Pure Church

If you had to boil pastoral ministry down to one thing, what would it be? I know... I know.... You can't easily boil it down to one thing, even the things we've looked at so far from 1 Timothy defy such a question. But if you could, what would it be?

A case could be made for "set the believers an example" in all of life. Jesus tells His disciples that He has set them an example that they should follow what he has done (John 13:15). Elsewhere, the apostle Paul makes that famous statement in 1 Corinthians 11:1 -- "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." He tells the Philippians the same thing (Phil. 3:17). And in verse 12 of 1 Timothy 4, Paul says to Timothy be an example in speech and conduct. Perhaps being an example is one way of describing a good pastor. What does a good pastor do? He lives as an example.

Another way of bottom-lining what a good pastor is to do, though, is to consider what function the example plays. In being an example, at the root, a good pastor is teaching. A good pastor is to teach. "Command and teach these things" (v. 11). And that's what Paul comes to again in 1 Tim. 4:13 - "Until I come, devote yourself to the pubic reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching."

A good pastor is devoted to teaching. And here, Paul identifies three ways of teaching.

1. Public reading of Scripture.

In far too many places this is a dead art or practice. Most churches I've ever attended seem to show an impatience with hearing God's Word read publicly. Now some folks have been poor readers, but more generally, I suspect that people have grown accustomed to not hearing God's Word read publicly except in the briefest of snippets. So, the appetites for hearing God's Word read in the public setting is really quite small. Some find it boring. Others think it's in the way of the "real worship," the singing. Some don't understand it or have difficulty following along. I've heard these and a lot of other "reasons" for the neglect of public reading of Scripture, but I don't think the Father or Jesus will be impressed with any of them. The Father reveals himself in and through His Word, the Word points to Jesus, and the Spirit moved men to write it... so given all this Trinitarian effort, what good reason could we have for neglecting it?

Paul tells Timothy to be devoted to public reading of Scripture. And with good reason... the Word brings life. Every revival I can think of in Scripture came with the recovery of the public reading of God's Word . Moses read the Book of the Covenants with the people in Exodus 24:7. Joshua read the entire Law at the renewal of the covenant following the fiasco at Ai in Joshua 8. The great scene in Nehemiah 8 featured the reading of the Word and expounding upon it all day long (see chapters 9 and 13 as well). Repentance was Jeremiah's hope when he urged Baruch to go and read the Word before the people (Jer. 36). And how many times in the gospels does the Lord begin some great statement with, "Haven't you read...?" A good pastor devotes himself to making sure the Word of God is central in the public gathering of the people, in part, through the public reading of God's word.This reading shapes God's people and is both an act of teaching and the basis for other teaching or exposition.

2. Exhortation.

A good pastor also exhorts from God's Word. He challenges his people to not only hear the word but heed the word, to put it into effect in their lives. He exhorts by encouraging, rebuking, correcting, warning, and comforting. He moves his people to feel and to act based upon God's word. Mere reading is not enough. There must be application to the several cases of spiritual needs or conditions gathered in the assembly. Some need nursing, others a rod, still others a precision cut. A good pastor endeavors to do that with the Word, or rather... to let the Word do that by not neglecting its free and unfettered reading and application.

3. Teaching.

The reading and the exhorting are both teaching. But there is also the systematic instruction that I think is in view here. Timothy is to devote himself to doctrine. Paul will have none of that high-sounding sophistry about "doctrine divides" or "it's about a relationship not doctrine." There can be no relationship with knowing Who it is you're relating to, and doctrine is supposed to divide, to discern, to distinguish. Timothy's habit must be to build doctrine, teaching, by amassing the truths of Scripture into a whole for his people. He is to teach. And apart from teaching, he cannot be a good pastor.

So what's a good pastor to do? He is to devote himself to these three pursuits: public reading of Scripture, exhortation and teaching. The word translated "devote" implies private preparation before hand. The public ministry of a good pastor is fueled by the private candle-burning of personal study. And this study must be sanctified as well.

The tree of knowledge may thrive, while the tree of life is languishing. Every enlargement of intellectual knowledge has a natural tendency to self-exaltation. The habit of study must be guarded, lest it should become an unsanctified indulgence; craving to be fed at the expense of conscience or propriety; employed in speculative enquiries, rather than in holy and practical knowledge; preoccupying the time that belongs to immediate duties; or interfering with other avocations of equal or greater moment. A sound judgment ans a spiritual mind must be exercised, in directing these studies to the main end of the Ministry. Let none of them intrench upon those hours, that should be devoted to our study of the Bible, or our preparation for the pulpit. (Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, p. 49).

Practically, several things come to mind:
1. I must guard the hours I need for reading and study so I might teach effectively.

2. I should read widely on some level, but deeply when it comes to Scripture and theology.

3. I should regularly read systematic, biblical, and historical theolgy so I might know the Bible's whole teaching on a subject, understand the themes and narrative of Scripture, and know how other faithful saints have dealt with these issues... avoiding the pride that refuses to learn from others.

4. Personally, I need the discipline of writing manuscripts. Bridges recommends a young preacher spend the firs ten years preaching from a manuscript to give attention to precision and ordering of thought. I may be a better preacher extemporaneously, but I currently am convicted that I need to prepare manuscripts.

5. I need to gather around me people who give honest, constructive feedback on the sermons. That could be meeting with other pastors, listening to one another's sermons, or that could be staff meetings where each week co-laborers encourage, correct, etc.

6. I need to think through the range of teaching options in the church. A good pastor, I suspect, has an overall approach to what he does in the pulpit and how that fits together with mid-week Bible study, Sunday school, small groups, etc. Everything can't be done from the pulpit so we need to think strategically about the various teaching opportunities.

7. I don't need to do all the teaching. hallelujah! I love teaching. Can't think of anything I'd rather do. Live for it on some level. But... I need help and should actively enlisted gifted men in the congregation and the leadership to help carry the load.

Let us sanctify our study and preparation that we may fully and skillfully feed God's sheep from the manna of His Word. It's God's Word that gives life. A good pastor believes this, trusts this, and centers his ministry on this fact. He teaches God's Word because it gives life to God's people. What's a good pastor to do? In a word... teach. Whether by example or by public ministry, he is to teach.

"...but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12b).

A good pastor is an example to the believers. This is a simple yet incredibly important statement. It's so important God set it down in the eternal truths of the Scripture.

Sometimes, it feels as if this idea of being an example gets lumped with the now romantic and quaint notion of "role models." Perhaps I'm a part of the last generation that had role models (clean ones, at least) that we were encouraged to look up to and emulate. Are people stirred to follow role models anymore... since Charles Barkley in his foul and off-color way trashed the idea a decade or more ago?

At any rate, Paul's instruction to Timothy is juxtaposed to his encouraging Timothy not to let anyone despise his youth. The principle way he is to avoid having his youth held against him is to be an example to all the believers. He is to live a life as a pastor that is worthy of emulating, of copying, of observing and following. Now, I don't know about you, but this sentence pushes the bar waaaayyyyyy up for me. Honestly, this is a daunting task.

Paul is in effect saying that the pastor is supposed to be in the fishbowl with eyes gazing in upon his swim pattern and eating habits. He is supposed to live, not behind a curtain or "blinds," but behind (if you can call it that) a see-through glass that has its very purpose to make him visible. Yep. The bar goes way up for me on this one because my natural tendency is toward privacy, the comfort and anonymity of home, and a kind of interiorness that prefers the world of ideas and thoughts. But this part of the verse calls me out of all that and onto the stage of pastoral example.

A few thoughts:

1. A good pastor's example is set for the believers.

Now this is obvious but important. Of all people, pastors are thought of as examples for everyone to follow. Paul doesn't say that here. and believing that will contort every pastor into a salty pretzel! What the unbelieving world desires to see in or hear from a pastor will inevitably conflict with what Christ requires of him and the model the saints need to see. So, in being examples, we must be clear about who our audience is to be. And I don't think that in the first place it's "believers" abstractly or generally or universally. I think this instruction is grounded in the gritty, real-world context of a relationship between a particular pastor and a particular congregation of people. I don't think the particular context contradicts the idea of being an example to all generally. But, I do think we can think to abstractly about "Christians" and not ask ourselves what example is pressing where we live and pastor. In D.C., perhaps I needed to be an example of right priorites (God, family, work) given that the entire city seemed to have it precisely the other way (work, family, God). In N.C., perhaps I needed to be an example of discernment and clarity, doctrinal fidelity, and speaking the truth in love in a context where nominal Christianity is so strong. The audience matters, I think. The pastor is to keep that in mind as he sets an example.

2. A good pastor's example makes him accessible.

By this I don't mean he shows little control over his calendar or places no appropriate walls around his family. Such control is quite necessary, after all, it's the pastor that is called to be an example not his entire family. But this command to Timothy does suggest that he is around the people, with the people, tangible to the people. He is to be observed, and that can't be done if he is not in some sense "public" or before the people. He will be public in the pulpit. But as is seen by the specific ways Paul calls Timothy to be an example, he will likely need to be seen in other arenas as well: at fellowship events, at lunch or dinner, at home, in others' homes, and so forth. What's the right amount of accessibility? I suppose each man considering his circumstances must answer that question. But in principle, a good pastor must be accessible enough to effectively set an example.

3. There are particular areas in which a good pastor must set an example.

I'm glad for Paul's list of actions and virtues here. Not because I think this is a list I'm chill on, but because it keeps me from being overwhelmed, unsure of where to start. He lists five things: speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. It's a weighty list, but it's clear about where the example is to be set.

(A) What we say is to be exemplary. Ephesians 4:25, 29 and James 3 spring to mind. I'm working on this: listen longer (to and beyond the point of feeling I'll burst if I don't say something, because actually I'm too quick with my tongue some times); speak truthfully and disclose fully (not to be confused with exhaustively; don't lie through omission); be direct but=and loving (open rebuke is better than secret love); speak what is necessary and what edifies (edifies in the sense of building up, not in the misguided sense of pleasing others; sometimes words that first deconstrust are the surest way to build); administer grace to my hearers. That's my strategy; pray for me.

(B) We we do is to be an example. Our conduct will be seen by all. It will either confirm, question, or deny the authority and power of the gospel in our lives and in the life of the church. We are to live in a manner worthy of our calling (Eph. 4:1) and to be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1). And this is the startling reality for pastoral ministry: our lives and manner of being will inevitably and steadily impress themselves on the character of our congregations. Our congregations will generally take on our manner. And our impress will not easily be smoothed out by even the next two or three pastors that follow. They will either be jostled and tossed over the bumpy, hardened-mud tracks that we left plowed into the people, or they will find the path smooth and the way straight because of our example in speech and conduct.

(C) Our love is to be exemplary. And here is a place where our example set before the saints does testify to the unbelievers around us as well (John 13:34-35). For our love to be exemplary, we must follow the example of the Jesus whose love is supreme. He gave himself for His people. He was born that He might die. He voluntarily took upon himself the afflictions of His people. He bore the scorn, ridicule, mocking and beating that we deserved, and on top of all that faced the omnipotent and infinite wrath of the Father in our place. He entered into our suffering and countenanced our temptations. He identified with us in every way as a suitable High Priest. Now, we are to do likewise! A good pastor is to follow the Chief Shepherd, who was no hireling but gave His life for the flock. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the agony of the cross. What joy lies before the good pastor? What joy eclipses and neutralizes the certain prospect of being mistreated, misunderstood, maligned, and suffering? The joy of being found faithful. The joy of handing over to the Father and the Son the people who are entrusted to our care as stewards. The joy of hearing those words that will eternally ring in our sould producing unending and unimaginable delight time without end: "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Oh, to hear the Savior say "well done, my good and faithful servant" because we have been good ministers of Christ! Oh to know the divine approval for a labor you do only for Him and increasingly for Him! To delight Jesus... we set our people an example in love.

(D) The good pastor is to set an example in faith. I don't know if it's a genuine tragedy, sadness, or comedic farce for men in the pastorate to lack faith. I suppose it's all three. But in any case, it ought not be so. A good pastor must take care for how he trusts in God. He is to be an example of one who, as verse 9 puts it, has his "hope set on the living God." That must grip him--hope fixed on the God who can not die, who has life in himself, who can not lie, who is the God of truth. His word is forever settled in heaven. A good pastor must have a good understanding of the truths of the faith, not be a novice or recent convert (1 Tim. 3:6), and must hold to those truths with great confidence in the living God. The congregation should be able to see that faith in the range of situations that every pastor faces: elation, tragedy, conversion, apostasy, support, opposition, abundance, lack, fruit and barrenness. Up and down, a good pastor is an example in faith, shaping his life and decisions on the certainty of Jesus' love, lordship, sovereignty, and goodness.

(E) A good pastor is to be an example in purity. Amen and amen. Purity in the pulpit must stir and point the way for purity in the pew. How easy it is for a pastor to hide filth. He can, if he wishes, isolate himself, fabricate an identity for the public, and live a double life. He may, if he chooses, speak much about purity and holiness and deny the power thereof. A good pastor is to labor and toil and strive (v. 10) for godliness knowing that "godliness is of great value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (v. 9). In other words, a good pastor must be gripped with the beauty of purity and holiness, so much so that he disdains all alternatives. He must know that Christ is altogether lovely and that that loveliness flows from His purity. He has tasted and seen that God is good. And he desires constantly to enter into that loveliness of Jesus, that purity. It pleases him to do so, and he is troubled when his desire grow cold. Purity enflames his affection for God. He is an example in purity because he knows the blessing of purity and desires to be like Jesus. That's his motivation; not legalistic self-righteousness and moralism which are small plastic imitations of true purity. He knows what true beauty is and he lives it before the people... in his entertainment choices, his music preferences, his modesty, his devotion, his confession, his regard for younger women (1 Tim. 5:2), his study of art and literature, his adoption and critique of "style," and so on.

My good pastors, "set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" by God's grace and depending on His omnipotent aid. We garner reverence for the pasorate and for the Lord by living such imitation-worthy lives.