2 Timothy 4:5 (ESV)
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of
an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
That is a good word for every believer. To be sober-minded means to not be
drunk, but beyond that it means to be calm and watchful. It does not mean always
serious, wearing a perpetual frown. Being calm and watchful we are to endure
suffering. This does not mean that we are to go out looking for ways to suffer.
Neither does it mean that we are to suffer intentionally at our own hand by
living a harsh, uncomfortable life. Nor does it mean, as some have proposed,
that when given choices in life we are to always chose that which we like the
least. It does mean, however, that there will be times when we suffer due to
our faith. We have largely not experienced that in western Christianity.
Suffering does not mean going without our favorite breakfast cereal or living
far from our grandchildren. Paul understood what it meant to suffer. “Three
times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. “Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was
adrift at sea” (2 Cor 11:25). He is encouraging Timothy to remain faithful no
matter what the consequence of that faithfulness is.
Beside being calm and watchful while enduring suffering, Timothy was urged
to do the work of an evangelist. There are two observations here. First, it is
work. It doesn’t just happen. Second, the work is that of one who constructs or
does the work of a Good News bearer, a bearer of the gospel. Whether Timothy
had the gift of an evangelist is not clear, but that he was to do the work of
an evangelist is absolutely clear. That is the work of every believer. Are you
praying and watching toward that end?
Finally, Timothy is to fulfill his ministry. Timothy’s ministry seems to be
that of a pastor. Not everyone is called to that role, but every believer is
gifted for some ministry. It might be a ministry of service. It might be a ministry
of encouragement. It might be a ministry of proclamation. Whatever your
ministry, see that you are not ignoring it. Just make sure that you are doing
it in a calm, watchful manner, holding up under whatever suffering may come.
And whatever your personal calling, gifting, and ministry, do not abandon the
work of a Good News bearer.
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