I don't know why but
this made me chuckle. The difference in
requirements between Bishop and Deacon.
1 Timothy 3:1-13(NKJV)
This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop,
he desires a good work.
A bishop then must
be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good
behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
not given to wine, not
violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not
covetous;
one who rules his
own house well, having his children
in submission with all reverence
(for if a man does
not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of
God?);
not a novice, lest
being puffed up with pride he fall into the same
condemnation as the devil.
Moreover he must
have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil.
Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine,
not greedy for money,
holding the mystery
of the faith with a pure conscience.
But let these also
first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.
Likewise, their wives must
be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
Let deacons be the
husbands of one wife, ruling their
children and their own houses well.
For those who have
served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness
in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Bishops can't drink
wine at all but Deacons can drink wine a little bit. Kind of odd when you consider that the first
miracle Jesus did was turn water into wine at the wedding.
But it also has a
certain amount of logic to it and I think that is the point of the
Scripture. The higher the office and
responsibilities you seek, the more strict the requirements of the person. To me that makes perfect sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment