( For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
A man who cannot govern his own household well is unfit to care for the church of God, and wise government of the home in the fear of God is the test and evidence of fitness for church office. Ruling well means keeping children in subjection with gravity by educating, training and disciplining them in obedience and order, treating a wife with tenderness, loyalty and faithful care, and first ruling self with self-control under God. The home is a small church where parents preside as spiritual leaders, so wisdom shown in managing the few entrusted at home proves ability to manage the larger company of the church. This standard applies to ministers, elders, deacons and conference presidents alike, for defects neglected at home are carried into church work while faithfulness at home shapes character and carries sanctified influence into the church. Therefore candidates must be carefully examined and proved as to family life before being entrusted with office, and home training must come first, since an unruly family undermines ministry and witness while a well-ordered family is one of the strongest arguments for the truth.
Meaning of Ruling Well
Ruling well his own house means having his children in subjection with all gravity, and this is the required qualification of a bishop and the test of fitness to take care of the church of God. Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, requiring diligence, consecration, and faithfulness in the home life. A man remiss in the responsible duties of home life will reveal the same defective character in the management of church duties, so the requirement needs careful study before men are entrusted with church office. Fitness for church care is proved by home government in which parents fulfill their responsibility to train their children for the Lord, teach honor and require obedience while keeping their own will in subjection to the will of God, live themselves as patterns of piety without hypocrisy or deception, and deal with children as younger members of the Lord's family without provoking them to wrath.
It means educating, training, and disciplining the children God has given him in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order, with children under the control of father and mother and father and mother under the control of God. Failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command, and if a man neglects this home work he neglects and is unfit for setting the church in order and caring for the church of God. Neglect of home duties eclipses his light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing, and working in right lines, and those who refuse the home work become blinded to the need for obedience in other lines.
Ruling well means treating a wife tenderly, giving her all the care and comfort and encouragement promised in the marriage vow, with tenderness, patience, affection, and mercy shown to wife and children, giving her no occasion to question loyalty or sincere desire to fulfill obligations to her and to the children, and having children in subjection with all gravity. Home life thus tests religious character, and fitness to take care of the church of God is proved by such rule at home. One who desires the office of bishop must study this instruction and bring it into daily experience and practice.
It requires ruling self first, with self-control and a life controlled by God, since fitness to rule rightly in one's own life proves fitness to govern others and to take care of God's work. The man placed in charge must know how to govern himself and how to govern others. A man without self-control and good influence is not qualified for the responsible position of elder, and hurrying such men into office keeps the church in continual trouble because of the defective character of the leader. God is Ruler of His church and it is not to be governed by human rules or precedents, so objectionable human management is abhorred, unfit managers are told Hands off, and to claim that the voice of councils in past management is the voice of God is almost blasphemy.
The home is a church over which parents preside, and the father and mother are to work for their children's salvation as the family's spiritual leaders and teachers. The father as head stands before the Lord as a priest in his household, proving himself not in a solitary life but as husband and father, and a Christian leader must begin by putting a neglected family right. That care includes attending to the family's spiritual needs, not merely providing for or indulging them, and faithfulness and sanctified influence in the home carry into the church, while a person unfaithful in home life cannot be faithful in the church. Whether rich or poor, high or low, he cannot evade the duties God lays on husband and wife and on parents toward children, and those who claim to serve God are under solemn obligation to set a right example before their children and keep their influence sacred amid increasing wickedness. Knowing his duty gives strong incentive to withstand temptation, to watch and pray and keep his soul in communion with God and in the love of God through trials, to stay under the molding of the Holy Spirit while molding the favorable or unfavorable temperaments of his children into characters God can approve, to honor the mother of his children with all kindness, tenderness and sympathy, to share the care and training of the children, to speak no censure or disrespect of husband or wife before the children, and to live with his wife in sacred union with the same hope in Jesus Christ, amenable to one Master as brother and sister undivided in spirit.
The house is the small number with whom he is closely united while the church is the larger company who are not especially interested in himself, so wisdom to manage the few entrusted at home proves ability to manage the church. Church leaders need wisdom and judgment as well as orderly care of their households, and no man can succeed in winning souls to Christ and caring for the church of God unless he first rules his own house well. Ruling his house means showing in his family the kindly consideration, tenderness, love, gentleness, noble forbearance, and true courtesy becoming to the head of a family. Failure at home is failure in ministry, and both husband and wife need to be truly and thoroughly converted to God in order to correctly represent the faith.
Ruling with dignity and gravity means carrying preaching into practice in the family, practicing his teaching there, living with faith, devotion and true godliness, and praying much in secret. Because the people imitate the preacher and he has very great influence upon them, ruling his house this way gives his preaching mighty influence and causes his light to shine to others around him.
It means valuing wife and children as God's own, guiding their character formation from infancy for their present and eternal good, making the home a symbol of the heavenly family, and using God-given abilities faithfully at home just as in winning souls and shepherding the church. That care includes attending to the family's spiritual needs, not merely providing for or indulging them, and exercising authority with watchful concern to attend to children's needs and protect them from overwork and illness. He is accountable for watching over souls, and neglect or unfaithfulness as a shepherd at home leads to failure as a shepherd of the church.
Home Tests Church Fitness
If a man does not know how to rule his own house he cannot take care of the church of God, for wise government of the household in the fear of God is the test and evidence of fitness to care for the church. Ruling well means having children in subjection with all gravity, preserving order in the family, and making the home an example of Christian conduct that proves capability to care for God's people and to help protect the church from false teachers. Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, and the care of a child at home tests fitness to guide its spiritual interests, so failure to guide the family well, as with a proud family lacking godly influence, disqualifies from directing important and responsible church matters. Ministers have a special duty to restrain wrongdoing in their families because their household example influences those they lead, and a man remiss in the responsible duties of home life will reveal the same defective character in the management of church duties.
This applies especially to ministers and bishops, for failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command and neglect of setting the church in order. A man must govern his household well by educating, training, and disciplining the children God has given him in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order, with children under the control of father and mother and father and mother under the control of God, and if he neglects this home work he neglects and is unfit for caring for the church of God. Servants of God must keep their families in good order and lead, govern, correct passions, and keep order at home, for their judgment and influence in the church depend on it, and those unable to do so are not prepared to judge or decide matters in the church, as Eli's failure to restrain and guide children shows can lead to grave harm. One who cannot wisely manage his own children lacks wisdom to manage spiritual interests and is not qualified to act wisely among difficult minds and those under Satan's special temptations, but faithfully and lovingly carrying out parental duties prepares to bear responsibilities in the church. He must be a faithful steward, impartial and unselfish, governed wisely in the fear of God, for neglect of home duties eclipses light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing, and working in right lines and blinds to the need for obedience in other lines, and a life not controlled by the love and fear of God leaves one unfit even to serve as local elder.
The same standard applies to local elders, deacons, and conference presidents, who must be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced, and able to govern and train children wisely. An overseer and conference president should be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced in faith and patience, and meek in instructing opposers, while a man whose conduct does not recommend him and who is not controlled by God's Spirit should not be given influence to teach or care for the people but must be changed before receiving full confidence. An elder must set members a sound example in managing his home, for if he cannot govern and train his children wisely he cannot be trusted with the greater responsibilities of church leadership, and neglect of their education and training is failure of sacred trust upon which God's blessing will not rest. The standards stated for deacons are equally essential for elders, and leaders must faithfully uphold true principles even when faithfulness brings opposition and trial. A leader who neglects wise household government carries his defects into his work, and one who keeps God's love and fear from directing his life is unfit even to serve as local elder.
Defects neglected at home are carried into church work, so lack of tact, wisdom, or godliness in managing the family reveals the same defective character and unsanctified management in the church, while faithfulness in home duties shapes character and carries sanctified influence into the church. Parents should first bring their own home into order and manage their child's case effectively and only then are prepared to bear burdens for the church and instruct other children, for mismanagement at home will carry over into church work while prayer and exhortation without the fruit of effective action accomplish nothing. Family life reveals real character and piety, which wife, children, and household helpers are especially able to judge, and a good man's religion benefits those around him. Therefore a candidate's family should be considered before choice for office — whether they are in subjection, what character his children show, and whether they honor his influence — and he should be assessed and counseled before appointment. God is Ruler of His church and it is not to be governed by human rules or precedents, so objectionable human management is abhorred and unfit managers are told to keep their hands off, for a man must rule himself before he attempts to rule others, and to claim that the voice of councils in past management is the voice of God is almost blasphemy.
Examining Candidates for Office
The requirement of ruling the house well as the test of fitness to care for the church needs careful study before men are entrusted with church office. More regard must be given to the requirement in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 when granting ministerial license. Prospective workers and teachers are to be carefully examined and confirmed to have genuine Christian experience and knowledge of Scripture before they are accepted for service. Ministers are to manage work they have begun competently and to be carefully examined before entering service.
Leaders are to be chosen with wisdom, judgment, and discernment, and not sent into the work without regard to household leadership. A candidate's family is to be considered before choice for office, whether they are in subjection, what character his children show, and whether they honor his influence, and he should be assessed and counseled about his family before appointment. Prospective leaders should be given a suitable trial before selection. No untested and untried person is to be placed in positions of trust.
Fitness for the work requires experience and testing, sound judgment, reproving sin meekly, and knowing how to feed the flock. Overseers should have proven character and experience, know Scripture, and be able to teach and bear responsibility as the work grows. The decision about fitness belongs to God's chosen ministers acting in union with the church with clear evidence of the Holy Spirit, not to individuals judging by their own impressions. An overseer and conference president should be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced in faith and patience, and meek in instructing those who oppose the truth. A man whose conduct does not recommend him and who is not controlled by God's Spirit should not be given influence to teach or care for the people, but must be changed before receiving full confidence.
At the beginning of sanitarium work those chosen must be men and women who understand the Lord's will and can prayerfully discern and do what needs to be done, so that past mistakes and errors are not repeated. The business manager must be daily managed by the Lord, with dignity and knowledge together with a clear sense of how to use authority, a life revealing Christ, ability to give religious instruction and exert spiritual influence, knowing how to deal with minds while his own mind is controlled by the Spirit, wisdom in words of encouragement, knowing how to discern and correct mistakes, harmonizing with fellow workers, adaptability, ability to speak the points of faith as occasion requires, and words and acts revealing justice, judgment, and the love of God. Local elders must be proved and tested for fitness to take care of the church, and those not fitted must not occupy the pulpit as ministers lest they bring inferiority to the work. This does not give local elders supremacy over evangelists, pastors, and teachers sent by God, who work under His supervision, are to be respected and accepted, and take their position as superiors rather than as subordinates needing invitation and permission to speak and work, with all working unitedly. The standards stated for deacons are equally essential for elders, and church leaders must faithfully uphold true principles even when faithfulness brings opposition and trial.
Effects of Home Government
Unruly and disobedient children undermine a minister's service, for inability to discipline and control them at home leaves him unable to shepherd properly and to preserve the church from strife, controversy, conflict and insubordination. The obedience and good discipline of children should illustrate the lessons taught, and when a child disrupts worship the parents should remove the child rather than allow the disturbance to distract worshipers. Fitness to care for God's church is therefore tested by government of the household.
A household's example influences those led, since people imitate the preacher who has very great influence upon them, so ministers bear a special duty to restrain wrongdoing in their families and to make their homes examples of Christian conduct. A well-disciplined family is one of the strongest arguments in favor of Christianity, and ruling the house with dignity and gravity, carrying preaching into practice in the family through much secret prayer and a life of faith, devotion and true godliness, gives preaching mighty influence and causes light to shine to others around. By contrast, neglecting family government according to the Bible and failing to teach children order and godly behavior weaken the witness of professed Christians and can cause others to reject Bible truth.
No man, however great his ability and usefulness in other pursuits, best serves God or the world while he neglects his own children. Ruling well requires giving children their right of a good example, ample faithful instruction, and proper restraint, with self-control, system, thought and prayer. Neglect of these essentials produces unbalanced minds impatient of restraint and ignorant of the duties of practical life, whose defective characters, disrespect, disobedience and evil habits dishonor parents, transmit perversity to their own offspring, corrupt society, make havoc in the church, and do the world an injury outweighing all the good accomplished by the father's other labors. Parents who have faithfully done their duty to the extent of their ability may in faith ask the Lord to do for their children what they cannot do, and faithful discipline and godly example may lead children to Christ to save many other souls, while failure in duty may place children in Satan's ranks as his agents to ruin other souls.
Servants of God must keep their families in good order, for judgment and influence in the church depend on it, and a man must govern his household well before he is ready to care for or make decisions in the church. A minister has a special duty to exercise parental authority and bring his children into proper subjection, and excusing their sins and letting them do as they please is serious neglect that harms the children, weakens usefulness, and damages the church by example. Failure to restrain and guide children can lead to grave harm, as shown by Eli's example, bringing reproach and corrupting influence and inviting God's disapproval. Tolerating an unruly, willfully disobedient son damaged Brother Ingraham's influence in Minnesota, so that people considered him incompetent to lead the church because of poor management of his own home.
An indulged and undisciplined family can damage a young church through its example, so placing such a family in a new church may bring trials and tear down its influence.
Failure to command the household after him and to manage home matters rightly, while being deceived about his own ability and letting his wife's influence injure his usefulness, shows he is not managing his home as he thinks. Following personal impulses and the promptings of his own spirit brings perplexity and discouragement, clouds discernment, weakens spiritual judgment, and marks labors with great imperfection. Instead of gathering with Christ in love, such a one labors with zeal without knowledge in sternness, severity, exacting and overbearing ways, distracting, confusing and scattering the sheep, failing to strengthen the sick and bind up the lame, and by injudicious harshness and unfit words pushing some out of the fold beyond reach. A man harsh and dictatorial at home, or not showing Christian qualities there, is not fit for special influence in the church, for if he cannot guide his children he cannot properly guide, uplift and teach the church.
Home life and a wife's character, conduct and influence can support or undermine efforts in the church, for a minister's children should be submissive and respectful and his wife's conduct in the home can either support or hinder his ministry. He must set his heart and house in order, and when converted he can strengthen other believers. Even when the spouse is unsanctified, unconsecrated and exerts harmful influence, he must rule his household well by standing firm rather than yielding to a companion's wrongs, taking a firm stand when that influence harms the home and his work, and living so as to have God's approval, since yielding brings God's disapproval.
Blindness to the condition of the family, to evil in the children, and to Satan's power over them shows unfitness to govern the church, and treating those who lovingly urge restraint as enemies belongs to the same failure. Such failure to recognize and correct evil in children's conduct reveals lack of the wisdom, discretion and judgment needed to decide church trials.
Neglect of home duties eclipses light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing and working in right lines, and those who refuse the home work become blinded to the need for obedience in other lines. Failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command through neglect of educating, training and disciplining children in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order with children under control of father and mother and father and mother under control of God. Without individual self-training in which wrong habits are overcome not by a single effort but through long and severe struggles mastering self, removing rubbish from the door of the heart, serving God with singleness of purpose, and adorning profession by a well-ordered life and godly conversation, an unsanctified life leads souls away from Christ and causes failure to keep up with the advancement of the work, for no one can teach sinners truth and win souls until his own life meets the exalted standard with religion affecting the heart and correcting the life.
Faithful Practice at Home
Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, and the work of both ministers and parents begins with their own children. Children are the first duty, and neglecting their spiritual welfare for outside work is not excused by good done elsewhere. Home duties support the well-being of individuals and of society, and the happiness and success of the church depend greatly on home influence.
One who desires the office of bishop must study this instruction and bring it into daily experience. That practice is to be carried out with diligence, consecration, and faithfulness in the home life. Parents must fulfill their responsibility to train their children for the Lord, teaching honor and requiring obedience while keeping their own will in subjection to the will of God. They are to live as patterns of piety without hypocrisy or deception, dealing with children as younger members of the Lord's family without provoking them to wrath. Correcting evil temper and passions requires husband and wife working together, for failure in family government must be corrected lest testimony dry up and become weak.
Ruling the house means showing in the family kindly consideration, tenderness, love, gentleness, noble forbearance, and true courtesy becoming to the head of a family. Tenderness, patience, affection, and mercy must be shown to wife and children, and the mother of the children is to be honored with all kindness, tenderness, and sympathy. Father and mother are to share the care and training of the children and to speak no censure or disrespect of husband or wife before the children. They are to live with one another in sacred union with the same hope in Christ, as brother and sister amenable to one Master and undivided in spirit. Knowing duty gives strong incentive to withstand temptation through watching and prayer and keeping the soul in communion with God, to remain under the molding of the Holy Spirit while molding the favorable or unfavorable temperaments of children into characters God can approve, and to keep the soul in the love of God through trials.
Parents should first bring their own home into order and manage their child's case effectively, and only then are they prepared to bear burdens for the church and instruct other children. Prayer and exhortation without the fruit of effective action accomplish nothing, since mismanagement at home will carry over into church work. Household responsibility includes giving children their right of a good example, ample faithful instruction, and proper restraint, with self-control, system, thought, and prayer. Educating children and presenting a well-ordered, well-educated family is work for God, requiring parents to restrain and train them as God requires rather than indulging them to their harm. A person unfaithful in home life cannot be faithful in the church, for faithfulness and sanctified influence in the home carry into the church, where the home itself is a church over which parents preside as spiritual leaders and teachers working for their children's salvation. Family responsibilities that hinder the interests of God's work can limit a worker's usefulness in church service.
A man who cannot govern his own household well is unfit to care for the church of God, and wise government of the home in the fear of God is the test and evidence of fitness for church office. Ruling well means keeping children in subjection with gravity by educating, training and disciplining them in obedience and order, treating a wife with tenderness, loyalty and faithful care, and first ruling self with self-control under God. The home is a small church where parents preside as spiritual leaders, so wisdom shown in managing the few entrusted at home proves ability to manage the larger company of the church. This standard applies to ministers, elders, deacons and conference presidents alike, for defects neglected at home are carried into church work while faithfulness at home shapes character and carries sanctified influence into the church. Therefore candidates must be carefully examined and proved as to family life before being entrusted with office, and home training must come first, since an unruly family undermines ministry and witness while a well-ordered family is one of the strongest arguments for the truth.
Meaning of Ruling Well
Ruling well his own house means having his children in subjection with all gravity, and this is the required qualification of a bishop and the test of fitness to take care of the church of God. Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, requiring diligence, consecration, and faithfulness in the home life. A man remiss in the responsible duties of home life will reveal the same defective character in the management of church duties, so the requirement needs careful study before men are entrusted with church office. Fitness for church care is proved by home government in which parents fulfill their responsibility to train their children for the Lord, teach honor and require obedience while keeping their own will in subjection to the will of God, live themselves as patterns of piety without hypocrisy or deception, and deal with children as younger members of the Lord's family without provoking them to wrath.
It means educating, training, and disciplining the children God has given him in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order, with children under the control of father and mother and father and mother under the control of God. Failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command, and if a man neglects this home work he neglects and is unfit for setting the church in order and caring for the church of God. Neglect of home duties eclipses his light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing, and working in right lines, and those who refuse the home work become blinded to the need for obedience in other lines.
Ruling well means treating a wife tenderly, giving her all the care and comfort and encouragement promised in the marriage vow, with tenderness, patience, affection, and mercy shown to wife and children, giving her no occasion to question loyalty or sincere desire to fulfill obligations to her and to the children, and having children in subjection with all gravity. Home life thus tests religious character, and fitness to take care of the church of God is proved by such rule at home. One who desires the office of bishop must study this instruction and bring it into daily experience and practice.
It requires ruling self first, with self-control and a life controlled by God, since fitness to rule rightly in one's own life proves fitness to govern others and to take care of God's work. The man placed in charge must know how to govern himself and how to govern others. A man without self-control and good influence is not qualified for the responsible position of elder, and hurrying such men into office keeps the church in continual trouble because of the defective character of the leader. God is Ruler of His church and it is not to be governed by human rules or precedents, so objectionable human management is abhorred, unfit managers are told Hands off, and to claim that the voice of councils in past management is the voice of God is almost blasphemy.
The home is a church over which parents preside, and the father and mother are to work for their children's salvation as the family's spiritual leaders and teachers. The father as head stands before the Lord as a priest in his household, proving himself not in a solitary life but as husband and father, and a Christian leader must begin by putting a neglected family right. That care includes attending to the family's spiritual needs, not merely providing for or indulging them, and faithfulness and sanctified influence in the home carry into the church, while a person unfaithful in home life cannot be faithful in the church. Whether rich or poor, high or low, he cannot evade the duties God lays on husband and wife and on parents toward children, and those who claim to serve God are under solemn obligation to set a right example before their children and keep their influence sacred amid increasing wickedness. Knowing his duty gives strong incentive to withstand temptation, to watch and pray and keep his soul in communion with God and in the love of God through trials, to stay under the molding of the Holy Spirit while molding the favorable or unfavorable temperaments of his children into characters God can approve, to honor the mother of his children with all kindness, tenderness and sympathy, to share the care and training of the children, to speak no censure or disrespect of husband or wife before the children, and to live with his wife in sacred union with the same hope in Jesus Christ, amenable to one Master as brother and sister undivided in spirit.
The house is the small number with whom he is closely united while the church is the larger company who are not especially interested in himself, so wisdom to manage the few entrusted at home proves ability to manage the church. Church leaders need wisdom and judgment as well as orderly care of their households, and no man can succeed in winning souls to Christ and caring for the church of God unless he first rules his own house well. Ruling his house means showing in his family the kindly consideration, tenderness, love, gentleness, noble forbearance, and true courtesy becoming to the head of a family. Failure at home is failure in ministry, and both husband and wife need to be truly and thoroughly converted to God in order to correctly represent the faith.
Ruling with dignity and gravity means carrying preaching into practice in the family, practicing his teaching there, living with faith, devotion and true godliness, and praying much in secret. Because the people imitate the preacher and he has very great influence upon them, ruling his house this way gives his preaching mighty influence and causes his light to shine to others around him.
It means valuing wife and children as God's own, guiding their character formation from infancy for their present and eternal good, making the home a symbol of the heavenly family, and using God-given abilities faithfully at home just as in winning souls and shepherding the church. That care includes attending to the family's spiritual needs, not merely providing for or indulging them, and exercising authority with watchful concern to attend to children's needs and protect them from overwork and illness. He is accountable for watching over souls, and neglect or unfaithfulness as a shepherd at home leads to failure as a shepherd of the church.
Home Tests Church Fitness
If a man does not know how to rule his own house he cannot take care of the church of God, for wise government of the household in the fear of God is the test and evidence of fitness to care for the church. Ruling well means having children in subjection with all gravity, preserving order in the family, and making the home an example of Christian conduct that proves capability to care for God's people and to help protect the church from false teachers. Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, and the care of a child at home tests fitness to guide its spiritual interests, so failure to guide the family well, as with a proud family lacking godly influence, disqualifies from directing important and responsible church matters. Ministers have a special duty to restrain wrongdoing in their families because their household example influences those they lead, and a man remiss in the responsible duties of home life will reveal the same defective character in the management of church duties.
This applies especially to ministers and bishops, for failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command and neglect of setting the church in order. A man must govern his household well by educating, training, and disciplining the children God has given him in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order, with children under the control of father and mother and father and mother under the control of God, and if he neglects this home work he neglects and is unfit for caring for the church of God. Servants of God must keep their families in good order and lead, govern, correct passions, and keep order at home, for their judgment and influence in the church depend on it, and those unable to do so are not prepared to judge or decide matters in the church, as Eli's failure to restrain and guide children shows can lead to grave harm. One who cannot wisely manage his own children lacks wisdom to manage spiritual interests and is not qualified to act wisely among difficult minds and those under Satan's special temptations, but faithfully and lovingly carrying out parental duties prepares to bear responsibilities in the church. He must be a faithful steward, impartial and unselfish, governed wisely in the fear of God, for neglect of home duties eclipses light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing, and working in right lines and blinds to the need for obedience in other lines, and a life not controlled by the love and fear of God leaves one unfit even to serve as local elder.
The same standard applies to local elders, deacons, and conference presidents, who must be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced, and able to govern and train children wisely. An overseer and conference president should be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced in faith and patience, and meek in instructing opposers, while a man whose conduct does not recommend him and who is not controlled by God's Spirit should not be given influence to teach or care for the people but must be changed before receiving full confidence. An elder must set members a sound example in managing his home, for if he cannot govern and train his children wisely he cannot be trusted with the greater responsibilities of church leadership, and neglect of their education and training is failure of sacred trust upon which God's blessing will not rest. The standards stated for deacons are equally essential for elders, and leaders must faithfully uphold true principles even when faithfulness brings opposition and trial. A leader who neglects wise household government carries his defects into his work, and one who keeps God's love and fear from directing his life is unfit even to serve as local elder.
Defects neglected at home are carried into church work, so lack of tact, wisdom, or godliness in managing the family reveals the same defective character and unsanctified management in the church, while faithfulness in home duties shapes character and carries sanctified influence into the church. Parents should first bring their own home into order and manage their child's case effectively and only then are prepared to bear burdens for the church and instruct other children, for mismanagement at home will carry over into church work while prayer and exhortation without the fruit of effective action accomplish nothing. Family life reveals real character and piety, which wife, children, and household helpers are especially able to judge, and a good man's religion benefits those around him. Therefore a candidate's family should be considered before choice for office — whether they are in subjection, what character his children show, and whether they honor his influence — and he should be assessed and counseled before appointment. God is Ruler of His church and it is not to be governed by human rules or precedents, so objectionable human management is abhorred and unfit managers are told to keep their hands off, for a man must rule himself before he attempts to rule others, and to claim that the voice of councils in past management is the voice of God is almost blasphemy.
Examining Candidates for Office
The requirement of ruling the house well as the test of fitness to care for the church needs careful study before men are entrusted with church office. More regard must be given to the requirement in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 when granting ministerial license. Prospective workers and teachers are to be carefully examined and confirmed to have genuine Christian experience and knowledge of Scripture before they are accepted for service. Ministers are to manage work they have begun competently and to be carefully examined before entering service.
Leaders are to be chosen with wisdom, judgment, and discernment, and not sent into the work without regard to household leadership. A candidate's family is to be considered before choice for office, whether they are in subjection, what character his children show, and whether they honor his influence, and he should be assessed and counseled about his family before appointment. Prospective leaders should be given a suitable trial before selection. No untested and untried person is to be placed in positions of trust.
Fitness for the work requires experience and testing, sound judgment, reproving sin meekly, and knowing how to feed the flock. Overseers should have proven character and experience, know Scripture, and be able to teach and bear responsibility as the work grows. The decision about fitness belongs to God's chosen ministers acting in union with the church with clear evidence of the Holy Spirit, not to individuals judging by their own impressions. An overseer and conference president should be reputable, grounded in Scripture, experienced in faith and patience, and meek in instructing those who oppose the truth. A man whose conduct does not recommend him and who is not controlled by God's Spirit should not be given influence to teach or care for the people, but must be changed before receiving full confidence.
At the beginning of sanitarium work those chosen must be men and women who understand the Lord's will and can prayerfully discern and do what needs to be done, so that past mistakes and errors are not repeated. The business manager must be daily managed by the Lord, with dignity and knowledge together with a clear sense of how to use authority, a life revealing Christ, ability to give religious instruction and exert spiritual influence, knowing how to deal with minds while his own mind is controlled by the Spirit, wisdom in words of encouragement, knowing how to discern and correct mistakes, harmonizing with fellow workers, adaptability, ability to speak the points of faith as occasion requires, and words and acts revealing justice, judgment, and the love of God. Local elders must be proved and tested for fitness to take care of the church, and those not fitted must not occupy the pulpit as ministers lest they bring inferiority to the work. This does not give local elders supremacy over evangelists, pastors, and teachers sent by God, who work under His supervision, are to be respected and accepted, and take their position as superiors rather than as subordinates needing invitation and permission to speak and work, with all working unitedly. The standards stated for deacons are equally essential for elders, and church leaders must faithfully uphold true principles even when faithfulness brings opposition and trial.
Effects of Home Government
Unruly and disobedient children undermine a minister's service, for inability to discipline and control them at home leaves him unable to shepherd properly and to preserve the church from strife, controversy, conflict and insubordination. The obedience and good discipline of children should illustrate the lessons taught, and when a child disrupts worship the parents should remove the child rather than allow the disturbance to distract worshipers. Fitness to care for God's church is therefore tested by government of the household.
A household's example influences those led, since people imitate the preacher who has very great influence upon them, so ministers bear a special duty to restrain wrongdoing in their families and to make their homes examples of Christian conduct. A well-disciplined family is one of the strongest arguments in favor of Christianity, and ruling the house with dignity and gravity, carrying preaching into practice in the family through much secret prayer and a life of faith, devotion and true godliness, gives preaching mighty influence and causes light to shine to others around. By contrast, neglecting family government according to the Bible and failing to teach children order and godly behavior weaken the witness of professed Christians and can cause others to reject Bible truth.
No man, however great his ability and usefulness in other pursuits, best serves God or the world while he neglects his own children. Ruling well requires giving children their right of a good example, ample faithful instruction, and proper restraint, with self-control, system, thought and prayer. Neglect of these essentials produces unbalanced minds impatient of restraint and ignorant of the duties of practical life, whose defective characters, disrespect, disobedience and evil habits dishonor parents, transmit perversity to their own offspring, corrupt society, make havoc in the church, and do the world an injury outweighing all the good accomplished by the father's other labors. Parents who have faithfully done their duty to the extent of their ability may in faith ask the Lord to do for their children what they cannot do, and faithful discipline and godly example may lead children to Christ to save many other souls, while failure in duty may place children in Satan's ranks as his agents to ruin other souls.
Servants of God must keep their families in good order, for judgment and influence in the church depend on it, and a man must govern his household well before he is ready to care for or make decisions in the church. A minister has a special duty to exercise parental authority and bring his children into proper subjection, and excusing their sins and letting them do as they please is serious neglect that harms the children, weakens usefulness, and damages the church by example. Failure to restrain and guide children can lead to grave harm, as shown by Eli's example, bringing reproach and corrupting influence and inviting God's disapproval. Tolerating an unruly, willfully disobedient son damaged Brother Ingraham's influence in Minnesota, so that people considered him incompetent to lead the church because of poor management of his own home.
An indulged and undisciplined family can damage a young church through its example, so placing such a family in a new church may bring trials and tear down its influence.
Failure to command the household after him and to manage home matters rightly, while being deceived about his own ability and letting his wife's influence injure his usefulness, shows he is not managing his home as he thinks. Following personal impulses and the promptings of his own spirit brings perplexity and discouragement, clouds discernment, weakens spiritual judgment, and marks labors with great imperfection. Instead of gathering with Christ in love, such a one labors with zeal without knowledge in sternness, severity, exacting and overbearing ways, distracting, confusing and scattering the sheep, failing to strengthen the sick and bind up the lame, and by injudicious harshness and unfit words pushing some out of the fold beyond reach. A man harsh and dictatorial at home, or not showing Christian qualities there, is not fit for special influence in the church, for if he cannot guide his children he cannot properly guide, uplift and teach the church.
Home life and a wife's character, conduct and influence can support or undermine efforts in the church, for a minister's children should be submissive and respectful and his wife's conduct in the home can either support or hinder his ministry. He must set his heart and house in order, and when converted he can strengthen other believers. Even when the spouse is unsanctified, unconsecrated and exerts harmful influence, he must rule his household well by standing firm rather than yielding to a companion's wrongs, taking a firm stand when that influence harms the home and his work, and living so as to have God's approval, since yielding brings God's disapproval.
Blindness to the condition of the family, to evil in the children, and to Satan's power over them shows unfitness to govern the church, and treating those who lovingly urge restraint as enemies belongs to the same failure. Such failure to recognize and correct evil in children's conduct reveals lack of the wisdom, discretion and judgment needed to decide church trials.
Neglect of home duties eclipses light so it cannot shine in correct example in eating, dressing and working in right lines, and those who refuse the home work become blinded to the need for obedience in other lines. Failure in the household is disobedience to God's positive command through neglect of educating, training and disciplining children in right habits and practices, requiring obedience and order with children under control of father and mother and father and mother under control of God. Without individual self-training in which wrong habits are overcome not by a single effort but through long and severe struggles mastering self, removing rubbish from the door of the heart, serving God with singleness of purpose, and adorning profession by a well-ordered life and godly conversation, an unsanctified life leads souls away from Christ and causes failure to keep up with the advancement of the work, for no one can teach sinners truth and win souls until his own life meets the exalted standard with religion affecting the heart and correcting the life.
Faithful Practice at Home
Home training is the beginning of the education for the grave responsibilities of every office connected with the church, and the work of both ministers and parents begins with their own children. Children are the first duty, and neglecting their spiritual welfare for outside work is not excused by good done elsewhere. Home duties support the well-being of individuals and of society, and the happiness and success of the church depend greatly on home influence.
One who desires the office of bishop must study this instruction and bring it into daily experience. That practice is to be carried out with diligence, consecration, and faithfulness in the home life. Parents must fulfill their responsibility to train their children for the Lord, teaching honor and requiring obedience while keeping their own will in subjection to the will of God. They are to live as patterns of piety without hypocrisy or deception, dealing with children as younger members of the Lord's family without provoking them to wrath. Correcting evil temper and passions requires husband and wife working together, for failure in family government must be corrected lest testimony dry up and become weak.
Ruling the house means showing in the family kindly consideration, tenderness, love, gentleness, noble forbearance, and true courtesy becoming to the head of a family. Tenderness, patience, affection, and mercy must be shown to wife and children, and the mother of the children is to be honored with all kindness, tenderness, and sympathy. Father and mother are to share the care and training of the children and to speak no censure or disrespect of husband or wife before the children. They are to live with one another in sacred union with the same hope in Christ, as brother and sister amenable to one Master and undivided in spirit. Knowing duty gives strong incentive to withstand temptation through watching and prayer and keeping the soul in communion with God, to remain under the molding of the Holy Spirit while molding the favorable or unfavorable temperaments of children into characters God can approve, and to keep the soul in the love of God through trials.
Parents should first bring their own home into order and manage their child's case effectively, and only then are they prepared to bear burdens for the church and instruct other children. Prayer and exhortation without the fruit of effective action accomplish nothing, since mismanagement at home will carry over into church work. Household responsibility includes giving children their right of a good example, ample faithful instruction, and proper restraint, with self-control, system, thought, and prayer. Educating children and presenting a well-ordered, well-educated family is work for God, requiring parents to restrain and train them as God requires rather than indulging them to their harm. A person unfaithful in home life cannot be faithful in the church, for faithfulness and sanctified influence in the home carry into the church, where the home itself is a church over which parents preside as spiritual leaders and teachers working for their children's salvation. Family responsibilities that hinder the interests of God's work can limit a worker's usefulness in church service.