I am well acquainted with Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper; some people would call me an addict, I call myself an enthusiast. My familiarity with this heavenly nectar means I am all too aware when an establishment tries to pass of a fake as the real thing.
Because our church does not have an office at the moment, I spend much of my week working at two different locations of a local BBQ joint. One of these locations regularly has a delicious mix of the heavenly nectar, and the other location . . . well, not so much. The real thing comes from a proper mix of ingredients and, to an enthusiast, can easily be distinguished from imitation.
The same thing is true about a church. I noticed this truth earlier this year as I preached through 1 Timothy. Paul sent a letter along to his young protege so that if he delayed Timothy “may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” In the short span of six chapters Paul manages to cover an astonishing amount of material related to the church’s faithfulness, and one realizes that three themes prove to be emblematic of a faithful church. Three themes I like to think about as three necessary ingredients for a faithful church:
#1 – Sound doctrine. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and charged him to deal with the false teachers that had infiltrated the church. Refuting the false teachers meant calling them to repentance (and excommunicating if necessary) and publishing sound doctrine.
#2 – Sound leadership. Sound doctrine must be proclaimed and taught, so who is to do this? Elders. These men must be “able to teach,” thereby ensuring the church’s doctrine is protected and propagated. Chapter three famously delineates the qualifications for elders and deacons, and chapter four is taken up – almost entirely – with pointed instructing on healthy pastoral ministry.
#3 – Sound living. This is, after all, the purpose for Paul’s writing, that the church would “know how they ought to live together.” Sound living flows from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. It manifests itself in praise to God, modest dress, contentment, honor, and focused holiness.
Sound doctrine, sound leadership, sound living. A three-strand chord of faithfulness hard to separate and hard to break. It’s not easily broken because all three ingredients are only found in Christ, the Unassailable One. He is the Truth, the Good Shepherd, and the Holy One – He is Faithfulness. Therefore, what I think Paul drives at in this letter is the realization that a faithful church is focused on the exaltation of Christ through the empowerment of His Spirit. Christ-centeredness in the church need not be an esoteric idea and pursuit. 1 Timothy bring this glorious aim down to the ground floor of daily practice; Christ-centered faithfulness concentrates on sound doctrine, sound leadership, and sound living. These are the three ingredients of a faithful church.