Greetings,
Paul instructed Timothy to consider his role of leadership to be an awesome responsibility before God. Leaders must understand that their role of leading others is a testimony of God in leading others to become a testimony of God’s family in the earth. This is not a matter of personal gain, but of personal sacrifice for the glory of God’s will and kingdom in the earth. It is an eternal responsibility before the highest authority in heaven and earth. Timothy was to give his life to the purpose of leading God’s people in his time. Leaders must give their lives to the purpose of leading God’s people in their time in the earth. It is an honor and a great privilege to be chosen by God for such a task.
1 Timothy 6:13-16 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
It is an awesome thing to be entrusted with a responsibility before the One who is the Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords! God is the only ruler of all things and to Him all things belong. The One who is the source of all beginnings and endings, the One who made all things and sustains all things, and the One to whom all things belong has chosen to use men. To think that God trusts and entrusts people to represent Him to and for the sake of others is an honor with amazing ramifications. Leaders must realize the gravity of their role in God’s church.
Leaders must be bold for Christ and bold for the sake of leading others into places they may not desire to go. This is not merely leading them into earthly tasks, duties, or responsibilities. It is leading them into the character of the family of God upon the earth. Timothy was to command the rich to not be proud nor trust in their riches but to be generous and to be rich in good works and a willingness to share with others. This was not about their money, but about the character of their hearts.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Paul didn’t tell Timothy to ‘suggest’ that the rich give to others. He instructed Timothy to ‘command’ them to do good and to use their financial blessings as a means of revealing who they were in the character of Christ with the material things entrusted to them in this life. For a leader to do this means that they must see the character of Christ as more valuable than the riches possessed by men. In order for leaders to be bold in the matters required to lead others into the will of God, a leader must realize that the attributes of Christ’s character, nature, way, power, and authority outweigh the value of personal opinions, possessions, intentions, attitudes, and any other individual quality in life. We must never seek to control or manipulate others to the agendas of our will, but leaders must willingly accept the responsibility of leading people to respond to God’s desires in their lives. It is not that leaders decide what others should do, but they must lead others in responding to what God is requiring of them in their personal lives.
Timothy was to guard what was given to him by God and avoid entering into disputes with those who contradicted and were concerned with things that did not pertain to the faith in God.
1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
God’s grace is with leaders to lead. What has been entrusted to them by God is a testimony of God’s trust in them and His willingness to anoint them for the responsibility of leading others. Leaders must lead! Foolish things that are not the issues of Christ and Christ-like character should not distract them. Disputes over laws, preferences, prideful knowledge, judgmental arguments, feasts, festivals, and various opinions and superstitions are not to be the diet of leaders or of those they lead. A leader must focus on what God has given to them and they must not be distracted by the agendas of foolish people who want to make issues out of matters that do not concern the faith. Faith is towards God and it is a matter of responding to the voice of God in the human heart. It is an action inspired by God’s voice in an atmosphere of a revelation of His love. This must be the focus of leaders, and this is to be the focus of those that leaders lead. Leaders set an example in this, lead others to embrace this, and guard to protect this purpose in the community of Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
