Original Meaning
The Charge to Timothy (4:1 – 5)
VERSE 1 BEGINS Paul’s final exhortation and appeal to Timothy. The opening is in the form of a charge rendered somber by evoking the presence of God and Christ and by two additional words (in an oath format), the “appearing [of Christ] and his kingdom” (see also 1 Tim. 5:21; 6:13). The seriousness of this charge is heightened by a reference to the fact that Christ “will judge the living and the dead.” The Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this verse; judgment is under the authority of God the Father, who has “entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:22–23; see also Acts 17:31; note also Paul’s reference to “the Lord, the righteous Judge” in 2 Tim. 4:8).
We gather from the various biblical texts about future judgment that this will be a complex event. Not only will there be a comprehensive judgment before the great white throne, resulting in eternal life or death (see Rev. 20:11–15), but our lives as servants of the Lord will be evaluated before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:9–10). In 1 Corinthians 3:12–15, another text dealing with the future evaluation of our work, Paul specifically focuses on how each one has contributed to the growth of the church. Our lives should, therefore, be lived with a constant eye to the future, primarily to the “appearing” of Christ.1 While that future appearing is to be desired (v. 8), it also will mean judgment and therefore is linked with the “kingdom,” which expresses the reign of Christ (see also 2 Tim. 4:18). All of this adds weight to Paul’s charge.
The contents of the charge are contained in verses 2–5. It opens with five commands. The first (“preach the Word”) echoes the repeated instructions to Timothy and Titus regarding the teaching and preaching of God’s truth. As in 2:9, 15 this truth is referred to as “the Word.” Next, “be prepared” contains the idea of standing by, taking a position of readiness (Jer. 46:14); such preparedness should be a permanent part of Timothy’s life. The third, fourth, and fifth imperatives (“correct, rebuke and encourage”) reflect the necessity of a strong ministry in view of false teaching at Ephesus (cf. 3:16). The modifying phrase “with great patience and careful instruction” combines two dissimilar words, one denoting an attitude and the other content. Yet the two belong together because they are integral to Paul’s message in the Pastoral Letters that both attitude and teaching are important. The word “instruction” can convey both the activity of teaching and the content of teaching. Here it is probably the former.2
Verse 3 explains the reason for the charge in verses 1–2. The Word must be preached because sound doctrine is going to be rejected. The future tense, like that in 3:1 (see also 1 Tim. 4:1), describes a situation that is already coming into being. The word “time” (kairos) has the same root as the words translated “season” in verse 2; it will reappear in verse 6 with reference to the time of Paul’s impending death. Once again we encounter the expression “sound doctrine,” which is both unique to and typical of the Pastoral Letters (see 1 Tim. 1:10 and comments; 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:8). The verb “to put up with” occurs fifteen times in the New Testament (note esp. 2 Cor. 11:1[2x], 4, 19, 20).
“Instead” represents the strong adversative conjunction alla. People will “gather [teachers] around them,” the verb conveying the idea of heaping up an assortment of things (nrsv “accumulate”). These teachers are not teachers of truth but those who suit the “desires” of the people. This, then, becomes not only a matter of doctrine but also of moral character. People will listen eagerly because of “their itching ears,” that is, ears that want to be soothed with agreeable pleasantries. Clement of Alexandria wrote sarcastically about a Sophist who spoke on various subjects, “scratching and tickling, not in a manly way, in my opinion, the ears of those who wish to be tickled.”3
Verse 4 picks up the reference to ears, going from a metaphorical use to a literal meaning, as the people “will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” The use of the definite article before “myths” suggests that Timothy is aware of such myths (see 1 Tim. 1:4 and comments; 4:7; Titus 1:14).
Verse 5 begins (like 3:10) with “but you.” In spite of this movement away from the truth, Timothy is to (lit.) “be sober in all things.” Of course, this does not suggest that Timothy will otherwise be fuzzy-minded because of alcohol, since he has needed encouragement to take even a little wine (1 Tim. 5:23). Yet perhaps a near literal understanding of the verb is appropriate. It is not enough to keep from losing his head; he must think clearly, fully aware of all that is going on. This means that he has to “endure hardship,” an exhortation that recalls Paul’s words about suffering in 2 Timothy 1:8, 12; 2:3.
“Do the work of an evangelist” (cf. Acts 21:8; Eph. 4:11) is a straightforward command, implying that Timothy might be so consumed with other needs and tasks that he is in danger of not pursuing the work he probably originally did with Paul on their travels together. To “discharge all the duties of your ministry” might seem counterproductive to the instruction to do the “work of an evangelist.” Is Timothy to focus or not? The solution may be to keep just the singular “ministry” rather than, as in NIV, add the words “all the duties of.” A more literal translation reads: “Fulfill your ministry.” In these final words of Paul to Timothy, the young pastor should accomplish the task for which Paul left him at Ephesus (cf. also Col. 4:17, “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord'”).
Bridging Contexts
THE PREACHING OF the Word. Among all of the verses in the sixty-six books of Scripture, 2 Timothy 4:2 is probably the most frequently heard in ordination services of ministers. It is selected, of course, because of the imperative “preach the Word,” its comprehensive time reference (“in season and out of season”), its specific instructions about correcting, rebuking, and encouraging (which cover a good deal of the pastor’s typical ministry), its reference to method (“great patience and careful instruction”), the solemn context of verse 1 (referring to God as judge and to the coming kingdom), and the word “charge” in verse 1 of the NIV and several other versions (an ordination usually includes a charge).
There is both a great benefit and a significant flaw in the use of this passage as an ordination charge. The benefit is the importance of the Word of God in ministry. But the flaw is that contextually Paul’s charge to Timothy was intended for, and applied to, a particular situation. Neither that situation nor the “charge” in this passage match the job description of typical pastors today. We tend to read back into the Pastoral Letters the modern idea of a senior pastor, whereas in fact Timothy’s work had to do mainly with confronting heretics and repudiating their teaching. There is no indication that he was to devote a large share of his time to the kind of pastoral ministry normally needed today in Christian churches. Of course, one can move in one direction or another in this matter (see the Contemporary Significance section). At this point what must be emphasized is the significant place of the ministry of the Word of God in any ministry.
Paul insisted on the preaching of the Word in view of the time that would come (and most readers of this passage today would probably say the time had already come) when people would not put up with sound doctrine (v. 3). It is human nature to hear only what we want to hear and to close our ears to anything that counters our distorted ideas of truth and pleasure. This calls attention again to the context of the charge to preach the Word here, similar to the context of the exhortation to “correctly handle the word of truth” in 2:15 (i.e., the context of heresy).
The personal in Paul’s letters. Moving to verse 6, it is unfortunate— totally apart from the theological aspects of the authorship issue—that Paul has been read out of his own scenario. This is an author who “pops” in and out of his own letters—now reflecting on God’s grace to him, now on his commission, now on his peaceful conscience, or, as here, now on his apprehension of the future. There are curious little touches (something like characteristic strokes and colors of a painter or like the little self-images that Rembrandt put in some of his paintings) that make the Pastoral Letters not only authentic but intriguing. Although, as just noted, in verse 3 Paul says that the time when people prefer heresy will come, in verse 6 he declares that the time for his own departure has already come.
One might have thought, given everything he has said about the existence of heresy at Ephesus, that the time had already come when people would reject sound doctrine, but that the prospect of his death was less sure. Apparently, however, Paul has no doubt that his personal fate has already been sealed, and that he is “already being poured out like a drink offering.” The fact that he is so sure that his own time has come gives him another opportunity for a small self-portrait. This is no grandiose “après moi la deluge” (“after me the flood”) statement. He is not placing himself on the stage of history as the one whose “season” of death allows the “season” of uninhibited defection from the faith. He is rather the servant of God who, although he has only done his duty (Luke. 17:10), knows that he will hear his Master’s “well done” (Luke 19:17). Whether Paul knew it or not, his words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” were destined to spur on generations of the Lord’s servants to do the same against all obstacles.
Contemporary Significance
PREACHING AND OTHER ministries today. “Preach the Word” is a command that not only stirs the hearts of pastors but also excites all who love Scripture. It is one command that we are eager to obey. However extensive other ministries of pastoral staff and congregation may be, it is the Sunday sermon that gains the most visibility. Important as witnessing, counseling, discipling, comforting, planning, administrating, and intercessory prayer are, it is preaching that most seminary students look forward to. Few recognize the names or faces of those who spend endless hours in pastoral counseling, but mention Jonathan Edwards, Charles H. Spurgeon, or one of our great contemporary preachers such as Bill Hybels or Charles Swindoll, and there is immediate recognition.
This means several things: (1) Preaching is important and should be given an immense amount of prayer and preparation. (2) Preachers should make sure that they are doing what God intends for them, serving where God wants them and living as God commands them, for their influence for good or ill is enormous. (3) Congregations should give more of their own time to share in the church’s ministries (and perhaps also enlarge the church staff), providing freedom from other time-consuming pastoral tasks that may not be areas of the preacher’s giftedness or calling. (4) Balancing the above, Christians should recognize the importance of other ministries and not inflate the preacher’s ego. It is already too easy for the preacher to neglect prayer and people in order to preach a polished sermon.
We have already noted that Timothy’s role as an apostolic delegate to the church at Ephesus, where he was to concentrate on refuting heresy and heretics, is more focused than, and different from, the tasks occupying a typical pastor’s time in the contemporary church. That, of course, does not mean that pastors are never called by God to be mainly involved in preaching and doctrinal teaching. Many senior pastors do little pastoring. While in some cases that may be mainly a concession to personal preference, such specialization accords with the fact that there is no biblical support for solo ministry in a church. That fact has received increasing attention in recent years and has led to a healthy emphasis on the ministries of all God’s people and on the benefits of a multiple staff.10
It is both biblical and functionally useful to have a team of staff and elders who divide the responsibilities of preaching, pastoral counseling, administration, teaching, evangelism, missions, and other ministries. It is also wise to have some sharing of the pulpit; no one person has all the gifts of biblical knowledge, theological discernment, homiletics, pastoral sensitivity, and street smarts! It is unfortunate, given the biblical teaching on the diversity and significance of the various gifts in the body of Christ, for the one who has the preaching gift always to be known as “senior pastor,” while another on the pastoral staff who spends countless hours in counseling is only an “associate pastor” with a lesser salary. It would be a great object lesson for the congregation to see a greater sharing of honor than is customary.
How, then, should the command to “preach the Word” be applied? Those who are so gifted and called should do it! They should preach with the authority of that Word.11 And since the Pastoral Letters demonstrate throughout the need for shepherding, even though there is a focus on teaching truth against error, the preaching ministry of a church should be accompanied by broad, capably handled pastoral ministries.
As suggested earlier, sermons must be motivated both from below (i.e., the existence of human needs) and from above (i.e., the truths of the Bible). A good sermon will probably begin with an introduction describing a human circumstance that calls for divine help, but it will quickly move to the exposition of relevant Scriptures. Further, while the preaching of the Word (with the accompanying ministries of correction, rebuke, encouragement, and careful patient instruction) is especially important in a period of doctrinal crisis such as existed at Ephesus, it is also important in the ongoing proactive ministry of elders as they guard the flock. Biblical truth should be the main nutrient in the flock’s diet. It is important in the overall direction of a church and is necessary for the spiritual development of a congregation.
The fact that the charge is given in the presence of the Judge and King (v. 1) increases its weight on us. Moreover, Paul’s consciousness of the impending fate that will form the last page of the story of his earthly life (v. 6), to be followed only by the epilogue of his commendation in heaven (v. 8), is a compelling motive for anyone serving God in our day.
The duties of ministry. In between these great sentences is another one that is occasionally used almost as an add-on in ordination charges: “Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (v. 5). These duties constitute the “et cetera” of our ministries as God’s servants. They remind us of Paul’s words after describing the sufferings he endured for Christ: “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). The message for us today is not one more burden, but just as Timothy was not to limit the effectiveness of his ministry, consumed by the main item in his job description, so we today are encouraged to look around us at the marvelous variety of opportunities existing in our own communities.
These are not to be burdens or distractions, for we should, like Timothy, “keep [our] head in all situations” (v. 5). We must not be like the infamous young man who got on his horse and rode off in all directions at once. Neither should we fill our time with the easy things, but rather be ready to “endure hardship.” And specifically, we must not so narrowly define our gifts as to exclude the basic task of evangelism. Granted that not everyone has this particular gift (Eph. 4:11 makes that clear), we should certainly all be witnesses, forwarding the work of evangelism. No doubt Paul saw in Timothy the gift of an evangelist.
We are to “discharge all the duties of [our] ministry,” but that does not mean undertaking all the duties that others unload on us. Many pastors and missionaries see so many needs that they find it difficult to establish boundaries, while others find it difficult to have vision and see opportunities. It is possible also to choose ministries that are more comfortable, perhaps more in accordance with our own natural gifts and inclinations (such as counseling those in the church or doing routine administration and thus avoiding ministries that entail a high risk of conflict, tension, or danger). Urban ministries, pioneering work overseas, and contact with disease come to mind.
Here is another reason for pastors to keep their heads. Today those in Christian ministry have a resource that, for the most part, their predecessors did not have (or perhaps want). That resource is the “ministry of the laity”— the contemporary movement to see all God’s people as ministers. Because of this awareness, a church pastor today is better able to encourage others in the church to share in various ministries without being accused of trying to avoid doing the work himself. The wise pastor will not simply give “jobs” to laypeople, but will stimulate them to cultivate their own visions of what ministries are needed and possible and of how they themselves (with the pastor’s encouragement) can fulfill these ministries. We have a wonderful opportunity today to find new opportunities at home and abroad, to create new ways of reaching people for Christ, and to enable his church to grow.12 Because of these contemporary circumstances perhaps verse 5 can be fulfilled in ways undreamed of in earlier centuries.
Passing the baton. Behind all these exhortations is the figure of the great apostle, ready now to commit the immense tasks he has been passing on to a younger man. This must have required a great deal of trust on his part. My wife, on reading this text and my comments on it, added this note: “How do you feel as a retired teacher? Can you turn it all over to the young?” That gave me reason to reflect, both as a retired seminary professor and as a retired pastor! Then, just before completing this section I had two phone calls. One was about a former student and his excellent teaching ministry overseas. The other was about another former student who is being sought as a pastor by several churches. How do I feel? I have cherished every God-given opportunity for personal ministry. Yet I cherish more the fact that his kind of ministry does not end with my retirement but continues in the hands of many competent Timothys.
1. Paul refers to this appearing (epiphaneia) in each of the Pastorals Letters (cf. 1 Tim. 6:14; Titus 2:13); in 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 2:11; 3:4, this word refers to the first appearance of Christ.
2. For the importance of the content of the teaching see 3:10 and comments.
3. See his Stromata 1.3.
4. Such data has been used to argue that a later author selected these graphic words from Paul's authentic writings to use in the Pastoral Letters under his name. It is reasonable, however, to assume that Paul himself recalled images that were meaningful to him in an earlier similar experience.
5. Dibelius/Conzelmann provide examples of this usage (Pastoral Epistles, 121 [note 18]).
6. Dibelius/Conzelmann, Pastoral Epistles, 121 (note 20).
7. Kelly, Pastoral Epistles, 209.
8. Ellicott, Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul, 172.
9. Knight, Pastoral Epistles, 461, referring to G. Schrenk, “
” TDNT, 2.210.
10. Some of the many recent works worth consulting on pastoral leadership of staff and people are Jackson W. Carroll, As One With Authority: Reflective Leadership in Ministry (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1991); James R. Hawkinson and Robert K. Johnston, eds., Servant Leadership: Authority and Governance in the Evangelical Covenant Church, vol. 1 (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1993); James R. Hawkinson and Robert K. Johnston, eds., Servant Leadership: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, vol. 2 (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1993); Calvin Miller, The Empowered Leader: 10 Keys to Servant Leadership (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995); William R. Nelson, Ministry Formation for Effective Leadership (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988); Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (New York: Crossroad, 1989); Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987); Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser, Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving the People (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993); Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).
11. See James I. Packer, “Authority in Preaching,” in The Gospel in the Modern World, Martyn Eden and David F. Wells, eds. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1991). This volume is a tribute to that great expository preacher and evangelical leader, John R. W. Stott.
12. The following books are helpful on empowering lay ministries. David Foy Crabtree, The Empowered Church (New York: Alban Institute, 1989); Robert J. Banks, Paul's Ideas of Community: The Early House Churches in Their Historical Setting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980); Melvin J. Steinbron, The Lay-Driven Church: How to Empower the People in Your Church to Share the Tasks of Ministry (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1997); R. Paul Stevens, Liberating the Laity: Equipping All the Saints for Ministry (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1985); R. Paul Stevens, The Equippers Guide to Every-Member Ministry: Eight Ways Ordinary People Can Do the Work of the Church (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1992). Some of the works mentioned elsewhere in this book on other topics also include discussions on lay ministries.
Original Meaning
Paul’s Reflections on His Life of Service (4:6–8)
PAUL NOW OFFERS comments about himself. “Being poured out like a drink offering” alludes to the various libations common to many religions, but especially to the sacrifice of drink offerings in the Old Testament (Ex. 29:40–41; Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:4–10; 28:7). Paul uses the same imagery in similar circumstances, such as the possibility of his execution in Philippians 2:17. There is, however, one striking difference. In that passage he says, “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering,” while here he writes, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering.” When writing Philippians he hoped for further years of service. Now he realizes the end of his earthly ministry is near. The word “departure” was used for the departure of troops or of a naval ship for battle, though it is not limited to that imagery.
What Paul does next (vv. 7–8) has sometimes been used as an argument against the Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Letters. It seems out of character for him to speak of himself as he does, including the reference to the “crown of righteousness” that he expects the Lord to give him. Perhaps it takes someone who has completed years of active service to understand the frame of mind in which a Christian may feel free to express gratitude for being permitted to leave some accomplishments as a heritage. There may also be a sense in which the apostle had to experience a release by putting these things into words.
Paul makes three statements in verse 7, using a verb in the perfect tense to express each accomplishment: “I have fought,” “I have finished,” “I have kept.” “The good fight” probably has behind it an athletic rather than military picture (see 1 Tim. 6:12). Paul has used the adjective kalos (as here) for “good” in the Pastoral Letters more frequently than agathos. Kalos expresses the idea of what is beautiful or noble. It is a noble contest that he has been in.
The second athletic metaphor, “I have finished the race,” recalls Philippians 2:16 (which is followed by the image of being “poured out,” used above in verse 6). Paul also used stadium imagery effectively in 1 Corinthians 9:24, 26.4
Does “the faith” that Paul has kept mean the body of doctrine, as elsewhere (2 Tim. 1:12, 14; see also Eph. 4:5), or does it refer to Paul’s personal faith? Either is possible. It is interesting to note that “to keep the faith” was a fixed expression in extrabiblical literature for those who remained faithful to God.5 It is not inconceivable that Paul used a common expression but with the added meaning that is so important in the Pastorals.
The word “now” in verse 8 suggests “that which is left.” “In store for me” recalls inscriptions regarding keeping a reward or favor, and even a punishment, in reserve for someone.6 The idea of a “crown [or garland] of righteousness” is unique here. Elsewhere we read of a “crown of life” (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10). In those two passages the Greek genitive “of life” may indicate apposition (i.e., what constitutes the crown is eternal life). The same may be true here; that is, the future crown is righteousness. Kelly says, however, that this “is open to the objections (a) that Paul’s normal teaching is that the believer is already justified, and (b) that it is not easy to see how righteousness can be already prepared in heaven.”7 In the mid-nineteenth century Ellicott suggested that it did not have a “dogmatical,” but a “practical” reference— that is, that a person who has lived righteously deserves his crown.8 Knight sees it as “the permanent and perfect ‘state of righteousness’…into which the Christian is brought by God.”9
The sense, therefore, may be that Paul knows he has already received righteousness and that this righteousness has been stored up for him in heaven. Such a search for meaning is necessary because Paul himself would insist that, on the one hand, heaven is not gained by our righteousness and, on the other hand, that the righteousness God bestows is already ours. Whatever choice we make regarding the details, we must keep the fact of the “award” in mind.
The Lord who awards this crown is “the righteous Judge.” That fact both offers the assurance that God is right in bestowing that crown and gives a sobering context in view of the fact that God “will judge the living and the dead” (v. 1). This is a wonderful thought for those who (lit.) “have loved [perfect tense of agapao] his appearing.” Given the fact that the appearing has not yet taken place, “longed for” is probably a better rendering of agapao here than “loved.” The word “appearing” is the significant epiphaneia, that future epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ that provides motivation in the Pastoral Letters (see v. 1 and comments).
Bridging Contexts
THE PREACHING OF the Word. Among all of the verses in the sixty-six books of Scripture, 2 Timothy 4:2 is probably the most frequently heard in ordination services of ministers. It is selected, of course, because of the imperative “preach the Word,” its comprehensive time reference (“in season and out of season”), its specific instructions about correcting, rebuking, and encouraging (which cover a good deal of the pastor’s typical ministry), its reference to method (“great patience and careful instruction”), the solemn context of verse 1 (referring to God as judge and to the coming kingdom), and the word “charge” in verse 1 of the NIV and several other versions (an ordination usually includes a charge).
There is both a great benefit and a significant flaw in the use of this passage as an ordination charge. The benefit is the importance of the Word of God in ministry. But the flaw is that contextually Paul’s charge to Timothy was intended for, and applied to, a particular situation. Neither that situation nor the “charge” in this passage match the job description of typical pastors today. We tend to read back into the Pastoral Letters the modern idea of a senior pastor, whereas in fact Timothy’s work had to do mainly with confronting heretics and repudiating their teaching. There is no indication that he was to devote a large share of his time to the kind of pastoral ministry normally needed today in Christian churches. Of course, one can move in one direction or another in this matter (see the Contemporary Significance section). At this point what must be emphasized is the significant place of the ministry of the Word of God in any ministry.
Paul insisted on the preaching of the Word in view of the time that would come (and most readers of this passage today would probably say the time had already come) when people would not put up with sound doctrine (v. 3). It is human nature to hear only what we want to hear and to close our ears to anything that counters our distorted ideas of truth and pleasure. This calls attention again to the context of the charge to preach the Word here, similar to the context of the exhortation to “correctly handle the word of truth” in 2:15 (i.e., the context of heresy).
The personal in Paul’s letters. Moving to verse 6, it is unfortunate— totally apart from the theological aspects of the authorship issue—that Paul has been read out of his own scenario. This is an author who “pops” in and out of his own letters—now reflecting on God’s grace to him, now on his commission, now on his peaceful conscience, or, as here, now on his apprehension of the future. There are curious little touches (something like characteristic strokes and colors of a painter or like the little self-images that Rembrandt put in some of his paintings) that make the Pastoral Letters not only authentic but intriguing. Although, as just noted, in verse 3 Paul says that the time when people prefer heresy will come, in verse 6 he declares that the time for his own departure has already come.
One might have thought, given everything he has said about the existence of heresy at Ephesus, that the time had already come when people would reject sound doctrine, but that the prospect of his death was less sure. Apparently, however, Paul has no doubt that his personal fate has already been sealed, and that he is “already being poured out like a drink offering.” The fact that he is so sure that his own time has come gives him another opportunity for a small self-portrait. This is no grandiose “après moi la deluge” (“after me the flood”) statement. He is not placing himself on the stage of history as the one whose “season” of death allows the “season” of uninhibited defection from the faith. He is rather the servant of God who, although he has only done his duty (Luke. 17:10), knows that he will hear his Master’s “well done” (Luke 19:17). Whether Paul knew it or not, his words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” were destined to spur on generations of the Lord’s servants to do the same against all obstacles.
Contemporary Significance
PREACHING AND OTHER ministries today. “Preach the Word” is a command that not only stirs the hearts of pastors but also excites all who love Scripture. It is one command that we are eager to obey. However extensive other ministries of pastoral staff and congregation may be, it is the Sunday sermon that gains the most visibility. Important as witnessing, counseling, discipling, comforting, planning, administrating, and intercessory prayer are, it is preaching that most seminary students look forward to. Few recognize the names or faces of those who spend endless hours in pastoral counseling, but mention Jonathan Edwards, Charles H. Spurgeon, or one of our great contemporary preachers such as Bill Hybels or Charles Swindoll, and there is immediate recognition.
This means several things: (1) Preaching is important and should be given an immense amount of prayer and preparation. (2) Preachers should make sure that they are doing what God intends for them, serving where God wants them and living as God commands them, for their influence for good or ill is enormous. (3) Congregations should give more of their own time to share in the church’s ministries (and perhaps also enlarge the church staff), providing freedom from other time-consuming pastoral tasks that may not be areas of the preacher’s giftedness or calling. (4) Balancing the above, Christians should recognize the importance of other ministries and not inflate the preacher’s ego. It is already too easy for the preacher to neglect prayer and people in order to preach a polished sermon.
We have already noted that Timothy’s role as an apostolic delegate to the church at Ephesus, where he was to concentrate on refuting heresy and heretics, is more focused than, and different from, the tasks occupying a typical pastor’s time in the contemporary church. That, of course, does not mean that pastors are never called by God to be mainly involved in preaching and doctrinal teaching. Many senior pastors do little pastoring. While in some cases that may be mainly a concession to personal preference, such specialization accords with the fact that there is no biblical support for solo ministry in a church. That fact has received increasing attention in recent years and has led to a healthy emphasis on the ministries of all God’s people and on the benefits of a multiple staff.10
It is both biblical and functionally useful to have a team of staff and elders who divide the responsibilities of preaching, pastoral counseling, administration, teaching, evangelism, missions, and other ministries. It is also wise to have some sharing of the pulpit; no one person has all the gifts of biblical knowledge, theological discernment, homiletics, pastoral sensitivity, and street smarts! It is unfortunate, given the biblical teaching on the diversity and significance of the various gifts in the body of Christ, for the one who has the preaching gift always to be known as “senior pastor,” while another on the pastoral staff who spends countless hours in counseling is only an “associate pastor” with a lesser salary. It would be a great object lesson for the congregation to see a greater sharing of honor than is customary.
How, then, should the command to “preach the Word” be applied? Those who are so gifted and called should do it! They should preach with the authority of that Word.11 And since the Pastoral Letters demonstrate throughout the need for shepherding, even though there is a focus on teaching truth against error, the preaching ministry of a church should be accompanied by broad, capably handled pastoral ministries.
As suggested earlier, sermons must be motivated both from below (i.e., the existence of human needs) and from above (i.e., the truths of the Bible). A good sermon will probably begin with an introduction describing a human circumstance that calls for divine help, but it will quickly move to the exposition of relevant Scriptures. Further, while the preaching of the Word (with the accompanying ministries of correction, rebuke, encouragement, and careful patient instruction) is especially important in a period of doctrinal crisis such as existed at Ephesus, it is also important in the ongoing proactive ministry of elders as they guard the flock. Biblical truth should be the main nutrient in the flock’s diet. It is important in the overall direction of a church and is necessary for the spiritual development of a congregation.
The fact that the charge is given in the presence of the Judge and King (v. 1) increases its weight on us. Moreover, Paul’s consciousness of the impending fate that will form the last page of the story of his earthly life (v. 6), to be followed only by the epilogue of his commendation in heaven (v. 8), is a compelling motive for anyone serving God in our day.
The duties of ministry. In between these great sentences is another one that is occasionally used almost as an add-on in ordination charges: “Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (v. 5). These duties constitute the “et cetera” of our ministries as God’s servants. They remind us of Paul’s words after describing the sufferings he endured for Christ: “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). The message for us today is not one more burden, but just as Timothy was not to limit the effectiveness of his ministry, consumed by the main item in his job description, so we today are encouraged to look around us at the marvelous variety of opportunities existing in our own communities.
These are not to be burdens or distractions, for we should, like Timothy, “keep [our] head in all situations” (v. 5). We must not be like the infamous young man who got on his horse and rode off in all directions at once. Neither should we fill our time with the easy things, but rather be ready to “endure hardship.” And specifically, we must not so narrowly define our gifts as to exclude the basic task of evangelism. Granted that not everyone has this particular gift (Eph. 4:11 makes that clear), we should certainly all be witnesses, forwarding the work of evangelism. No doubt Paul saw in Timothy the gift of an evangelist.
We are to “discharge all the duties of [our] ministry,” but that does not mean undertaking all the duties that others unload on us. Many pastors and missionaries see so many needs that they find it difficult to establish boundaries, while others find it difficult to have vision and see opportunities. It is possible also to choose ministries that are more comfortable, perhaps more in accordance with our own natural gifts and inclinations (such as counseling those in the church or doing routine administration and thus avoiding ministries that entail a high risk of conflict, tension, or danger). Urban ministries, pioneering work overseas, and contact with disease come to mind.
Here is another reason for pastors to keep their heads. Today those in Christian ministry have a resource that, for the most part, their predecessors did not have (or perhaps want). That resource is the “ministry of the laity”— the contemporary movement to see all God’s people as ministers. Because of this awareness, a church pastor today is better able to encourage others in the church to share in various ministries without being accused of trying to avoid doing the work himself. The wise pastor will not simply give “jobs” to laypeople, but will stimulate them to cultivate their own visions of what ministries are needed and possible and of how they themselves (with the pastor’s encouragement) can fulfill these ministries. We have a wonderful opportunity today to find new opportunities at home and abroad, to create new ways of reaching people for Christ, and to enable his church to grow.12 Because of these contemporary circumstances perhaps verse 5 can be fulfilled in ways undreamed of in earlier centuries.
Passing the baton. Behind all these exhortations is the figure of the great apostle, ready now to commit the immense tasks he has been passing on to a younger man. This must have required a great deal of trust on his part. My wife, on reading this text and my comments on it, added this note: “How do you feel as a retired teacher? Can you turn it all over to the young?” That gave me reason to reflect, both as a retired seminary professor and as a retired pastor! Then, just before completing this section I had two phone calls. One was about a former student and his excellent teaching ministry overseas. The other was about another former student who is being sought as a pastor by several churches. How do I feel? I have cherished every God-given opportunity for personal ministry. Yet I cherish more the fact that his kind of ministry does not end with my retirement but continues in the hands of many competent Timothys.
1. Paul refers to this appearing (epiphaneia) in each of the Pastorals Letters (cf. 1 Tim. 6:14; Titus 2:13); in 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 2:11; 3:4, this word refers to the first appearance of Christ.
2. For the importance of the content of the teaching see 3:10 and comments.
3. See his Stromata 1.3.
4. Such data has been used to argue that a later author selected these graphic words from Paul's authentic writings to use in the Pastoral Letters under his name. It is reasonable, however, to assume that Paul himself recalled images that were meaningful to him in an earlier similar experience.
5. Dibelius/Conzelmann provide examples of this usage (Pastoral Epistles, 121 [note 18]).
6. Dibelius/Conzelmann, Pastoral Epistles, 121 (note 20).
7. Kelly, Pastoral Epistles, 209.
8. Ellicott, Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul, 172.
9. Knight, Pastoral Epistles, 461, referring to G. Schrenk, “” TDNT, 2.210.
10. Some of the many recent works worth consulting on pastoral leadership of staff and people are Jackson W. Carroll, As One With Authority: Reflective Leadership in Ministry (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1991); James R. Hawkinson and Robert K. Johnston, eds., Servant Leadership: Authority and Governance in the Evangelical Covenant Church, vol. 1 (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1993); James R. Hawkinson and Robert K. Johnston, eds., Servant Leadership: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, vol. 2 (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 1993); Calvin Miller, The Empowered Leader: 10 Keys to Servant Leadership (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995); William R. Nelson, Ministry Formation for Effective Leadership (Nashville: Abingdon, 1988); Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (New York: Crossroad, 1989); Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987); Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser, Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving the People (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993); Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).
11. See James I. Packer, “Authority in Preaching,” in The Gospel in the Modern World, Martyn Eden and David F. Wells, eds. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1991). This volume is a tribute to that great expository preacher and evangelical leader, John R. W. Stott.
12. The following books are helpful on empowering lay ministries. David Foy Crabtree, The Empowered Church (New York: Alban Institute, 1989); Robert J. Banks, Paul's Ideas of Community: The Early House Churches in Their Historical Setting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980); Melvin J. Steinbron, The Lay-Driven Church: How to Empower the People in Your Church to Share the Tasks of Ministry (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1997); R. Paul Stevens, Liberating the Laity: Equipping All the Saints for Ministry (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1985); R. Paul Stevens, The Equippers Guide to Every-Member Ministry: Eight Ways Ordinary People Can Do the Work of the Church (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1992). Some of the works mentioned elsewhere in this book on other topics also include discussions on lay ministries.