1 Tim. 3:1-7
“An Overseer Must Be…-2”
I would like to start by reminding you that these qualities that we should look for in elder candidates are the qualities that God wants all Christians to cultivate. Last week we dealt with the qualities of being above reproach and being the husband of one wife. Today, we will deal with being sober-minded and self-controlled.
“Sober-minded” (nhfa,lioj) “pert[ains]
to being very moderate in the drinking of an alcoholic beverage, temperate,
sober”; “pert[ains] to being restrained in conduct, self-controlled,
level-headed” (BDAG). Its literal
meaning is closely associated with being temperate with regard to drinking. But
Paul does not seem to be using the word in that literal sense. For he goes on
to address drinking in v. 3, when he says that an elder should not be a
drunkard. Many commentators suggest, as most of English translations do, that Paul
has its figurative sense in mind--thus, “sober-minded” as the ESV has it. But
Paul is not just talking about some kind of generic sense of being sober and
temperate. Briefly surveying the usage of its cognate (nh,fw) in the
New Testament will show its distinct redemptive historical flavor.
Paul says in 1 Thess 5:6, “So then let us not sleep, as
others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” What is the context of
these words? Paul began this section by reminding the Thessalonians how the day
of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night (5:2). Paul’s charge to be sober
is in the context of the unexpectedness of the time of Christ’s return.
A couple of
verses later, Paul uses the word, “sober”, again: “But since we belong to the
day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thess.
5:8). The characteristic of belonging to the day--expecting the return of
Christ--is to be sober. And here Paul points out another dimension of being
sober: being battle-ready with the full armor of God on at all times to fight
against the devil and all the worldly spirit of idleness and complacency.
So it is no
surprise that Paul urges Timothy to minister with sober-mindedness: “As for
you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5). These words have the flavor of
the last days as well: they are preceded Paul’s warning about the time that is
coming “when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears
they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and
will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (vv.
3-4).
It is
noteworthy that Peter, too, uses the word in the same sense. He says in 1 Pet.
1:13, “Therefore,
preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope
fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.” The attitude of being sober-minded is directly connected to the
revelation of Jesus Christ on the last day.
Peter uses the word also in 1 Pet.
5:8: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Here, an emphasis is
given to our on-going spiritual battle with Satan and his incessant, relentless
attack against us.
One more verse. 1 Pet. 4:7 says, “The end of all
things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded
for the sake of your prayers.” Here it is directly and clearly stated that the
reason for being sober-minded is because the end of all things is at hand. So
you see that being sober-minded and living in the last days
are directly related to each other.
Here a brief explanation on the New
Testament meaning of the last days is in order. In most instances, “the last
days” refers not to the literal days just prior to the Second Coming of Christ.
Rather, it refers to the period between the first and second coming of Christ. Obviously,
these “last days” have been going on for almost two thousand years. Why are
they called the last days? Because the end of the world was
commenced with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The principle
of death, which characterizes this world, has been broken by the resurrection
of Christ. This world has been invaded by that which is totally foreign to it--the
resurrection of Jesus Christ unto eternal life. As a result, this world is
already perishing away, awaiting its inevitable expiration on the day of
Christ’s Second Coming. The dam of death was punctured by the resurrection of
Christ and it is cracking and it will totally be destroyed on that last day! And
this period is called “the last days” despite its long duration to
emphasize the unexpectedness of the precise time of Christ’s Return, thereby
calling God’s people--you!--to a greater sense of urgency and preparedness.
We can see that being sober-minded
is not some generic virtue we cultivate because it is a better alternative to
an out-of-control lifestyle with all of its excesses and bad consequences. In
the New Testament, it has a distinctly eschatological flavor. By
“eschatological” we mean that which pertains to the end of the world and the
full arrival of the new heaven and new earth. Being sober-minded is an
eschatological mindset, living this moment with the End (of the world) in view.
This is not so hard to understand,
is it? What happens when we hear that heart-breaking news that someone we love
has a terminal disease? What would happen if we ourselves were to hear
those dreaded words from our doctor? With one stroke such news can peel away
all that is superficial about the world and reveals the world in clearer yet
more somber colors. But there shouldn’t be anything newsworthy about such news.
What is more obvious, what is more inevitable, than our death in this world?
There is really no guarantee in life. There is no guarantee that any of our
dreams and hopes would be realized. There is no guarantee that all of us would live
to be eighty years old despite all the advances in medical technology. The only
sure guarantee we have in this life is death! Would we worry ninety percent of
what we worry about if we lived with the sober-mindedness that comes from the
certainty of death? Would we waste our time the way we do with so many mindless
entertainments, by doing so many things half-heartedly, just to please people,
out of the fear of man? Would we be so arrogant, taking pride in so many
insignificant, superficial things? So the Preacher says in Eccl. 7:2, “It is
better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for
this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”
There are many legends about Saint
George, which are made into children’s stories. One of them is called “Saint
George and the Dragon”. I will not bore you with the whole story. But the story
begins with a crisis in a small kingdom: a dragon in that kingdom threatened to
kill and devour the people. So a deal was struck that, every year, a person
would be chosen and offered to the dragon as a sacrifice. Let’s stop there. This
is certainly a terrible situation! Or is it? Think about living with the knowledge
that you may have only one year to live. That lingering possibility may be torturous.
And many may live in denial, thinking, “What is the probability that I would be
the next one?” But if one took the situation seriously, how special his life
would be! Each day would be a wonderful gift not to be taken for granted. Each
encounter, each relationship he has with others, would be cherished greatly. Even
the most mundane activity, such as waking up in the morning and having a
conversation with others over a cup of coffee, would have a special meaning.
But whatever delight and pleasure
one finds in life would be tinged with a dark color of sober sadness. For what
does it profit a man to cherish so many things and lose his soul in the end? Is
that what being sober-minded is about? Of course not! Christian
sober-mindedness is not draped in the dark shadow of death cast all over our
life on this earth. Our sober-mindedness does not come from the finality of our
death and the futility of our life in the iron grip of death! Yes, our
sober-mindedness does come from recognizing the limitations of this world--its
glories, its treasures, its promises all marred by death--and its utter
inability to truly and fully satisfy us. But the dark shadow of death is
overcome by the surpassing brightness of knowing Jesus Christ, our resurrected
Savior and Lord! We are sober because we are not carried away by the obsessions
of this world, by the flippant pleasures of this world, because we see their
limitations. But we are not sad because the flame of our living hope is kept
burning bright and fierce by the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As
we suffer in this life and see our loved ones die one by one, our eager
anticipation for the surpassing glories of the world to come is intensified
more and more! Elders must be sober-minded, not only to have cool and collected
head to advise us and take care of us, but also to show us an example of
heavenly-mindedness. But we are all called to be sober-minded because we
live in the last days.
It may help
to think about God as being sober-minded. Can we do that? Yes, because, if
sober-mindedness is directly related to the last days, God lives eternal in the
last days--in the sense that the omniscient God always sees all things all at once,
from the beginning to the end: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done…” (Isa. 46:9-10). So God is always sober-minded because He
always sees the end. And how is this divine sober-mindedness characterized? No
panic. No anxiety. No worries. He knows how all things will pan out because He
is the One, who declared it. He is ever mindful of the perfect consummation,
which He designed and will bring about. So He is always joyful, seeing the
glorious end of His work! And God wants us to have His eternal perspective. And
His desire is reflected in His command to us to be sober-minded. Therefore, our
sober-mindedness is characterized by unshakable, steadfast, living hope, free
of panic, anxiety and worries! Isn’t it wonderful that God desires us to be
sober-minded as He is?
The next
quality, “self-controlled”, is very similar to being sober-minded. Just to see
how similar the two words--sober-minded and self-controlled--are in Greek, we
just need to survey how those words are translated in various English versions:
“sober-minded” (ESV) is translated as temperate (NASB, NIV, RSV), vigilant
(KJV); “self-controlled” (ESV) is translated as prudent (NASB), sober(!)
(KJV), self-controlled (NIV), sensible (RSV). The Greek word translated in ESV
as “self-controlled”, sw,frwn, is of a different word group from
the Greek word generally translated as “self-control” (evgkra,teia).
But many commentators agree that these two words (“sober-minded” and
“self-controlled”) denote different aspects of self-control. Knight says,
“Since both… have the nuance of ‘self-controlled’…, different aspects of
self-control are probably emphasized in each. For nhfa,lioj it is the sober, clear-headed aspect…. [sw,frwn] denotes ‘the prudent, thoughtful’
aspect of self-control” (p. 159). So then, it may be helpful to think of
self-control at this time. This, I don’t think, departs far from Paul’s
intention since self-control is a very important Christian virtue, especially
when we consider the fact that self-control is an aspect of the fruit of the
Spirit (Gal.
The fruit of the Spirit is that
which the Holy Spirit bears in our life and character. The Holy Spirit bears
such a fruit because it is a reflection of His own character. The fruit of the
Spirit is borne, then, when we walk by the Spirit (Gal.
But a moment’s reflection shows that
there is nothing strange or contradictory about this. Self-control is generally
perceived as good in contrast to out-of-control excesses. But self-control is
neither good nor bad in and of itself. It is ironic but we all know that
self-control can be exercised in an excessive way. To gorge ourselves to food
coma is not good but we can get overly obsessed with our health and sacrifice
the quality of life in many other ways. The same goes for studying too much.
And our need for peace can be so great that we can compromise our integrity and
truth. We may exercise great self-control in our finances and save and save and
save, only to regret later that the people that we should have loved and cared
for, such as our family and friends, are all gone. Some kind of balance seems
crucial but where we place the fulcrum for the balance is not so easy, as many
of us have experienced. We see the Olympic athletes compete and we know that
they could not have gotten there without exercising much self-control in their
practice, diet and interpersonal relationships and other priorities in life. We
marvel at their skills and speed but at what cost?
We realize, then, that self-control is
just a means to an end. It is neutral in and of itself but it can be used for a
good end or an evil end. We can exercise self-control and desist from foolish
and dangerous temptations that lead to destruction. But even criminals,
especially those who commit white-collar crimes, must exercise a high level of
self-control, not only to execute the crime without any mistakes but also to
require the skills they need. The crucial question about self-control, then, is
to what end it is used, which master it serves. There
are only a few options.
First, we can exercise self-control
out of the fear of man. Even a drug addict will exercise self-control when the
police are around! I wonder how much of what we do and not do is in fearful
servitude to others--to win their approval, to avoid their contempt and scorn,
to maintain our “good” reputation with them, etc.
Second, we can exercise self-control
for ourselves. We all know how difficult self-control is. To stop eating after
a certain portion even though the food is delicious; to tear ourselves away
from that TV show or that video game or that recreation because there are other
things to be done; not to say out of anger something that we will regret saying
later; not to make fun of someone, often in a hurtful way, just to get a laugh;
to desist from buying something we really want because we really don’t need it,
although it is on sale; just to wake up early enough for a time of Bible
reading and prayer; to get things ready so that we won’t be late to church,
etc. But even if we are proficient in self-control, do we know what is truly
good for ourselves?
Even more importantly, we cannot be
the ultimate purpose of our life. Many, of course, think and live as though
that were true. Many make their happiness the most important thing in the whole
world. In the name of their happiness they lie, they
steal, they cheat on their spouses, they divorce their spouses and even abandon
heir children. It has become the mantra of our generation to follow our heart, whether
it is right or wrong, whether it hurts others or not; to make our decisions
solely based on what makes us happy. But we see the true, dark color of such an
approach to life when we see others living in that way, especially when we
are the victim of their irresponsible, self-centered way. And are we all really
happy as a result? We live in the most affluent country in the world and probably
in all of history. And we have dedicated ourselves to the pursuit of our
happiness and even sacrificed others at the altar of our own happiness, even
our marriage and children. Yet, we are more depressed and unhappy than ever. According to Robert Whitaker, an investigative reporter, “Combined spending on
antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants jumped from around $500 million in 1986
to nearly $20 billion in 2004” (http://www.naturalnews.com/011353.html).
This goes to show how we ourselves
cannot be the ultimate purpose of our life. Do we really think that we can be
happy if we can satisfy every flippant desire of ours--if we have this and
that, if we marry this kind of person and have this kind of children and live
in this kind of house and drive this kind of car and have this kind of job,
etc.? Oh, how foolish we are if we do. Haven’t we heard the sigh of Solomon,
who had everything? “Vanity of vanities! All is
vanity!” And it is not just Solomon who said such a thing, was it? Many rich
and famous and powerful people are on an anti-depressant and even committed
suicide. Why? Because we were not meant to be the ultimate purpose of our existence!
We were created in God’s image! We were created with a big appetite, a deep
desire, which cannot be satisfied by anything less than God Himself! It is not
in seeking our own happiness that we become happy--that would be like pouring
water into a bottomless bucket! It is only in seeking God’s glory, it is only in living according to God’s will,
that we can be truly happy! To absolutize ourselves
is nothing but idolatry, a most pervasive form of idolatry at that, not to
mention a most deceptive and disappointing form of idolatry! There are only two
kinds of life: forgetting God and loving ourselves to death, to eternal
destruction, and forgetting ourselves and loving God unto eternal life and true
happiness!
Because we are created in the image
of God, we are most fulfilled when we live in subjection to God’s will! “Thy
will be done!” is the prayer we should make, not because it is the noblest and
loftiest prayer but because it is the most urgent and necessary prayer, not to
mention the most effective and beneficial prayer we can ever make! For there is
nothing safer than to submit ourselves to the good and gracious will of God in
willing obedience! Why do we have to discipline our children? It is because we
want them to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man as
Jesus did (Luke
What, then, should be the ultimate
goal of our self-control? Who should be the master of our self-control? The fear of other people? Our own desires
and goals and happiness? Or God? I hope the
answer is obvious to all of us! The kind of self-control, which belongs to the
fruit of the Spirit, is unto the sovereign lordship of God over our lives! The
only true and good self-control is possible when we are under the lordship of
the Holy Spirit, when we are Spirit-controlled!
Again, let us think about
self-control as a divine characteristic. God is always and perfectly in
self-control. What does that mean? Does that mean He is always restraining
Himself from many things, always trying to walk the middle road? No! He is
always fully and freely Himself. And He will unleash His wrath upon the world
without any restraint on that final day. Does that mean He will be out of control,
then? Of course not! Even Jesus was consumed by the zeal for His Father’s house
and caused a great commotion at the temple. Was He out of control? No, He was
perfectly in self-control even then. Self-control, then, is not so much
self-restraint (in the sense of ascetic lifestyle) as it is acting in full
accordance with one’s true nature (and goal). In so far as God cannot deny
Himself, He is always in self-control. For us, it is a bit complicated because
we are in the already-and-not-yet stage: we have the desires of the flesh
waging war against the desires of the Spirit. In this stage, to be
self-controlled is to act in full accordance with our new nature, with the
desires of the Spirit. So we can be self-controlled and still be passionate
instead of being bland and repressed! Oh, how we long for that day when we
shall fully be what we are redeemed to be, when our self-control will be so
free and so fulfilling!
But we must
not lose sight of the fact that self-control is, after all, self-control!
Self-control is not a personality trait. It is something that we must cultivate
as the Holy Spirit works in our lives to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Self-control requires practice. Self-control requires self-discipline. By
bringing your attention to the importance of self-discipline, I am not
advocating a man-centered religion, a salvation by our own works, am I? Was it not Paul himself, the champion of justification
by faith alone, who said, “[T]rain yourself for godliness; for while bodily
training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds
promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Tim. 4:7-8); “Therefore,
my beloved…, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God
who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil.
2:12-13). And what does our Catechism say about sanctification? “Sanctification
is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man
after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and
live unto righteousness” (Q35).
You see, the
Holy Spirit’s work is not to take over our body, our consciousness and will and
emotion and make us into zombies. Yet many of us think and act like that is the
best that can happen for our Christian walk! So we blame God for our deplorable
spiritual condition because God is supposed to be sovereign! Since it is God’s
fault, we go on living, doing our own things, indulging our carnal desires,
rather than repent of the hardness of our hearts! We act like we are waiting
for some kind of lightning to strike us and jolt us into action! We act like a
little child, who doesn’t listen until he is spanked! Is that what we want? That
is not what God wants! When will we realize that God is dead serious even when
He speaks gently to us through the preaching of the Word, through our private
reading of Scripture, through the advice and plea from our fellow members,
through the pricking of our conscience by the Holy Spirit, etc.? “Or do you
presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing
that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4)?
God did not
redeem us to be spiritual zombies, just empty shells moved around by the Holy
Spirit. God redeemed us and renewed our hearts so that we might love Him and
follow Him willingly by choosing Him and His will over all the
distractions in life, by resisting sin and fighting off
temptation to the point of shedding blood. God’s interest is not just making us
do what He wants us to do. He can do that without saving us, as He does with
all the unbelievers and inanimate objects! Did you know that Nebuchadnezzar was
called God’s servant! Please know that God wants to save all of us--our
mind, our will, our emotion and our all! That is why we cannot expect spiritual
competency to come easy. He wants our character to be changed! And that
requires time, commitment and sweat because we are not robots, which require no
more than a new programming; we are human beings, the transformation of whose
character requires the exercise of renewed our will and our conscious,
deliberate choice out of the renewed heart. Thus the importance
of self-discipline. Thus, self-control as an important
aspect of the fruit of the Spirit.
And this is
not all up to you, is it? The Holy Spirit has already renewed our hearts. We
cannot enjoy sin as we used to--yes, we still sin but enjoy it, we cannot,
without a flood of regret wiping away whatever guilty pleasure we might have
had for a few moments. Just for sinners like us to acknowledge that we are
hopeless without Christ, is a huge revolution, bigger than any revolution in world
history. But renewing our hearts is not the final goal of the Spirit’s work; it
is only the beginning, a means, to our perfection as the image of God. Just knowing
this, just accepting this with our mind is not enough. A swimmer is not someone
who has all the knowledge about how to swim; one is not a swimmer until he
swims, not only having the knowledge of how to swim but also having the muscles
to execute the techniques by practicing over and over again! But isn’t it true
that many of us have enough knowledge to point out and criticize other
Christians for their failures while we sit around the poolside in our beach
chairs because we don’t know how to swim ourselves?
I commend
you if you jumped into the pool of spiritual discipline and self-control! You
may be frustrated. It may seem like you are making a lot of splash without
going forward. But know that you are created to swim freely in the vast
Start, today,
with committing to read God’s Word and to pray every day. It may very well be
frustrating, like the beginning lessons of swimming. But do not give up. Do not
forget to enjoy the cool water in the pool although you may not be a good
swimmer yet. Be thankful that you even have pool to get cooled off in the grace
of God while many languish in the desert heat of God’s wrath. And if the Spirit
of God has convicted you about other areas in your life that needs
self-control, mark that in your mind and heart and start right away. It may be
the time you spend watching TV or playing computer games. It may be those
websites with seductive images. It may be the way you treat your wife and
children. It may be something that you know you should do and have been putting
off for these days, months and years. Pray for God’s enabling grace and exercise
your self-control now! The Spirit has been at work in you to cultivate
self-control and He will give you all that you need to be proficient at it! So,
do not give up when you falter. You may not have enough spiritual muscles to do
it well as yet. So stand up again and try again and again and again and again
because that is what God desires. He will provide you with all that you need. If
God does not make it easy, it is because God wants to strengthen you because
you will not grow unless you are stretched and challenged! And one day, you
will discover with a thrilling joy that you are able to do it with competency
and enjoy it, too! That way, we shall have a foretaste of how we shall be in
our heavenly perfection--fully under self-control under the sovereign control
of the Holy Spirit, our will and God’s will in perfect harmony! No more
tug-of-war with God! No more struggles against the Spirit! No more guilt-ridden
procrastination but pure joy in God and perfect peace with Him! What glorious
life is ours in Christ Jesus! May it thrill your heart and move you to willing
and joyful obedience!
© Copyright 2008 by Jeong Woo "James" Lee
All Rights Reserved.