Focus for Fruitfulness

by Tom Johnston

In 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Paul advises Timothy, his son in the faith, how to transmit his faith in Christ to future generations of disciples. Five key principles of the pastoral ministry can be found in this passage:

1. Grace empowerment – the source of Timothy’s strength for life and ministry flows from the grace he has been given in Christ. It is on and through this grace that he can securely build his disciples and local church. This unique gift is central to his generational multiplication of disciples. Very often we try to emulate others who we see as being “successful” and we wander from the uniqueness that God has placed in us by His sovereign design. Stay in your grace!
   
2. Focus – Paul uses the analogy of military service to remind Timothy to maintain his focus and not to become distracted by other things. Focus keeps us in the pathway of Jesus, key to both the life of a disciple and the disciple-maker. Keeping the “main thing the main thing” is essential. With so much cultural encrustation on the church in the West today, and on pastoral ministry, it is easy to stray from the simplicity of the “Irreducible Core” of loving God, loving others and making disciples.
   
3. Parameters – An athlete has a certain set of parameters of competition within his or her sport. Similarly, the disciple and disciple-maker are also defined by a set of parameters: what a relationship with Christ requires of us, and what a relationship in Christ looks like, as described by the New Testament. These boundaries in our life and ministries keep us safe and keep us from sliding in directors Jesus has not called us to go.
   
4. Effort – Fruitful farming requires effort. Becoming fruitful disciples and seeing a harvest of souls demands the same. Effort is required for someone to grow in Christ – we must apply ourselves to pursuing Jesus. Making disciples requires a similar effort – involvement in the life of others. A church is not established by accident. In 1Corinthians 3:6, Paul planted the Corinth church, Apollos watered it, but God gave the growth. God reserves things for us to do that He will not do, and reserves things for Himself to do that we cannot do. Effort on our part is exponentially empowered by effort on His part.
   
5. Contemplation – Reflection on the part of a disciple brings wisdom into his or her life. Contemplation on the part of the disciple-maker brings God’s wisdom and insight on how to develop someone in Christ. Reflection by the church planter allows him or her to assess the planting project in the light of God’s Spirit, making adjustments as needed. Such reflection allows the disciple, the disciple-maker, and the church planter to anchor and secure his or her life and ministry in the only thing that is unchanging – the person of Jesus Christ.

As you process this, may the Lord show you ways to expand His tribe, and make you bear much fruit, and thereby glorify our Father in heaven!