1 Corinthians 16:10-11 has an interesting instruction from Paul.
If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear from you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Therefore, no one should look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so he can come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
This is eerily reminiscent of 1 Timothy 4:12:
Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
“Moody Bible Commentary” dates these books about 10 years apart. (1 Corinthians about AD 55 and 1 Timothy between AD 63 and 66.) This would tell us that the 1 Corinthians Timothy was even younger than when Paul counseled him in 1 Tim. This brought to mind some incidents with young pastors who have been “looked down on,” or “despised.”
Without going into details, I recently heard stories of several young pastors who were, to all appearances, abused by their churches. I personally have been in a church where the pastor was “not a good fit” for the congregation, and it damaged the church and its outreach. To copy a Supreme Court justice about pornography, “I cannot define it, but I know it when I see it.”
“A good fit” may be hard to define, but the results are evident for all to see. When those visible manifestations are absent, we are left wondering what definition the instigators had in mind. I am hesitant to accuse church leaders of bad faith, but they need to be very careful that they are not abusing their authority when dealing with pastors. This is especially true of “young” pastors or those in positions less than Senior Pastor.
Paul was not going to tolerate any abuse of the pastors he sent to work with “his” churches. 1 Corinthians is a case in point. Memorizing chapter 16 started out pretty dull and mundane, then it opened up. Have I suggested that everyone who reads my “stuff” engage in some Bible Memory plan? Over a year ago, a friend of mine challenged me to do so AND to text him my verse every week. Nothing keeps you on task like getting a text from a friend with “his” verse on it. There were a lot of Sunday afternoon cram sessions for a while.
The best way to memorize is to have a set time to read, reread, and read again the passage. After about three times through, then begin to say, out loud, the words. Some people also suggest writing them out for yourself. I am working on chapters 15 and 16 and am nearing the end. I am going to read them onto a CD and play them while I am in the car. This will polish and refresh the entire passage.
An aside: I have read that the Pharisees and other leaders in Bible times learned the entire Pentateuch. And some even memorized the entire Old Testament. Ever notice how Paul, and Peter, and James, well, all of the New Testament writers could quote verses to make their points? They did not have concordances, so unless they were very fast readers, they had to have these verses at their “fingertips” by memory. I think that Jesus, Himself, memorized the Old Testament. One advantage He had, possibly, is that His “forgetter” was not as efficient as mine. (What were we discussing?) But I digress.
Paul was an old Watchdog guarding his younger assistants. They would include Titus, Timothy, Apollos, possibly Aquillia and Priscilla. I found this list* of people called, “co-workers.” Aquila (Rom 16:3), Urbanus (Rom 16:9), Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25), Clement (Phil 4:3), Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus (Col 4:10-11), Philemon (Phlm 1), and even Luke (Phlm 24). Others were Archippus (Phlm 2), Epaphras (Phlm 23), and Andronicus and Junia (Rom 16:7), Tychicus (Col 4:7). I doubt if this is exhaustive, but it reveals Paul’s heart for training and equipping additional laborers in the vineyard as Jesus put it.
Am I extrapolating this too far? I don’t think so. Look at the end of verse 11. “...I am expecting him with the brothers.” Paul seems to have had a group of men into whom he poured his life. So, to churches, dealing with young pastors: How would Paul evaluate your treatment of his charges? They were his friends and he seemed to love them as sons. He even called Timothy, his son.
Ministry is a two-way street. The pastor ministers to the little flock given to him. And the church, as a body, ministers to the pastor. This exchange, when fully and Scripturally implemented, would reduce or even eliminate “burn out” among pastors. Shame on us for not following the Scripture.
What is the answer to our question, “Who pastors the pastors?” As our old friend Pogo quipped, “We have found the enemy, and he is us.” We can substitute “the slacker” for enemy. Get busy and help churches heal. Amen.
* http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Pauline_Associates.htm
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