Words Of Truth

A Study About Elders
Having Faithful Children

I. Introduction:

A. This lesson and our next lesson are necessarily joined together as they deal with the household of a man desiring the office of a bishop. We will be talking about his faithful children today, but understand two things before we proceed.

1. A household includes anyone under this man’s care and/or oversight and is NOT just about his children (I Timothy 5:4-8).
2. As we proceed please keep in mind that the standard of faithful children applies to being qualified to be an elder. It DOES NOT mean a parent is lost if the children are not faithful (Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:1-22).

1. Children have a God-given freewill to do right or wrong that a parent cannot prevent them from exercising (Deuteronomy 5:28-29, Luke 15:11-32, Acts 2:40, and Philippians 2:12).
2. Good parenting is not the all powerful solution to that FACT that few will be saved (Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-24).
3. The world was called wicked (I John 5:19) and has NOT gotten better over time (II Timothy 3:13).
4. The power of ungodly influences abound (I Corinthians 15:33).
5. Thus, a father who is a proper shepherd has mastered the very difficult task of properly teaching his children to keep them from evil (Proverbs 6:20-23).
6. Sadly, this qualification removes the discussion of a man being an elder if he has been converted later in life and has not been able to raise up his children as befits a faithful saint.

1. The word “faithful” is often a debated subject. Does it mean faithful to God? Does it mean faithful to the parent? That fact is, you cannot separate the two for a faithful father will teach his children to obey the Lord all of their lives (Deuteronomy 6:20-24, Proverbs 22:6, Luke 2:41-52, and II Timothy 3:15).
2. This debated word is translated in another context meaning those who have been converted and are faithful in Christ (Ephesians 1:1).
3. It also speaks, as translated in another context, of continued dependability as a brother (I Corinthians 4:17 and I Peter 5:12).
4. It is life-long faithfulness (Revelation 2:10).
5. Some just qualify this as “faithful in attendance”, but being a believer, a faithful child of God, is about one’s whole life rather than a show up and be counted principle (I Timothy 4:12).
6. There is often a debate over whether “children” can mean one child, more than one, etc. More than one leaves no debate and thus is the route the faithful will always follow (Romans 14:23).

1. Can a man lead his children to honestly submit to him without forcing them to do so (Ephesians 6:1-4)?

1. He must be able to lead without lording over others (I Peter 5:1-3).
2. Again, has he taught his children (Proverbs 4:1-13 and Titus 2:7-8)?
3. Has he shepherded his children rather than forcing them to obedience? Think about our chief shepherd here (I Peter 5:4; cf. Matthew 23:37).

2. A qualified elder is a disciplinarian (Proverbs 3:12, Proverbs 13:24, and Proverbs 19:18) for he certainly will need that trait to guide the local congregation (Titus 1:12-13).
3. Yet, he is not just a disciplinarian (Psalms 103:13).
4. Do his children revere him (Hebrews 12:9)?

1. Not accused or charged in the sense of not bringing reproach upon an elder of the Lord’s body (Proverbs 19:26).
2. His children are not accused of riot [which is translated only in two other verses being tied to drinking alcohol and partying in such a state] (Ephesians 5:18 and I Peter 4:3-4).
3. His children are not unruly [disobedient, that is not put under] (Colossians 3:20).