a term for fathers who were learning to be leaders in the house church system. I picture the Apostles discussing this issue and wondering what to call these leaders-in-training. Today we would look for a term that builds them up and highlights their great potential as leaders. In contrast someone in the early church suggested, “Let’s call them ‘servants’ so they don’t get a big head and don’t forget that they must put others first by serving others.” Everyone seems to have liked the idea because it was adopted and became the only term used of people on that level of leadership.

The word we render as “deacon” comes from two words: “thoroughly” and “dust;” it is the picture of “one who kicks up a cloud of dust as he rushes to fulfil his duties.” It was probably first used of runners who carried messages, but it became used of “a servant, an attendant, or a waiter” (today we don’t want a waiter that is serving us food to kick up a cloud of dust while serving us, but we do want them to hurry). The focus of this word is on the energy and intensity with which the servant fulfilled his duties.

(The next section in this topical study is called House Churches Today. You can go to the first lesson of that section by clicking on this link: Leadership in House Churches Today.)

Footnotes

1: dusty servant

Although we get our English word “deacon” from this word, it means “dusty”, and refers to a servant who does his work with such energy and intensity as to become dusty while waiting on tables or running errands.

2

The “respect and awe” this person has garnered comes from his “gravity” or from the “weight of his character.” He is “serious, dignified, and honorable.”

3: stuck on

This word comes from the two words “towards” and “have,” or we would say “to have towards.” It means “to give attention to, to be cautious about, to set a course and stick to it, to adhere to, give full attention to” something.