Ready for a noble task?

NORSK
When Paul chose to write to Timothy about church leaders and members, it was because he wanted Timothy to:

“…know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
1 Timothy 3:15

In other words, it is Paul’s concern for the church that is the motive for the high expectations he has to the appointed leaders. I will not at this stage reflect on the details, they need no explanation and are found in the third chapter. I choose to dwell on the opening phrase:

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
1 Tim 3:1

This verse has always intrigued me, and I used it as an introduction to the first leadership course I published more than 25 years back. The verse puzzles me because I wonder if there really are a lot people who desire to be an overseer? It seems even more strange if they have read all the requirements found in chapter three.

Experience confirms that the church needs people who are willing to take on such roles. A few days ago I spoke with a young family who are members of a well-run church. After a long period without a pastor, a few months they welcomed one who accepted the challenge. "It was not until after he had arrived that we realized how much we have missed having a pastor", the young family commented.

I know their new pastor. He knows what it is all about and what he has committed himself to, and I know his motivation - he is one of the best pastors I know. I think “motive” was Paul’s concern. The demands for qualifications are in many ways unlimited, but the person who takes on such a mission with the right motive, also understands that it is a noble task he has taken on. It is a task that needs to be done and therefore it is part of ‘the good deposit’, for which all disciples are responsible stewards. Therefore, we should support those who face the challenge of leadership.

'Manna' for today:

Discipleship is about being ready for noble tasks.

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It is about groundbreaking

NORSK
Holiness is definitely about groundbreaking. When I taste the flavor of the word 'groundbreaking', it has a positive taste. In 2006 I published a booklet by the title “Groundbreaking Spiritual Leadership” (Illustration). In eight small chapters, I focused on seven remarkable leaders in the Bible. 

All seven were groundbreakers. Very often in a good way, but if groundbreaking is one of your characteristics, there is always a danger that you easily cross borders you should have left uncrossed.

David is a good (or bad?) example. He was a groundbreaker even as a teenager, facing Goliath without armor and with only a sling as weapon. 
But wasn’t it just this capacity that led to his fall in sin with Bathsheba?

From his roof he spotted a beautiful woman taking a bath, and he was tempted. Yesterday I concluded that temptation is not sin. Sin is to follow my will instead of God’s will. In the moral context of his time, it was not wrong of David to make enquiries about the woman, but he should have stopped when he heard that she was the wife of Uriah. David’s sin was that he chose his way and called for the woman. Then followed all the consequences of sin: Adultery, lies, conspiracy and complicity in murder. A sharp contrast to the high integrity of Uriah (1).

When David realized what he had done, he repented and made penance. The feeling of devastation over what he had done was mixed with the anxiety of losing the Holy Spirit. He knew that he was dependent upon holiness to stay in God’s plan (2). When I face temptation it is healthy to know what I jeopardize losing if I break ground God has asked me to stay away from.

‘Manna’ for today:

It is about knowing what I have…
because then I know what I jeopardize losing!

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(1) 2 Sam 11
(2) Psalm 51