August 25, 2026 | Be Connected
A Charge to Timothy, Pastor in Ephesus
Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:6(NIV)
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
Devotional
God called me to be a pastor on February 8, 1982. I was in my second semester of my junior year at Purdue. It was a cold, winter night, and I stayed outside at the Slayter Hill amphitheater for a long time as snow fell along with the calling of God. When I got up hours later, I absolutely KNEW I was going to be a pastor. But I had NO idea what the job entailed.
I knew it would include teaching and preaching, something I had seen my own pastors do. I figured it included caring for people in hospitals and doing baptisms, weddings and funerals. And I guessed there might be a tiny bit of administration to attend to (boy, was I wrong).
But I didn’t have a clue how to make disciples. And I never imagined that being a pastor included pointing out the good, the bad, and the ugly in the lives of a congregation. In this verse, Paul instructs Timothy as a leader in the Church in Ephesus that “if you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister.” Point what things out?
So far in this letter to the church leader, there has been a long list of things to point out to the people in the church. Freedom vs legalism. Godliness vs godlessness. Faithfulness vs adultery. Temperance vs drunkenness. Contentment vs greed. Encouragement vs maliciousness. And so much more.
When Paul tells Timothy to point out these things to the church folks, I get a tight spot in my gut. Nobody likes to have things pointed out. Even fewer like to be the pointer outer. But it comes with the territory. It comes with the calling.
But I am not alone in this challenge. All of us are called to hold one another accountable in our Christian walks. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” When iron is sharpened, sparks fly. But in the end, we live sharper lives.
Do you have a few friends who are accountability partners in the faith? Do you have someone who is mentoring or coaching you in the faith? Is there someone you are discipling? It’s never good to go it alone. We were meant to live in community, sharpening and strengthening each other to greater godliness.
