Notes to the Lord: On Leadership and Oxen

1 Timothy 5

17Church leaders who do their job well deserve to be paid twice as much, especially if they work hard at preaching and teaching. 18It is just as the Scriptures say, "Don't muzzle an ox when you are using it to grind grain." You also know the saying, "Workers are worth their pay."

Lord Jesus--I guess ox is better than other animals that Paul could have used to described leadership in the church. The principle of taking care of church leadership is the point, Kurt...don't miss the point.

It is interesting that a man who supported himself as a tent maker most of his missionary life focused on the need for competent vital leadership that should be resourced adequately for the task.

19Don't listen to any charge against a church leader, unless at least two or three people bring the same charges. 20But if any of the leaders should keep on sinning, they must be corrected in front of the whole group, as a warning to everyone else.

Lord Jesus--In a time when so much was fluid in the life of the church, Paul was calling for due process. Accusations needed to be supported by witnesses. The cannon had not yet been solidified even as Paul was writing part of it to Timothy. People were being persecuted and dieing for the faith...yet he saw the need for a fair process for dealing with internal church issues.

In many ways, Paul was talking about a place where he had never been, a church that he had never served in. A church where pastor's didn't need to support themselves, a place that was safe and if there were problems they were dealt with openly with witnesses.

Help me be that kind of leader who can see the promised land and tell others about it even if I never experience it. I can admire that kind of leader...maybe that's why they ended up calling him Saint Paul.