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Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:22, 25, 28, 33; 6:1, 4, 9; Psa. 82:1-2; 1 Tim. 4:12; 3:4-6; Titus 2:15; 1:6-8; 1 Pet. 1:21
God has appointed authorities in many places. In the family there are husbands, parents, and masters. Above us there are rulers and officers. In the church there are elders and workers. Each deputy authority has his own requirements. Today we will consider the requirements for these different deputy authorities.
The Bible teaches the wife to submit to the husband and the husband to exercise authority. However, there are requirements which the husband has to fulfill. Ephesians 5 mentions three times that the husband has to love the wife. He has to love his wife as himself. Although there is such a thing as authority in the family, those who are in authority should fulfill God’s requirements. The requirement of a husband as a deputy authority is to love his wife. There is a pattern for the husband’s love for the wife — Christ’s love for the church. Just as Christ loved the church, husbands should love their wives. The love that a husband has towards his wife should match that of Christ’s love towards the church. In order for a husband to maintain his authority in representing God, he must love his wife.
Children should obey their parents. But as deputy authorities, parents also have their responsibilities and requirements. The Bible says that parents should not provoke their children to anger. Although parents have authority over their children, they have to learn to control themselves before God. They cannot say that since their children have been begotten and are being raised up by them, they can treat them at will. God created us, but He does not treat us at will. He gives everyone a free will. Hence, parents should not provoke their children to anger. Some people dare not do certain things before their friends, students, subordinates, or relatives, but they readily do them before their children without any hesitation at all. This is wrong. The greatest thing parents need to do is to exercise self-control. They have to control themselves through the Holy Spirit. Parents can deal with their children only to a certain extent. Their authority over their children is for the purpose of educating them only. They have to warn and nurture their children with the teaching of the Lord. There is no sense of domination or punishment here. A parent’s heart should be for education, not for punishment.
Servants should be obedient to their masters. But there are requirements for those who are masters. A master should not intimidate his servants. He should not threaten them or be angry with them. God will not allow an authority to behave in an unrestrained way. He must fear God. Both the servant and the master have the same Master in the heavens. A master has to remember that he himself is under authority. Although others may be under him, he also is under authority, even God’s authority. This is why he cannot be careless. The more a person knows authority, the less intimidating and threatening he will be. We have to learn to be meek and loving, always having a heart for perfecting others. This is a necessary attitude for one to be an authority. If a deputy authority only knows to threaten and judge others, he will come under God’s judgment sooner or later. Therefore, a master must learn to walk with fear and trembling before God.
We should submit to the authority of rulers and officers over us. We cannot find a teaching in the New Testament concerning how to be a ruler. God has given charge of the world to the unbelievers. He has not given it to the Christians. In the New Testament God gives no indication that Christians should be rulers in the world. But in the Old Testament there are cases of men serving as civil servants (Psa. 82). Of those in position and power, God requires righteousness, integrity, fairness, and compassion on the poor. This is the proper principle for those who are executing authority in public office. A man who is over others should not try to uphold his own standing; instead, he should do his utmost to uphold righteousness.
The elders are the authorities in the local church. All the brothers have to submit to the elders. Titus 1 speaks of basic qualifications of an elder — self-control and submission. A lawless person can never execute the law, and a rebellious person can never make others submissive. An elder must exercise strict self-control. A common trait among many people is the lack of discipline. Hence, in appointing elders, we have to select those who are particularly exercised in self-control. God appoints the elders to manage the church. As such, they must be submissive and must exercise self-control. They must set their hearts to be a pattern to all in everything. God never appoints a person who loves to be the first among others (like Diotrephes) to be an elder. The elders are the highest deputy authority in a local church. For this reason they must be men with self-control.
First Timothy 3:4-5 speaks of another basic qualification of an elder — he must be able to manage his own house. Managing one’s house does not refer to managing one’s parents or wife, but it refers mainly to managing one’s children. An elder has to teach his children to walk soberly and to be obedient in all things. A man must first be a good father before he can be an elder. He must first be an authority at home before he can be an elder in the church.
An elder must not be an arrogant person. If a person becomes proud as soon as he assumes authority, he is not qualified to be an elder. An elder in a local church should feel as if he has no authority at all. If an elder is always conscious of his authority, he is not qualified to be an elder or to handle the affairs of the church. Only the foolish and the narrow-minded are proud. Such ones cannot stand the temptation of God’s glory, and they cannot bear God’s commission and assignment. Once such ones are entrusted with something, they fall into a snare. This is why a new convert cannot be an overseer (1 Tim. 3:6 — in Greek this word means a novice in a trade. For example, among carpenters there are masters who have been in the trade for decades, and there are novices who have barely learned to handle a hammer.), lest he be blinded with pride and fall into the judgment suffered by the devil.
Titus 2:15 describes the requirements of a deputy authority in the Lord’s work. Titus was not an elder in the church, but a worker of the Lord, serving in the capacity of an apostle. Paul charged Titus to exhort men. He should not only speak in public but also exhort men one by one. He should convict men with all authority. At the same time, he should not let others despise him in words and deeds. In order for others not to despise us, we have to sanctify ourselves. If we are the same as others in many things, and if we are loose, careless, and unchecked in our daily life, others will despise us. We must not be indulgent in anything. Only then will others respect us and honor us as an authority and a representative of God. This is what Paul told Timothy (1 Tim. 4:12). Although a worker should not seek after human glory or honor, he should neither be despised to the point of losing his sanctified stature.
In the entire New Testament, Paul wrote only two books which were directed toward young co-workers. They are 1 Timothy and Titus. In these two books Paul often said that a worker should not dishonor himself but should be a pattern in everything. Anything that leads to contempt should be avoided; one should refuse such things. There is a price to pay in being an authority. One has to separate himself from others. He has to be able to live alone. A pattern must be different from others; he must sanctify himself. If he is the same as the others, he is no longer a pattern. We should not uplift ourselves, but at the same time we should not make others despise us. We should always sanctify ourselves and should not jest lightly. We have to learn to separate ourselves in the Lord. A worker should not be arrogant, but neither should he give reason for others to despise him. Once a worker becomes too common, he is disqualified from his work. Once he becomes too common, his usefulness is gone, and his authority is lost.
A worker must also keep his standing and maintain God’s authority. Authority manifests itself in separation and distinction. The main thing about a representative authority is that he represents God, and being an authority has everything to do with being a pattern. This is a very serious matter. A deputy authority is one who “represents” authority, not one who “exercises” authority.
Numbers 30:13 tells us how God upholds His appointed deputy authority. It says that a husband can establish the vow his wife vows, or make it void. On the one hand, God tells the wife to submit to the husband. On the other hand, He upholds the authority of the husband. Even if the husband voids both the vow and the oath of the wife, she has to submit, and it is not reckoned to her as a sin if she breaks them. If the husband voids the vow of the wife, he will have to bear his wife’s iniquity. We who are deputy authorities may propose something. Those who are under us should submit to authority. They may be wrong, but the sin is not reckoned upon them. However, we who make the proposal will have to bear their iniquity. Therefore, we should never propose or suggest anything rashly, because we will have to bear the consequence of it. The most dangerous thing is to be a counselor of the church and to propose something lightly. We can find no clearer picture of man’s requirement to submit to deputy authority in the Bible than in Numbers 30. There we see God asking man to submit to deputy authority unconditionally. In the same way, there is no clearer picture of the serious responsibility that an authority bears before God than in Numbers 30. The more proposals a deputy authority makes, the more trouble he is asking for himself, and the more he will invite God’s judgment.
We have to learn to not control others’ lives presumptuously. We should not subject others to our own ideas. Before we have the full assurance, we should not take the burden of others upon ourselves. Only a broken and pliable man will be free from iniquity before God. A hard and opinionated man will bear much iniquity before God. The Body life is the basis of guidance in the church. We have to live in the Body life, to fellowship with the Lord, and to fellowship with the brothers and sisters. We should not be individualistic in our decisions, and we should not be so self-assured. The more we present our decision to the church and the more we fellowship with the members, the more assurance we will have. We should never bear the name of the Body while occupying ourselves with activities of the flesh. If we do, we should expect nothing except the bearing of our own iniquity. We should wait before the Lord, understand His will, and be open to others. We should not speak before we are taught or relate things to others before we see them ourselves. If we do, we will lay up iniquity for ourselves. A deputy authority must be meek and humble. This will save him from getting into trouble. Otherwise, God will have strong words for him because he will bear the iniquity of others. This is a sober matter.
