2 Timothy 4:1-5
The
apostle Paul wrote to his young protege, Timothy, "I charge thee
therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the
quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. . . . Watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy
ministry" (2 Tim. 4:1-5).
What a charge! What a challenge! I sometimes wonder: Should the
apostle Paul be called to address a group of graduates from the seminary
today, would his message for young ministers still be the sam&
Would we today, in our changed and changing time, feel that the apostle
was carried away with the enthusiasm of the moment if he did bring such a
message? "Do the work of an evangelist." Let us consider: If this
charge was valid and appropriate for those entering the ministry in
Paul's time, is it still valid today?
One goal ever before the apostle, and which some seem to have lost
sight of today, was the vision of a finished work. As we read his
writings we cannot help knowing that he expected the work to be
finished and the Lord to come. As we read we also get the conviction
that Paul expected those called to the ministry to hasten the coming
of Jesus, and that the best way to do this was to "do the work of an
evangelist."
How does this statement affect me as a minister? What kind of
thinking am I supposed to do about myself and my work? Surely I cannot
think that I am in the ministry simply because my parents didn't have
enough money for me to take the medical course. Have I taken up the
wrong work? If I am in the right work, if this is the God-given work for
me, how should I relate myself to the opportunities and
responsibilities that are ever before me?
Many times I have pondered these things in relation to myself and my
work. How can I fulfill my responsibilities to God? How can I give
evidence that will satisfy myself that I am really God-called to the
ministry. Every time I give myself to meditation on this question I
come back to Paul's admonition, "Do the work of an evangelist, make full
proof of thy ministry."
Never did the messenger of the Lord address a message specifically
to me. However, let me quote one that I think must have been intended
for me: "We feel pained beyond measure to see some of our ministers
hovering about the churches, apparently putting forth some little
effort, but having next to nothing to show for their labors. The field
is the world. Let them go out into the unbelieving world and labor to
convert souls."—Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 406.
As a young minister I learned to be an expert church hoverer. I
didn't learn much about going out into the unbelieving world to convert
people. Brethren, are we church hoverers? If we are, I am sure we often
become discouraged and wonder whether we are in the right work. We are in
the right work, but maybe we are doing it the wrong way, and that
amounts to about the same thing. "It is often the case that ministers
are inclined to visit almost entirely among the churches, devoting their
time and strength where their labor will do no good. . . .The effort of
such ministers to build up the churches only tears them down. The
theory of the truth is presented over and over again, but it is not
accompanied by the vitalizing power of God. . . . If they would leave
the churches, go out into new fields, and labor to raise up churches,
they would understand their ability and what it costs to bring souls out
to take their position upon the truth."—Ibid., vol. 2, p. 340.
All this brought me to the conclusion that when God called me to the
ministry it was to do a work for Him that would build up and not tear
down. Therefore I must work altogether differently from the way I worked
the first few years I was in the ministry. As I pondered I realized I
was doing nothing that, even with God's blessing, could finish the work
in my district. So I decided it was up to me to devise a program that I
could believe in myself, one that under the blessing of God could be
used to finish the work here.
One of the decisions I made was this: God has not called me to merely
equal or to exceed the accomplishments of this or that brother. God did
not call me to lead the conference workers in the number of baptisms.
He called me to do my best and to plan for a finished work in whatever
part of the field I was placed. He called me to be a soul winner to the
best of my ever-improving talents. He called me to the ministry to "do
the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."
Now a decision like this calls for some changes in a minister's
program. He may continue to run a few errands for the Dorcas. He will
still put in some long and earnest hours at Ingathering. It is entirely
possible that his members will see more of him in visitation than they
ever have before. But the big thing in the life of the God-called
minister who faces his program fairly and squarely will forever after
be the preaching of the gospel and the winning of souls. The major part
of his time thereafter will be given to the work of evangelism.
Now I would like to make a few observations as to how this might
apply in the life and work of each one of us. For our encouragement let
us remember that even among our most able evangelists, those who give
full time to that work, we have few who might be called really
outstanding speakers. But those evangelists go out to preach, not
because they think they have a mighty talent to exhibit to the world but
rather because of a burning conviction that they have a mighty message
to bring to mankind. They also believe that the Lord will bless any gift
fully placed on the altar of service. They have the simple faith to
believe that when Jesus said, "Go . and, lo, I am with you," He meant
what He said.
We may think our talents are few, but if we look around we will find
some with no more assets than ours, but who are doing a much greater
work. The talent that is used for God always increases. When we use what
we have to the glory of His name He will bless our efforts and increase
our talents.
I would like to call the following statement to your attention. "It
weakens those who know the truth for our ministers to spend on them the
time and talent that should be given to the unconverted. . . . Our
ministers are not to spend their time laboring for those who have
already accepted the truth. With Christ's love living in their hearts,
they are to go forth to win sinners to the Saviour."—Ibid., vol. 7, pp. 18, 19.
Some of our church members will complain if we give ourselves to
what we think we ought to do, but we have to face it. One of the reasons
our people complain is that we have done so little evangelism for so
many years that they have no confidence that we are going to do any now.
Is this their fault or are they just believing what they have seen? We
have already mentioned that hovering over the church weakens it. Leading
church members into soul-winning evangelism will strengthen them. There
is nothing in the world our members like better than to be associated
with a successful evangelist. It makes them happy to have a pastor who
is a real soul winner. If they have such a pastor, before long the
members will be soul winners too, and I can tell you there will be
rejoicing in more places than heaven when our church members see sinners
converted in our meetings.
If you want to know what the Scripture means when it says, "A good
report maketh the bones fat," then watch the brethren when reports of
baptisms come rolling in.
It is high time to awake out of sleep, to arise and finish the work.
Now is the time to plan and work. The harvest is white. The resources
are at our finger tips. We have talents we have never used, and they are
greater than we think. God's call to us is our full assurance of that
fact. The helpers, those wonderful members who will come to our aid when
they see we are really in earnest about saving souls, are all around
us.
Let us change the picture from what it has been. Let us bring to our
good people a burning message and a zealous example of real evangelism.
Let us show them by our example that whether they join us or not, we are
going to do the work of evangelists. They will join us. They will work
with us. Let us have faith in them. As we go forth never forget this—our
call to the ministry was an enabling act. We have the power to do the
task that God called us to do.
Let us plan and work to finish the task in our portion of the vineyard.
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Pastor, Iowa Conference
July 1964
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