Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Even so must their wives be grave or serious, not slanderers, sober, and faithful in all things, and this is the character required of deacons' wives for gospel ministry. These requirements are part of the standards for church officers generally, and the qualities required of deacons are equally essential when the fitness of elders for office is considered. They belong to an intelligent practice of temperance and sound habits, to be upheld faithfully and without partiality by church leaders.
That intelligent practice includes health reform and correct example in eating, in dressing, and in working in right lines, with individual accountability and without making diet itself a test of faith. Fitness for sacred work is proven in the home life by diligence, consecration, and faithfulness, where the minister or deacon is responsible to educate, train, and discipline children in right habits and practices. Children are to be educated and trained to act their cheerful part in service, presenting a well-disciplined family in which children are under the control of father and mother and father and mother are under the control of God, so that those who serve live out the Word in the duties and discipline of family life.
Failure to require obedience and order in the household is disobedience to God's word and neglect to set the church in order. Neglect of this home work eclipses the light so it cannot shine in correct example, and those who refuse to see its necessity will be blinded to the necessity of obedience in other lines. The verse sums up practical godliness and sacredness of labor in word and doctrine, to be taught to those newly come to the faith and to be brought to bear on every worker placed in responsible stewardship in the church, in offices of publication, and in educating students in schools, calling all to strive constantly for a more perfect character in preparation for heaven.
The same Bible standard for tested and tried workers applies to men and women chosen to carry responsibility in sanitarium work, where no mistake is to be made at the beginning and no one untested is to be placed in a position of trust. Those chosen must understand the will of the Lord, discern what needs to be done, and prayerfully do it so that past mistakes and errors are not repeated. Especially the business manager must daily be managed by the Lord, possessing dignity and knowledge with a clear sense of how to use authority, with Christ revealed in life, able to give religious instruction and exert spiritual influence. His own mind must be controlled by the Spirit in dealing with minds, with wisdom in encouragement, knowing how to discern and correct mistakes, harmonizing with fellow workers, possessing adaptability and readiness to speak the points of faith as occasion requires, with words and acts revealing justice, judgment, and the love of God.
By this Bible pattern, a minister's wife should have a character that greatly helps her husband's ministry rather than hindering it. In its wider context the passage instructs God's commandment-keeping people in their aggressive work to convince those educated that Sunday is the Sabbath while malicious falsehoods are circulated against Christ and against them. It joins Paul's charge to preach the Word with all long-suffering and doctrine, requiring work conducted on Bible principles with Christlike simplicity, patience, forbearance, and love for God and Christ. That work uplifts Christ and the Lamb of God to convince and not to condemn, without hurling thunderbolts at those in error, without storming their ears with prejudice, and without bringing believers down to the level of unreasonable and wicked men by retaliation, strong personal feeling, and satanic weapons that arouse passion and bitter enmity against themselves and the work.
Even so must their wives be grave or serious, not slanderers, sober, and faithful in all things, and this is the character required of deacons' wives for gospel ministry. These requirements are part of the standards for church officers generally, and the qualities required of deacons are equally essential when the fitness of elders for office is considered. They belong to an intelligent practice of temperance and sound habits, to be upheld faithfully and without partiality by church leaders.
That intelligent practice includes health reform and correct example in eating, in dressing, and in working in right lines, with individual accountability and without making diet itself a test of faith. Fitness for sacred work is proven in the home life by diligence, consecration, and faithfulness, where the minister or deacon is responsible to educate, train, and discipline children in right habits and practices. Children are to be educated and trained to act their cheerful part in service, presenting a well-disciplined family in which children are under the control of father and mother and father and mother are under the control of God, so that those who serve live out the Word in the duties and discipline of family life.
Failure to require obedience and order in the household is disobedience to God's word and neglect to set the church in order. Neglect of this home work eclipses the light so it cannot shine in correct example, and those who refuse to see its necessity will be blinded to the necessity of obedience in other lines. The verse sums up practical godliness and sacredness of labor in word and doctrine, to be taught to those newly come to the faith and to be brought to bear on every worker placed in responsible stewardship in the church, in offices of publication, and in educating students in schools, calling all to strive constantly for a more perfect character in preparation for heaven.
The same Bible standard for tested and tried workers applies to men and women chosen to carry responsibility in sanitarium work, where no mistake is to be made at the beginning and no one untested is to be placed in a position of trust. Those chosen must understand the will of the Lord, discern what needs to be done, and prayerfully do it so that past mistakes and errors are not repeated. Especially the business manager must daily be managed by the Lord, possessing dignity and knowledge with a clear sense of how to use authority, with Christ revealed in life, able to give religious instruction and exert spiritual influence. His own mind must be controlled by the Spirit in dealing with minds, with wisdom in encouragement, knowing how to discern and correct mistakes, harmonizing with fellow workers, possessing adaptability and readiness to speak the points of faith as occasion requires, with words and acts revealing justice, judgment, and the love of God.
By this Bible pattern, a minister's wife should have a character that greatly helps her husband's ministry rather than hindering it. In its wider context the passage instructs God's commandment-keeping people in their aggressive work to convince those educated that Sunday is the Sabbath while malicious falsehoods are circulated against Christ and against them. It joins Paul's charge to preach the Word with all long-suffering and doctrine, requiring work conducted on Bible principles with Christlike simplicity, patience, forbearance, and love for God and Christ. That work uplifts Christ and the Lamb of God to convince and not to condemn, without hurling thunderbolts at those in error, without storming their ears with prejudice, and without bringing believers down to the level of unreasonable and wicked men by retaliation, strong personal feeling, and satanic weapons that arouse passion and bitter enmity against themselves and the work.