Why is understanding and teaching solid theology through study of scripture so important?
- We don’t want to miss what God has for us.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
- We don’t want to be people adding to God’s word.
Proverbs 30:5-6
5
“Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
- If we want to know more of God in our lives,
it starts with knowing His word.
Both Titus 1:2
and Hebrews 6:18
say it’s impossible for God to lie
so anything we think God is speaking today,
HAS to line up with scripture
because God doesn’t contradict himself.
Hermeneutics / Preaching
Hermeneutics comes from the Greek word for “interpretation”
- Translate language
- Discover the original meaning
- Understand the implied application
- Apply the meaning to our context
Thomas Jefferson said:
Ignorance of the law is no excuse
Leviticus 5:17
If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible.
How do we know that our understanding of scripture lines up with the original meaning of the text?
EISEGESIS
(The Wrong Way)
Eisegesis means “to lead into.” You come into scripture with a point that you want to make, or an idea that you want to prove,
and you find scripture to back up what you think. This almost always leads to reading it incorrectly and distorting the meaning.
EXEGESIS
(The Right Way)
Exegesis means “to lead out of.” You are lead to the meaning of the scripture FROM the scripture and THEN apply it to your life.
3 Steps to look at:
Pastoral Ministry
There is a difference between the office of Pastor and the spiritual gift of pastoring. We see a pastoral gifting in Ephesians 4:11
where a person is gifted in walking with people through life
and shepherding them in their spiritual growth.
This gifting can be given to anyone
regardless of age, gender
, or spiritual maturity
.
We also see a calling to the Office of Pastor
that we see throughout:
1/2 Timothy, Titus, Acts, 1 Peter, Ephesians, and many other places where a person is directly called by God to serve in a religious office
where they lead the church.
This is a much larger weight to have on your shoulders,
and is reserved for men that fit this criteria:
1 Timothy 3:1-7
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
Titus 1:6-9
6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[a] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
The Office of Pastor is broken up in 3 main characteristics, which are all Greek words used interchangeably to talk about this office: Elder, Overseer, and Shepherd.
ELDER (PRESBUTEROS)
Used 66 times in the New Testament, 33 times in this context.
- Lead the overall direction of the local church
1 Titus 5:17
to direct the affairs of the church
- Set theological doctrine and stand against heretical teaching
- Meet with other elders to create policy and procedures
Acts 15:6
The aspostles and elders met to consider this question
- Handle disputes in the church
- Encourage and build the church
- Pray over people and anoint them
James 5:14
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
OVERSEER (EPISKOPOS)
Used 5 times in the New Testament, 4 times in this context
- Organize and watch over the church.
Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
- Manage the ministry and administrative tasks of the church
Titus 1:7
an overseer manages God’s household
- Keep order and discipline in the church.
1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls
The New American Standard Greek Lexicon says that an overseer is:
a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly
SHEPHERD (POIMEN)
Used 11 times in the New Testament, 3 times in this context.
- Keeping the church alive spiritually
- Help protect the church from things that want to hurt them spiritually
- Walk the church to food / water
- Discipline when it’s needed
- Help the church through hardship
Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
