The Economics of Ministry

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Good morning, everybody. My name is Daniel Oster, and I am very fortunate to be a deacon here at South Wales and Baptist Church, and looking forward to bringing the Word this morning. We are in the middle of the series of The Economies of Jesus, and in doing this lesson this week, Paul kind of reminded me of how Americans have spent decades trying to make diet and exercise easy. And out of this has birthed some amazing exercise gadgets. I'm wondering if you've ever owned one of these. So the first one is the shake belt. This is like the original. I was looking for a picture of David and this belt, David Upchippert, I couldn't find one. So this is kind of early, right? This kind of, what about this next one? The Thighmaster, Suzanne Summers, right?

Okay, keep on going. Oh, the gazelle. Right? Every time I saw, I mean, Tony Little goes like 100 miles an hour on that thing, but every time I saw the gazelle, it always had clothes hanging on it in people's homes. into the infamous shake weight, right? Somehow you shake this weight and you become extremely fit. I don't get it, but today in chapter, we'll be in chapter four of 1 Timothy. And Paul is laying out this spiritual fitness program

for Timothy and his ministry. And so this happens twofold. This context of this is twofold. First is that these are personal instructions to Timothy. Timothy is a pastor at the Church of Ephesus at this time. He's young, right? And he's in an environment of a lot of disorganization, right? It's a new church, there's some new believers, there's this positioning for power, and there's this influx of all this false teaching coming in, so Paul's writing to him at this time. At this same time, Paul's words is directly applying to our economies of our own ministry. And so we're in week four of a sermon series called The Economy of Jesus. And so we've walked through First Timothy and we've talked about this through love, we've talked about this through gender, and last week on authority. And so the title seems odd, right? You don't usually hear the word economy and Jesus put together,

But that is a Greek word that's found in the New Testament and found in 1 Timothy chapter one verse four, where it talks about the stewardship. That's ESV calls it stewardship. NIV says God's work. And they say B says the administration of God. But it comes from the Greek word, eukonomia, which is where we get our word economy. So oikos is house. Nomiya is law, so these kind of house rules. And so Paul's talking about the structure and the working parts of advancing the gospel. So today we're gonna be in chapter four and we're gonna be looking at the economy of ministry. So when I say the word ministry, there's a lot of different things that can kind of pop into your head, right? You can think of a specific title, like a minister. Like ministry is done by a minister, maybe even done by a missionary, right? So you think of maybe position. Maybe you think of organizations like nonprofits,

like the Harvest House here in Burleson. Friends that work with ministries called the Beautiful Feet that wash and clothe or put shoes on people's feet. You may think about nonprofit organizations in their ministry. You may even think about parts of a church like music ministry, children's ministry, and youth ministry, things like that. And none of these are incorrect. Ministry can be done obviously in a lot of different ways and look different. However, all this ministry has the same goal to point to who God is. And so with all of our different giftings and our different personalities and even different cultures around the world, this can look different. Today we're gonna focus in though on our personal ministry and we're gonna define it as the life-giving response due to a life transforming gift, okay? So there's a response there from the gift received. Paul always says this pretty clearly in chapter one

of first Timothy when he says, in chapter one verse 15 he says, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am foremost. And so today in chapter four, Paul's laying out some practical ways to do this. But if we don't believe, and if it's not rooted out of this truth, then what this is gonna sound like is a bunch of to-do lists, and that's not what it is. So we have to remember that this transforming gift that Jesus gave us causes us to respond in a life-giving way. So let's go ahead, let's start by reading. We'll be in 1 Timothy chapter four, and we'll start in six. We'll read through the first part of 7. It says, If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have

followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths or old wives' tales. So the Church of Ephesus was riddled with false teaching and the first part of this chapter even talks about some of that. But Paul is reminding Timothy to remind his fellow believers of this truth, right? And so this is where Paul starts to lay out this spiritual fitness plan. If you look in 6, it says that the truths of the faith and the good teaching, what do those things do? They nourish. They nourish us. And that word nourish there is not meant to be some kind of like large, large intake at one time or sporadic. I think even some translations say constantly nourish. So this is much like our bodies need nourishment daily. So does our spiritual health. And so in order to be a good minister, Paul is saying in the economies of ministry, there's various ways it can be done, but it's crucial that our ministry be well nourished.

Okay? So see again, it's done by the truths of faith and following good teachings. So what does that look like? How do we nourish ourselves? What does that look like in our lives? Well, maybe a real quick, easy answer is reading God's word, right? So being in the Bible that's living and changes lives. Other ways is to actually talk about Scripture with other people or talk about what God is doing in your life. Think about how you have been blessed and when people have done that with you and things that you have learned. Maybe even listening to good teaching And that occasionally sometimes happens up here. If you're lucky, right at the pulpit, you'll get some good teaching. If not, nine o'clock an hour, there's a Bible study that happens over here. I felt like Craig and Tim, I aim in that. No, okay.

So anyway, but the whole, some other ways would be like reading books by faithful believers, right? Memorizing scripture, there's all these spiritual disciplines we set up to remind ourselves to nourish us in these things. But a lot of this process Timothy's asking, I mean, Paul's asking Timothy to do is to point out these things, right? I like how the King James says it. King James says, to put the brethren in remembrance of these things. So this reminding, right?

So, you know, I say all the time that Christians have Jesus amnesia, right? We forget these truths that we learn. very quickly. It kind of reminds me, have you ever seen like three-year-olds playing soccer and for like a split second they're interested in the soccer ball but then there's like a butterfly and they're like off somewhere else and I feel like that's a lot of times how we are in our Christian walk, right? Like we can be we can be focused even on a Sunday after having a really good time drive home you know somebody cut you off and it's like you forgot everything you just just happened that day, right? So you know that's why there's this importance of being reminded of this truth and that truth comes out of that verse 15 where Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am foremost. So the nourishment, the part we can't miss is the nourishment not only nourishes us but

it's important for the health of the other people around us. When I had kids, two things, two tensions happened at the same time that I did not realize paralleled each other. As toddlers, you take your kids to the pediatrician and he says, hey, just know whatever you put in front of your kids is what they're going to eat. You put healthy food in front of them, they're going to eat that. If you feed them other stuff, they're going to eat that. You control what your kids eat. I'm like, got it. You bake chicken and put broccoli on a plate, and then you open up your bag of water burger as you're trying to tell your kids. And the kids are going like, wait a second, you're making that look so good, right? And so it's at that point where I kind of realized that my diet needed to not only reflect what was healthy, but reflect what I wanted my kids to eat. So at the exact same time, my spiritual walk was real stagnant.

I went to church, I did all the things that maybe checked Christian boxes, but I was now walking a real healthy life. And when you have toddlers looking up to you, I became aware that what they see me do, if I say I'm living this Christian faith, their perception of that is going to be the way that I live it. And so at that point, it was clear to me that in both instances, that my strong influence on their own faith, how strong my influence was on their own faith. And so in both instances, the nourishment directly influenced my children, both the intake of my food and both the intake of the truths of God's Word. Like what I took in affected them. So think about how your perspective changes with your time of God kind of in that thought, right? That your nourishment, your time in the Word not only has significant effect on you but also for those around you.

So what does this kind of look like? Just a couple quick examples. Have you ever been, you've read your Bible that morning, you're talking to someone at work or in your family, and they start talking about a struggle or a question or something they have, and it directly correlates to what you've been studying or reading, and you're like, wow, what a coincidence, right? That's not God's using your nourishment for the nourishment of others. Or maybe you've been in a class or you've been talking to someone and they share something that the Lord's been doing their life and it's just clear and it's like something you needed to hear so clearly where their time with the Lord has directly affected you. And so we see this working out so it's important to know that our ministry must be nourished, well-nourished, so that we can respond in a life-giving way to others. Before we move on look at verse 7 real quick it says,

have nothing to do with godless myths or old wives tales. So Paul's encouraging him seem not to be fooled by these fake foods, this, you know, what we would consider junk food, right? He's saying don't be fooled by these cheap imitations, but let your mind be saturated with the living Word of God and not be fooled by this junk food that's clogging your arteries, right? So what does junk food look like for us today? It could be things like the importance of our kids success in school or in sports. It could be something like my financial status defines me, right? Maybe having a lot of followers on the Twitter grammar insta books. Did I get that right Emma? Yes. Yes. She loves her old man. So essentially it's not that these things are evil in themselves, it's when we start elevating them and saying like my significance is found in these things. Like Jesus is not enough. I need to add to it.

What he did was not enough. I need to have these other things for me to have worth. Right? And that's the junk food. That's the things that Paul's warning him about because Timothy's in the middle of all these things and these people saying like, if you're a real Christian, you're going to give up certain foods. You're not going to marry. You're going to do all this stuff. And he's having to, he's kind of having to navigate these waters on what these real truths are. So in our ministry, which we've defined as this life-giving response due to a life-transforming gift, it must be well-nourished. All right, so let's keep reading. The second part is seven there, and we're going to read through ten. It says, rather, train yourselves up to be godly for physical training as some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the

life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, that in why we labor and strive because we put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all people and especially those who believe." So first we're nourishing and now we are training. Some translations say discipline. The Greek word there is gymnaso, which is where we get our word for gymnasium or gymnastics. means to train. It speaks to like this rigorous training done by athletes, right? And then we see this comparison both with physical training and this godly training. And though it says physical training has some value, so Paul's saying you can work out a little bit, but the godliness training has much value. Why? He says because it's both for this present life and the life to come. He's basically saying look whatever you do physically, right? Whatever you do to try

reverse the aging process, news flash, we will all die. That's going to happen. But there's some internal implications to your godly training. So what you do, how you talk to people. And Paul says there in verse 10, this is why we labor and strive. This is why we work hard. This is why we train. Usually you hear the words labor and strive, which I don't know that we actually really use But I mean, you don't ask somebody, hey Bill, what are you doing this weekend? He's like, I don't know, hopefully some labor and striving. You know, no one says that, right? But what's clear here is that Paul is saying that our ministry requires effort. Right? That sounds like a very simple saying, but let me give you an example. If you join a gym and you are a member of the gym, and that is all you are, You're not going to get any stronger or fit, right? I know, sorry Dan. If you actually believe

that going to a gym makes you stronger and you really believe that, but you never go, it's not going to make you any more fit, right? Or what if you actually go to that gym, you walk around, you never even really lift the weight or do anything, right? Maybe take a lot of selfies in the mirror and like hashtag labor and strive, right? Like that, like that is not going to make you any more fit, right? That sounds, that sounds ridiculous. Well, like in our ministry, just because we are a member of a church, right? Just because we have a membership card. That is not, that's not going to point others to God. And honestly, if that's all it is, it's probably going to have a reverse effect. If you really true believe that talking to people about Jesus is important, but we sit at our house and just think, well, if the doorbell rings and somebody asks me about Jesus, then

you're missing out on what Christ is called in your walk. Maybe you even attend church, maybe you sing songs, and you even put money in the offering plate. But if that's it, it's equivalent to just going to the gym, walking around, right? You are missing out on so much, right? This transforming gift, you're missing out on what this transforming gift has to offer. So our ministry takes intention, it takes sacrifice, it takes exhaustive energy. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, he says, do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run in such a way that you get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into a strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone aimlessly, or fight like a boxer beating the air. Right? So, so there, so when you think about labor and striving and it doesn't sound fun,

there are times in our life where we choose to do something really hard knowingly because we see the reward. Our family for spring break drove 3,300 miles in seven days. And when I tell people that, they go, you're crazy. That's, that's horrible. Right? But what the payoff was for us is we got, we got to go see some really cool places in national parks around the country. So the labor and striving of driving was totally outweighed by what we considered the reward. And look at what Paul says here in verse 10. He says, he reminds us of this reason. He says, because we have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all people and especially those who believe. So we are motivated to do work, to train ourselves up in these things like reading the Bible, working through sin struggle, making time for others, serving others. Why? It's because it's worth it. Remember Paul told us in chapter 1 verse 15 that Christ

came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the most. That is us. We have received this life transforming gift and we want to respond with all of our strength, right? So therefore, therefore ministry requires our effort. So Paul's given us this training plan. We have this we have this nutrition, now we have this effort and so we strive to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and these things but what are we to do with it? And you do what any fit and healthy person does, you model, you model it, right? Let's read, keep reading on verses 11 through 16. It says, command and teach these things, don't let anyone look down because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come to vote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and teaching, do not neglect your gift which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders

lay their hands on you, be diligent in the matters, give yourself holy to them so that everyone may see your progress." It says, watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them because if you do, you will say both yourself and your heroes. So Paul's instructing Timothy to command and teach these things. In verse 12 he tells him, and set an example for believers. But right before that in the first part of 12 there seems like there's a barrier to overcome come first, right? Verse 12 identifies that Timothy is this young man, which could have been a assembly block for him thinking he was too young to do this, or more likely that people were looking down on him because they were older and he was a younger preacher trying to talk to them. And just from my experience here, I feel like that being looked down because you're young is really rare to happen at this church just because of my experience

and my family's. However, there is someone who continuously might tell you, hey, you shouldn't do this, right? Someone who discourages you, someone who disqualifies you often, and that person a lot of times is ourselves, me, right? I can speak to this well, because I'm really good at this. When I was at a previous church and Drew's a discipleship pastor, I didn't really know him well, and he called and asked me, he says, hey, can I buy you lunch at payway? Insider tip, if Drew offers to buy you coffee or a meal, it's probably not free. Okay? Just write that down. Write that down. All right? I didn't know it at the time. I wish someone would have told me. I showed up and he's asking me to lead a small group at our church. Being the Christian guy I was, I immediately said, no, I will not do that. See if you share any of these excuses that I had, maybe used

then but used a lot. Some of these would sound like, I have never done that before. That's a really good one because you can never get over that. If you never do it, you can always use that excuse, I've never done that before. You know, things in my past, if you, I'm really not worthy to do that job, right? You saw who I used to be, like I got, you know, you wouldn't want me doing that. There are others way more qualified than me. This is my favorite one. I was at a church full of seminary students, and I'm like, there's people who go to school to do Bible, and you're wanting me to do this? Like I've never stepped foot in a Bible class, right? I don't know all the answers to the Bible, but when I do, that's when I will serve and teach, right? Because somebody may ask me a question I don't know, and all the Christian faith will fall to its knees, and I

will be the... that's not how it works, right? I'm likely to mess up, right? So these These are all things we use to disqualify ourselves in ministry. I'll even give you some scriptural excuses. Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in my past or since I have spoken to you, but I am slow in speech and tongue. That is Moses, right, in Exodus 4:10. Next one, you are not able to go against the Philistines to fight for him, for you are only a youth, and he is a man of war. That is Saul's disqualifying of David in 1 Samuel. This guy made havoc of the church entering every house and dragging off men and women committing them to prison. That is Saul, now Paul, who is writing this letter to Timothy. Some really good excuses on why they shouldn't be used. Be very careful when you build your resume of all the reasons you should not be used by God, God loves that. The longer the list the better because He's glorified in it because

then it's not for us to boast on our own abilities. So rather Paul's telling us to set these insecurities aside for the sake of others. Look at verse 12 it says, set an example for the believers in speech, in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. So as believers and recipients of this transforming gift, we all get our nourishments from the same source, we get our our effort and our power from the same source, and therefore we have the ability to model ministry well for others through what Christ has done for us. Thomas Brooks was a pastor in London and he said example is the most powerful rhetoric, right? So in opposite terms, if I got up here and I weighed 600 pounds and I'm telling you how important diet and exercise is most people are not going to listen to me why because my life does not reflect that well, and that's why it's important and

So important look how what Paul says at the end of 16. He says watch your life and your doctoring closely Persevere in them because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers to people there, so it's not saying First of all, what it is saying is that our actions, our modeling has eternal implications, right? This is life and death. What it's not saying is that somehow perseverance saves us or others, but rather that this is part of our spiritual walk. When we live out the gospel and people see that, it can affect lives. Listen to Paul in Philippians 4:12. He says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence, but much more my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. How? For it is God who works in you. Why? Both to will and to work for his good pleasure. This work is in step, the work that we're called to ask to do.

Our ministry is in step with obedience and cooperation with the Holy Spirit on our spiritual journey. and know that we are being grown from the inside, God uses it to display his love to others. So this is the life-giving response, right? Understanding that we are made new, not only for ourselves, but for others. A family verse that we talk about a lot is Matthew 5:16. It says, let your light shine for others. Why? And he tells us why. It says, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. So they're like, he has saved us and through us that he's gonna, people are gonna see and come to know him through us. So in the theme of today, we're essentially, wanna talk about modeling, we're essentially flexing our spiritual muscles, right? And people take notice and they're like, wow, you look different, you know? So what does that look like?

It looks like them saying, how were you able to forgive that person that did that to you, right? You spiritually flex and you say, because I'm forgiven, because Jesus forgave me, right? Why did you bring our family a meal, you know, when we just had a baby or when, you know, someone passed, we don't even really know you that well. And that's when you spiritually flex and you just talk about your relationship with God. Why are you not freaking out right now? Like there's so much chaos happening and whatever circumstances, How are you able to stay so calm? How are you to have peace in such a chaotic situation? And that's where you're able to point to God. So that is what this modeling of ministry looks like. And so, and then at the same time that you're kind of seeing, you're kind of talking about this new body that you have, this spiritual body, this new person you are,

you could point to him and tell him what it was like before. Like you think this looks good, you should see the before picture, right? How is this decaying, dying, enslaved, descent person? And then Jesus stepped in. And this is the reason I am this way. Paul talks about this starting the second half of 12 there when he says, but set an example for believers in speech and in conduct and in love and in faith and in purity until I come to vote yourselves to the public reading of scripture to preaching and to teaching. Don't neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid hands on you. Be diligent in these things and give yourself holy to them so that everyone may see your progress. So, when we raise the Christian flag, when we say that we are Christians, whether you realize it or not, you're being watched. And it has an impact on people around you.

And so, in order for us to model these things well, model speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, we must be well nourished and it takes effort. So in the economies of ministry, how can we have a ministry that is a life-giving response due to a transforming gift, right? Well, we talked about being well-nourished, right? That the feeding of ourselves is also for the nourishment of others. Talked about that it requires efforts, that Godly training has eternal effects, not just for us, but for those around us. And then lastly, that those things work together with the power of the Holy Spirit that we must model those things for others to see and to follow, right? And this all comes from the response out of the fact that Jesus came into the world to save me, a sinner of whom I am the foremost. So think about your spiritual journey. When we say spiritual journey, that sounds,

you know, this may sound weird, but everybody is kind of, is trying to figure this walkthrough Christianity, or maybe you may be just checking it out, not even really sure what it is. Maybe you're inquisitive about Christianity. You have your hesitations. That's perfectly fine. That's natural. Think about what the next step looks like. I mean, maybe if you don't have a Bible, we have some in the seats you can take home with you. Just start reading it. If you want somebody to read it with you,

see me, I'd be more than willing to do that. Maybe what Craig said about his class about the Bible, You have a lot of questions, right? You have a lot of questions about this Bible that we hold true in faith. Consider coming to that class. That would be really good. Maybe you are new to the faith or still considering you believe in Jesus and stuff, but that's kind of where it stops. You're not really sure what to do at that. Everything else seems overwhelming. I would encourage you to spend some time in the Word, but also maybe consider coming to Cindy Combs Women's Bible Study, right? Or coming to our Bible study at nine o'clock, where it's just interactive. We're asking questions, we're walking through the Bible together. Flaw, people full of flaws going through the Word, right? We're not doing it perfectly, but we were sure to try. Those are some opportunities.

You know, if you're a believer and you've heard this And it's not the first time, but you don't really have anybody that you're modeling this for, maybe to minister to. You don't have those connections. Consider inviting somebody to go walking on Sunday with Cindy Hightower's group. Consider a family with kids. Ask them to come on a Friday night where their kids are playing games and you get to talk with parents and just find out more about them and ways to maybe make this connection. I think what's very clear through the scripture today is that our salvation is not for us to keep for ourselves, right? Our ministry is to be lived out for the sake of others. So rather than rather were to live this out loud, our ministry should point others to the greatest thing that has ever happened to us and that's in Jesus Christ. All right, so let's go ahead and pray.

Father, you are good and we just thank you that for these truths. We thank you that, Lord, we are beneficiaries of a transforming gift. Lord, you've changed us and you have made us new. And Lord, you have invited us to do this work alongside you and you're gonna equip us and help us, Lord. Just help us to minister well and to point people to you. Let us be a church that does that well. That's your name I pray, amen. Amen. Maybe for some of you, you know, when the excuses came out, you know, and he was talking about Moses' excuse or David's excuse or just even the disqualification that Saul, who then became Paul, was dealing with, maybe that was you. And I just wanna encourage you, we're gonna have a time of response. Um, uh, no, uh, nobody has to be perfect to respond to what the Lord's doing. In fact, that's a kind of a prerequisite is that you have to be pretty flawed.

You have to be pretty imperfect to do that. Uh, during our time of invitation, uh, I'm going to be right up here. Uh, and if you want to, to come up and pray, uh, if you want to come up and join the church, if you want to come up and, uh, be baptized, if you're interested in being baptized, uh, you can just come forward and let me know. We can talk and pray. If you're not comfortable coming up here and you come with somebody, and you trust them and you can talk with them and pray with them, then do that. Just turn to the person next to you and just say, I really need to pray through something or I really need to ask for forgiveness or I really need just some help. I don't really know what to do next. That's perfectly okay. You know, we're not running tallies up here, but we do want you to respond to what the Lord has done. As we stand and sing, let's do that.

Let's respond. Yeah. Oh, so are you weary and troubled? Light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior. And light more abundant and free. And turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look for in his wonderful face And the things of earth will go strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace Through death into life everlasting He passed and we followed Him there Over us in no more half dominion More than conquerors we are Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace His word shall not fail you, He promised. Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dry. It's perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look forward in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory embrace And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

in the light of his glory and grace.