ROMANS
8:29–30 HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED God’s “Golden Chain of
Salvation”: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified.” That title
is fitting because we see here five links that are
absolutely unbreakable, five acts God alone has done in
the past (since all the verbs are in the past tense) to
provide and secure our
salvation.
Well,
there is another “chain” in Scripture, one that we could
dub God’s “Chain of Teaching.” It is found in 2
Timothy 2:2:
And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit
thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others
also.
Responsibilities of the
Pastor-Teacher
To
introduce this key text concerning church ministry,
let’s very briefly note Acts 20:28–35.
In a hurry
to get to Jerusalem for Pentecost, Paul sends for the
elders (pastors) of the church at Ephesus. In one of the
most touching scenes in Scripture, we read the counsel
and parting challenges Paul gives these dear men of God.
He here lists six basic responsibilities of the
pastor-teacher.
First, a pastor
must guard his own life and ministry (v. 28). “Take
heed” is prosecho, a
nautical term meaning to holding a ship in a certain
direction, sailing towards something. A pastor,
therefore, is to hold to his course, pay attention to
the “compass” so he doesn’t drift from the right
heading. He must at all times make sure he is right with
God, live what he preaches, keep his life pure, and be
disciplined in every area of his
existence.
Second, he must
“feed the church of God” (v. 28). This is without
argument his number one responsibility. This man must be
“apt to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2), that is,
skillful in teaching
and he must be committed to that single task. He is not
an entertainer, psychologist, fund-raiser, or any other
modern job description. His primary duty is to preach
and teach the Word of God (2 Tim.
4:1–4).
Third, he is to
“oversee,” that is, lead the sheep (v. 28). “Overseers”
is episkopos, which is rooted in Greek culture
and referred to a superintendent or magistrate who was
sent to an outlying city to organize and govern it. As a
building superintendent doesn’t own the building he
manages, the pastor doesn’t own the Church; he manages
it, leads it, and governs it according to God’s Word.
Further, as a shepherd, he leads. He does not
drive the sheep, as would a dictator,
rather he leads the sheep as does a
shepherd. As Peter declares, “Feed the
flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof” (I Pet. 5:2).
Fourth, he is to protect the sheep (vs. 29-31). The
pastor first protects the sheep from danger from
without (v. 29), as he guards them against “grievous
wolves” of false teaching and other risks. He also
protects them from disease from within
(v. 30), from those who would
arise even within their midst “to draw away disciples
after them.”
Fifth, he is to
study and pray (v. 32). “Commend”
(paratithemi)
speaks of “a deposit, a trust.” Preachers have been entrusted with
the Word of God, put in charge of
its use. What a responsibility this is and one we had
better not take lightly! Most preaching today shows the
shallow (or even non-existent) study of the preacher.
So the number one responsibility of the
pastor is to feed the sheep, but his number one
priority must be his study
time. A preacher who does not spend the majority of his
“ministry time” in study will not be able to adequately
feed his people. It gets harder every day to find men
who are truly preaching the Word of God instead of
philosophy, politics, and “warm-fuzzies.” Many Bible
colleges, seminaries, and pastor’s conferences revolve
around the latest marketing tools instead of the
revealed Truth of God.
Sixth, he must be free of self-interest. Verses 33–35
end with a three-fold challenge: do not covet wealth, be
satisfied with what God provides, and be generous in
giving. A pastor must never be one who thinks of
temporal gain and possessions. His motive and desire is
to feed the sheep and see them grow and reproduce. There
are, indeed, many false teachers today who instead of
feeding the sheep are fleecing the sheep, who are “greedy of filthy lucre” (1
Tim. 3:3,8), guilty of taking all they can get, and
thereby ruining not only God’s work but their own
reputations.
God’s “Chain
of Teaching”
That brings
us to our text, where Paul adds a seventh responsibility
of the pastor-teacher, namely, every pastor is to
train other men of God. Some commentators take this
to refer simply to the pastor’s duty to teach all
Christians in his role as a shepherd. While he is
certainly required to do that, the fact that this is a
Pastoral Epistle suggests something more specific. This
seems clear when we consider five
“links” in this chain of
teaching.
First,
there is the Lord Jesus Himself. While He is not
mentioned in our text, He must be noted, for He is the
one who personally taught the Apostle Paul. Not only did
He reveal Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts
9:1–9), but Paul himself recounts something further in
Galatians 1:16–19. Here he states that while in
Nabataean Arabia—a region that stretched east from
Damascus down to the Sinai peninsula—he “conferred not
with flesh and blood,” that is, any person—although he
did see Jesus’ brother James—nor did he go “up to
Jerusalem to them which were apostles before [him]” to
be taught by them.
Now,
while this passage does not specifically state what
occurred in Arabia, there is little doubt that it was
here that Paul was prepared for ministry. In fact, the
number “three” seems to reoccur repeatedly when it comes
to training men for ministry. The disciples spent
three years with the Lord, and Timothy was with Paul for
three years during his second missionary journey (Acts
15:36; 18:22). Since Paul, therefore, was not taught by
any of the other Apostles, just as none of them were
taught by other men, there seems no doubt that Paul was
taught for three years by the Lord Jesus Himself in
Nabataean
Arabia.
Second,
Paul is the next link in God’s chain of teaching. Having
been taught by the Lord Jesus—again, just as the other
Apostles had been—Paul became a trainer of men for
ministry. Since the Lord Jesus was no longer on earth to
carry out this crucial need, he appointed men to do so.
And that is exactly what Paul did. Throughout his
ministry, men accompanied him, aiding him and learning
from him. These included: Barnabas (Acts 11:25–26); John
Mark (12:25; 13:5, 13;
15:37)[i];
Silas (15:36–41); and especially Timothy (16:1–3; etc.).
Concerning Timothy, in fact, our text records that Paul
specifically mentioned the things that [Timothy
had] heard from him, that is, the
things that Paul had taught
him.
Heard is the Greek
akouo and is the source of such English words as acoustics (the
science of sound). It not only means to hear in general
(e.g., Matt. 2:3), to hear with attention (e.g., Mark
4:3, “hearken”), and to understand (e.g., Mark 4:33),
but also to obey (e.g. 1 Jn.
3:11). We can only imagine how many times Timothy heard
Paul preach, how many times he heard Paul teach precept
upon precept. We can only imagine the private times of
teaching and counsel that these two men shared as they
traveled hundreds of miles together. Paul taught, and
Timothy listened and
obeyed.
Third, Timothy is the next link in God’s chain of
teaching and brings us to the core of our
text. Having taught Timothy, Paul now challenges
him to teach others. The word commit is
paratithemi, a compound comprised of para
(near or along side) and tithemi (to place or
deposit). The idea in this word, then, is to place
something with someone for one’s own sake, to commit it
to them and entrust them with it. Such an act is a painstaking one. It
requires diligent and disciplined teaching.
It’s
noteworthy that Paul does not suggest that
Timothy teach other men but commands him to do
so. The verb paratithemi
(commit) is here in the
imperative mood, indicating a command. Just as the Lord
Jesus left this earth and would no longer personally
train His men, Paul also was close to departing this
life and commanded Timothy to do what God had commanded
him to do. This is not teaching some supposed “apostolic
succession,” as some foolishly teach, rather it
demonstrates that each generation must teach the
next.
Fourth, faithful men form the next link in God’s chain
of teaching. Faithful is pistos, which
here refers not to the act of believing
but to the state of being
trustworthy. Paul used this
word in reference to himself in his first letter to
Timothy, where he wrote that “Jesus our Lord . . .
enabled me” and “counted me faithful, putting me into
the ministry” (1 Tim. 1:12). He wrote of the same
quality to the Corinthians: “Moreover it is required in
stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor.
4:2).
Proven faithfulness is, therefore, a crucial key
in determining a man’s qualification for ministry. As
mentioned in a previous TOTT
(#44),
this is why John Mark disqualified himself when he
abandoned Paul’s team (Acts 15:36–41). This is
also why the qualifications and requirements for
leadership in the Church are extremely high, according
to 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9. God could not be
clearer on this issue of qualified leadership. In spite
of that, however, we see more and more people today
leading who frankly should not be doing so. The common
attitude is that anyone can lead, but this is worse than
dangerous. Men must be proven before they can be
appointed.
Fifth,
the word others forms the “final” link in God’s chain of
teaching, although in reality there is no last link in
this chain. It is designed to continue on—one link being
added to the next and the next and the next—until our
Lord returns. One more key word here, of course, is
teach. This is the familiar New Testament word
didasko, which speaks of
systematic teaching and
appears (with other forms) no less that 26
times in the Pastoral
Epistles.
Is there any
doubt, then, what the preacher’s job is? This is
precisely why Paul mentions in 1 Timothy 3:2 that one of
the required qualifications for the ministry is that a
man is “apt to teach,” as mentioned earlier. This is one
word in the Greek (didaktikos) that means
“skilled in teaching.” As one expositor
puts it: “Not merely given to teaching, but able
and skilled in it. All might teach to whom the
Spirit imparted the gift: but skill in teaching was the especial office of the
minister on whom would fall the ordinary duty of
instruction of believers and refutation of
gainsayers.”[ii] Is it any
wonder, then, that included in the pastor’s teaching
responsibility is the duty to teach and train other men
for this very same ministry? This
is, indeed, God’s method of propagating the Church
leadership offices. I appreciate one expositor’s comment
here:
In our educational
system, there are few greater sins than that of
plagiarism. “Be innovative, creative, and original,” our
teachers say—which is fine for schoolwork, but not for
ministry. Because there is no such thing as plagiarism
in ministry, Paul told Timothy to take the very things
he had heard Paul teach and pass them on to
others.[iii]
In a day
when innovation and creative thinking are the primary
tools for church building, we need to be reminded of
what Scripture says and proclaim that alone. I’m
reminded often of what I heard Vance Havner say many
years ago:
We don’t need to
be in the novelty shop, as much as we need to be in the
antique shop, where we find the old truths of God’s
Word. We don’t need something new today half as much as
we need something so old that it would be new if anybody
tried it.”[iv]
A mantra of
our day is, “We need something new, something culturally
relevant, something that appeals to people’s felt
needs.” No, what we need are men who will teach other
men the historical doctrines of the church and biblical
ministry. This leads us to further application of this
principle.
Applying the
Principle
I have been
fascinated by this principle for several years. As I
have meditated upon it, it has occurred to me that the
“three year” pattern works out quite well in practical
application. In modern terms, this translates to
thirty-six months, which in-turn
roughly equals a four-year degree program (assuming only
nine months per year). This would seem, then, to be the
absolute bare minimum for a man’s training for
ministry.
Sadly, this
kind of thinking is becoming more “archaic” nowadays, as
people of more modern thinking prevail. As mentioned
earlier, more
and more people (both men and women) are taking on
leadership roles for themselves with no divine calling,
training, or accountability to
anyone.[v] Also quite
common is the two or three year “Bible Institute” that
claims to prepare men (and again women) for leadership.
Does this not seem woefully inadequate when we weigh it
against the biblical precedents of narrow qualifications
and intense training? After all, the “three years”
spoken of in Scripture did not have either Christmas
break or Spring break, not to mention three months off
in the summer. For all practical purposes, those years
were around the clock training, with the added daily
pressures of persecution and threat of
death.
If we might
go one step further, while Bible colleges and seminaries
certainly have their place, should they be the sole
locations of such training? Let us remember, Paul was
writing specifically to a pastor, not a seminary
professor. He did, in fact, command that pastors
train men for ministry. What, then, are we doing in our
churches today to train men? Are we training them in any
way before we ship them off to “school”? Do we provide
an internship for them after they graduate to give them
more practical experience? Or to be real “novel,” how
many churches could channel their resources into
starting a Pastor’s College, as did Charles Spurgeon?
That would, in fact, be the ideal and most biblical
approach to training men. What better method could there
be other than training men in the church
for the
church?
Dr. J. D.
Watson
Pastor-Teacher
Grace Bible
Church
NOTES
[i]
See TOTT #44 for a study of “The Disagreement Between
Paul and Barnabas” concerning John Mark (Acts
15:36–41).
[ii] Dean Alford in
Wuest’s Word Studies (Eerdmans), electronic
edition, note on 1 Timothy
3:2.
[iii] Jon Courson’s
Application Commentary, New Testament (Thomas
Nelson, 2003), electronic edition, note on 2 Timothy
2:2.
[iv] Interview with Vance
Havner by Dennis Hester; October
1982.
[v] See TOTT #18 for a study
of the “Call to Ministry” and related
issues.
Back in September, I had the opportunity
to see an example of the theme of our earlier article. I
have had the blessing of preaching all over the country
in my years of ministry but had never been off the
continent. A friend of mine, who has been doing
International Education for several years, called me
with an emergency. Due to an illness, the professor who
was supposed to accompany him to the Haiti Bible
Institute had to cancel, and I was asked if I could go
and to teach in his place.
It was a unique experience, to say the
very least. Not only was it my first trip overseas, it
was also my first time using an interpreter (French
being the national language). It was one of the greatest
joys I have ever experienced in preaching and teaching.
I had the privilege to teach two courses to 18 men, who
reminded me very much of dry sponges as a bucket of
water was poured onto them. They couldn’t get it all,
but they soaked up every word they could possibly
hold.
I relate this because it is an example of
men training other men biblically. Most of the men I
have heard of who are doing this kind of ministry are
former (sometimes even current) pastors. The godly,
committed, and carefully screened and selected students
would probably never be able to receive adequate
training if not for those who go and teach them. The
ultimate goal is that these students themselves will one
day be teaching others at the institute.
One such ministry, the one with which I
traveled to Haiti, is On Target Ministry
(www.ontargetministry.org). Its personnel
travel all over the world (Egypt, Jamaica, Jordan,
Philippines, Romania, Ukraine, Uganda, and others)
teaching and otherwise preparing men to be
pastors.
Another such ministry is that of Dr. Ron
and Nancy Minton (www.ron.minton.name), missionaries to
the Ukraine who labor in church planting and teaching at
International Baptist Bible College in Kharkiv and
branch locations.
I have been
graciously blessed to be invited to return to Haiti next
September. If you would like to make a tax deductible
donation to that trip (a $1,200 need)—and only if you
are able—it will be used for God’s glory and our
students’ good. (Make your
check payable to “Faith Community Foundation,” designate
it to “On Target Ministry – Haiti – Watson,” and mail it
to: On Target Ministry, 2130 Grand Avenue #3, Des
Moines, IA 50312.)
In any event, I would like to encourage
you to examine the ministries noted above and support
them in whatever way God would impress upon you. Let us
all, at the very least, pray for those men who continue
to add links to God’s Chain of Teaching by taking “the
things that [they have] heard of [Paul] among many
witnesses” and “[committing them] to faithful men, who
shall be able to teach others also.”
Pastor
Watson
The students of Haiti Bible Institute
& Sunday morning,
9–6–2009 & Pastor
Watson's sweet and patient
translator (Wallenson Norbert) is in the exact center of
the front row.
