KidMin Leadership: Word Disciplines (Paul)

Years ago, I was meeting with some Pentecostal Pastors having an informal discussion about Sunday preaching.

During that conversation a couple of them suggested that studying the Bible could “quench” the Holy Spirit. They observed that some of their most impactful messages were given when they had no time to prepare.

They stood up in their pulpit and the Holy Spirit inspired them in the “moment of utterance”. I was fascinated by that thinking and later wished I could have asked them if they felt like the Holy Spirit could guide them in their studying practices.

On several occasions, while preparing a message I have found a pattern of word usage in Greek, a “merism” in Hebrew, a quote in a commentary, a new understanding of what Jesus was communicating to the Jewish listener and a host of other insight led along by the Holy Spirit.

One more than one occasion I have been moved to tears by the profound meaning of a passage. All that to say my common experience in communicating the meaning of God’s Word has come through studying Scripture.

This Word discipline was evident in the ministry of the Apostle Paul to whom we turn.

Paul’s Ministry Was Dedicated to Reinterpreting the Old Testament

One of my favorite passages in the Bible as a young zealous Christian was the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31).

I had been a prodigal son and wandered from God in my teenage and university years. God had shown me tremendous grace for which I was thankful.

I took great comfort in knowing that no matter how far we strayed, the Father was willing to offer mercy and forgiveness to all who turned to Him.

As a young Christian leader, I communicated this to the children in our church and community with passion and conviction. One evening in a seminary class where we were studying Bible interpretation, the professor turned to this passage.

He humbly and graciously pointed out that the parable was indeed a parable of forgiveness for the wayward, but also contained a message to the Christ follower.

He pointed out that the parable was spoken to tax collectors and sinners (vs. 1) as well as Pharisees and teachers of the law (vs. 2). He reminded us of how the second group would have heard the parable, particularly regarding the older brother.

He suggested that the older brother’s reaction was like that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. 

The older brother was not pleased that the Father had forgiven the sinning son. Similarly, the Jewish leaders were not pleased that Jesus was announcing the forgiveness of sins to tax collectors and sinners and actually welcoming them into the Kingdom of God.

The Parable was about the mercy and grace shown to the Prodigal but was also about the tendency among God’s people to be angry when God showed mercy to the repentant heathen.

It is also a parable against Christians seeking to limit the extent of God’s forgiveness.

He ended by suggesting that it should possibly be renamed the Parable to the Two Sons.

For me, this was breathtaking and convicting to the core. Most importantly it was an example of an effective leader exercising “Word Disciplines” clarifying God’s Word for me the follower.

The example from my seminary experience is one of many illustrations of an effective leader that clarified God’s Word for others.

All of us have had these experiences as they are characteristic of godly leadership. During my seminary training, I was taught many diverse ways of studying and clarifying God’s Word.

However, most significant were the priceless skills and study practices received regarding Bible exegesis, how to read the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, and how to search for the original inspired intent of the author to the original audience.

These skills have proven to be useful during my life as I have tried to study and interpret the teachings of the Apostle Paul.

For much of my early life as a leader, I was taught that Paul, the Pharisee, had realized the errors within the doctrines he had learned as a Jewish leader.

He converted to Christianity with a completely new understanding of God’s purposes and rejected the false teaching of his pharisaical education.

Later in my studies, I became familiar with those who felt that Paul’s Damascus Road experience caused him to reexamine the Old Testament and “re-understand” the real meaning of the Scriptures.

This school of thought saw Paul as one who viewed Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament purposes albeit in completely new ways that had been distorted or misunderstood.

Paul was not “converted” to Christianity, but rather saw the truth that Jesus was the fulfillment of genuine Judaism.

In either case, it is not an overstatement to say that Paul’s ministry was dedicated to reinterpreting the Old Testament in communicating God’s Word in new and revolutionary ways.

We can find many examples, but one will suffice to make the point.

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:21-31)

For centuries Jews had revered the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

Jews were the proud descendants of Abraham and the story of Isaac, the son born in old age was a means of reinforcing their status as children of God in the lineage of Abraham. Isaac was a symbol of their status as the special elect physical descendants of Abraham.

Without going into a detailed study of this passage, we can see that Paul offers a completely new interpretation that identifies Jews of his age not as Isaac, but rather as Hagar.

He asserts to the Gentile believers in Galatia that they are members of God’s people in right standing with God, through the promise of the gospel in Jesus Christ, not by physical descent. They are children of God by the power of the Spirit and not by the flesh (vs. 29).

Those who rely on the flesh, the “Judaizers” of his day (1:7, 3:1, 4:17, 5:7) were akin to Hagar and persecuting Christ’s followers in Galatia. This was a vital correction of a monumental misunderstanding of God’s Word and His plans and purposes for both Israel and the larger Gentile world.

Jew and Gentile alike, regardless of their physical lineage were children of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

It is not difficult to state that this kind of teaching from the Scriptures was characteristic of Paul’s ministry leadership. He had God’s Word, in written form, and Paul was committed to explaining its meaning.

Again, we are careful not to correlate our own leadership to that of the Apostle Paul in the sense that he was inspired by God as the author of much of the New Testament.

However, we can find in his highly effective leadership the ability to teach God’s Word. It is this “Word Discipline” that he commends to Timothy, a young leader in his own right.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Paul reminds Timothy of the value of Scripture as an essential ministry tool.

For Timothy and for Christian leaders today, God’s Word is essential in leadership. He specifically mentions four “profitable” roles that God’s Word holds for leaders (vs. 16).

There is no need to repeat or summarize what can be readily found in commentaries or through word studies. However, it is a reminder to leaders to note the meaning of each:

• Teaching – instructing in the truth of the gospel and the meaning of Scripture, communicating proper doctrine
• Rebuking – confronting and even countering false teaching and misunderstandings
• Correcting – challenging and redirecting behavior
• Training in Righteousness - encouraging virtuous behavior and godly living

In my years of ministry work, I have observed leaders, me included, focusing on one or two of these to the exclusion of others. We have all heard teaching that was witty, practical, and genuinely connected to real life.

Unfortunately, in retrospect it might have been a bit short in terms of biblical roots. On the other hand, there are those who are so concerned about teaching the truth and getting doctrine straight that one wonders what connection can be made with real life.

Effective leaders develop Word disciplines that include all four of these elements.

And finally, we note that Paul sees them as essential for equipping the “servant of God” (vs. 17). While this is likely true for all Christ followers, the context makes it more likely that Paul is referring specifically to Timothy.

Paul’s meaning seems clear enough urging Timothy to immerse himself in God’s Word himself, to be the effective leader God desires. It follows from this, that the Word of God was not something to be wielded by the leader.

Rather, the leader is to allow the Word of God to teach, rebuke, correct, and train the leader in righteousness. Word disciplines are developed as the Christian leader allows God’s Word to permeate their life in these four ways.

This requires humility before God and His Word and to avoid the pitfalls of pride and arrogance that can ensnare the leader.

Closing Thoughts

In my lifetime a number of Christian pastors and leaders, many of them well-known, have been paraded through the public eye and shown to be living a lifestyle completely contrary to that which they taught.

Often what they preached was biblically correct, but was then discredited by their lifestyle choices.

About ten years after my memorable interaction with Olga in Kazakhstan, I had the honor of speaking to a large gathering of several hundred children’s workers in Minsk, Belarus. The workers were from across Russia, Central Asia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic countries.

During my closing message from Matthew 19:13-15, I told the story of Olga, citing her as an example of those committed to “bringing children to Jesus” (vs. 13). Telling the story, I always omit exactly what I told Olga when she asked me “where is my son?”

There are always time constraints, and it always seemed like a holy and precious moment to me. When I got to that moment in the story, I had this very clear spiritual sense that I should share what I said, which I did.

After the service among the people who came up afterwards, was a Sunday School teacher from Ukraine. She was in tears. She told me that she had decided to cancel her plans to attend the conference as she was still mourning the tragic death of her teenage son.

She had reconsidered when, during a morning of prayer God had impressed on her to come as He had something to communicate to her. Through her tears, she told me that she had heard God speak into her heart that He loves her son more than anyone could.

She heard God tell her, “I am a good God full of goodness. I can be trusted with the life of your son.” I could hardly believe it. That was why He had prompted me to share the words that I had shared with Olga.

Not only had He ministered to Olga, but ten years later He had used that ministry in the life of another. Although God honored me as a vessel to communicate that word, I felt almost like a bystander in awe of Him.

Leaders are the peak effectiveness when they are exercising Word disciplines, communicating with humility on God’s behalf.

Over the last three weeks we have studied this leadership quality with Joseph, Jesus and Paul. God’s Kingdom purposes are well served when leaders understand that effective leaders develop and practice Word Disciplines.

My blog will be posted the same time every week and I hope you can join us next week. The podcast version is available here!