A missionary must begin his ministry with an endgame, knowing the time will come when he must bow and step off stage. To do so without passing the baton to those who will come after him is to play Russian roulette with the ministry God has given him and with the flock entrusted to his care.
As we saw in the previous article, The Duties of a Shepherd, those to whom we pass the baton must shepherd the flock by spotting and speaking up about spiritual dangers that threaten their sheep. Such work requires constant vigilance, which is why Paul challenges the Ephesian elders to whom he was passing the baton to “be on the alert” (Acts 20:31, NASB1995). But as his speech to the Ephesian elders reveals, the kind of shepherding he is calling them to is costly. Paul’s speech presents a third reality that you must pass along to those who receive the baton from you: Shepherding will cost you much, but it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Shepherding Demands Giving
We do an injustice to those to whom we pass the baton if we do not speak honestly of the labor involved in shepherding others and overseeing their spiritual welfare. In his speech to the Ephesian elders, Paul reminds them of what it cost him to shepherd them.
- He served the Lord with humility, trials, and tears (v. 19).
- He taught in public (v. 20).
- He taught from house to house, probably in the house churches in which they gathered (v. 20).
- He forced himself not to shrink back from what he ought to say to them (vv. 20, 27).
- His shepherding involved a lot of verbal activity: he proclaimed (v. 20), taught (v. 20), testified (v. 21), preached (v. 25), declared (v. 27, same word as proclaimed in v. 20), and warned (v. 31).
- He was busy night and day (v. 31).
- He worked with his own hands to supply his necessities and the needs of those who ministered with him (v. 34).
- He helped (financially) those who were weak (v. 35).
The list above should suggest to us that when Paul speaks about the blessedness of giving, he is speaking of more than just monetary giving. Paul did not just spend (money), he was spent through his tireless labors for their spiritual welfare. As he would say to the Corinthians, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15).
Paul’s own labors testify that shepherding a flock is costly. Such labor on behalf of others is Christlike: Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10:38). He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Mark 10:45). Paul tells the Thessalonians that he imparted to them his own soul in addition to the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
In short, we learn from Paul’s (and Christ’s) example that ministry is about giving, not receiving. This is an important reality that we must pass along to those who receive the baton of leadership. We must persuade them of the truth of what Jesus told Paul and what Paul declared to the Ephesian elders: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (v. 35).
Giving Brings Its Own Reward
All those to whom the responsibility of leadership is passed must be thoroughly convinced of Jesus’ words: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Matthew Henry summarized it this way: “It is more blessed to give our pains than to receive pay for it.”1 Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that he coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing (Acts 20:33). He did not want their money; he wanted their spiritual well-being, regardless of the personal cost to him.
Such constant giving out will be tiring and can be burdensome if not viewed properly. Christ’s words, “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” had nourished and refreshed Paul personally—this is why he brings them up in the context of what ministering at Ephesus had cost him. Giving of oneself in ministry is far more blessed than anything you might receive back from those to whom you minister. This, again, is a reality we must set before those to whom we pass the baton.
My greatest reward in my more than two decades of missions ministry is the investment I have made in the lives of others. Some still talk about how my wife and I traveled two hours to their home after the birth of their first child so that we could teach them some of the basics of caring for an infant. Others attribute my preaching and teaching as instrumental in their conversion and spiritual usefulness as pastors. Still others remember how I waded through flood water in order to fulfill a speaking engagement.
We—and those to whom we pass the baton—must assiduously avoid thinking or speaking of our ministerial success in terms of the kind of provision the church is now bestowing on us: the kind of house we now live in, the kind of car we now drive, the gadgets we have been able to buy, or the places where we have been able to travel—all enabled by the diligent tithing and sacrificing of the sheep under our care. True, it is the duty of the church to provide for their ministers (1 Timothy 5:17). However, we must keep from lifting up these kinds of “blessings” as the goal of faithful ministry or the benchmark of ministerial success. The real blessing in ministry is not what you receive but what you are able to give. That is what Jesus taught!
1 Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2159.