Timothy and Haley have been a part of Cornerstone Community Church since early 2010. Haley came a couple months before Timothy. When Timothy arrived he brought with him the v-neck and Converse All-Stars. With his outer shirt untucked and unbuttoned, v-neck showing, and sneakers sneaking, we should have known then he was a church planter. Timothy went through the internship program 3 times, not because he was undecided, we just didn’t know what to do with him. Then one day we watched a NAMB video and found Timothy’s people group—Guys in v-necks, with unbuttoned shirts, sporting sneakers doing a decent job of reaching the unreached.
When Timothy’s fashion began to change, becoming a bit more dapper and stylish, I suspected a female right away. So, Haley we all owe you a debt of gratitude. Sure enough Timothy and Haley were married. Haley has proven herself to be a one who helps her husband fulfill God’s call in their lives.
Timothy has been on a fast track of growth, developing as a preacher, teacher, theologian, leader, husband, and father. Our small group has enjoyed Timothy’s leadership, and we feel we have had a significant role in his training for the task he is embarking on today, planting the church. Timothy has led our group well and to the point of developing leadership within the group.
Growth is never easy. I’ve seen Timothy lie under the conference table and question the whole meaning of seminary and degree tracks. Yet, he continued on. I’ve seen him concoct, from the delirium of much study I presume, “spontaneous crazy human competitions,” such as taking croquet shots, the loser of which has to do 10 pushups and double the number for each loss. Perhaps you have walked by the office and seen one of us on the floor doing pushups and counting 50,51,52…. This was all part of the internship’s growth and development program. Can there be any reason we should not proceed with this ordination?
As a church, we have seen Timothy develop as a preacher and teacher of the Bible. Timothy and Haley have served the church faithfully in a number of roles, demonstrated fidelity and stability in their marriage, produced a baby for our small group, and nurtured a desire to plant churches in the Salt Lake area.
We recognize the missionary calling in their lives and today want to set them aside for this task. In so doing, we are recognizing the pastoral calling in Timothy and the vital role Haley has in submitting to and supporting her husband in this call.
The Bible is a church planting manual, and the NT is the manual within the manual. From eternity, God purposed to bring His church into being as a global people for His Son. Even the marriage of the first couple anticipated Christ and the church. In the storyline of the Bible, God’s progressive revelation of His redemptive purpose, we move through the covenant heads of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, David, to Christ and the church. We as the church are Christ’s covenant people. Unlike, Israel, the church is a global reality. Her mission is to gather from all the nations a people who will dwell with God as His people in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The way the church goes about this ingathering is by being fruitful and multiplying all over the world. God will have a strong, healthy, and vital church made up from all the peoples of the world. This reality moves us in mission all over the world in confidence that God will uphold His saving purpose among all peoples.
The NT chronicles for us the planting of the church and its multiplication throughout the Roman world. The main characters of the NT were all church planters. Jesus is the master church planter. He founded the church by a covenant cut in His own blood, gave her her message—the gospel, personally trained the 1st group of planters to go out—teaching them by example how to multiply leaders, and established her mission. It is little wonder the church spread throughout the world.
One of the premiere church planters of the NT was Paul. In Acts, we see him build a church planting team, plant churches across Asia Minor and Greece. On his second church planting journey, Paul recruited a 15 year old at Lystra, named Timothy, who accompanied him on the 2nd and 3rd church planting journeys (Acts 16:1ff), and to Rome for Paul’s first Roman imprisonment (Phm 1; Phil 1:1; 2:19-24; Col 1:1). Thus, ends the book of Acts with Paul under house arrest in Rome with a great deal of freedom. Many have played off the ending of Acts by positing Acts 29 as the story that is being written now beyond the scope of NT history. Yet, the NT itself gives us a good deal of the Acts 29 story. The Pastoral Epistles belong to a post Acts time period.
Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment and resumed his church planting career. He traveled with Titus and Timothy, dropping Titus off on Crete (Titus 1:5) and Timothy in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3). Paul continued on to Macedonia from where he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus to instruct his church planting apprentices. He continued his church planting activity and eventually was re-arrested, perhaps, at Troas (2 Tim 4:9-13) and transported to Rome.
Paul’s second Roman imprisonment was not like the first. He is not in a rented house but in a subterranean dungeon with a single hole in the ceiling for light and air. He was abandoned by his companions (4:16), some turned against him and slandered him because of his suffering (1:15), he was lonely, cold, and waiting to be executed.
In this situation, Paul wrote his last letter, 2 Timothy, a personal letter to Timothy, instructing Timothy to come to him and encouraging him in the work of church planting. At this point, Timothy had been apprenticing with Paul for about 15 years. We think today we are going to train church planters in a 2 or 3 day conference. How different our methods today and those in the NT.
In this letter, Paul profiles a church planter. The gospel is the fulcrum upon which the work of the church planter swings (1:13, 14). The letter could be summarized as a charge to guard the gospel in chapter 1 (14), suffer for the gospel in chapter 2 (3), continue in the gospel in chapter 3 (14), and preach the gospel in chapter 4 (2).
I want to look specifically at 2:1-13 and highlight things that should characterize a church planter. These are things we all need to hear, church planter or not, for at least 2 reasons. All of us at some level are involved in church planting, and as a healthy church we are called on not only to train but recognize and affirm up and coming church planters. This text calls us to “think these things over” and recognize our need for the Lord to form and firm up our philosophy of church planting (7).
The Christian life is a life of dependence on grace from start to finish. It begins in gospel grace, continues in gospel grace, and reaches its ultimate goal in gospel grace. The grace that saves us is the same grace that enables and empowers our service.
Notice how this idea is repeated in the epistle to this point. Paul reminded Timothy of the saving grace of Christ that invaded his life (1:5). He ties the salvation event to the “gift of God” that came to Timothy (1:6). He again asserts that by that same gift, Timothy is to guard the gospel trust (1:14). Then in 2:1 Timothy is to be strengthened in gospel grace.
In the salvation event, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer. He is the gift of God. He empowers and enables every believer with gifts to be employed in the building up or planting of the church. I don’t think a church ever gets beyond the “being planted stage.” In her life, she comes to experience every stage of the planting process simultaneously—new believers to mature believers, taking in to sending out.
At every stage of planting, the most crucial thing in the building up of the church is that we serve in the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit’s gifting. When we serve in the power of the Holy Spirit, we serve in a way that builds up the church by strengthening the faith of others. Operating in our own strength diminishes the gospel and exalts personalities. Take for example opposition. Both Paul and Timothy faced opposition. Paul’s opponents (1:15) said that Paul’s imprisonment and suffering were due to God’s disapproval of him (1:8, 11-12). Timothy tended to be timid and reluctant (1:7). Paul faced opposition by holding up the gospel. He is calling on Timothy to do the same thing. Don’t rely on you own ability, your own strength, but by the Holy Spirit hold up the gospel (1:6, 14; 2:1). We cannot gimmick new churches into existence. There are no shortcuts. No silver bullets. The gospel is the only message that calls the church into existence.
One other point to make about spiritual gift and the church. The idea is afloat that we can only do what we are gifted to do. Maybe someone will say, “That’s not my spiritual gift.” I understand what’s being said, but I disagree with the concept. For example, one could say, “I don’t have the gift of mowing or cleaning or watching kids.” What are you going to do when you get your own yard, house, and kids? In planting churches and serving in churches, there are many mundane tasks that need to be done. While many of those tasks may not be your favorite things, Paul said, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…” (1 Cor 14:1). One way I can pursue love is to jump in and do what needs done and pray for God to empower me by the Holy Spirit to do service in a way that encourages and serves my brothers and sisters. This how spiritual gifts operate in the body, through love for my brothers and sisters not through exalting my giftedness.
This is why the church planter must be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
No movement will ever move beyond its leadership and will last only as long as it develops leaders. Jesus poured his entire earthly ministry into 12 men who were to carry on His church planting ministry. You would think, He would have started a little congregation and got up and preached a weekly sermon. His vision went way beyond that. He had the global expansion of the church in view.
In verse 2 there are 4 generations of leadership that are mentioned. I’m no guru, but missiologists say when church planting hits the fourth generation, you have the beginnings of movement. A thousand 1st or 2nd generation churches does not a movement make. So, Timothy you will be 2nd generation, a plant from your plant will be 3rd, and plant from your plant’s plant will be 4th to us but 3rd to you.
In leadership, we are looking for two things: faithful men who are able to teach. Some are able to teach but are not faithful. Some are faithful but not able to teach. We need the latter but not the former. When you are looking for men to pour your life into, look for faithfulness and teach-ability. If a man is not teachable, he is no teacher. Timothy is a faithful learner and a faithful teacher.
Be intentional in developing leaders. How do I know if I am intentionally developing leaders? You have to know and teach the content they need to know. The content is not some elitest private content for the initiated (2). The content is public and central to all our teaching. Everything we teach must be gospel centered. It must be an exposition of the gospel. Lee’s sermon last Sunday was a great example of the careful, thoughtful exposition of the gospel (Isa 49-55).
How do you intentionally train leaders? Never carry on the work of the ministry alone. I saw this illustrated in Mason Leaf last time he was here. Mason has multiplied himself more than anyone I know. Every time he comes here, he brings someone with him. Last time he was here, Mason was leading an evangelism training event for us. He brought someone with him and had him share his testimony. I said to Mason, “That was good of your buddy to come with you.” Mason said, “I never go anywhere alone.” Mason says, “No” to a lot of things—things that don’t get to the vision.
How do you intentionally train leaders? You give them opportunity to lead. Some guys think they are God’s gift to the microphone. Some are jealous of the praise of men. You cannot develop leaders if you are worried that someone may be smarter, more talented, more able, more gifted than you. It’s ok if those we train are better than we are. Pray for those you train to far excel you. When I hear you preach and teach and the other interns preach and teach, I am overjoyed and would give up any opportunity for the joy of hearing them.
Every church ought to conduct its ministry in a way that it can look at its history and say, “This man and this man and this man and this man … came out of our church.”
What strange words! “Share in suffering” (synkakophatheson) (3). This is the second time Paul issued this invitation (cf. 1:8). The idea here is not “toughen up.” While we all need to toughen up a bit, the idea here is to join the ranks of those who suffer. Embrace suffering for the gospel. Far from suffering being an indication that of God’s disapproval, it is a calling. We are not to suffer alone, however.
Suffering alone happens because we tend to distance ourselves from those who suffer. The Asia connection distanced itself from Paul to a heretical fault saying, “Paul is suffering because he misunderstands the gospel. The resurrection is past and suffering belongs to the old age not the new age” (2:18). Others in fear for their lives left Paul (4:16). Some may have been critical of Paul saying, “He brought this on himself. He pushed the gospel too far. He should have backed off a bit.”
Yet, Paul writes Timothy, pleading for Timothy to come to him (4:9). Does Paul not realize he is asking Timothy to come to an unpredictably, dangerous situation? We are to embrace the suffering of our brother and sisters for the gospel and come to their aid by any means.
Suffering alone happens when we are afraid to admit to others we are suffering. This is not Paul’s example. He is saying, “I’m suffering here. I need you to share this with me to strengthen me. I going to die. I need to die well for Christ. Come and help me. I only have Luke with me” (4:11). Many brothers in the ministry are suffering, but they are reluctant to share their suffering with others. Maybe they feel they will be perceived as weak. Maybe they are afraid their opponents will seize on their weakness. On days when you want to pack it in and quit. Call us. Let us walk with you and help you by any means.
If we are not careful suffering will get us off track and derail our gospel intentionality. Paul holds up for us three metaphors of those who labor intentionally no matter the suffering and what moves them to do so.
The church planter lives and suffers to feel and know the pleasure of Christ. This kind of living is the very thing that puts him on the frontlines. He has to learn to fight wounded. Stephen Ambrose wrote, “In combat a man fights for, not some noble patriotic cause, but for the man next to him” (A Band of Brothers). Christ fights beside and for the church planter (4:17). In the battle, He looks on His planters with pleasure. Don’t entangle yourself with the issues of this world. Christ is beside you, and He will preserve you and say, “Well done.” A planter cannot plant in Salt Lake thinking of where he may go next.
Timothy I think of you here. It is a little odd that family get-togethers result in triathlons, but sometimes they do. You trained and trained and trained simply for the joy of winning. Anyone who has competed knows that it is painful. There are no shortcuts. What motivates you? The joy of winning. It doesn’t matter if there is no purse, no notoriety, no Nike endorsement. You endure the pain for the sheer joy of winning. We are disciplined by the prospect of reward.
We discipline ourselves to run hard in the rigors of entrusting an untainted gospel to others. We do it to know the pleasure of Christ and share in His life, joy, and glory. Christ is the prize. After we have disciplined ourselves, do you see that the crown is still a gift of grace? In our own strength, we could never please Christ and know His commendation. It is in the grace of Christ that we are strengthened for the rigors and pain of training.
He is not only hardworking, but works hard at things that produce a crop. We could say that a man who chops wood with an axe is hard working, but if he is expecting a crop, he should change his activity. We have to work hard at the right things. We are to entrust the gospel to others, equipping them to entrust it to others. Being intentional about the right things leads to a harvest.
Intentionality brings suffering and ridicule to the church planter, but you will never plant without it. People will unintentionally sidetrack you by wanting you to get involved in 1000 other good things. The church is not built good things and the issues of the day. It’s built on the gospel. Oddly enough, the gospel answers everything that is wrong in every society because the gospel addresses the ultimate issue, the inherent sinfulness of mankind.
We are called to think on these things before the Lord, realizing that standing in the sphere of the strength of gospel grace, we can endure all opposition to the gospel and pass it on to others who will pass it on untainted. We do not suffer for the sake of suffering, but to know the pleasure of God, gain the most coveted prize, and reap the best harvest. Suffering leads to glory. The emphasis in this text is on the end of suffering—pleasure, joy, and satisfaction. Knowing eternal pleasure, eternal joy, and eternal satisfaction in God will necessitate sharing in suffering.
This text is about perseverance. Nothing impacts our resolve to persevere like suffering. When it costs you some skin to be a Christian, to be a church planter, to be a witness for Christ, the natural inclination is to cut-and-run. We must call upon every means of grace to persevere in the faith, even when we are not in distress. If that is the case in the good times, what of uprooting from everything normal and up-building and setting out to plant churches in the most unreached area of North America? Unreached areas are unreached for a reason. They are hard. Many who go will leave for all kinds of reasons, but some will leave simply because of hardship.
Paul was suffering on 4 fronts. He was suffering because he was in prison being treated as a criminal (same word Luke used to describe those crucified with Jesus). He was suffering from being forsaken by fellow believers in his suffering (4:10a). He was suffering from loneliness due to friends carrying on the mission (4:10b). He was suffering because some abandoned the faith and were leading others astray with a false gospel by maligning Paul and his gospel (2:17b-18).
Paul holds up Christ and closely identifies his own suffering with Christ’s sufferings (8-9; cf. 4:16). He is walking the Calvary road. Far from suffering, as his opponents said, for getting the gospel wrong, Paul was suffering because he got the gospel right. Remembering the suffering of Christ and the fact that we are called participate in His suffering in the space between Christ’s resurrection and ours is a powerful aid in perseverance.
How do we remember Christ? He is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, David’s Son. He is man and messiah, the Divine Son. He in His person was the perfect representative of both the offender and the offended, the sinner and God. If he suffered and was raised to give us the gospel, we will suffer for and be raised by that gospel. Our lives are to look somewhat like his.
In our suffering for the gospel, though we may be bound, the Word of God cannot be bound (9). In fact, the gospel against the background of one who is suffering for it is a powerful unleashing of the Word of God. The advance of the gospel is enhanced by the suffering of those proclaiming it. When we remember Christ, we remember the gospel. We remember that He died and rose again to purchase a people for Himself. Paul said, “When I think of Christ, I think of the reward of His suffering and that moves me to endure everything that those for whom Christ died may obtain salvation in Christ with eternal glory” (10).
The church planter has a view to the church that is and the one that will be. He understands that the God who ordained the end ordained the means to the end. Christ suffered to give us the gospel, and we will suffer in giving it to others. It is through the faithful preaching of the gospel of Christ to a hostile world that God calls the church into existence and will preserve it through every adversity to bring it to eternal glory.
Paul illustrates both positively and negatively the point that suffering leads to glory with an ancient hymn (11-13). The suffering of Christ not only resulted in His own glory, it also results in glory for us. The suffering of the church planter leads to the glory of those called to faith. We don’t have to worry if we die because God raises the dead (11). We don’t have to morn if we lose position, suffer, and are maligned because we will reign with Him (12). We don’t have to worry that those who deny Christ, walk away from the faith, and distort the gospel will overturn the purpose of God (12b-13). He will by grace preserve us, and by every means of grace we will persevere and see the church planted and grow and endure and be ultimately brought to glory. We are brought now the Lord’s Table to remember Christ in a tangible way.