1 Timothy 3:1-13

1 Timothy 3:1-13

November 4, 2007

God’s Advice For Daily Living: Don’t Compromise Your Integrity

Part 3 of “God’s Advice For Daily Living” series

I recently read in “US News And World Report” that the author of the Dear Abbey daily advice column caused a furor when she responded to a letter about gay marriage:

“If that’s what they want to do, I say more power to them.”

While many protested this apparent condoning of gay marriage, the company that syndicates the column blithely reported that no newspapers had cancelled running the columns, so everything must be ok.

This might be a way to gauge the current thinking about ethics and how to live your daily life –

As long as people don’t complain too much, you’re ok to do whatever you want.

But I wonder – is this the attitude God wants us to have?

I don’t think so.

God has a lot of advice to give us on how to live our daily lives – and the “anything goes” theory is not a part of it.

So – what advice does God give us for how to live our daily lives?

Several weeks ago we began looking at some of God advice for daily living as we started looking at the Epistle of 1 Timothy – the first of 3 – 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus — “Pastoral Epistles” that Paul wrote to address every day problems the early Christians were facing. Paul gave some very practical advice for how to live every day as a Christian. The advice he gave is still great advice – in fact it is God’s advice – to us today.

God’s advice for daily living.

That’s our theme as we look at 1Timothy.

3 weeks ago we looked at 1 Timothy 1:1-11 and saw one piece of advice God gives us: be conformed to Christ instead of conformed to the world.

2 weeks ago we looked at 1Timothy 1:12-20 – and saw a second bit of advice God gives us for our daily lives: be saved by His grace.

Be conformed to Christ

Be save by God’s grace

2 good pieces of advice for daily living that God gives us.

Today we’re going to continue our look at advice that God gives us for living our daily lives as we look at 1 Timothy 3:1-13 – and see that God advises us to not compromise our integrity.

Listen to God’s word:

Read passage

God’s advice for daily living:

Be conformed to Christ

Be save by God’s grace

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

Bible scholars feel that the Pastoral Epistles – and some of the other New Testament letters – may have been written in response to questions members of the early church were asking Paul. You can almost imagine Paul having a list of questions in front of him as he wrote these letters – questions like – how can we know we are saved – or how do we live our daily lives as Christians in a pagan world?

When you look at 1 Timothy 3, you get the feeling that Paul was responding to a question about how the leaders of the church were to live — and Paul responded that they were to live their lives differently from the way the leaders of the pagan world lived theirs. When Paul looked at the leaders of the pagan world, he saw people who had many wives at the same time – which was legal – but Paul knew it was against God’s will for His people. He also saw people who did not care if people respected them, were inhospitable, were drunkards, violent, violent, quarrelsome, loved money, and whose families lived any way they wanted to live.

Paul knew God wanted His people – and particularly the leaders of His people – to live differently – so these verses from 1 Timothy 3 give a list of expectations – which included things like:

1. being above reproach
2. being the husband of but one wife
3. being temperate self-controlled
4. being respectable
5. being hospitable
6. not being given to drunkenness
7. not being violent but being gentle
8. not being quarrelsome
9. not a lover of money
10. managing his own family well
11. not be a recent convert

These may make for quite a daunting list of expectations that Paul placed on the leaders of the church – and – I believe – God places on church leaders even today. Paul expected the leaders of the early church to live their lives differently from the ways others lived theirs – to live differently from the pagans that surrounded them in their culture who followed little or no rules or guidelines for living – to live their lives in a way that was distinct and that showed Christ to others. It was a life of integrity Paul was calling on the leaders of the early church to live. It was a life of integrity that Paul did not want to see compromised by anything.

One piece of advice that God gives for daily living is:

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

God still expects this life of integrity from those who would follow Him.

Live your life differently from the way others live theirs —

Live differently from those who follow little or no rules or guidelines for living –

Live your life in a way that is distinct and that shows Christ to others –

Live your life with integrity.

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

Paul specifically addresses this to the leaders of the church – the “overseers” as the NIV translates it – or the Elder as some other translations have it – in other words the leaders of the local congregations – and the “deacons” or those who served specific functions within the local congregations. It’s the leaders Paul was addressing here.

Don’t compromise your integrity – Paul says to the leaders of the early church.

Don’t compromise your integrity

We can see the wisdom in this advice to the leaders of the church. The leaders of the church need to be held to a high standard of integrity. They are the ones to whom members of the church look for leadership and guidance. They are the ones who represent the church – indeed represent Christ – to the world. They are the ones who take the oaths – make the promises – to lead the church when they assume their positions of leadership. They are the ones who are called by God to live lives of integrity. They are the ones to whom God says:

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

When leaders of the church fall – when they compromise their integrity — everybody knows about it. Many times it’s headline news.

When Sally and I lived in North Carolina the minister at the closest neighboring Presbyterian Church to us – a man we knew and considered a friend at the time – was arrested for trying to hire a hit man to kill his former wife. The only problem was the hit man he thought he was hiring was actually an undercover policeman. The minister was arrested on a Thursday night, and you can guess what the headlines were the next morning in the local paper.

From local situations like this to national and international headlines of Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggert, and numerous others who have made the news – we all know about ministers and other church leaders who have compromised their integrity – and I am sure there are numerous others we will never hear about because they have not been caught. When this happens, the mission of the church is harmed. It not only harms the mission of the particular church or ministry involved, but it hurts the ministry of every church or ministry. It gives those who are always attacking the church and the ministry of Jesus Christ all the ammunition they need.

“See” – they may say –

“I told you they were all hypocrites!”

Even though there are hundreds – even thousands – of leaders who do not compromise their integrity – we tend to hear about those who do.

So – one piece of advice God gives us for our daily living is:

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

You know – Paul may have been addressing the leaders – the “overseers” and the “deacons” in the churches here in 1Timothy 3 – but you know what I believe? I believe that God wants to extend these qualities Paul lists here to include – not only the leaders of the church – but to include all Christians.

God’s advice to all of us – for our daily living – includes:

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

This list Paul gives:

1. be above reproach
2. be the devoted to your spouse 3. be temperate self-controlled

4. be respectable

5. be hospitable

6. don’t be given to drunkenness

7. don’t be violent but be gentle

8. don’t be quarrelsome

9. don’t be a lover of money

is indeed a daunting list – but it’s not just a daunting list for the leaders of the church – it’s a daunting list for us all. It’s not just “their responsibility” – it’s our responsibility. God wants all of us – as His people in the world – to live this life of integrity Paul spells out here. .

Live your life differently from the way others live theirs, God is saying –

Live differently from those who follow little or no rules or guidelines for living, God says –

Live your life in a way that is distinct and that shows Christ to others – god says —

Live your life with integrity – God says.

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

Instead of feeling that these words of Paul apply only to the leaders of the church and don’t apply to members who are not leaders – we need to see that they apply to us all. Instead of getting the members who are not leaders “off the hook”, so to speak, these words – this calling to live lives of integrity – this calling to live lives that do not compromise our integrity – actually get us all “on the hook” – the hook of living lives that show God to the world.

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

The truth is that – while the leaders of the church may be watched with greater interest and intensity – all the followers of Christ are being watched. We all are being watched. People watch us to see what we are going to do in certain situations. People watch us to see if we are going to do things that they may be doing – but they know are wrong. People are gong to always watch us to see what a Christian would do in certain situations.

This puts us in an uncomfortable position. Nobody likes having to be careful and feeling that they are being watched. But – because we are followers of Christ – it is the position that we are in – and so we need to accept it and live in God’s ways.

One piece of God’s advice for daily living for us all is:

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

You may ask:

“Why not?”

Well – if because God says so is not enough of a reason – let me suggest 2 more.

1. God has saved you by His grace – and wants you to live in His ways and not the ways of the world.

God has saved you from sin.

God has saved you from the ways of the world.

God has saved you from the things that are against His will.

Why would you want to go back to them?

Why would you want to even give the hint that you are going back to the things God has saved you from?

God has saved you from a life of compromise to a life of integrity.

Why would you want to go back to a life of compromise when – by the grace of God – you can live a life of integrity?

It makes very little sense, doesn’t it?

God calls us – and strengthens us – to live in His ways. We can respond to this call – we can say “thank you” to God for what He has done for us – by living in His ways and dong His will instead of living in ways that go against Him.

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

There’s another reason for not compromising your integrity:

2. We’ve already seen how others are watching us to see how we are going to react in certain situations and what we are going to do at certain times and what we are going to choose when we have choices to make. One reason for not compromising your integrity is that we represent Christ to the world.

We call ourselves Christians.

Do you know what that means?

That means that we are saying that we belong to Christ – that we are following Christ. That name “Christian” was first used derogatorily – as a put down – towards those who followed the teachings of Christ. We now use it proudly. We are proud to let the world know that we are followers of Christ. But – if we are going to proudly call ourselves Christians – we are going to have to make sure we are making Christ proud by what we do – and representing Christ well in the world.

What that means is that we can’t claim to be followers of Christ and do things Christ would not have us be doing.

What that means us that we can’t claim to be followers of Christ and try to do things in secret that Christ would not have us be doing in public – first of all God is watching us at all times – and secondly more times that not it becomes public knowledge before it’s all said and done.

What that means is that we can’t even do things that are innocent and not wrong but may appear to be wrong. We can’t even give the appearance that we are doing things that would compromise our integrity.

We call ourselves Christians.

Part of what that means is we don’t compromise our integrity.

Don’t compromise your integrity

Don’t compromise your integrity

God has saved you by His grace – and wants you to live in His ways.

Don’t compromise your integrity.

You are a Christian – a representative of Christ to the world.

Don’t compromise your integrity.

Each day – every day – live as a person who has been saved by the grace of God – because that is what you are.

Each day – every day – live as a person who is a representative of Christ to the world – because that is what you are.

1. Be saved by God’s grace

2. Be conformed to Christ

3. Don’t compromise your integrity

These are 3 pieces of advice God gives us for our daily living.

Amen.