The focus we need to reach the finish line

by Gordon MacDonald
 

Forty years ago I was a track and cross-country runner. I loved running competitively on the track, but I hated the cross-country course. Too long, too demanding, too painful! But I had a coach who said the price of competing in track was running cross-country. So I did both.

Anyone who has competed in cross-country knows it to be a team sport - the team that puts its first five runners across the finish line wins. There's a lot of psychology in such a competition - in the way you run against your opponents, promote inter-squad encouragement, and strategise to run the race together.

Good cross-country teams usually have a lead runner - the star - who sets the pace. The other six runners normally run in relation to the pace set by the star. It's a good system as long as the star runs, well, like a star. If he falters, the entire team can be affected.

In one particular race our star did falter. Halfway along the course, he simply stopped running and sat down. He quit! The sight of him sitting there so unnerved our usually strong team that each of us in turn was tempted to stop and sit down with him. But none of us did, and we managed to win without him.

Which brings me to the subject of perseverance and the sports metaphor that the writer of Hebrews 12 may have had in mind. For cross-country competition is an ancient sport, and surely these kinds of mind games were being played 20 centuries ago.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith," the wirter urged. The word author implies something begun; the word perfecter suggests something finished, brought to its full completion. And the word faith refers to the body of truth around which the Christian has organised his or her life.

Now the "star" in the metaphorical race is Jesus. The rest of the runners in the competition (so Heb. 12:3 hints) are people who are being beat up by a life of opposition or competition which may even involve overt persecution. One gets the feeling that the writer is motivated by reports of people who are counting the cost of a tough life of faith and (like the lead runner of our cross-country team) are contemplating sitting down.

Quitters
Now this is where the issue becomes personal. Several years ago my mother died, and I had the responsibility to notify some distant relatives. In one of those conversations, a cousin made a disturbing comment. Speaking of my mother's seven brothers and sisters (all of whom, like her, had died at an early age), she said, "They were all quitters; the moment life got difficult, they all laid down and died."

"The were all quitters." I conjured up the memory of the star by the side of the running trail. Could this attribute come down trough the genes, and might it be descriptive of me? I wondered. While I loved and honoourd my mother, I could not help, in the light of this comment, but look back across her life and remember the many intentions, objectives, and dreams she'd never seen through to completion. The one single exception was her commitment to raise her two sons. But still I could not deny an obvious quitting streak in her character.

That caused me to compare my life against that paradigm. I realised that the streak might be in my genes, also: certain scholastic goals not achieved, a suspicion that I have done many things in my life marginally rather than excellently, a recurrent temptation to give up too easily on certain visions and initiatives I said I really believed in. This discovery was unsettling. More than once I, too, had sat down at the side of the course of life when I should have kept going.

And this point reaches its greatest pertinence in terms of faith. Because my first name is Thomas, I have often commiserated with that disciple with whom I share a common name, for he and I have been doubters. I struggle to follow through on my beliefs and commitments, always wondering if there are better alternatives or more sure paths. Take it from an expert: Lots of energy is expended in the doubting, skeptical lifestyle. The temptation to quit is never far away.

And so, for me, the question arises with regularity: do you intend to finish the course? The course of character-building, of faithfulness to commitments with friends and family, of the intention to enlarge spiritual disciplines leading to a greater knowledge of God, of serving your generation - giving back more than you have taken?

The Star
For Jesus, the star in this chapter, the peak issue was the cross. Endure it? Or run from it? The ridicule and rejection of the crowds. Resist it? Or cave in to its pressure? Who can calculate the pressure that bore down on Jesus in those final hours from garden to grave? And from what source did He acquire the soul-power to finish strong?

Credit a strong sense of mission (He knew why He had come into the world). The affirmations of the ever-present heavenly Father. The anointing of the Holy Spirit. The promise of resurrection. The "go" decision that led to the cross and ultimate suffering seems to have been finalised on the Mount of Transfiguration and perhaps reaffirmed one more time in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Take on the suffering of a martyr's death? Accept the weight of the sins of all humanity? Handle the rejection of virtually the entire human race? Take a hard look at the "star's" pain, the writer seems to be saying. He has set the standard. Study His performance. He didn't sit down; He ran straight toward the finish line. And only then did He sit down when and where it was appropriate to sit: at the right hand of His Father. What a picture!

Quitting, sitting down, seems real attractive at times, no matter how badly you once wanted to win the race. The temptation might come when there is undue fatigue and the threshold of pain becomes close to unbearable. To drop out of the race becomes attractive when those around you show no enthusiasm for your dreams and convictions, when your critics (or enemies) mount a wave of critique that questions everything from your integrity and your motives to your wisdom.

To stop sounds real good when you look at others and they appear more comfortable, more successful, more appreciated, and more rewarded. Stopping seems to make sense when all your plans and expectations simply dissolve in a cloud of failure or inadequacy. And quitting the race seems the thing to do when you permit yourself to go "dry-of-soul" and there seems no longer to be any resolve from deep within. The dream is dead, the enthusiasm is gone, and the resources have dried up. So quit!

A Model Finish
Once, overwhelmed by exhaustion, loneliness, and near burnout, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, wrote a letter to his wife, Katherine, in which he brooded about sitting down.

"I wonder whether I could not get something to do in London, of some kind, some secretaryship, or something respectable that would keep us going. I know how difficult things are to obtain without friends or influence, as I am fixed. But we must hope against hope, I suppose."

I smell quitting! But Katherine wrote him one of her famous, uplifting letters, and he got a second wind. And so, in effect, the Salvation Army was rescued from oblivion.

One looks to Jesus because He is the "star." What He begins, He finishes. And if you are a runner you feel assured and inspired because you know the star is going to take you right to the finish line.

The biblical writers create the largest frame of reference: He, Jesus, was there at the beginning of creation, John says, and He will be there to oversee the creation of a new heaven and a new earth - quite an expanse of time and effort. Says something about His eternal resilience.

He selected disciples and "loved them to the end." This unattractive, unlikable, flippant, unreliable gathering of simple men. Men who never seemed to "get it" when He spoke of dying and cross-bearing, who ran away at the first hint of opposition in the garden, who denied knowing Him, who drew swords when He'd said that sword-drawing was not the way. Men whom I would not have picked myself or probably would have ditched along the way. But He, the star, finished with them and caused them to become some of the most remarkable, world-changing men history has ever known. Says something about His unyielding faithfulness to stick with people.

He came to seek the lost, He said often enough. And He sought them right up and over the mount of Calvary and down to a grave. "It is finished," He cried when He surrendered His Spirit into the hands of a Father who appeared to have hidden Himself at the peak moment. Says something about the reliability of His saving effort to reconcile people to God.

He finished in the simple things: paying taxes, attending to children, going to the grave of a friend, worshiping in the synagogue ("as was His custom"), providing a home for His mother, and seeking her care in His hours of maximum suffering. He cared to the end when a dying criminal asked His help. He went back to Galilee to seek a failure by the name of Gor…I mean Simon Peter. Says something about His integrity and commitment to detail.

No unkept promises, no abandoned intentions, no friends let down, no mission left unfulfilled. Is there anything He didn't finish?

So Run, Run, Run
Yesterday I sat with a man who is very sick with cancer. His hair is gone, his legs look like my wrists, tumours bulge from several parts of his body. Rising to greet someone, taking a bath, concentrating for 30 minutes are now major accomplishments. As I sat with him talking about the exigencies of dying, I was aware of the extreme modesty of his home and material surroundings.

But I was also reminded that he has given 37 years to being second-in-command at a Christian school. When headmasters came and went, he was always ready to step in and "run the store" until another leader arrived and took over. When the school was broke, he and his wife sacrificed full salary. When there came the inevitable moments when the constituency gossiped and haggled among themselves, he simply stuck to his job and commitment to educate students.

Lesser men and women would have quit a hundred times over; folks of lesser character would have demanded more money or gone elsewhere to get it. Some would have competed for the top spot in the school's hierarchy; some would have become embittered because praise and adulation were often in short supply.

But not Ray Martin. Quiet-spoken, committed to routines, accurate in the details, he stuck in the race. In the 25 years I've known him, I've never heard him complain, criticise, fight back, or demand recognition. He just did his job while fixing his eyes on Jesus. And if this illness is going to take him across the finish line, only then will he sit down - but the place of sitting will be where Jesus is - at the right hand.

No gimmicks here. No seven steps to perseverance. No pep rallies. And no heaped up emotion. Just due diligence to run, and run, and run. And if there is a bad moment, to get up and run again.

Looking to Jesus
And so I also, coming from a maternal line of so-called quitters, look to Jesus as the star in my race. And I pace myself against Him. I rest in His saving effort; I am inspired by the model of His performance.

 My grandfather MacDonald (paternal side) was not a quitter. He ran a great race as a missionary leader carrying a vision of preaching the good news of Christ to the people of Eastern Europe and in the great eastern cities of America. He was always ready to open the Bible and explain its contents to the one or many who were willing to listen. I can't imagine him sitting down if sitting meant quitting.

At the age of 80 he was in a rest home, his mind mostly gone, the result of what we used to call "hardening of the arteries."  I went to visit him one day and found him sitting in a chair, dressed in a heavy woolen suite and tie. An open Bible lay on his lap.

It was a beastly hot day and there was no air conditioning. "Grandfather," I said, "why are you all dressed up?" "Oh," he said without hesitation, "you never know when some of the men and women down the hall might want to hear a little Bible reading. I need to be ready." Here was a man of incredible lifelong dignity whose body (among other things, he was incontinent) and whose mind (he hadn't the slightest idea who I was) could hardly function. But his eyes had been so set on Jesus, the star, for a lifetime of "running," that the habit of his heart (if not his mind and body) was to finish strong, even sprint past the line.

So which of these two family lines dominates my genes? The one that finds it easy to sit down and die when the going gets rough? Or the one that ran faithfully to the end? You can bet on which one I prefer.
 
 

Editor's Note

Here at KTCB we believe that the church should have leaders who fit the mould that Scripture lays down. Nothing is more imperative than that the church today is in need of godly leaders. An observation of current trends here in the UK and in the USA has shown us that in many places true godly leadership is severely lacking. The result of this scandalous omission is that there are many who frequent the church who are left without instruction and direction in their life. Encouragement to press on in the faith and true Biblical counsel during dark days has also fallen by the wayside.

In order to combat these matters, over the next few issues of KTCB we shall be attempting to provide instruction especially for those who labour among young people in their church. We would urge you, dear reader, to print out copies of these articles and pass them on to your leaders for their benefit. We do not pretend to have all the answers but our approach to the subject will be firmly rooted in the Bible, for we believe that many of the current trends in leadership have deviated from God's standard and have taken on board a rather secular viewpoint.

This first article is introductory and issues a challenge to youth pastors and leaders. In later issues of KTCB, we shall focus in-depth on some of the areas raised here.

We trust that God will bless this to your hearts and grant to you the desire to fulfill your ministry to His honour and praise.

The Editor.

A Message for Youth Pastors and Leaders

1 Timothy 4:12-16

The passage we are looking at is written by the apostle Paul to a young man named Timothy, and although his ministry was to the whole church - young and old - there are a number of principles we can draw from the passage that will be of benefit to youth pastors and leaders.

One of the first things Paul says is: LET NO ONE DESPISE YOUR YOUTH. What does he mean by this? Well, it has to do with maturity. The leader is not to be childish in his/her behaviour or attitudes. The maturity has to do with spiritual maturity rather than age. If you are growing in grace, living the life of holiness, you will not give people the opportunity to despise your youth. You know the old saying 'an old head on young shoulders' - well, that is what Paul is speaking about.

So ask yourself the question - am I maturing in my walk, my knowledge and love for God? Am I acting in a manner that gives others an opportunity to despise my youth?

Next up is EXAMPLE: BUT BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE BELIEVERS. Of course, if you are going to be an example, exactly what are you to be an example in? Whatever the manner of your life, it will reflect in the lives of those you are seeking to lead. You have an enormous responsibility here and you should not take it lightly. The apostle Paul lays down six areas where you are to be an example to those you lead. I would suggest, after each one has been mentioned, that you search your heart in order to see if you are meeting the standards set by the Word of God.

The NKJV says "in word" and the NASB says "in speech". I prefer here the NASB version. You are to be an example in your "speech". What a challenge this is! How do you speak to people? What do you speak to them about? Is your speech pure or is it littered with "corrupt communication" or "unwholesome talk" (Eph. 4:29)? When you speak to others, is it in a spirit of love or do you speak harshly and in angry tones? Are you building others up by what you say or are you destroying people with your tongue?

Your words are important. In the presence of unbelievers especially your speech should be an example. If you have a tongue like a sword that cuts people down, it is likely that a non-Christian will have little respect for you if you try to share the Gospel with him/her. Also, you will fail to be an example to the ones you have been entrusted with to lead if your speech is saying one thing and you are acting another.

So number one on the agenda, says Paul, is your speech, and number two is your CONDUCT. Michael W. Smith sings, "For the world to know the truth, there can be no greater proof than to live the life". This is absolutely vital. If we are speaking the truth yet not living it, we are no better than the Pharisees of Jesus' day. Read Paul's words in Romans 2:17-24 where he issues the challenge about being authentic in life as well as in speech.

What about your way of life, Youth Pastor/Leader? Is it a life of obedience to God's Word that sets an example to those you lead? Grover Levy in his song 'If you want to lead me to Jesus' sings "If you want to lead me to Jesus, you'd better find another way, 'cos your life is speaking so loud I can't even hear a word you say". He also sings that "I can't see a trace of the love and the grace you talk so much about". If that is us, then we need to repent of living a live that is just a "mode of words", and ask God to forgive us and transform us into His likeness. If you love Jesus, you will obey His Word and your obedience will be a challenge to your youth group whom God has set you over.

The third area Paul says you are to be an example in is LOVE. Whilst love is a characteristic of all believers, it is a vital one of the godly youth pastor and leader. What kind of love is the youth pastor or leader to display? Well, firstly, it is to be the kind of love befitting his position. The term 'pastor' is in effect a shepherd. He is to love the sheep who have been entrusted to his care. No greater example have we of this shepherd love than Jesus, the Great Shepherd, laying down His life for His sheep. Do you love with that kind of intensity those in your care? Does your love reach out to the hurting sheep and seek to restore wholeness? Does your hand of love reach out to the wandering sheep to steer them back to within the fold? Does your love for the sheep mean you desire to see them fed and built up in the faith?

Secondly, it is a sacrificing love. We have already mentioned the aspect of laying down one's life but what other sacrifices display your love for the sheep? One of the most important of all sacrifices comes to mind: TIME. Some of the hurting sheep have confessed to me that their youth pastors and leaders give little time to them. They appear unconcerned that one of their charges is desperate to unburden their heart. The ball game or the girlfriend (or wife) has a larger priority in their estimation than the suffering sheep! God forbid this be you, Youth Leader!

May we pass on a word of advice? Just as your pastor makes it his aim to visit his flock to discover if there are needs to be prayed for or any problems he can help with, so you should make it your aim to spend at least one night or so a week visiting your young people. Also, you should make yourself available on youth nights and Sunday services for counseling and caring for the young entrusted to you.

The apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonians showed this sacrificial love when he wrote, "So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives because you had become dear to us" (1 Thess. 2:8). Is that your attitude and affection for your sheep?

Thirdly, your love is to be of the quality Paul described in 1 Cor. 13. This is the kind of love that will be an example to the believers. It is not just the love in words, but in actions also.

The next characteristic you are to be an example in is FAITH. Of course, firstly, it has to do with saving faith. If you are not a Christian, how can you presume to lead other Christians. You are blind and spiritually dead, and have nothing to offer those who are alive and seeing. Until you have had your own personal resurrection, you will be of no use to your youth group.

Secondly, it has to do with your life and belief in God. When all goes wrong around you, what is your response? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Faith is a refusal to panic", and it is that response that will be an example to your sheep. A calm belief in God's promises even in the midst of difficult days will do much more to strengthen the resolve of the young people than your panicking ever will. Faith will be strengthened in adversity because you are walking by faith and not by sight.

Thirdly, faith has to do with prayer. How is your prayer life? Do you attend the prayer meetings of the church? If not, why not? You will not be an example to your young ones in prayer if they see you have a very lackadaisical attitude to praying. Ever wondered why so few young people are attending the prayer meetings? The answer is often clear: "Our youth pastor doesn't go, so why should we!"
Fourthly, faith has to do with faithfulness or unswerving commitment. It is to do with consistency of life. The youth pastor or leader does not swerve off the track, he does not deviate from his course. Is your life one of faithfulness to God, His Word, His church, His people? It is an essential mark of the true leader, so you cannot be effective without it.

As a youth pastor and leader you are also required to set an example in PURITY. "This primarily refers to the area of sexuality, both in actions and the intentions of the heart" (John MacArthur). Nothing has so destroyed the ministry as sexual impurity. We need to remember Paul's admonishment to Timothy to "Flee from youthful lusts" (2 Tim. 2:22). The devil knows this is an area of vulnerability and he will exploit it to the full. A careful reading of Proverbs 5-7 will go a long way to helping in the battle against sexual impurity.

If your attitude and behaviour in any way compromise God's standards of sexual purity, your action could have a devastating effect upon the lives you have been given charge over.

These are the standards of character that God's Word lays down as a mark of true godly leadership, and woe to us if we shun them, and worse, woe to those who follow us if we are not doing what God has commanded we do!

In verse 13 Paul moves on from the character of life to the character of ministry. Timothy's ministry was to be a ministry based on the Word of God. He is instructed to "devote" himself or "give attention to" the "public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching". In essence, Paul is saying, "Timothy, this is to be your way of life". Likewise, Youth Pastor, Leader, the command to you has not changed. You are to give yourself to the study of God's Word in private, you are to prepare carefully all that you will preach and teach the young people.

A couple of questions need to be asked here: What place do the Scriptures have in the young people's meetings? Do they have centre stage or are they tacked on at the end of the meeting in order to give some appearance of spirituality in the meeting? What about "exhortation " (the NIV uses "preaching", but I think "exhortation" is the better word here). Are you exhorting, challenging the young people to apply the Word of God to their lives? To "exhort" means to "challenge to obedience". Sometimes it may take the form of a rebuke, warning, counsel or comfort, but the goal is always to challenge an application to life.

Teaching is also a vital role in the life of the youth pastor and leader. It involves a systematic explanation of the Word of God. Primarily, your pastor is responsible for this, but that does not take away your responsibility. There will be things that the pastor cannot necessarily deal with in the pulpit, and therefore in your role as youth pastor or leader you need to make sure that the young people are receiving the necessary teaching that will enable them to live for Christ in their homes, schools, colleges, and work situations. If you are spending your time "teaching" non-essentials, it is no wonder your youth group is spiritually impoverished! Get back to the Word of God. Don't be diverted by the so-called modern arguments that say such ministry is worthless for the young people. Don't give in to the spirit of the age that tells you that you need to entertain the kids in order to keep them. If your young people love God, they will love His Word. Some might take offence and leave, but it was the same in Jesus' day. Don't be discouraged by that. Keep on exhorting, keep on teaching the Word of life.

From having a Bible-based ministry, Paul moves on to encouraging Timothy to exercise his SPIRITUAL GIFT. He is not to 'NEGLECT' it. Maybe due to difficulties in the ministry at Ephesus he felt as if he wanted to give up, but Paul urges him on. The apostle reminds the young leader that God has given him a gift of ministry, that he had received a call to the ministry via a prophetic message, and that the leadership of the church had recognised this and thus laid hands on him and commissioned him to the service of God. For Timothy to quit would be to fly in the face of those facts.

If you are in the Ministry as a Youth Pastor or leader then the process is the same. God gives the gifts necessary to fulfilling the task ahead, He calls you to the work and the church has seen that evidence in your live and service and therefore they have given you the responsibility of leading the young people.

You are to exercise your spiritual gifts, put them to good use for the purpose of serving and building others up in the faith. You are not to bury them and still assume that you can lead without them.

A word to those who believe that God is calling them to leadership: it might be that you are being led in the area of leadership and  possess the qualities and the gifts necessary for such a task and yet have not been recognized as yet by your church leadership. If that is the case then I would urge you to speak to your Pastor and share with him the way you believe God is leading you. Through the discernment and wisdom of the Holy Spirit your Pastor and Elders will be able to test whether your call is genuine. If so, then I am sure that they will be able to point you in the right direction to serve and offer you the training and support you need.

One thing we have noticed in the Church is that there are people leading Young People's groups who are neither gifted or called by God to do so. It is a big concern that they use this position as a means of boosting their own egos rather than seeking to serve those entrusted to them. These leaders may have good natural abilities but they possess none of the qualities that the apostle has laid down to Timothy in the passage we are looking at.

The Church must have gifted, godly leadership if she is to know the blessing of God upon her and if you are a leader without the necessary tools to do the job then it is time to bow out and let the one who has the gifts and the calling serve and lead the young people.

Verses 15-16 contain the final challenge that we desire to address in this introdcutory article. Paul lays down a further five points to be given consideration.

1. DILIGENCE
Leadership is something to be worked at. It is not for the lazy person. There must be a single-minded devotion to the calling - that is what diligence is. The NASB translates v15 as 'Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them.' John MacArthur says regarding the phrase 'take pains': 'it carries the idea of thinking beforehand, panning, strategizing, or premeditating…When not involved in ministry, the excellent minister is preparing, praying, or planning for it.' To be 'absorbed in them' basically means that it is to be an all-consuming passion. We are to be totally engulfed in the work. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul commands Timothy to 'Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season,' when it is convenient and when it is not. The servant of Jesus Christ is never off duty!

2. PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Just because you are in Leadership does not mean that you have arrived. There will be a desire to advance in Christlikeness and a daily pursual of holiness. As you grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, your progress will be evident to all. This is not saying that we will be perfect, for we know that in this life we shall never be, what it means is that the desire to be holy becomes an all-consuming passion in our lives.

3. WATCH YOUR LIFE
We have already spoken of the character that the Youth Pastor or leader is to have and you should always be keeping a check on yourself in order that you are not doing something that will make others in the faith stumble. Watch your life means that you guard it as a soldier does the city. You make sure that nothing that is displeasing to the Lord is going to invade your life and thus destroy your testimony and ruin your ministry.

4. WATCH YOUR DOCTRINE
To be able to do this means that you have a knowledge of the Bible and so you will be studying the Word of God and reading it and applying it in your daily life. You will seek to be careful that all you teach is in line with what the Bible says. You will not follow after the arguements of men but the Word of God will be your guide. As you study the Word, God will grant you the discernment to test all things whether they be from Him or not. You will be careful to not let even a little error into your ministry for you know that one hole in a ship can sink it! You will be able to instruct others as to the foundational teachings of the Word of God if you have sought before God to come to a knowledge of them yourself.

5. PERSEVERE
Keep doing these things says Paul. Your ministry is to be a continual education. You never come to a position of arriving. As you persevere you will be blessed by God and you will also be a blessing to those who hear you. So keep at it. Keep lving the life, ministering the Word, keep studying, keep watching, keep on keepin' on.

You may think as you have read this that these things are of an awfully high standard. Well you would be right in thinking that, because they are! They are God's standards, not mine. If you are in Leadership and have failed in any one of these areas then do not despair, there is hope of recovery through confession, repentance and rededication to the Ministry that God has called you to. You cannot do these things on your won, you need the power from above, the blessed Holy Spirit. He will empower you and grant you the grace to serve and to lead in a manner that brings glory and honour to the Lord. He will make you a good and faithful servant of Christ.

May God write this challenging Word upon your heart and my heart also.

Amen