On Sunday morning before our worship services, several deacons gather in my office to pray. Nearly every week, one particular deacon arrives in my office with an update and a prayer request from the church members he is responsible for. He’s called them, prayed with them, visited them and is ready to share with us what is going on in their lives. He’s fulfilling his calling as a deacon.

As Paul detailed to Timothy the care of widows and elders in the church, he brought attention to one of the pastor’s key responsibilities. The pastor is the overseer of church ministry.

Whether it involves music, ministry, pastoral care, preaching, the nursery, evangelism and so on, it is the pastor(s) or elder(s) who are responsible to make sure that church ministry happens and that people are cared for.

That doesn’t mean that the pastor is the only one to do the ministry. Rather, he is to oversee the ministry of others within the congregation for the care of the congregation.

Evidently, Timothy’s church was experiencing some controversies regarding how widows were cared for. This type of conflict was also what led the first church to select deacons (see Acts 6:1-7). Being responsible for ministry means knowing what is going on, thinking through controversies, listening to others and developing solutions that reflect love and compassion.

Being responsible does not mean always being in control or having to have things your own way. For a pastor to be pleasing to Christ, he must make time for study and preparation in the preaching and teaching ministry (5:17-18). But he cannot neglect the oversight of other ministries.

Pastors who bear their responsibility well will lead others to serve and lean on servant leaders to minister to others. If you are pastor, heed Paul’s advice here. If you are a church member, ask your pastor how you can help bear the burden of ministry in your church.

Sunday School Lesson for the Biblical Recorder originally published here
Focal Passage 1 Timothy 5:1-8; 17-21

Doctors receive a lot of education. Rightly so. They practice medicine with the aim of helping and treating diseases and ailments of the body and mind. I want my doctors to be well-read, well-studied and diligent life-long learners. After all, they are to assess my health and well-being. In other words, I would like them to have applied themselves well and studied very hard in medical school. I don’t want a doctor who had the typical study habits of a high school student. I want my doctors to have advanced study skills.

Do your spiritual study habits and skills reflect the advanced study of doctors or the distracted study of a typical high school student? Too many of us today are easily distracted. We are losing the ability to think deeply and concentrate intently. With technology and social media controversies merely fingertips away deep concentration and application of God’s Word is often neglected.

While the categories and controversies might be different, Timothy’s challenge was no less important. Legalism and theological minutia were distracting the leaders of the church and tempting Timothy to be distracted. Paul admonished his protégé to point out the truth, give attention to teaching the word and train others in the truth. Paul taught that staying the course of Christian ministry was hard work that required discipline, effort and attention. As Paul finished this thought to Timothy, he encouraged him to pay close attention to himself and to his teaching.

Paul’s advice is astonishingly simple and powerful. If we are to stay the course in our ministries and callings, we will not do so by flirting with controversies, by succumbing to distractions or by getting too close to temptations. Rather, staying the course requires attentiveness to our theology and to our Christian living.

Many begin the Christian journey well. But those that end well are attentive to God’s Word in study and application.

Sunday School Lesson for the Biblical Recorder originally published here
Focal Passage 1 Timothy 4:1-13