Wise Counsel for Young Pastors

In June of 1973, GD and I were just finishing up a tour of representing Bible College as students in a mixed quartet. We had traveled for six weeks singing throughout the Eastern probably the United States and I got a call right after we got home. We got a call from a pastor in North Carolina, pastor of Needham's Grove Church. He asked if I was interested in becoming the youth pastor of that church. Richard Jimmy had just held a revival meeting for this man who was a friend of his and he had given in my name and anyway that resulted in me going to Needham's Grove Church as a youth pastor in July of 1973. I was grateful for that opportunity. I felt like I still had two years left in Bible College. I felt like I would gain some experience, be able to work under a good pastor and learn some things and be further prepared for ministry. But that's not what God had in mind. Six months after I arrived there, the senior pastor left to take a church in Richmond, Virginia and the church asked if I would be willing to become their pastor. You have to understand when I went there as youth pastor, I had just just within days just turned 21 and so when they asked me to become their pastor, I didn't even have to think about it. I didn't even have to pray about it. I just said no. I went to young, no experience. I said I've got two years of Bible College left and so they asked would you be willing to preach for us until we find someone. See they had heard me preach once in the fall and they thought I could preach what they didn't know is they had heard my one and only sermon that I had developed for that musical tour that summer and that was it for me. I had nothing else to offer but I agreed to do that and then two months later, 43 years ago this month, they asked if I would be willing to reconsider becoming their pastor and to make a long story short that happened. I can still remember feeling way out of my comfort zone way over my head and I still remember on Saturday nights trying to get to sleep in the old Scott House, the old farmhouse where Jean and I were staying when we've good dental weekends and listening to the rain fall in that tin roof and my stomach churning and wondering what have I got myself into. I can identify with what Kent Hughes says as he introduces in his commentary this section of first Timothy that we're going to look at today. This is way introduces it. The transition to a new pastor it is difficult even when the congregation has given you a solid call and you sense that the call is from God and when you are young the change to a new pastor it is especially difficult. The insecure feelings at such a time are universal. Standing in front of a sea of pleasantly inscrutable faces you do not know. You wonder what they are really like. Will they accept you? Will you click? Will they take to your style of preaching? Would you be able to lead them? Will you last six months? I remember feeling all of those things and much more. And so I can identify with Timothy. Timothy is a young pastor that Paul addresses a warning to several warnings kind of rolled into one. In fact as we look at First Timothy for today we've seen in recent weeks that there are three warnings that Paul gives him in this chapter. The first is about false doctrine we've looked at that. The second was about godliness. Actually a challenge to godliness that was a warning about the alternative to godliness. And now he comes to a third warning which has to do with neglect. He has ended his second warning in verse 11 by saying command and teach these things. And I think maybe Paul was motivated by the spirit of God at that moment when he wrote those words to think about Timothy and how young he was. And he's giving him this charge in the city of Ephesus in a well-established church with great leadership already to command and charge these things. And I think he kind of took a step back and the Holy Spirit caused him to pause for a moment before he pinned these next words addressing very directly to Timothy's heart speaking to him as a young pastor. Now we have to qualify that term if you do the Bible math if you go back to Acts 16 where they were first introduced and began to work together to the time when Paul wrote this letter it's been about 15 years. And so Timothy is probably at the at the youngest early 30s probably more like mid 30s maybe pushing 40. So this is biblical evidence for young being 40 or their bells. You know that age really is relative isn't it? 40 is old for a professional athlete. It is just in the prime for a person in the business world and it would be considered extremely young for a president of the United States. So age really is kind of relative in that sense. I can remember when I started into the ministry age 21 I heard all the time how young I was and how inexperienced I was. I heard that all the time. And I longed for the day when I would not hear that anymore. I can say that day has not arrived yet. I still have 80 and 90 year olds look at me and say oh you're just a kid you know. So you'll never outgrow that unless you like Herbert White or somebody just get older. Anybody else around you. There were a couple of things as Paul calls him a young man. There were a few things that actually complicated his youth along with his ministry at Ephesus. Think about it for a moment and you realize that it's not just his age that's against him here combined with some of these other factors. This was a daunting challenge. The first factor was the fact he was not called by the church in Ephesus. He was sent by the Apostle Paul. I mean you see Apostles had privileges that we don't have to pay. There are no Apostles today and Apostles kind of moved men around like they were operating a chessboard. Timothy you go over here to Ephesus. By this you go to Crete. He moved people around and told them where they were assigned to. That was the prerogative of a Apostle. So think about it. No one had invited him to come to Ephesus. The church had not voted on him. There is no approval if you will on the part of the church. So that's not easy to deal with. And then the second factor that complicates Timothy's youth in this position seems to be that he was very timid. There's good evidence of that throughout these two books that Paul writes to him that he was kind of timid and maybe a little insecure in his feelings about his capabilities for ministry. And so Paul, several times, challenges him about not neglecting things about his wife and not neglecting his giftedness as we'll see later. And things like that. And he'll talk to him here about don't let anyone despise your youth. Come on Timothy stick with it. I think there's a sense in which Timothy may have been staggering a bit here under the weight of the responsibility and may have actually been considering abandoning his ministry. And that's why Paul started this book by saying I urge you to stay there in Ephesus. Don't give up Timothy. Don't don't be overwhelmed. Don't be overcome. The third complicating factor added to Timothy's age was the fact that Ephesus was a stiff challenge for anybody. This was the most well-established church of the whole region. This is a church that had planted other churches like in Colossian Leotusia and other places. So this is a well-established church. They have already enough history by them to have developed some very grounded leaders already. Plus there is the presence of false teachers already there. So Timothy's got a daunting challenge for anybody no matter how old they are. Put all that together with Timothy being considered a young man. And I'm sure there were those who questioned his right to be there who challenged his leadership who may have made very known to him his age, maybe been critical of his youth or his lack of experience with very subtle reminders of how old he was. With as I remember seeing many times a long look down a raised nose at one so young as me and inexperienced, maybe Timothy faced some of that. Maybe some questioning his ability to do the job. Maybe some looking down on him or just jealous of his relationship with the Apostle Paul that Paul would even commission him to do this job. Maybe Timothy himself, I believe there's evidence of this, felt like he was in way over his head. Did Timothy awake at night listening to the rain on the roof with his stomach churning? I think he may have. Paul would say to him in chapter five of this book Timothy, you've got some stomach problems. Use a little wine for your stomach problems. Don't just drink water and you're off your your mini illnesses, he will say. I think Timothy's stomach turned a lot about what he was facing. I think he may have wondered what have I gotten myself into and maybe some Saturday nights, maybe some Monday mornings he would have been thinking I'd rather be anywhere else. Beneficists, if you think those thoughts are unholy then you're just not real. Many, many pastors have those kind of thoughts and it can be a good thing because it drives us to the grace of God without which none of us could fulfill what God wants us to do. Paul understands that pressure on this young pastor and in a very personal and direct way he speaks to Timothy and thus to all young pastors. By the way, what he says is good for us old guys too and since it has been put in scripture it was obviously God's intention for the church to listen in on this wise counsel for young pastors and the reason why it's so beneficial for the church is because sometimes churches come to the table with their own set of expectations as to what a pastor should be, who he should be, what he should do, what he should not do, how he should spend his time. And so it's good for the church to hear the inspired apostle directed word for word by the Holy Spirit. It's good for the whole church to hear what he says to this young pastor. What is his advice? Basically he warns Timothy not to shrink back, not to withdraw into his shell, not to neglect key elements of his ministry. Five of them, in fact, he warns him not to neglect. The first is Timothy, don't neglect your character. The neglect of characters dealt with in verse 12, if you're with me in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and I hope you are, look at verse 12. Paul says don't let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. You see the natural tendency when our leadership is challenged. The natural tendency is to become defensive and to become more assertive and aggressive and to let people know I'm in charge. Don't forget Paul put me here. I'm the one in charge or to use a well-worn biblical expression that is often used in the wrong way. Touch not the Lord's anointed. Don't you dare criticize me or you'll be guilty of touching the Lord's anointed. That's often used by insecure defensive assertive pastors. So we have a tendency to sometimes throw our weight around and impose our will to make sure everybody knows who we are and what we're supposed to be doing. That we're in charge. But Paul doesn't say that. He doesn't indicate in any way that that's the appropriate response. What does he say to Timothy? How does he challenge Timothy? Timothy, here's how you counter the challenges that you're too young for the job. Here's how you not let anyone look down on your youth. And when you read that at first glance, you might want to be asked to ask me to tip to the ask as I am, how do you keep people from looking down on your youth? How can I dictate what other people are going to think of my age? How do I not let people look down on my youth? Do I go up to them and say, come on, now stop looking down on my youth. Is that the way you do it? No. Timothy, Paul says to Timothy, here's the way you do it. Live with godly character. Do not let anyone look down on your youth because you're young, but he says strong contrast, but here's the antidote. Here's how you handle that, Timothy, if people are looking down on your youth, he says, set an example for the believers. The godly example is what Paul joins upon him because people, Timothy, people will eventually not despise your youth if they come to admire your character. Let me take a while, but as they watch with consistency your godly, faithful character, they will eventually drop their objection to your youth because they will admire your example. Now this is not new to Paul. Peter says the same thing. Peter's philosophy of pastoral leadership is very clearly indicated in first Peter 5 when he says to other pastors, be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care, watching over them, not because you must, but because you are willing as god wants you to be. Now notice this next statement, not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. Notice the two contrasts in styles of leadership, not lording it over, but leading by example. There is a difference in lording and leading. There's a difference in lordship and leadership and that's the difference and Peter are joined. But it's not original with them. No doubt Peter would have remembered the teaching of his lord back in Matthew chapter 20 and let me just read a couple of verses there. Peter would have been reminded when there was a dispute among the apostles and James and John were kind of angling for the secretary of defense and secretary of state positions in the Lord's kingdom. And the Bible says when the other 10 heard about it and that would include Peter, they were indignant with the other two with James and John and here's what Jesus told them. Jesus called them together. Come on guys, come on sit down here, let's talk. And said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them, not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servants and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus set the example of godly servant leadership. You see leading by example means that you don't have to force people. Lording it over people means you have to force them to see things your way or do things your way. Leadership is presenting a model that attracts followers. Lordship is being a boss who demands followers. Godly leadership is not about age. It is about character. And Paul tells Timothy the way you can silence any critics about your age. Be godly. Be an example. And notice how he says Timothy is to be an example. Five areas this could make a whole sermon in itself. Don't fake. I won't reach a whole sermon here but I would love to. Five areas of example. First of all in speech. Be an example. Set an example for the believers in speech. Paul, why do you have to start there? You see we preachers talk a lot. We have a tendency to think because we do a lot of talking on Sunday that we should do all the talking on Monday too and all the talking on Thursday. Everybody all listen to me. I don't want to listen to anybody else. You don't listen to me. Be careful. Paul says to Timothy. Don't talk too much. Be willing to listen. Preachers have a unique temptation to gossip. You wouldn't believe all we hear about you. No, I'm freezing really. There are things that you come and share with us and every pastor has to be willing to keep his mouth shut. We pastors can have a tendency to exaggerate the truth. Isn't it sad that one of our expressions for exaggeration is well evangelistically speaking? Really? Pastors and evangelists are known for stretching the truth. Exaggerating? Not to be. It is very easy for us to slip into a worldly kind of humor with suggestive double entądra meanings. Watch your speech Timothy. Timothy, you said an example to the believers in your speech but not only your speech Timothy said an example in life and this is not talking about spiritual life as such. This is talking about everyday life. This is not talking about seven example of how to read the Bible and how they should pray and how they should go to church and how they should witness. That's important. That's a part of it but he's talking about everyday life here. Timothy, you need to be an example when you're in the gas station, when you are in the grocery store line, when you're at a soccer game, when you're in the restaurant, you need to be setting an example of how believers ought to live in those daily settings. And then he says, third, in love which the word means self-sacrificial giving. Timothy, being an example of how to sacrifice, sacrificially give yourself for others in your time, your resources, your energy and then Timothy in faith. The word actually means faithfulness, be loyal, be trustworthy, be someone that can be dependent on and then in purity. Timothy, in your heart, in your motives, in your morality, be pure. Set an example for the believers I say again there is a great difference in leadership and lordship. And Paul says if there are people who doubt your youth Timothy, then just in a sense wear them down with consistent, godly living as an example of what believers ought to be and that will silence your critics. Don't neglect your character. Timothy above all, do not neglect your character. Live as an example to the believers and then secondly, secondly, he says Timothy, do not neglect the word. Don't neglect your character but also Timothy as a young pastor, do not neglect the word verse 13. He says until I come devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching and to teaching. This is a landmark text in defining the major work of a pastor and a major component of the church's worship. It is word centered. It is Bible focused. Notice three things he says about not neglecting the word. He says first of all reading the word. You see it there in verse 13, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture. Now I will very be very quick to say, not very eloquent at it, but very quick to say that the word public is not in the original language. It has been inserted, but for good reason. This is not just talking about personal Bible reading. The word used for reading of scripture here was a word that was used in the first century of the public reading of wills or the public reading of petitions or dispatches or reports. Anything that required a public reading, this is a word that would be used. And certainly the public reading of scripture was practiced in the synagogues. In Jesus' day, when people get in Paul's day, when they gather in synagogues, it is one of the reasons why when Paul went to a new city, he looked for a synagogue first because he knew the Old Testament scriptures would be pulled off the shelf and would be read and then anyone who was visiting a rabbi who was visiting be given the opportunity to comment preach on those on those words. But first of all, they would be read publicly in the assembly. And that seems to have carried over into the early church. On several occasions, Paul commands that the letter he has written be read to the whole church. Public reading of scripture. And that makes sense in the first century. People did not have copies of the Bible in their home. There were no scrolls tucked away in your nightstand at home. They didn't have that. The copies of the Old Testament, a New Testament would not be widely distributed to much later, several hundred years later. So they didn't, you didn't have a copy of the Bible at home. We ought to be very grateful for the abundance we have of the Word of God in our hands. They didn't have that. Plus a lot of people who got saved in the early centuries were out of the world of slavery. They were illiterate. They didn't, many of them know how to read. And so it made perfect sense. Read the Bible in church. I think it still makes perfect sense. The public reading of scripture still needs to be done in the worship. That's the reason why I will always read the passage that I'm going to be preaching on. I mean, not read it all at once. We read it like I'm doing this morning, verse by verse, word by word. But this establishes our authority. And to read the scripture publicly in the hearing of the church calls attention to what the authority is. That's why no preacher should ever go to the pulpit without his Bible or tablet or something that has the Bible on it. Because this is our authority and people need to see that this is the authority. Not what the preacher says. Not my thoughts, not my opinions. This is not an up-ed time. This is not an opinion column. This is God's Word. And so we need to see that it is God's Word that is front and center. The public reading of scripture does that for us. But then Paul says, don't neglect not only the public reading of scripture, but also devote yourself to preaching and to teaching. It's interesting he mentions both in this passage, preaching and teaching. There is a subtle difference between the two. Preaching the Word has to do with exhortation, challenging people, basically, to apply the Word, live out the Word in their daily lives. That's preaching. It may come in the form of a warning, a rebuke, a counsel, a comfort. It is beyond the teaching of the Word and it differs from the teaching of the Bible, both in tone and in urgency. The tone of preaching, in fact, the Word that is used is the Word to publicly announce, to herald forth. And there is a sense of urgency actually in the very way it is declared. It's different in its urgency and it's toned and just teaching, but preaching is always to be based on good teaching, the two go together. And so he says, don't neglect the preaching of the Word, but also don't neglect the teaching of the Word. That's so critical. In fact, that's foundational to preaching, the teaching of the Word. Paul mentions a pastor's responsibility to teach the Word 15 times in the pastoral epistles, first, second, Timothy and Titus. 15 times. I mean, these are not real long books. We're talking about 13 chapters with the three of them put together. 15 times. He emphasizes the importance of teaching the Word. Teaching the Word is the systematic, careful explanation of what the Scripture is saying. That's teaching the Word. And it serves as the foundation for the preaching of the Word, the extortation from the Word, the application of the Word to your life and to my life, preaching the the heralding forth of the truth is always to be based on a careful explanation of what the Scripture is actually saying. I want to stop here for just a moment because I think this is so critical for young pastors, old pastors, churches to understand the pattern was set in the synagogue. In the synagogue, the Jewish synagogue, the Scriptures would be read and then they would be explained and apply the people's lives. We know that from what Jesus did in Luke 4 when he was in the synagogue in Nazareth, he was handed a scroll to the Old Testament, read from Isaiah, read publicly the Scriptures, then he said, this day is this teaching fulfilled, this prophecy fulfilled in your hearing and he goes on to preach a message about how it's fulfilled what its application is to himself as the Messiah. We know that pattern was there and that became the basis, that pattern became the basis for what the apostles taught about the sermon and its place in the service of the church. There must be first of all the reading of the Scriptures to identify the word as our authority. Then there must be the careful instruction teaching exposition of the Scriptures. This is what this means and then there must be the preaching, the exhortation, the application of this truth that is mined out of the Scriptures for our lives. That balance is what the Apostle Paul was saying Timothy, you can't neglect this, you've got to devote yourself to this. It all goes together reading the Scripture as our authority, making sure people's attention is called to the book the Word of God and then explaining what it means and applying it to life. That is reading, preaching and teaching the Word of God. That is what God says should happen in a church service. Timothy, he says, do not neglect that. Default yourself to that. I know that we're living in a day where in many circles the sermon is seen as irrelevant. The sermon is seen as an irrelevant form of communication and I'm all for using whatever technology we can to help us communicate the Word of God but the media must never become the message. And in many places it has become the message, the end all, the wild factor that everybody's attention is drawn to. We need to use whatever technology we can and I'm too old to be up to date with a lot of that. I wish I were more up to date and could effectively imply it and import it into my sermons. I wish I could. But that must never become the message. The message is reading the Word of God, explaining what it means and applying it to people's lives where they live. Whatever technology we can use to illustrate it is wonderful and should be used but Paul reminds us. The essence is the message, the sermon, the Word of God. Nothing can take the place of that in public worship. Timothy, don't neglect your character. Timothy, don't neglect the Word. But then he goes further and he says, Timothy, don't neglect your gift for 14. He says, do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Maybe Timothy is thinking, again, this seems to indicate to me that Timothy may have been thinking, do I have the right stuff? Do I really have what it takes to lead the church in Ephesus? Wow. And Paul is saying, yes you do, Timothy, you do because God has uniquely gifted you. Don't neglect that. He reminds him of his gift and not to neglect it. So what does he mean by the gift? What does he mean by your gift? Well, obviously he's talking about spiritual giftedness. Now a spiritual gift which is not just given to preachers, spiritual gifts are given to all Christians for some type of service. The spiritual gift is a God-given blend of spiritual abilities that God, the Holy Spirit, uses to minister to other people. Spiritual gift is never intended to edify yourself. Paul makes that clear in 1 Corinthians 14. It's always intended to bless and minister to others. But it's a God-given ability, a blend of spiritual abilities that God gives, the Holy Spirit uses to minister to others. Now we don't know exactly what Timothy's gift or gifts were. But if the immediate context is any clue, maybe it had something new with his ability to understand the word, teach the word, and preach the word. That seems to be what Paul's emphasizing right here. And I think what he's telling Timothy, Timothy, don't back down. Timothy, don't be intimidated. Don't be fearful. Don't be, as he will say in 7 Timothy 1, don't be timid, Timothy. If God has called you, he has also gifted you. And the assurance of that gift of this, the recognition of that, the conviction of that will give you staying power. So as he starts this book of first-empty, stay, I urge you, stay in Ephesus. Don't leave, don't crawl back into your shell. Don't be intimidated by the false teachers and all the super spiritual leaders of the church there. Don't be intimidated by that. If God has called you, he's gifted you, recognize that. That conviction will carry you through much criticism, many problems, great challenges. That conviction will carry you through. That's the gift. But he says something interesting about the recognition of this gift. He says, do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. First of all, he says this gift was given you through a prophetic message. And I have to understand what prophecy is in the Bible, not the way the term is used today. Often prophecy is used equivalent with the term preaching. That's not the way it was used in the Bible. In the Bible, the word prophecy has two components to it. Number one is to receive direct revelation from God about new truth that needs to be communicated. And then the second part of it was to communicate that truth to God's people. Both elements are true, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, about the gift of prophecy. It was to receive direct revelation from God and then communicate it to God's people. For that reason, I believe it was one of the sign gifts that God is no longer revealing new truth, but he still expects us to proclaim the truth that has already been revealed. But Paul saying this was given to you through a prophetic message. In 2nd Timothy 1, here reminding this gift was given through the laying on of his hands. So I think what has happened here is that God had revealed to Paul what Timothy's gift was. And at a very critical juncture when Timothy needed it most, Paul proclaimed and Timothy's hearing what that gift was. And he tells us when he did it, he said it was when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Body of elders, meaning other pastors, when they laid hands on you, which indicated they said him apart publicly for his ministry, they recognized God's hand was on him and they were saying, you're one of us and we commend you to the church as a minister of the gospel. In that public setting at a critical juncture when Timothy needed the encouragement, Paul communicated what God had revealed to him about Timothy's gift. God's called you to preach Timothy. I know directed from him, he's gifted you to do just that. Be encouraged by that Timothy. In that sense, the gift was given to him laid at his feet as a responsibility that God had entrusted him with. That was the recognition of the gift. Now I do not believe that God reveals by special revelation today through a prophet or an apostle what our gifts are today. I think the Bible would indicate the way we find our gifts today is we get involved in serving. Not wait around for God to drop something and turn a light bulb on. Boom, here's your spiritual gift. We get busy serving maybe in the area our heart is passionate about. That can be a sign of what God's gifted you for. But as you serve God in various ways that you might attempt to do so, God will give you a compelling inward motivation. A desire, not just a passing whimsy, a deep desire to do this or to do that, a real connectedness, a fit, a love for that which you're doing. And the Holy Spirit will use that in other people's lives. And to the point that others will say God has really gifted you that way or God's given you a special ability that way. Other people will recognize that. But it doesn't happen if you just sit around. It happens as you serve. It happens as you get involved in ministry. And then it kind of bubbles to the surface. God confirms it to you and others and you go on in your spiritual gift. But Paul warns him Timothy, this gift which was recognized by me and the other pastors and given to you, he says don't neglect it. What you think for just a moment about the neglect of the gift? Basically what he's saying, Timothy, use it or lose it. Now I don't think you can necessarily lose a spiritual gift, but it can fall into this repair. If you don't develop it, if you don't strengthen it, if you don't cultivate it, that's why he would say in his next letter to Timothy. Notice on the screen, second Timothy chapter one, he would say for this reason, I remind you, remember I did this in the first letter, I remind you to fan into flaying the gifts of God, which is in you through the laying out of my hands. For the Spirit, God gives us, does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Timothy, even if you are timid by nature and there's evidence that he was, even if you're a little withdrawn by nature, when the Holy Spirit is on you using your gift-fidness, there will be power, there will be love, a giving of yourself holy to the task, and there will be discipline in doing it. So Timothy, that's the Holy Spirit's work. But fan your gift into flaying, cultivate it, develop it, strengthen it, help it to grow. So I think this may indicate Timothy was wavering with thoughts of inadequacy, maybe even thoughts of abandoning his ministry, and Paul keeps challenging him. Timothy, come on, you're gifted, develop it, use it, strengthen it, do whatever you need to do to learn more about how to fulfill that gift, keep pushing and practicing and diligently putting yourself into it, it will grow, it will develop. Don't neglect your gift, Timothy, and I would say to all of you here this morning, God's given you some ability to serve him, something you can do for him. Get busy and bob where your heart leads you, you believe the Holy Spirit's leading you to serve, and God will confirm what He's gifted you to do. Don't neglect it, use it for the good of the body and for the outreach of the body to others. Timothy don't neglect your gift, but then notice, he says, forthly, Timothy don't neglect diligence. The neglect of diligence, he addresses in verse 15, he says, be diligent in these matters, give yourself holy to them so that everyone may see your progress. Notice his twofold description of diligence here, he describes it in two ways, he says, first of all, be diligent in these matters. And when we think of that word diligent, we might think of manual labor, you know, sweat this out, Timothy, get dirty doing this, literally the word means thinking beforehand. That's what the word literally means that is translated in the NIV, be diligent. I think if I remember correctly, the King James says, take pains with these things. And the idea is Timothy, there is a public part of ministry, there's a public side to ministry, but there is also not just actual hands on duty of ministry, there is the preparing, the praying, the planning, the strategizing, the work that's needed to prepare you to do what's necessary publicly. There's a lot of behind the scenes work, Timothy, that nobody will ever see, nobody will ever know about, if you're not faithful to that, your public ministry will suffer. So, take pains with this Timothy, give yourself to this, plan, strategize, prepare, work ahead of time, think ahead. That's true in the ministry of the word, but it's also true in every other part of ministry. There is a preparation, planning, praying, strategizing side to it, then there's the actual doing of it. And if all you do is the doing of it, Timothy, your ministry will suffer. And by the way, it's easy for that to happen today. It is easy to go online and download somebody else's polished sermons and present them as though they're your own work. I know several high profile pastors who've actually been caught doing that and have been fired from their churches. It's easy to do that today, but it violates the ethical integrity of the ministry. Paul says, Timothy, you do the spade work behind the scenes, you do the planning, the praying, the strategizing, the diligent in these matters. And he's talking about also everything he's talked with him about. Timothy, I'm talking about the diligent in your character, do the behind the scenes spiritual disciplines necessary to develop your character. Be diligent, Timothy, behind the scenes in doing the work to study the word plan, prepare, plan ahead, strategize, do whatever it takes to get this ready. And then Timothy, I'm saying the same thing about your gift. Put in the work behind the scenes to develop your gift, to make it stronger and sharper, more effective. Be diligent. Think beforehand. And then notice the second part of this description of diligence is give yourself holy to them. Speaking of, again, of everything you've talked about to this point, give yourself holy to them. Literally, the original language says be in them. Now we might not understand what he's talking about there. That's the reason why most translation has kind of smoothed that a little bit. Give yourself holy to them. But I still like the word picture. Be in them. Be immersed in them. Be totally engulfed in these things. Be consumed by them. Live and breathe this. This is your life, Timothy. This is not a nine to five job, Timothy. This is your life. Be in it. Give yourself holy to be immersed in it. There is no affected ministry without hard work. I'm not talking about becoming a workaholic where you never see your family. Kids look at you when you come into the door and say, Mommy, who's this man? I just walked in. I'm not saying that. But I am saying that as pastors, this is not a job that can be effectively done in a few hours and then thrown aside. This is our life. We are in it. We're immersed in it. We have to be. We must be. God calls us to be. I read an article about a man named Jeff Miller January 2010. This was in a Chicago newspaper. He was an independent businessman from Rodgers Park, Illinois, who clinched his third consecutive ultimate couch potato title. That Chicago's ESPN zone. Here's what he said about his accomplishment. It's all about determination. It's all about the thermos. He said, Miller, who watched TV sports programming for 72 straight, sleepless hours. I know some of you wives are saying NCAA tournaments on. I think my husband has already beat the record. Listen to this. Miller, and gives his age, bested three other competitors, all men, and pushed himself beyond the Guinness World Record for non-stop viewing. Princess ESPN's TV marathon rules mirror the rules of Guinness. Book of World Records. No sleeping, no leaving the chair except for thrice daily bathroom breaks and hourly five minute stretches. The venue, the ESPN zone. I've seen it before. It's just off Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The venue controlled the remote from the time the four contestants first reclined in their chair on New Year's Day and 72 hours later Miller sat alone. His, I love the way the newspaper describes this, his superior sluggishness earned him a new recliner, a thousand dollar gift card toward the purchase of a pepper visit. Money for one year for his cable satellite bills, 1000 ESPN zone credit, and the ultimate couch potato trophy adorned with an actual spud just like the trophies he'd won in 2008, 2009. Some of you say, Sign Me Up, man. I'm ready to be in next year's ultimate couch potato challenge. You know what his girlfriend had to say? He's driven and everything he does. You can't make this up. He's driven and everything he does, gust his girlfriend Barbara Carpaville, explaining how her boyfriend's real estate business affords him time to sit these days. ESPN's Brian Hanover added, most people have no idea what it takes to win them. They don't understand the endurance it takes to stay awake and control bodily issues, Jeff is uniquely qualified. He's an expert. I love that. He's an expert sluggered. Oh my goodness. I don't know if you will ever qualify to win that award. I hope not. There is much to be said for diligence in the ministry in all life, but Paul is addressing a young pastor and saying, be diligent. Plan, think, strategize, pray, get ready, then do it. And as you do it, be in it. Give yourself holy to it. Don't hold back. Now you know what the result of that diligence will be? And I know that those tellings it's time to stop. You know what the result of this is? Look at it verse 15, so that everyone may see your progress. Oh wow, there's so much to be said here. Timothy, young pastor, your life ought to demonstrate progress and growth. People should see not only who you are, but who you are becoming and how you're progressing toward that. I want to say something about those of us who are pastors and for you as a church congregation as well. See, some preachers feel like they must appear to be perfect. Some preachers feel like they have to give this image that they've got it all together. There are no flaws. There are no blemishes. There are two things wrong with that. Number one, it's hypocritical because nobody is perfect apart from Christ himself. Nobody ever walks this earth perfectly and it's dishonest to pretend that we are. We have some warts. As all of us do, there's none of us and there are none of us who are perfect. Second problem with that kind of presentation of an image is that it discourages people who actually believe that image and may feel that, oh, that pastor, he's exceptional, he's arrived. I could never do that. Well, yeah, you can do a lot better than I do, I know. We are all fellow pilgrims on the road of growth to maturity and people ought to see the fact that we're still growing. We're still progressing and we slip up sometimes. We say some things we shouldn't say. We get upset at some things we shouldn't get upset about. We demonstrate attitudes that are not Christ like sometimes. We're still growing. By the way, their apostle Paul said that about himself. Look at this word to the Philippians and Philippians 3. He says, after explaining to them all they have in Christ, he says, not that I've already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal. That's pretty clear, isn't it? I haven't arrived, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. All of us are fellow pilgrims on the journey to maturity, including your pastors. Don't expect them to be perfect and by God's grace, by all means, we should never present ourselves that way. Quickly and closing one more thing he tells Timothy not to neglect. Don't neglect your balance. The balance of these two things, verse 16, watch your life and doctrine closely. The proper balance is a balance between the way you live and the way you minister publicly preaching teach. Your life, your doctrine, your character, your preaching and teaching, your private life, your public life, your practice, your preaching, both of those need to fit together. If they don't, you're not genuine, you're not authentic. So Timothy, you've got to watch both. It's not just who you are in public when you're up in the pulpit. It's also who you are at the gas station in the restaurant at the soccer game. That's life. Watch your life. And the amazing result of that, he says, is persevering then because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. That's shocking. You need Timothy can save himself and he can save others. Well, not in the way you might be thinking. Obviously, Paul doesn't mean that you'll get yourself to heaven this way. If Paul is clear on anything in his writings, it's the salvation of the soul. The coming to child of God is by the gracious gift of God's receivables through faith. Not it works. We don't work our way there in any way. So you can't be talking about that. But Paul is also adamant in his writings that genuine salvation will demonstrate itself in a growing life of good works. It will be demonstrated. And you know, that is also part of our salvation. I remember hearing Earl Rodmacher, who was a president of Western seminary years ago. I remember hearing him say, we have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved. And what he was talking about was we have been saved at a moment in time, but we have justification when we trust Christ as our Savior, our eternal destiny is settled. But we are being saved in the sense that God is continuing to grow us and deliver us more and more from ourselves and our simple nature and tendencies. And then one day we will be completely delivered in the presence of Christ. There are three tenses of salvation. Paul is talking about the present tense here. He's just talked about people be able to see your progress. That's what he's talking about. People be able to see the progress, the growth that evidence is in fact you're genuinely saved. And be able to save your hearers. Yes, but only in the sense that you're preaching and faithful teaching of the word Timothy will show them the gospel and enable them to understand what it means to be saved. And in that way you'll save your hearers. You'll be the instrument God uses to rescue them from a life of sin and Timothy, if you live a life that's consistent with your public ministry, you won't turn people away from Christ. You may be even used of God to attract people to Christ and they will be saved. It's that sense in which he's talking. Listen, these verses are so important because they show the terrible danger of neglect and what neglect will do to a ministry, what it will do to a pastor. I read an article this week, one of the most iconic movies of all time was The Wizard of Oz. I think it was made in 1939. And probably the most iconic movie costume piece of all time would be the Ruby Red slippers of Dorothy. Since 1979 they've been kept in the Smithsonian Institution. They're a little worse for the wear after 80 years or so. And the Smithsonian is aware of that. The shoes are fragile, they're actively deteriorating, color-respected, slippers appeared dull and washed out. So, Smithsonian has instituted a program to rejuvenate, restore these shoes so that they will not be neglected. They started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $300,000 for preservation work, research, and a new display case. According to the museum's head of conservation, and I quote, the case would probably need to contain a gas other than oxygen and would have controls for barometric pressure. So, as part of this Kickstarter campaign in order to get you the public, the American public, to not neglect Dorothy's red slippers and to save them. They're asking you to give, and if you give, you'll get gifts ranging from totes and shirts to your very own replica pair of the slippers if you get $7,000. Now, am I making fun of the desire to preserve the ruby red slippers? You bet I am. Yeah, because I think there's a lot more important things to say we don't want to neglect. We want to save. We want to preserve. And Paul has just told us some very important things for pastors to preserve, not neglect, and for the church to make sure these are held high as standards. Don't neglect your character. Don't neglect the word. Don't neglect your spiritual gift. Don't neglect diligence and don't neglect the balance of your life, private life, and public ministry. Timothy, don't neglect those things. Let's pray. Father, help us to be in earnest serious about the things that you're serious about, that your word and joins on us in such clear, compelling terms that we dare not neglect them. I pray for me and for all of our other pastors. I pray that you will help us to be diligent and not neglect these things that are so critical to the ministry of the church. I pray, Father, that as a church, we will have the proper expectations, not our own job description, but we will let the Bible speak and let the Bible determine what our pastors should lead us. Father, help us. We need you by your grace and by your spirit in Jesus' name, amen.