A few moments ago we commissioned this congregation’s Leadership Team. These are people who have accepted the call of God to carry out specific tasks as leaders in the life of the church. There will be new things to consider as they make the transition from serving as board members to members of a team that leads us in accomplishing our mission. Some may wonder, “Why me?” Some may feel inadequate for one reason or another. But leadership in the church is a God-ordained task. Pray for them.
I recall two occasions when Sue and I were commissioned for leadership tasks. The first happened in 1963 in Pettisville, Ohio, just before we went to Japan as missionaries. Even before we were married at the ripe, old age of 21, we felt the call of God to become missionaries, but we had no idea where. Eventually, it became clear that Japan was the place God was calling us. You might say we were two hayseeds from Iowa. We were young. And we knew not one word of Japanese, but we knew that God had called us.
That commissioning took place in a huge tent with hundreds of people attending. Those of us who were leaving for missionary assignments sat on the platform. Around us were probably 50 other missionaries going to places around the world: Japan, Israel, India, Africa and Europe. We had accepted God’s call. We knew it in our hearts and we declared it publicly before all those people. And the reality of that call sustained us through good times and bad over the next 19 years.
The other commissioning service took place right here on this platform in 1985 when Sue and I were licensed and installed as pastors of this congregation. That day, in front of 29 other people, we responded to the call of God through this congregation to serve as co-pastors.
This call came in an unusual way. Sue was studying in seminary at Findlay; I was teaching at Bluffton College. One day, the dean of the seminary asked Sue if she was interested in becoming a pastor. “Well, yes, but not right away.” She had just begun her course of study. The dean had learned from the district executive that a church in Lima needed a pastor. She came home with the request and we decided to find out more. And the rest, as they say, is history.
To us, Lima seemed as much a mission field as Japan was. There were hundreds of people in the neighborhood around this church who needed the gospel. It was kind of a scary time and a totally new experience. Even though we had been active members of the church all of our lives and had served in many different ways, we had never been in pastoral leadership. But we knew that God had called us through the voice of this congregation. And today we are beginning our 23rd year.
In I Timothy we learn that Timothy was a young man commissioned to a difficult task. Timothy had served as one of Paul’s assistants in leading churches. Timothy grew up in a religious home and was led to faith by Paul himself. That is why Paul calls him “my child in the fait.,” (1:2)
We read in 1:3 that Paul encouraged Timothy to stay in Ephesus, a city that was not an easy place to work. It was a city in which sexual immorality was rampant and in which a new church would face all kinds of obstacles. So Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him. Timothy was young. He may have had a physical problem. And he experienced discouragement. So Paul wrote this letter to him as he waged a battle for truth in this city and tried to lead this congregation
I don’t know if Timothy hung mottoes on his wall, but Paul’s words would have made a good one. “Fight the good fight,” he says in v. 18 and again in 6:12. The word behind this expression means campaign. The struggle he speaks of is bigger than a battle; it is a campaign. The campaign Paul speaks of lasts a life time and it is worthwhile in every respect. Paul calls it the good fight. It accomplishes God’s purposes. The rewards are eternal. These words are a worthy motto, not just for Timothy, but for leaders in the church, and for all of us on this first Sunday of the year.
Paul identifies three requirements for fighting the good fight,
1. A sense of call. It is not clear what kind of commissioning Timothy received, but most scholars think that verse 18 refers to an appointment by members of the congregation who had the gift of prophecy. It is possible that these members understood that they needed to respond to the situation in their congregation and concluded that Timothy would be the one to lead them through it. And they followed the pattern we find in other churches in Acts; according to II Tim. 1:6 Paul, and possibly others, laid hands on him to commission him for the task.
The fact is, every Christian is commissioned to ministry. In the Church of the Brethren, we teach that baptism not only demonstrates that our sins are washed away, but that baptism also is a sign that we are called to ministry in the body of Christ. When Paul wrote “I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” in Ephesians 4:1, he wasn’t just writing to leaders in the church, he was writing to every member. Later in that chapter Paul identifies several specific roles people have in the church, but every member has been called to help with building up the other believers. Some will receive a specific call to be a teacher or a deacon or a pastor, but every one of us is called to ministry in the life of the church. As Dale Brown, long time professor at Bethany Seminary, said, “Our baptism is our ordination for ministry.” Every one of us has been called to help build up the body of Christ.
You may think that you are not a leader and your role in the church is not very significant if you are not a teacher or deacon or whatever, but keep in mind that if you were baptized earlier than the person beside you, you are a leader as far as that person is concerned. If you have been a member longer than the next person, you are a leader. If you have worked within the organization of this congregation, you are a leader. God has called you and he wants to use you in the life of the church. Some of you have been commissioned for specific tasks, but even if you haven’t, never forget the commissioning you received at baptism. That sense of call goes with you all through life and it is necessary for whatever leadership role you have. When you get discouraged, go back and revisit the reality of baptism and other ways you have experienced God’s call to get your feet back on solid ground. That sense of God’s call will serve you well as you fight the good fight.
2. A strong faith. Paul also tells Timothy that faith is necessary for a leader. In chapter 1 we find the word faith mentioned half-a-dozen times. There are two meanings of faith important to leaders. First, leaders recognize that the work they do is not their own. The mission they engage in is God’s work and they have faith that He will make it possible. How often in recent years have we become aware in this congregation that God has supplied our needs beyond what we asked or imagined, as Paul says in Ephesians 3, whether it had to do with the budget, with VBS, or any other project? And when leaders get discouraged, they need to remember that this is not our work; it is God’s work. Second, leaders carry in their minds and hearts a picture of what God wants. God plants a passion for a need in their hearts and in their mind’s eye they can see what it would look like to have that need fulfilled. It is called vision and vision is a God thing. Leaders know that since God is in it, he can make it happen. Remember the examples in Hebrews 11 of Bible characters like Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and others who could see down the generations to a time when God’s promise would be fulfilled. “By faith, by faith, by faith,” the writer says. Vision is at the core of good leadership. Without it, churches fade away and die. Without vision, people lose direction. So a strong faith is absolutely essential.
Since last summer, I have been the chairperson of the district board. One thing I decided to do at every meeting was to spend some time thinking about our vision for the district. Last Tuesday I went to Ashland for an emergency executive committee meeting to consider how we should deal with a large projected shortfall in this year’s budget because the pledges of financial support from churches will not be adequate to meet the budget. Several days before the meeting, I sent an e-mail to everyone, asking them to pray for God’s guidance as we consider the vision we have for the district. I found it interesting that one of the men who works with numbers said, “I find it hard to go on faith when I work with numbers. I need to know we have the money.” His former pastor was there and said, “Do you remember what it was like as treasurer of our congregation?” Every year, when their church plans the budget, they add a tithe on top for outside ministries. “Yeh. We always had more than enough,” he said. “And what happened when we didn’t tithe?” “There was not enough money for the budget.” This example helped strengthen the faith of all of us who were there. Paul reminded Timothy, if we are going to fight the good fight, we need faith.
3. A good conscience. Finally, Paul says that Timothy should serve with a good conscience. On the one hand that may seem like a strange requirement for a leader. But we don’t have to think long to recall recent examples of leaders who have crashed and burned because their conscience was put on auto-pilot and they drifted off-course.
You can see it in industry, public officials, and, unfortunately, in the church. Paul mentions two examples in the church at Ephesus. We can think of our own modern day examples. How many church leaders have been brought down by pornography, illicit relationships, and embezzlement? Secret sin defiles a good conscience.
Nearly every book on leadership I’ve read says something about the personal integrity of a leader. I took one off the shelf just to see what it said. Leaders must be “grounded in clearly articulate personal ethics and guiding principles,” one says. (Galindo 176) This author defines integrity as the “consistent outward manifestation of one’s internal beliefs.” (177)
When we were commissioned here in 1985, Sue quoted from I Timothy 4:12 “Set the believers an example in speech and conduct.” And she said, “I believe that what I say and what I preach must be in full harmony with what I practice. There must be no duplicity or hypocrisy in my actions.” That is the high standard Paul holds Timothy to and it is the standard God holds all of us to.
To review, Paul’s charge to Timothy includes three things: a sense of calling, a strong faith, and a good conscience. If you are a leader in this congregation you are called to these three things. If you are a member of this church, you are called to these three things. If you are on the journey toward baptism and membership, you should aspire to these three things.
As most of you know, for the past two years, Sue and I have been learning about leadership with three other pastors because we recognize the need to develop leaders within our congregations. We went to the Dominican Republic to observe pastors there. We have read books, visited with some U.S. pastors, organized a session on spiritual gifts which some of you attended, and have met together regularly. Now that we have done all that, Sue and I have asked ourselves what can we do to help develop leaders here at Elm Street?
Good leadership doesn’t just happen. Paul spent time training Timothy. Some of you may be feeling the need for additional skills as well. For a long time, Sue and I have felt the need to help “rekindle the gift of God that is within you,” as Paul wrote to Timothy (II Timothy 1:6). So we are planning ways to share with you some of the practical things we have been privileged to learn so that others of you can gain skills and begin to feel more confident for leadership tasks within the congregation. Sometime in the next few weeks, you will see it on the calendar. We hope you will pray about ways that God can use you in the work of this congregation.
