He desires a noble task

1 Timothy 3 v 1

YOUNG MEN - what do you want to be when you grow up? If you have been blown away by the Gospel there will be stirring within you a deep compulsion to serve King Jesus. You can do that in almost any walk of life: working on the farm, sitting behind a desk, driving a van, teaching children, collecting the bins or delicately operating on an aortic valve. It is exciting when young men passionately want to serve Jesus Christ not only in their workplace but in something more. There are many para-church ministries where a young man may find a legitimate sphere of extra service. Or you could, with good Biblical warrant, find opportunities to serve in your local community, shining for Christ like a light in a dark place. And yet you love Christ and, because you love him, you love his church and the particular part of it in which he has set you, so your heart longs to serve there.

Then that prodding question comes from the pulpit, “Is God calling some of you young men to be a minister of the Gospel?” It is a good question and one that needs prayerfully pondered and honestly answered. For a few it becomes crystal clear that God has equipped and is calling them. Others can quickly answer both rightly and wisely that the ministry is not for them. Some, however, are thrown into confusion, imagining that, because they have some seeds of leadership ability and can give a good holiday Bible club talk, they are compelled to immediately commence training for the ministry. A handful of others may wrongly conclude,

“As I am not being called to be a minister and the eldership is for pensioners I can live as I please and get more serious about serving Jesus when I’m older.”

Are there any other options for a young man, or not so young, in the RPCI to serve Jesus in a lifelong commitment to the bride of Christ? You could, like many others in your church, join the ranks of the faithful members and be the best church member that you can possibly be, always being present at worship, praying with and for the church and serving in whatever capacity you are gifted for. That would be a good start and a life worth living but there is something else that you must consider. Perhaps Jesus Christ will have you to serve as a ruling elder in a local RP church. The need is great.

An observer at our meetings of Synod will see that many of the men presently serving are increasingly greyhaired and a little slower in getting back from coffee break. Each year at Synod the ‘Changes to the roll’ might be considered a thermometer of how things really are in the RPCI. Occasionally we are encouraged to hear of new elders, but sadly it is mostly a report of those who have passed on ahead or for some reason have had to ask to be relieved of the office. In case you hadn’t noticed: your church needs elders

Paul stated something quite startling at the beginning of his teaching on the office of elder. He wrote, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task” (I Timothy 3:1). Don’t skip over the first phrase. One topic of conversation in the early New Testament Church seems to have been about men aspiring to the office of elder. They recognized that, if the church is going to survive, grow and expand it would need increasing numbers of Christ-like leaders. For the young men of Ephesus this was not a call to status or earthly reward. They would have been fully aware that the eldership could cost them everything yet young men desired to have their lives so shaped by God that they might be ready for such a calling.

What about you, young man? There is a great need in our congregations, the established ones and the embryonic ones, for young men to be growing in Christlikeness, Biblically stepping up and becoming ready to serve as ruling elders. Christ-like character qualities dominate the Spirit-given qualification in 1 Timothy 3. Aspire to lead exemplary lives characterized by sexual purity, Biblical balance in word and self-control. Develop your gentleness, your eye for the needy, your humility and your Kingdom-focus.

What does this aspiration look like? It will mean getting out of your bed in the morning to read the word every day; choosing to memorise the Scripture on the bus instead of listening to music; finding a place in the background of church life to serve faithfully; forgoing another episode on Netflix and reading Christian books meatier than Bible reading notes; gathering other young people to take them to the CY meeting; treating the girls around you as sisters instead of potential dates; finding a chair in your bedroom that you will wear threadbare with your elbows as you pray, pleading that the Spirit of Jesus Christ will shape you day-by-day.

Thankfully, the future of our denomination rests in the hands of Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the church. But he uses means to protect and nurture his flock, men willing to sacrifice the small dreams of the world and ready to lead in word and deed. Will it be you? Why not? Take a look at your local church. She may not be much in the world’s eyes but for over three centuries King Jesus has kept her faithful to the Gospel, used her in the conversion of thousands, stirred her to plant churches and send missionaries across the earth. I have been a member of the RPCI for 55 years and I know she isn’t perfect. Yet if she is worth Christ dying for then she is worth every moment of your mortal existence, worthy of your life-sacrificing service now, and in the future as an undershepherd of the flock.

Don’t have the members of your congregation bemoaning a lack of future leaders. Let them find that good, godly men are right there in the pew in front, actively serving in the church and ready to step up to the mark. We have heard many times, and rightly so, the appeal to the church to pray for men for the Gospel ministry but perhaps the more urgent request is for men for the eldership. Pray that the Lord Jesus will be stirring up the young men in our church to live lives of passionate, godly, self-sacrificing service so that they are ready for pastoring the precious lives of the sheep of Christ’s flock and whatever sacrifice that will take.

Train yourself for godliness for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come … practise these things. Immerse yourself in them so that you may see your progress. 

(1 Timothy 4) 

This article was published in the Messenger Magazine in 2017