40 Rules for Christian Ministry (Part 3)

Jesus Christ chose Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) as a ‘chosen vessel’ (Acts 9) to ‘bear’ (carry) His Name to Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. As we learn in the Book of Acts and Paul’s many letters, Jesus gave Paul ‘visions and revelations’ (2 Corinthians 12:1) that became the foundation of the ‘mystery’ of the Church Paul presented to the world. It is because of those special visions and revelations and the mystery that Jesus Christ gave Paul that I’m focusing on the apostle’s final letter for ‘rules for Christian Ministry.’ You can find the first five ‘rules’ for Christian ministry here and the second ‘five rules’ here. We move now to the third set of ‘five rules.’

Rule #11

Remind them of these things

Every Christian has ministry gifts (charismatōn). That’s clear from Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. We learn in Ephesians 4 that Jesus Christ ‘gave gifts to men’ when ‘He ascended on high.’ Those gifts (domata) are: ‘apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.’ Notice the difference in ‘gifts.’ Some are ‘grace gifts’ (charismatōn) so that every believer has a special ministry in the Body of Christ. Some are ‘gifts, presents’ (domata) that the Lord gave the Church for its orderly function.

We know that Timothy functioned as an apostolic representative (Paul called him a ‘fellow worker’) and also had received charismatos with the ‘laying on of the hands of the eldership’ (1 Timothy 4:14). We don’t know what spiritual gift Timothy received, but Paul did tell Timothy to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ and ‘fulfill your ministry’ later in 2 Timothy. Whatever ‘grace gift’ Timothy received most likely was connected to his ministry with Paul.

One of the things Paul wanted Timothy to do was ‘remind’ people ‘of these things.’ The Greek word for ‘remind’ is hupomimnéskó. It means ‘to put in mind, suggest to one’s memory, remind quietly, to remember because prompted.’ The context of Paul’s ‘reminder’ rule is what preceded 2 Timothy 2:14.

Rule #12

Charge them before the Lord

Paul wrote that ‘reminding’ people should lead to ‘charging’ them ‘before the Lord.’ Invoking the name of the Lord was a powerful way that prophets and apostles emphasized the importance of what they were saying. The word ‘charge’ is diamarturomai and means ‘to attest or protest earnestly, thoroughly bear witness, give solemn, earnest testimony.’

Paul’s focus for Timothy’s ‘charge’ was specific. He did not want Christians to ‘strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.’ I find that interesting on several levels. One is that this continues to be a problem among Christians and church leaders almost two thousand years after Paul wrote Timothy. Another is that this is a problem that Christians and church leaders have dealt with through all the centuries of Church history.

The Greek word for ‘strive’ is logomacheó and means ‘quarrel, dispute on trifles, dispute about words.’ One my first memories of the hypocrisy of Christians and church leaders occurred when I was twelve years old. I was old enough to attend a church business meeting, so I did. Unfortunately, the meeting turned into a massive quarrel among church members and leaders. Some of the ugliest words I heard spoken that day were among leaders of the church. The things I heard people say to and about each other that day was the beginning of my eventually leaving my parents’ church and becoming an atheist. I doubt anyone in that meeting understood that their ‘striving about words’ that day would lead to the ‘ruin’ of myself and other hearers in the meeting. The word ‘ruin’ in the Greek is katastrophé and means ‘destruction, ruin, demolition, catastrophe, subversion, overthrowing of.’ I was ‘ruined’ for a time by their words, but was saved years later by the love and grace of God.

The Apostle Paul knew that Christians and church leaders would get involved in quarrels and disputes about words and those quarrels could lead to the ‘ruin’ of hearers’ (akouó – audience). So, he told Timothy to ‘charge’ members and leaders of local churches NOT to do that. Unfortunately, Paul’s words have been ignored by Christians for the most part for the past two-thousand years. Enough already. Christians and church leaders need to stop playing ‘god’ and get back to obeying God.

Rule #13

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed

The Greek word translated ‘diligent’ is spoudazó. It means ‘endeavor, labor, make every effort, be earnest, be prompt, be earnest, be eager, be diligent, use speed.’ That sounds pretty important, doesn’t it? It’s as if Paul was saying ‘there’s no time to waste .. get busy.’ What did Paul think was so important? ‘to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed.’

The word ‘approved’ in the Greek is dokimos and means ‘tried, accepted as genuine.’ This is important. Remember that Paul emphasized Timothy’s faith being ‘genuine’ at the beginning of this letter (2 Timothy 1:5). Paul then moved to Timothy’s ministry being ‘genuine.’ There’s a difference that we find explained well in Ephesians 2:8-10.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Faith is a free gift that God gives people. It’s not of works because people would brag about what they had done to be saved. However, we are God’s ‘workmanship,’ created in Jesus Christ ‘for good works,’ We are not saved by works of righteousness which we have done (Titus 3:5), but we are saved with a view toward ‘doing good works.’ That’s ministry. Our salvation is a free gift. Our ministry is serving God through good works. Make sense? God approves of us as His children by grace through faith, ‘and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.’ God approves of our ministry (service) for Him through our diligence as workers who do not need to be ashamed.

The word ‘worker’ is ergatés and means ‘laborer, workman.’ The words ‘does not need to be ashamed’ are a translation of the Greek word anepaischuntos. It basically means ‘unashamed, not ashamed.’ I would think that every Christian and every church leader would like to God to view them in a positive light – being ‘unashamed.’ However, that is far from reality. Many Christians and their leaders are ‘not approved’ by God and should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves. Why? Because they do not ‘rightly divide the word of truth.’ What does that mean?

Rule #14

Rightly divide the word of Truth

The Greek is ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας. The word ὀρθοτομοῦντα (orthotomounta) means ‘to make a straight cut, to dissect correctly, to handle correctly, rightly divide.’ λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας (logon tēs alētheias) means ‘the word, the doctrine, the teaching, the communication, the word, of truth, of fact, of reality). It is up to every Christian to ‘rightly divide the word of truth’ – which basically means making the correct interpretation based on understanding the Word of God correctly. The fact that Christians have come up with hundreds (even thousands) of different interpretations for the same portions of Scripture is evidence that a lot of people have not ‘rightly divided’ the Word of Truth. There is ‘one truth,’ not hundreds.

Christians should be ashamed of themselves. Hundreds of millions of Christians living now and those living in the past have made serious errors in their studying and teaching of God’s Word. Don’t be one of them.

Rule #15

Shun profane and idle babblings

Paul also told Timothy to emphasize to Christians that they should ‘shun profane and idle babblings.’ The Greek is βεβήλους κενοφωνίας περιΐστασο and means to ‘avoid empty worldly babblings.’ The word ‘wordly” (bebélos) means ‘profane, wicked, godless.’ The word for ‘idle babblings’ is kenophónia and means ’empty chatter, vain and fruitless discussion.’ The word ‘shun’ is periistémi and means ‘avoid, keep away from, block out, avoid all contact.’ Whoa! That sounds serious. Did Paul really mean that Christians should avoid Christians and their leaders whose conversations are vain, empty, and fruitless? Yes, that’s exactly what Paul told Timothy. If more Christians and church leaders followed Paul’s apostolic command, the ‘church’ would be in less of a mess than what it is now and has been for thousands of years.

Why is this important? Let’s finish Paul’s command: “But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.” The Greek is γὰρ προκόψουσιν ἀσεβείας and means that allowing Christians to keep talking wicked, profane, fruitless chatter will ‘lead’ (prokoptó – increase, drive forward, advance) ‘ungodliness’ (asebeia – irreverence, wickedness, lack of respect).

Paul’s words to Timothy were not hypothetical. He had seen it with his own eyes. In fact, he gave Timothy a real-life example:

“And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:17-19

My guess is that you have seen many examples of this kind of behavior. I know I have. What did you do about it? Did you ‘avoid’ the ‘idle babbler’ or did you listen to what they said? If you gave ear to what they said, you were part of leading others to disrespect God’s Word and ‘overthrow the faith of some.’ If you avoided the ‘idle babblers,’ good for you. However, I’ll bet you paid a price for doing that. I know I did. It cost me and my family a lot to stand against the wickedness and ungodliness in churches, but I still believe it was the right thing to do. I hope you do as well.

I’ll share five more rules for Christian ministry in the next podcast.

Play Podcast

In Christ’s Love and Grace,

Mark McGee

GraceLife / Faith and Self Defense / Grace Martial Arts / Substack