Introduction
David and Louise Turpin currently sit in a California jail. They were sentenced to life in prison in February 2019.
The two of them had secretly kept their 13 children in captivity for years—possibly even decades.
Some of the children were so isolated from society that they barely knew what medicine or police were, upon being finally rescued from their false imprisonment after one teenager managed to escape and alert police in January 2018.
The children were not allowed to eat more than one meal per day, which led to malnourishment so bad that the eldest child—a 29-year-old woman—weighed a mere 82 pounds when she was rescued. Additionally, the Turpins did not let their children shower more than one time per year.
One routinely hears of children who are abused physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. They are undernourished and mistreated in the most horrible ways.
Sadly, however, this is the condition of too many of God’s children today who are undernourished spiritually and, consequently, are underdeveloped, disoriented, confused, and immature in the things of the Lord. There are more popular preachers today than at any time in history, especially on TV. There are also many popular churches with massive crowds, but few disciples. There is lots of activity, but little spiritual fruit. There is much talk about being the best you can be, but little gospel transformation.
Why does this happen? Why are there so many spiritually weak churches? I agree with John MacArthur who states, “In the great majority of cases, weak churches are the result of weak leadership, especially weak pastoral leadership.” I think that in the majority of cases, pastors are not even aware of how much they are contributing to the spiritual malnourishment of their members. They are giving people what they want. They are providing people with excitement and emotion. But in the end, their people are malnourished. Why? Because pastors are not feeding them the life-giving word of God.
Paul was aware of spiritual malnourishment. He wrote to Timothy about how to oppose false teachers and promote biblical truth that would nourish the people of God. In today’s text, 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Paul gave Timothy instructions for effective ministry.
Scripture
Let’s read 2 Timothy 2:1-7:
1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:1-7)
Lesson
2 Timothy 2:1-7 gives instructions for effective ministry.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. An Effective Minister is Like a Teacher (2:1-2)
2. An Effective Minister is Like a Soldier (2:3-4)
3. An Effective Minister is Like an Athlete (2:5)
4. An Effective Minister is Like a Farmer (2:6)
I. An Effective Minister is Like a Teacher (2:1-2)
First, an effective minister is like a teacher.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:1, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul wanted Timothy to continue being strengthened by God’s grace that is given to all who are in Christ Jesus. Timothy came to know the saving grace of God through the ministry of his grandmother Lois, his mother Eunice, and Paul. But saving grace was just the beginning of God’s provision of grace. Grace was a continual source of power for Timothy to live a godly, Christian life. Here was Paul’s main admonition to Timothy in the first part of this letter to him.
Several years ago, I met with a person who had visited our church regularly for a couple of months. He insisted that the only kind of grace in the Bible was “saving” grace. That is not true, however. Saving grace is a grace that justifies. That is a one-time declaration. But there is empowering grace that sanctifies. That is ongoing enablement to live more and more like Jesus. That is what Paul wanted for Timothy: he wanted him to be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The apostle John put it this way, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). James, the brother of Jesus, put it this way, “But he gives more grace” (James 4:6). God gives strengthening grace to believers. We are not only saved by grace but we are strengthened by God’s grace.
Paul continued in verse 2a, “…and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses.” Timothy had the incredible privilege of spending many years with Paul. He heard him teach and preach. He heard divine truth from Paul that God had revealed through the apostle. Moreover, Timothy was not the only one who heard these divine truths. The “many witnesses” would have been believers such as Silas, Barnabas, and Luke. They could attest to the authenticity and accuracy of Paul’s teaching. This would have been an encouragement to timid Timothy to stand firm among the many defections from biblical truth in Ephesus.
Biblical truth is not determined by a majority vote. It is determined by faithful adherence to the teaching of God’s revealed word. Just as in Ephesus some had defected from the truth, so we have those in our day who are defecting from biblical truth. We have some people teaching things that accommodate the culture but that are contrary to God’s word. Believers and, especially, elders must be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and by what is written in God’s inspired, infallible, and inerrant word, the Bible.
Paul then wrote in verse 2b, “...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Here is the first of four images that Paul used to exhort Timothy to stand for biblical truth against false teaching. What Timothy had heard from Paul he was to teach to faithful men. “Faithful men” would be men who had proven spiritual character and giftedness. These faithful men were to be trained in such a way that they would be able to pass the truth on to the next generation of faithful men. From Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others encompasses four generations of biblical teachers. This process of spiritual reproduction was to continue until the return of Jesus.
The Navigators took 2 Timothy 2:2 as their foundational verse for making disciples. It is sound and biblical. Every generation of faithful, godly leadership must look for men that they will train in the word of God so that they will in turn be able to train others after them. I am so grateful to God for the men who taught me. I am thankful for pastors over many years, my campus minister, Bible study leaders, and seminary professors who entrusted biblical truth to me so that I am now able to teach others also.
II. An Effective Minister is Like a Soldier (2:3-4)
Second, an effective minister is like a soldier.
Paul wrote in verse 3, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” This was the second of four images, that of a soldier. A soldier is engaged in a battle against an enemy. He must train, he must prepare, he must forego certain pleasures, he must endure hardship, and he must engage the enemy. Paul was reminding Timothy that the Christian life, and especially the life of an elder, is warfare. It is a war against the world, the flesh, and the devil in general, and in the particular ways in which the warfare comes to the Christian. For Timothy, it was a war against false teaching and fear of persecution.
When COVID-19 hit us, and we went into lockdown in mid-March 2020, I felt very keenly that I was back in a war zone. Although COVID-19 was a virus, there was a clear spiritual dimension accompanying the disease. Our church did not meet in person for 10 weeks. In other parts of the country, churches did not meet in person for much longer. The concern of our elders was how to shepherd God’s people when we were not able to meet in person. How do we help people grow in Christ when we were not allowed to meet for worship? I know that many people were concerned about their physical health but our elders were also concerned about our members’ spiritual health. I think that COVID-19 helped us understand in a new and fresh way how we are soldiers of Christ Jesus.
Continuing the image of a soldier, Paul wrote in verse 4, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” A good soldier does not get involved in side issues or business. He does not run a business on the side. He is fully committed to serving his senior officer. Paul wanted Timothy to have a single focus of serving Jesus Christ. He did not want Timothy to be sidetracked by issues unrelated to his calling. Paul did not mean to make a distinction between “spiritual” and “secular” (civilian) callings. A Christian lives his entire life, whatever his calling, spiritually. That is, he works in his calling to the glory of God. Paul’s point to Timothy is that he did not want anything to distract him from the task that was before him, which was to proclaim God’s truth and oppose error.
Many years ago, I knew a pastor who ran for public office in the county. If he won, he intended to keep serving as the pastor of the church while, at the same time, serving as an elected county official. They were both full-time jobs. I had the opportunity to speak with him and urged him not to do both at the same time. It would have been fine for him to become a full-time county official. But I did not think that he would have time to do both jobs effectively. There is a sense in which many people, including Christians, take on too many tasks. Many of these tasks may be good. But they keep us from focusing on our primary responsibility and pleasing the Lord in our particular calling.
III. An Effective Minister is Like an Athlete (2:5)
Third, an effective minister is like an athlete.
Paul wrote in verse 5, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Paul now gave the third of four images, that of an athlete. John MacArthur observed the following regarding ancient athletes:
In the Greek games, which continued for centuries under Roman rule and were still being held in Paul’s time, every participant had to meet three qualifications—of birth, of training, and of competition. First, he had to be a true-born Greek. Second, he had to prepare at least ten months for the games and swear to that before a statue of Zeus. Third, he had to compete within the specific rules for a given event. To fail in any of those requirements meant automatic disqualification.
Paul’s point is that the Christian life requires hard work, concentrated effort, and submission to the word of God. Paul was not saying that our effort gains us right standing with God. No, we gain right standing with God because of what Jesus has done on our behalf that is credited to us. That has to do with justification. However, our sanctification requires life-long effort and discipline that is all done by following God’s word. However, there is a difference between athletic competition and the Christian life. It is that in athletic competition only the winner receives the victor’s crown. However, every Christian receives the victor’s crown upon successful completion of the Christian life.
Some Christians struggle in their Christian lives. Sometimes they struggle because they are being assailed by the world or the devil. But sometimes, the reason for their struggle is that they are not engaged in spiritual disciplines. They are not reading the word of God. They are not spending focused time in prayer—except to give thanks for their meals and utter a brief prayer here and there. They are not engaged in life-on-life fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. They are not active in serving the church. These Christians merely attend worship services and that is just about the extent of their spiritual effort in growing as Christians. Then they wonder why they are struggling in their Christian lives.
IV. An Effective Minister is Like a Farmer (2:6)
And fourth, an effective minister is like a farmer.
Paul wrote in verse 6, “It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” This is the fourth of four images that Paul used to stand for biblical truth against false teaching. The farmer is hard-working. The Greek word for “hard-working” (kopiao) means “to do wearisome labor or to labor unto extreme fatigue.” As a rule, farmers work very hard. This was true of ancient farmers too, who worked long back-breaking hours hoping that their efforts would yield a good result in time. Paul wanted Timothy to stay on task. He was not to slack off because some kind of inattention could result in a great loss.
My earliest years were spent on a small farm. My dad had about 10 milk cows, 100 chickens for laying eggs, and a few pigs. I was too little to know how hard the work was. However, when I was a pastor at State College, we had a dairy farmer and his wife visit us on two or three occasions. As I recall, they only spent one night with us because that was as much time he felt that he could take off from his farm. In his absence, a neighbor would milk his cows and our friend did not want to take advantage of his neighbor. I suppose that our friends would return the favor when their neighbor went away for a night. In any event, the image of a hard-working farmer teaches the importance of laboring diligently for the truth of the gospel in our lives and also in our churches.
Conclusion
Paul wrote in verse 7, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Paul had just given Timothy four images that were designed to encourage Timothy to persevere even if the task was difficult. The image of a teacher shows the opportunity to pass on biblical truth. The image of a soldier shows the duty of singleness of purpose. The image of an athlete shows the need for following the rules. And the image of a farmer shows the certainty of a reward for the hard work involved. Paul urged Timothy to reflect on these images and, as he did so, the Lord would give him further insight into his task.
When I was at seminary, one of my Greek professors gave us an article to read about taking time to reflect and consider an item for examination more carefully. I think the article was about a teacher asking students to examine a fish and write down everything they could about it. The next day, they were to do the same thing. And again the day after that. By the end of several days, the students were amazed at how much more they had learned upon deeper reflection. My professor had us do that with a Greek text of Scripture. And it was startling to us to see how each day we saw more and more in our text that we had missed with a superficial first reading. Paul’s exhortation is still true for us today. Let us think over and give more and more time to reflect upon the text of God’s word, and he will give us more understanding.
Let me close with the following from John MacArthur:
The apostle was saying to Timothy, and still says to believers today: “Under the Lord, think over and carefully ponder what I have been saying. Look at your own life and ask yourself if you are a strong Christian, a spiritual Christian, a mature Christian. Are you devoting yourself to guarding and teaching God’s Word? Do you deny yourself and count your life as nothing in order to faithfully serve the Lord? Do you keep a distance between yourself and the affairs of the world? Do you continually prepare yourself to serve your Master? Do you understand self-denial and self-sacrifice? Are you willing to pay the price that He demands?”
“If you can answer yes to those questions,” we are promised, the Lord will give you understanding in everything. You will be led with wisdom and insight through the challenges to victory.
