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July 16 - July 22, 2024
No true competitor wants to finish second. These days we have lots of “fun runs” and marathons that attract thousands of amateur runners whose only goal is to finish the race. The prize they are seeking to attain is the satisfaction of completing the race (sometimes whether they finish well or not). There’s nothing wrong with that in a race for pure recreation. But in a real athletic competition, the goal is to win.
Paul portrayed all of life and ministry as a real competition, not a fun run. He took the contest seriously, and he lived accordingly.
Notice what Paul said about earthly athletes: “They do it to obtain a perishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). A pine wreath. Something that was not even comfortable hanging around the winner’s neck. These days, the most prestigious prize for a runner is an Olympic gold medal. I’m told the material from which they are made is worth about $110. These are perishable prizes. They have little intrinsic value. Even the intangible rewards are short-lived. And yet athletes make amazing sacrifices to win them.
Earthly accolades are fleeting and transitory. And yet athletes are willing to make amazing, long-term, hard-core sacrifices in order to achieve the prize.
To look back or look around would only slow him down unnecessarily. He therefore kept his objective in view and pressed on toward the prize. That is what every runner must do.
The price of victory is discipline. That means self-control, sacrifice, and hard work. Athletes in Paul’s day trained hard just to be able to compete in the competition.
Genuine success always comes at a high price.
Why is discipline important? Discipline teaches us to operate by principle rather than desire. Saying no to our impulses (even the ones that are not inherently sinful) puts us in control of our appetites rather than vice versa. It deposes our lust and permits truth, virtue, and integrity to rule our minds instead.
When you have time for rest and relaxation, do things that feed your soul rather than your carnal appetites. Listen to tapes of good preaching. Find music that uplifts and ennobles, rather than filling your mind with vanity and foolishness. Read a good book. Develop a hobby that has real value. Have an edifying conversation with someone you love. This is a key component of true godliness: Give your private life to God. Devote yourself especially in your leisure time to the task of cultivating humility, repentance, holiness, and the fear of God.
Jesus said it is a reproach to start something and not be able to finish
Paul knew exactly where he could draw such energy: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
That is why the sin principle is called “the flesh” throughout the Pauline epistles. It is not that the body itself is inherently evil. But evil desires are often associated with the body. So Paul said we need to “put to death the deeds of the body”
and “[crucify] the flesh with its passions and desires”
The athlete has two things going for him: First, he knows how to subdue the body; and second, he has the mental tou...
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If you slack off or give up before reaching the finish line, everything will be lost. That is why we must press on (Philippians 3:13–14) and run with endurance (Hebrews 12:1).
“Chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy”
should become disqualified” (v. 27). That’s true for any leader, not just preachers.
As a matter of fact, the yearning to finish well became the driving obsession of his life. He wanted to win the race for the glory and honor of Christ.
“Like people, like priest” (Hosea 4:9). What the pastor and elders are to be is the model for all Christians.
In their place, modern society has ensconced new and different values: selfishness, rebellion, rudeness, profane speech, irreverence, licentiousness, intemperance, and almost every kind of decadence. No wonder integrity is so hard to find.
Literally, it means “not subject to accusation.” The term does not speak of sinlessness, of course, or no one would qualify (1 John 1:8). It does not disqualify people from leadership on the basis of sins they committed before conversion, or Paul himself would have been disqualified
“It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
the deaconate is somewhat of a training ground for elders.
Peter and John together dominate the first twelve chapters of Acts.
A comprehensive list of all of Paul’s various companions and fellow ministers would fill a page or more.
Peter was usually the leader and spokesman for all twelve.
But Peter was always the spokesman and preacher.
This is one of the chief values of delegation: It helps equip others to lead. The leader who follows that plan will reproduce more leaders.
We’re not inclined to think of prayer as work. We tend to think of prayer as inactivity. But it is not. Good praying is hard work, and prayer is the first and most important work of all ministry. All other activities of ministry are utterly futile if not bathed in prayer.
Prayer itself is, after all, an implicit recognition of the sovereignty of God. We know that we cannot change people’s hearts, so we pray for God to do it. We know that it is the Lord who adds to His church, so we pray to Him as Lord of the harvest. We know that “unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Our efforts can never bear fruit unless they are blessed by God. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Since that is true, isn’t it obvious that everything we do ought to be bathed in prayer?
Good praying is hard labor—make no mistake about it. It is hard to stay focused. It is no easy task to intercede for others. But the wise leader will not neglect this first order of business. Nothing, no matter how vital it may seem, is more urgent. And therefore we must not let anything else crowd prayer off our already-busy agendas.
This is the whole point of servant leadership. We are servants, leading and training other servants; thus, the ministry becomes a self-perpetuating school for servants. Jesus modeled that kind of discipleship during His earthly life, and He always maintained the perfect balance, never neglecting prayer or the ministry of the Word for the sake of meeting mundane needs, but never letting people’s needs go unmet.
The stress is always on character more than ability. Purity, not personality, is the key issue.
Why this high standard? Because whatever the leaders are, the people become. Spiritual leaders set the example for others to follow. As Hosea said, “Like people, like priest” (Hosea 4:9). Jesus said, “Everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). People will not rise above the spiritual level of their leadership.
Mere talent could never have such a powerful influence. This wasn’t about style or strategy or flowcharts. It was about choosing men of character to lead the people of God, so that the work of the ministry would get done in the right way, by the right people, devoted
to the right priorities.
The perfect model of true leadership, of course, is the Great Shepherd, Christ Himself. If that does not make you feel the least bit unworthy, you have missed the whole point. With Paul, we ought to say, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16). We already know the answer: “Our sufficiency is from God” (3:5).
If we judged success by worldly standards, some might be inclined to assess Paul’s leadership career as an abject failure and a bitter disappointment. In the closing days of his life, when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Luke was virtually his only contact with the outside world (4:11). Paul was confined in a Roman dungeon, dreading the savage cold of coming winter (vv. 13, 21), and without any hope of deliverance from the death sentence that had been imposed on him. He suffered because of the sadistic contempt of his enemies. He was even abandoned or disavowed by some of his closest friends. He wrote,
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That’s why people who see things superficially might think the end of Paul’s life was tragic. At first glance, it might even seem as if his enemies had finally defeated him.
This is yet another reminder that influence is the true test of a person’s leadership, not power or position per se. In fact, a careful look at how Paul’s life and ministry came to an end can teach us a lot about how to gauge the success or failure of a leader.
There was not the smallest duty left undone. He had finished the work the Lord gave him to do, just as in Acts 20:24 he had hoped and prayed he would do: “so that I may finish my race with joy.”
He spoke of several individuals who had been part of his life. They were the most visible and immediate legacy of his leadership. Although he was left virtually friendless in prison, although he had been forsaken at his defense before a Roman tribunal, he was clearly not alone in life. In fact, the true character of Paul’s leadership is seen in this brief list of people he had poured his life into. They personified the team he built, the treachery he endured, the trials he suffered, and the triumph he ultimately obtained. This catalog of individuals is therefore instructive in assessing why
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Here we are reminded that none of us who would serve Christ can do so alone. We are not islands. Although leadership is sometimes a lonely calling, the true leader must never be isolated from people. Just as people need leaders, leaders need people. Leadership itself is by
definition a process of team building.
Even Jesus’ earthly ministry was devoted to training a few individuals, and at the hour of His soul’s deepest agony, He asked three of them to watch with Him in prayer
People, not programs, were on Paul’s mind as he came to the end of his life. People are the most vital and valuable resource any leader can cultivate. Paul had the happy privilege of living a life that fulfilled the words of 1 Samuel 10:26, which says this about Saul: “Valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.” Paul had a band of men and women whose hearts God had touched too. He wanted Timothy to know who they were, where they were, and what they were doing as Timothy took over the reins of leadership. Notice whom he mentioned, beginning with Timothy himself.
Timothy was in a sense a reproduction of the apostle, and that is why he was to be the heir of Paul’s mantle of leadership.
Timothy more than anyone else had the heart of Paul. He had the habits of Paul. He had the theology of Paul. He was Paul reproduced—the faithful son.
Most great men owe their leadership skills to the influence of a mentor. They learn from someone whose heart they desire to emulate. For Timothy it was Paul. And Timothy was Paul’s number one son in the faith. Mutually they had bound their lives together by God’s wonderful grace and had found strength in one another.
