Full Life – Commissioning the People of God

Some modern theologians have understood the passage in 2 Timothy 4:2–5 as the apostle Paul’s commission to Christians today and in the centuries to come. I believe so too. Open your Bible and see for yourself. It is a solemn charge from Paul not only to the leaders of the churches of the living God, but to all

who, submitting to the authority of Christ as Savior and Lord, understand that everything the church and its members do has a missional dimension. Preach the word. Persist in season and out of season…

Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28) is the highest charge, the supreme command that helps us understand God’s will for his church and assures us that, as we carry it out, he will be with us. Paul’s charge to his disciple Timothy is concise guidance with a clear progression and meaning: Admonish, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction…

The apostle charges us not only to preach the word, but to do so in season and out of season. What a beautiful lesson. There is no need to wait for the leaders to schedule an evangelistic campaign before going out to preach! The Lord’s time is now. People are spending more and more time on religious activities and more money on religious products and services than on carrying out God’s mission. The word persevere fails the test of moving from the mind to the heart. Paul says, persist (persevere, keep at it, become obsessed, do not grow weary of preaching the word). And he adds: correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience, never ceasing to teach. Do we correct members of the body of Christ when they become disorderly? Do we rebuke when necessary to preserve the health of the church? Do we encourage the brother who made decisions based on his emotions rather than on the Spirit and who spurned the Lord’s grace?

The reasons for Paul’s charge to young Timothy (and to us today) are astonishingly relevant: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers for themselves according to their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn to myths (to fables)” (2 Timothy 4:3–4). Several names come to mind of men who began their work anointed by a beautiful calling from the Lord of glory, and today are nothing but rags and sequins, a veneer of legalistic faith promising paradise here on earth, miracle-mongers of popular mythology who exploit the innocence of the faithful to amass wealth and prestige in the eyes of men in the name of God.

But the Lord left us his message of blessing, a difficult charge, a commission for Christian men and women who long to glorify God in their lives. “You, on the contrary, be prudent in all circumstances, endure suffering, devote yourself to evangelism; fulfill the duties of your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). We all have gifts given by the Spirit; therefore, we can all carry out at least one ministry. There will be suffering, but we will have to endure it (we already know that the Christian life is a narrow path), and the most urgent duty is to devote ourselves to evangelism, which is not limited to proclaiming in words the gospel of Jesus Christ as the sole mediator of the grace of salvation, but must also be done in action.

My prayer is that this commission from Paul (which comes first and foremost from the Lord) will become a reality in your church and in every man and woman who serves him and decides to carry it out.

God bless you!