Brother pastors, carefully consider these words, “If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed” (1 Tim. 4:6). Paul exhorts Timothy to do something, which was necessary for him to faithfully to carry out his calling as a servant of Christ and apostolic delegate. He was to pass on the doctrinal truth and moral imperatives detailed in 1 Timothy. This charge is short in length but it is packed with weighty significance.

As Timothy taught these truths to the church, he would be a, “good servant of Christ Jesus.” This sounds very similar to what every believer should want to hear when he or she stands before the Lord Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Brothers, we must heed Paul’s instruction. The consistent teaching of God’s truth and exhortation of His people to obey His commands is crucial to faithful pastoral ministry. Faithfulness to this calling causes the Lord’s under-shepherd to be a, “good servant of Christ. Now as the verse clearly states, no man will faithfully communicate the truth of God’s Word unless he has first been, “Nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching [he has] followed.” If we are not continually sustaining our souls with the Scriptures we will be incapable of being good servants of Christ. If we are being trained by the Word of God in our own lives, the Spirit of God will be working in our lives through the Word, and we will be equipped to herald the truth to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Brother, are you being nourished by the Word daily?

If our to-do-list overcomes our time with God in His Word and prayer, then we must alter our schedule. It won’t matter if people think we are intelligent, successful, or great leaders, if we aren’t good servants of Christ. Paul highlighted, “Pointing out these things to the brothers” as the reason for being, “a good servant of Christ Jesus.” How do we stack up against this criteria? Notice it says nothing about proficiency, capacity, or giftedness. It does heavily emphasize faithfulness to the Lord’s calling upon our lives. Shepherding is inherently spiritual in nature. Everything flows out of our personal relationship with Christ. But, the personal time with Christ is not an end in itself. The personal time we spend with the Savior is to be passed on to those we shepherd. How are carrying out this aspect of our calling?

Brothers, will we faithfully carry out this charge in our ministries? What if the truth we proclaim and the ministry we provide is not popular? What if the truth we proclaim becomes illegal? It would not be the first time in the history of the Church that the Scriptures would be outlawed. “Point out these things to the brothers, [so we] will be good servant[s] of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that [we] have followed.” By the grace of God, brothers, let’s point out all of God’s truth without apology, as we have been charged.