A Word in Season: A Minister’s Mind (2 Timothy 1:7)

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What kind of mind do you want your ministers to have? What should be the outlook, the disposition, the character of the elders of the church?

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For Timothy, the Apostle Paul reminded him in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7, that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

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It's worth remembering that it's too easy for ministers of the gospel to be characterised by fear.

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It may be fear of those who are outside the church, it may be fear of those who are within.

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There's a need for real fortitude, for courage, for firmness in Christian ministry, because we can fear the faces of men, we can either pander to people, or we can run from them, and the same cause, the same desire for the approval of other people can be what generates both of those different attitudes or desires.

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We can fear the malice of Satan, we can fear the assaults of the world, and we can fear the displeasure of other believers.

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But God has not given to us a spirit of fear. Rather he has given to us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

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And that last one is the mind that a minister needs. We're not dismissing power and love, those are certainly significant, but we're talking about the need for a minister to be characterised by this sober and wise insight.

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A true preacher of the gospel, a real pastor of the flock, needs to be able to see things clearly.

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He needs to be able to judge things accurately. He needs to be able to speak things helpfully.

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He can't be overwhelmed by perceptions that things are bigger than they really are, or smaller than they really are.

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He's got to be governed by what really is the case, both in the world at large, in the church in particular, and in the lives of God's people.

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He needs to be able to respond properly to those things, to apply principle, rather than be swayed by mere passion.

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And he needs to be able then to bring truth to bear out of this wise and stable insight and assessment, so that when he speaks, not only is he speaking himself out of this position of stability and self -control, but he's able to assist others also to see things clearly, and to respond righteously to whatever may be the needs or the challenges of the hour.

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And you and I need to be praying for the ministers of the gospel that we know. We need to be praying for ourselves if we are preachers, praying for our pastors, praying for other men that God would give to those who speak on his behalf this sound mind.

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There are so many things in the church and in the world that would sweep away this right judgment.

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So many other pressures that push in upon a faithful minister that would keep him from seeing rightly and acting in accordance with what he sees.

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He needs that wisdom which is from above. He needs heavenly discernment to see the world through the eyes of God, as it were, to interpret things in accordance with God's truth, rather than human opinion.

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He needs to be able to see what's taking place in the local church, the congregation which he serves, and perhaps if God gives him opportunity, to have that same sense with regard to other congregations with which a church may be engaged and involved, to have a sense of what is the spirit of the age or the pattern of the world in the place and the time where he lives.

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He needs to be able to understand what is taking place in the hearts and in the lives of God's people, so that he can minister to them faithfully, powerfully, lovingly, yes, but also with this wisdom.

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So do pray for the minister's mind. Pray that it may be sound, that it may be governed by truth, that his perceptions and the consequent actions would not only be ones that produce holiness in him, but are a means of doing much good to others, as he preaches publicly and ministers privately.