Be an Example - Tuesday with Timothy #54

1Timothy 4:12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Timothy needed to know that being young would bring along it's own set of problems. The only way that Timothy is going to overcome the prejudice people were going to have against him was to be a leader. Not a leader in the CEO business model of today, but a leader and an example in godliness. He needed to live a life of holiness. Paul tells pastors that how they live their life is going to affect how their messages are heard. Notice, Paul said an example of the believers. If there are goats in the church, they are always going to find something to pick at. Goats will eat anything, dive down into the dump and eat trash. But their tastes suddenly get refined when they come in contact with a shepherd who feeds the flock of God and become picky about what they eat and who feeds them.

Our concern is not so much how we are perceived, but how we live unto the Lord. Paul is saying don't give people a reason to despise you, but be a pattern of godliness. A pastor must be a mature, stalwart, settled man, concerned about what His Lord thinks of him first, and by living a God-pleasing life, he then because an example or a pattern for God's people to follow. The pastor has to keep marching on, following the Lord. The only pattern the pastor should be following is that of Christ and the only judge he needs to worry about is the One that shed His blood for our life. Many churches have it backwards, wanting the pastor to follow the example of the church.

Jean-Francois Millet - Shepherd Tending His Flock

This isn't a church growth technique, or leadership skill-set to develop in order to get your way. Timothy needs to dedicate His life to the service of God. To be an example, you are going to have to be different. An example and a leader in godliness will not be like everyone else, or at least not like the majority. You cannot "lead from behind" and be a pattern unto God's people. Being an example means following the Lord whether anyone else does or not. It means following the Lord's ways, His Word, His commands even if you are rebuked by the worldly. To be an example also means that you are going to have to care little of the judgment of others. Often, being an example in godliness means that you are going to be rebuked as ungodly. That sounds odd, but look at our Lord and John the Baptist. Their life and ministry was filled with rebukes for being too strict or too loose. John was called a devil and Jesus was a drunk (Matthew 11:18-19) but wisdom is justified of her children. Be prepared to be called a Pharisee, or unloving, or too hard, or too weak because you are not conforming to the image that people have of what a godly man should look like. We all have patterns of what a holy life looks like, and usually they look quite a bit like us. God's people need in a leader, a man who will live his life as an example, not as a mirror.