2 Timothy 2:2
And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also.
When I was a young Christian I saw a book called, “The Rise and Fall of
the Anabaptists.”[1]
I saw it while perusing
through the religious section of the library at Blue Mountain Community College
in Pendleton, OR. It’s not like I got to
read the book so I only remember a few little things about it.
I remember that one of
the first things I saw was a statement to the effect that the Anabaptists were
the fastest growing cult in their day and that it was only because they were so
badly persecuted that they hadn’t overrun the Catholics. And then I remember
seeing a list of their doctrinal beliefs. The list, I think was
12-15 points in length and I thought fairly accurately described what I believe
the Bible taught.
One of those things
listed was that the Anabaptists believed that God’s calling to the ministry was
God’s enablement for the ministry. They did not believe a
man of God needed to have a college degree in order to be qualified to be a
preacher of the Gospel.
Early Baptists embraced
this same doctrine. It is why John Bunyon
went to jail for 12 years in Bedford, England.
· He believed God’s call to the ministry was God’s
qualification for the ministry.
· He did not believe he needed a license from the government
of England – which was married to the Church of England.
He did not believe he
needed:
· Their education
· Their endorsement or
· Their authority
I think it is directly
attributable to this doctrinal position that Baptists today debate a lot about how to train up preachers.
In the USA you will find
Baptist preachers have been trained or are being trained in at least five
different ways:
1. A traditional Bible college such as Pensacola Bible
College
Pensacola associates
mostly with Independent Baptist Churches, but it is not a ministry of a church.
It, in fact, has a church as a ministry of the college.
2. A major church associated Bible college such as Heartland
Baptist Bible College
Heartland is originally
a ministry of a number of churches working together but the college is very
closely tied to Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City
3. A local church college such as Sound Baptist Bible
College here and Beth Haven Baptist College in Oklahoma City
These are local churches[2]
that have taken seriously what we believe is our responsibility to train our
own members to be preachers.
4. A pastor/preacher boy plan
In this case a pastor
take seriously the responsibility to personally train one man to be a preacher.
5. A "sink or swim" plan
This takes literally the
“God’s calling is God’s enablement” doctrine and puts that God called preacher
in a church[3] somewhere so he can figure
it out.
Some preachers are so
convinced that, whichever one of these five practices they believe in, their
way is so right they will not fellowship or at least will not fellowship
closely with someone who practices something else.
I believe that a
preacher needs to be well trained
· He is not to be a novice.[4]
· In our culture, having a degree is considered a
qualification
· We need some preachers who are able to pass down what they
have learned to others
Having said all that, I
want to show you what I think are the two
New Testament models of training for the ministry
*I. THE PAULINE MODEL
Acts 16:1-3 (KJV)
Then came he to Derbe
and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son
of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a
Greek:
Which was well reported
of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Him would Paul have to
go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were
in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
Notice a few things,
A. It wasn't Paul’s first time in town.
This was a
return trip.
Paul had
established the church there is Derbe and Lystra on his first missionary trip.
In this
passage, he has returned to confirm the church and strengthen the Christians in
it.
B. Timothy was recommended to Paul by the
church.
I suggest
this whole event was well planned and confirmed on both ends, the church’s and
Paul’s.
Think of
it like this:
· The church recommended Timothy be trained by
Paul
· The church “applied” to Paul that he take on
the training of Timothy
· Timothy then left with Paul for that training
Furthermore
· Timothy was not the only one Paul was training
The point
I want to make is that this was more like a Bible College setting than we might
at first suppose.
· Paul was a noted authority.
Liken that to the Bible College where those who are considered
“experts” in the ministry train others for the ministry
· Paul had many of these preacher boys if you
will.
These men, if their story is like Timothy's, were commended to
travel and thus train with Paul.
*II. THE LOCAL CHURCH MODEL
2 Timothy 2:2 (KJV)
And the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also.
Paul here charges
Timothy to train other differently than he trained him. Timothy was not to hand
off the responsibility to someone else but to assume the responsibility for
himself.
A. He was to teach those things he could
confirm he had learned
“among many
witnesses.”
Timothy was not only to
teach what Paul taught, He was to teach those things that could be confirmed
among many witnesses that Paul taught.
· That implies study
· That implies research and
· That implies systematic theology
We don’t need new
colleges teaching new things.
We need sound churches
teaching the old things.
B. Timothy was to teach the very same things
(not his more developed
modernized or own things)
One of the things I hear
often from younger preachers sounds something like this: “I am ordained just
like you are. I can direct this ministry however God leads me.”
That is a spirit of
rebellion.
A common complaint among
the younger preachers is that old independent Baptist preachers don’t think,
they just repeat.
I think of myself as a
thinker.
· I was a very good student in secular schools
· I had an appointment to the Air Force Academy – you don’t
get that without being somewhat intelligent
· I am a reader and a studier
But I just have to tell
you that when I stood before those preachers the day of my ordination I
promised to them and to God that I would take what they gave me and I would
give that to others also.
My ordination does not
authorize me to take those doctrines that I had learned and develop them for
the more modern man.
At my ordination I was
examined over several key doctrines and practices of the faith.
At the end of that
examination, those preachers laid hands and prayed for me fully expecting that
I would teach those very same things the whole course of my ministry.
Then
*C. He was
to teach them to faithful men committed to teaching them to others also
Paul is generation #1
He received his doctrine
from the Lord.
Timothy was generation #2
He received his doctrine
from Paul.
Faithful men is generation #3
Timothy was to teach
exactly what Paul taught him.
Others also is generation #4
A faithful man teaches
only what his teacher taught him that Paul taught Timothy.
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