The Way of Faithful Ministry

This morning we come to the last aspect of the way of life that the disciple is to follow. We’ve seen that the way of life is the way of obedience. This told us the way we are to live towards our fellow man. We’ve seen that the way of life is the way of truth. This told us how we are to walk in and be watchful of our beliefs. Our last consideration focuses on how we carry out the ministry of the church. This is a very serious question for our present age: what is the ministry of the church to be? Is the church a political party, a social club, a service organization, or something else? What is the primary work of the church? This morning, we are going to study 2 Tim. 4:1-5. From this passage I want you to see that the way of life is a way of faithful ministry with a charge to those who minister and a challenge to those who listen.

First, consider the charge to those who minister from verses 1 and 2. Paul has just challenged Timothy, particularly in chapter 3:16-17, that his ministry as pastor in Ephesus should be governed by the Word of God. Now, he gives Timothy a charge. I want you to notice three characteristics of this charge: the seriousness, the singularity, and the standards. The charge that Paul gives to Timothy is serious. Notice, he charges Timothy in the “presence of God and Christ”, and in this he reminds him of just who this Christ is. He is the Christ who will judge the living and the dead. This isn’t cute, hippy Jesus who wants everyone to be happy. This is the king of the universe who will return one day and call his servants to account for how they managed his kingdom. Understand from this that the ministry of the pastor and, by connection, the ministry of the church is serious business. It is life-and-death, heaven-and-hell type stuff. When I stand before you as a minister of the Gospel, I am to take that task with the seriousness of the judgment of God. Anyone who teaches in this church should do the same. If you teach Sunday school, you should take that task seriously, understanding that the ministry of this church is kingdom work. If you teach VBS, sure we have fun and we act silly, but the core of what we do is serious, kingdom work, and you should treat it as such.

Next, notice the singular focus of this charge. Paul charges Timothy with one task: “preach the word!” Notice, there is no other task that Paul gives Timothy in his ministry. He doesn’t charge him to administer the business of the church. He doesn’t charge him to serve as a public figure. He gives him the singular charge of preaching the Word of God. Timothy is to do this “in season and out of season.” In other words, he is to preach when it is popular, and when it is not. He is to preach when the office of pastor is respected and when it is maligned. He is to preach when the hottest trends in ministry tell him he should and when the hottest trends tell him that preaching is outdated, and instead he should substitute interpretive dance and musicals in its place. He should preach the Word when politicians could care less about the church and when politicians would rather he used the pulpit for a political stump speech.

Lastly, notice the standards of this charge. Paul charges Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” This statement is paradoxical. On the one hand, he says that Timothy is to rebuke and reprove, but then he says he is to do so with patience. In this we find a balance in the preaching ministry of the church. Yes, our preaching and teaching should challenge sin. Yes, as we teach men and women, boys and girls, we should call them to repentance. We should warn them of the judgment that is coming. But, we should do so with patience. We should be longsuffering with those who struggle with sin, even as they seek to live in repentance. We should be forbearing with those who are grumpy Christians – those who are quick to share and opinion but not so quick to share their complements. We should do this because God was longsuffering with us.

This leads to my second point: this way of ministry also contains a challenge for the listener. Notice, in verses 3-4, Paul warns Timothy of a trend among his listeners. He warns that there will come a time when people won’t endure sound teaching. There are two ways that Paul says people will reject sound teaching. One way is that they will seek out teachers who will affirm them in their own sinfulness. Paul says that they will have “itching ears” and will find teachers to “suit their own passions.” In other words, they will find teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. They will find teachers who will tell them that God loves them just as they are, he made them in the sinful state they are wallowing in, and that there is no expectation to change, no need for repentance, no concern for holiness.

Second, they will reject healthy teaching and instead turn to “myths.” There are several superstitions that Paul has in view here when he uses the word, “myth.” In 1 Tim. 1:4 he says that false teachers devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the Gospel. As Jesus said of the Pharisees, “they strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.” The temptation with Scripture is to become obsessed over the tiniest of details (where did Cain’s wife come from? How old is the earth? When will the rapture happen?). These details are not the main point of Scripture, and when we obsess over them, they distract us from the broader, more important story.

Another way that listeners can be given to myths is by being obsessed with the mystical. Paul tells Titus, in Titus 1:14, “charge them not to devote themselves to Jewish myths.” Jewish myths were fables that were added to the stories of Scripture. Fables like the “Book of Enoch” or the “Book of Jubilees” embellish on the stories of Scripture and can distort our understanding of it. We find this today with obsessions over angels and demons, various supposed numerical schemes within Scripture, and so on. Again, these fables take away from the big picture of the Gospel. They distract us on small things and can lead us astray.

While this warning is given to Timothy as pastor, I find in this a challenge to any member of a church. When I stand before you to preach, you are not passive in that act. Your task, as you listen to preaching, as you sit in Sunday school, as you read a Christian book, is to listen with intention. As we close, let me commend two ways that you can actively listen based on what Paul warns Timothy here.

First, you can actively listen by treating your itching ears. There is no telling how many opinions there are in this room right now of how I should preach. Some of you would rather hear a sermon on the end-times. Others might want me to address the latest political issue. Still others wish I would just preach about fathers and Father’s Day. Consider that your desires for what I should teach just might be itching-ear syndrome. God has called me to preach, in season and out. That means that there are times when I need to teach you truths that, to you, seem untimely or out of fashion. But still, they are the truths of Scripture, and I am under the authority and judgment of God to teach them. So, when your ears itch, instead of tuning me out because it isn’t your favorite subject, discipline yourself to listen even more attentively and consider the ways you might have neglected the subject.

Second, you can actively listen by learning to swim in the deep end. Let me just say, studying genealogies and all the minute what-ifs of Scripture may seem like deep stuff, but that is not where the deep water lies. When the sermon challenges what you’ve always thought, or it calls you to think more broadly about a subject, don’t shut down and turn back to the subjects you like. Instead, write down the passages I reference. Take notes on the concepts I cover. Then go do your own digging. Give me a call or meet me for lunch and we will dig together. It is in that deep water that you will find the wonderous glory and majesty of God and real growth in faith.