2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. 5Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
It is interesting in this passage Paul mention three occupations all of which you don't pick up immediately, all of them require a lot of patience, a lot of hard work and a lot of time.
A soldier has to undergo an immense amount of trainning, of disciple, of commanding officers shouting at them to get them into shape, to respond to command, to be ready for fighting as well as doing duty in peace time as well. They are solely focused upon what they are called to do. This reminds me of an experience with the RAF over the summer and the amount of work that goes into keeping the body fit. They are ready to put themselves on the line for their friends, ready to go wherever they are called to be.
The athlete ... just think about the amount of trainning that goes into the race, cold days spent on the track runninng, jumping whatever, keeping the body at its peak ready for the race.
Then the farmer, the dedication need to nurture animals and crops, using knoweldge handed down, ready at all time to do what it takes to get the best from the land.
All three take work, hard excruciating work, back breaking work to get the best. They all demand time and determination. Surely as we think upon this all of this we as ordinands have to struggle with these metaphors, it is what we are being called to. The nurture of those to whom we have been called, running the race, putting ourselves on the line for others, putting ourselves under God's command ready to respond whenever he calls and be ready to do and say what he commands.
The passage today speaks of Timothy having to entrust others with what he has been entrusted with. The whole idea of entrusting and encouraging others to share the gospel is essential. No clergy person can do this task themselves we need to be empowering the body to do what it has been called to do. We need to identify those within our congregations who have the gifts and encourage them to use them to the glory of God.
This is part of my "sensible series" stepping through the pastoral in preparation for ordination - these are purely my own random thoughts.
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