Why Care About Elders and Deacons?

This Sunday morning I'm preaching through 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The text is about deacons. Last week we thought about elders. Why should you listen? Why should you care about this topic? Ten reasons:

1. Because we all need models. Kids need a mom and dad from whom they can learn about life. Christians need elders and deacons to learn about shepherding and service.
2. Because it shows God’s heart for the world. Elders shepherd and deacons serve without discriminating on the basis of economics or ethnicity or for any other reason. The church is a diverse body with elders and deacons committed to the each and every one in the body. 
3. Because church leadership can reflect the gospel. As elders shepherd, they exemplify the righteous, loving, good authority of Christ our king. As deacons serve they exemplify the humble, sacrificial service of our savior. We must understand authority and sacrifice to make sense of the gospel. We are accountable to God (authority) and it is the blood of God (sacrifice) that saves us. 
4. Because good church leadership preserves the church for the next generation. Paper documents can be destroyed or ignored. Statements of faith are only good if there are living, breathing, loving human beings willing to stand for the truths they contain. Elders and deacons are called to be in the public eye of the church and the world as individuals who stand by the truth of Scripture. It is only as these truths are passed on, person to person, that the fidelity of the church to God’s Word is assured.
5. Because the quality of the church will rarely rise above the quality of her leaders. If we ignore the character qualification in our leaders, we can expect the church to follow suit. If we hold elders and deacons to the biblical standard of holiness, we can expect the church to follow suit.
6. Because leaders are evidence of God’s love for the church. The Holy Spirit raises up men to serve as elders of the church. The Lord gives the Spirit in a great measure to those called to deacon for the church. The presence of godly elders and deacons is evidence of God’s love for his church.
7. Because God inspired 1 Timothy 3. God cared enough about the structure and governance of the church to ordain that we establish elders and deacons. God’s decision to reveal this plan should be sufficient to incite our interest.
8. Because so many of us have seen the devastation wrought by ungodly leadership. It is, thus, imperative that we go to the Bible and ask, “How should our elders and deacons then live?”
9. Because God gifts those who serve well with spiritual honor and confidence. It is both a challenge and privilege to serve in the office of elder or deacon. Those who do serve can expect that Satan will seek to do them harm. But, should they serve well, God will gift them with a generous measure of joy and satisfaction.
10. Because most of us are inclined to look for the wrong thing in our leaders. We want charismatic, personable, humorous, approachable, and skilled leaders. But God wants us to want respectable, dignified, holy leaders. We are tempted to make the “successful” community leaders our church leaders as well. God calls us to test the character first.