Outline of the Book of I Timothy - The Floral Heights Church of Christ

2. Diakonesanteo) deacon (ASV) (I Tim. 3:13) (Translated “having ministered” {NM}). {Same as
B1 above}.
III. The deacons work:
A. The office of deacon is, by definition, a man who executes the commands of the bishop. He has charge
of, and distributes, the money collected. He is to be a servant in the church in all sense of the word.
He will make sure that the poor and physically needy of the church who have no other family members
to take care of them are taken care of with the church treasury (consider Acts 6:1ff). This man will also
spend time in preaching the word of God. If ever there were a humble do all man the deacon is it!
B. Having charge of collected money places the deacon over maintenance. He takes care of any project
involving monies used for the local work. In short, he takes the burden of distributing funds in areas
applicable to the local work off the elder so that the elder may be free to do the work of overseeing and
shepherding the flock.
C. Examine all the Greek words above which have “diakon” as their root word. Notice that all members
of the body of Christ are “servants (diakon)” but not all members occupy the office of deacon.
Consider the office of elder. Not every elder of the body of Christ holds the office of elder. Context is
the key to understanding the official office of elder and deacon.
IV. The Qualifications of the Deacon (3:8-13):
A. "Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of
filthy lucre;" (3:8).
1. Once again we find binding necessity in the statement "must be" (Greek - osautos = similarly [NM
- 825]). That which the office of deacon is "similar" to in qualifications is the bishop. As the
bishop was bound to meet the above qualification so the deacon must meet the following
qualifications. First, the deacon must be "grave" (semnous) = "grave [dignified in conduct and
character], serious, dignified... reputable... honorable..." (Moulton 364)... “to be venerated for
character, honorable:” (Thayer 573). A man who would be preaching, in charge of the church
treasury, and taking care of the needy in the church must be reputable, honorable, and trustworthy.
2. Secondly, the deacon is not to be "double-tongued" (dilogous) = "speaking one thing and meaning
another, deceitful in words" (Moulton 102). Some try to play word tricks by saying something
that the speaker intends for his listener to understand a designed way but really there is hidden
meaning. We find professionals of this in the church today. Men who like to use their language
to deceive and all those who are likened unto him not only understand but get a kick out of such
practices. One who would serve as a grave deacon will not have this trickster disposition. He is
honorable and grave. The deacon is a "straight shooter" as some may say. He speaks truth with
no veiled meanings to his sentences. Those who are in a state of need do not care to be taken
advantage of and neither will the Lord let such activity slide without judgment.
3. Thirdly, the deacon is to "not given to much wine" (Greek: me oino pollo prosechontas)... the NM
text reads, "not wine to much being addicted." Some have concluded that since the elder is not to
have any part of intoxicants (I Tim. 3:3 and Titus 1:7) the deacon can have a little as long as it is
not "much" nor is he "addicted" to it. Let us first define our words and secondly look to God's
teaching on wine in other parts of the Bible and thirdly we ought to consider context. Let us treat
the subject fairly and accurately:
a. Before we begin our discussion we must first note that not every time we read the word wine
in the Bible does it have a uniform meaning of an intoxicating drink. Sometimes it means
grape juice (see chart below).
b. Let us now define terms: Oino is wine - intoxicating or grape juice (context determines
meaning). Pollo = "much" (Moulton 335). Parallel uses of the word are found in Matthew
6:30 {i.e., God clothes man much more than the grass of the field} and Mark 10:48 {one who
cries out louder and louder}. The term is mathematical; i.e., it is more or greater than another.
The third term is prosechontas - "to give one's self up to, be addicted to, engage in, be
occupied with... give heed to, yield credence to, be attached to..." (Moulton 349). This word
is very similar in meaning to paroinos used at I Timothy 3:3a (the elder was not to be a
"brawler" i.e., given to wine). To form a meaning from the three words we would read, "do
not give yourself to drinking a lot of wine." The natural question then: "Is Paul saying that it
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