By John McIntosh
Editor’s Note: As the 2008-2009 moderator of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, John McIntosh is challenging the fellowship to consider the leaders of tomorrow. What is our legacy as a group of churches? John has been pastor of the Simi Valley Grace Brethren Church in California since 1983. A native of Sunnyside, Wash., he is a graduate of Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary. In 2004, he was recognized as Pastor of the Year by the Association of Grace Brethren Ministers.
The one quality that stands head and shoulders above all else in selecting people to serve the Lord in a legacy position is faithfulness. It isn’t IQ, popularity, or title in the church. It is faithfulness or trustworthiness. A faithful person is one who can be trusted to carry out his commitments. When the Apostle Paul charged Timothy to select the people who would carry out the ministry in the future, he was to select “faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2b). They were proven men who demonstrated a consistent pattern of doing what they said that they would do.
Faithfulness is defined by God. He helps us understand what it looks like and how it works. Moses preached God’s faithfulness to the people of the Old Testament. It is affirmed again in the New Testament. God consistently carries out and makes good on His commitments. For example:
1. His faithfulness is the basis of our salvation (1 Corinthians 1:9).
2. His faithfulness assures us we will not be tempted beyond our ability to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).
3. His faithfulness gives us strength and protection from Satan (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
4. His faithfulness gives us the spiritual stamina we need to maintain hope in hopeless situations (Hebrews 10:23).
Imagine, He remains faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to Him (2 Timothy 2:13). So God has set the bar of faithfulness. We adjust our idea of faithfulness to His. We understand the concept from His perspective.
And then we learn from the example of others. Polycarp (69-155 AD) was a faithful servant and possibly one of the faithful that the Apostle John actually entrusted with the Gospel (2 Timothy 2:2). History tells us that the Roman government placed Polycarp on trial for his Christian faith. When challenged to deny it, he responded, “For 86 years I have served Him and He has never wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who has saved me?” He remained faithful.
The Roman proconsul then threatened to throw him to the wild animals but Polycarp responded, “Call them!”
He was then threatened with being burned at the stake. But he remained faithful to his Lord and responded, “You threaten me with fire which burns for only a moment, but you are ignorant of the fire of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly.”
His last words before he died were words of absolute confidence in the trustworthiness of God: “O Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ! I bless Thee that Thou has counted me worthy of this day, and of this hour, to receive my portion in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of Christ.” He was faithful to the point of death.
The words of the Apostle Paul who was about to meet the Lord in death himself were words that have challenged the servants of the Lord through the years, from then till now:
“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2).”
God issues a call to His servants to be selective when it comes to perpetuating the pure truth that we have embraced: the truth of the gospel, the words of eternal life. These words are not necessarily for the popular among us. They are not designed to be invested in the elected officers in the church, or those who agree with everything we say. These precious words are to be entrusted to the trustworthy, the men who make good on their promises, the faithful.
This passage challenges us to begin thinking about the legacy that we will leave in our family of churches. It has been said that “success without successors is failure.” Just as Paul challenged Timothy to be thinking about those to whom he could entrust the words of the gospel for the next generation, so also we are to be thinking the same. The one quality to seek in men (and women) that stands head and shoulders above the rest is faithfulness.