PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL WITH GREAT PATIENCE AND CARE
2 Timothy 4 (NIV): In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
As Pastor Mark exhorted us on Sunday, Paul’s instruction to Timothy to preach the gospel is instructive to us and even though we aren’t all pastors, we are to “Proclaim the word”. As Christ-followers, we believe the word but we should share it with others as well as continue to study it ourselves.
Note the three components of sharing in verse 2: “correct, rebuke and encourage”. In a societal era where Christ-followers like we Mosaics are sometimes looked upon unkindly, this can be a tall task. Therefore, we must understand how to deliver the message; “with great patience and carefully”. As Pastor Mark advised, we can transmit only if we have a receiver to hear. This advice reminded me of when I was in Milwaukee last week and there was a street evangelist on a corner yelling at everyone that passed by. I expect he had good intentions but Paul’s instruction to Timothy was one where patience and care are exercised. The Milwaukee street evangelist was ineffective from my observation as he didn’t utilize these two principles. While we want to share the gospel, we need to be very mindful of both our strategic and tactical approaches. God will reveal to us those willing receivers who want to hear sound doctrine.
This is very insightful and instructional. It can be easy to start with “correct” and end with “rebuke” when sharing the Gospel. Even the use of the word “spread” as in “spreading the Gospel” can be a turn-off for people who are searching for salvation or understanding. The last part of “encourage” is vastly important because sometimes the judgment of others can lose a would-be sister or brother in the Faith. Thank you for this message. I hope that the patience it instructs will find the eyes and ears of those who need this guidance the most (which is basically all of us!).