The Message renders Paul's words in 2 Timothy 2:2 as "Pass on what you heard from me -- the whole congregation saying Amen! -- to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others."
It's clear both from what is said in Scripture as well as what we see happening in Scriptural narratives that the church is to train its leaders. Indeed, biblical scholar A.T. Robertson said that training leaders was "one of the chief tasks of Christ." So, how do we do that?
Some denominations have set up an academic standard which all pastors must meet. The Church of the Nazarene has gone a different route. Our expectation is that Nazarene ministers worldwide will acquire a specified list of abilities. Those include things such as:
Such abilities are far more important than merely earning a degree or a diploma or a certificate. To help ministers acquire and demonstrate those abilities, we rely on a variety of delivery systems. That reflects our history. It reflects Wesley who trained a cadre of lay ministers. It reflects the fact that early Nazarene leaders ran the gamut from people with no a lot of formal education like Uncle Buddy Robinson to those with advanced university degrees like A. M. Hills.
We do distance programs where teachers go to the students as well as residential programs where students come to the teachers. We train ministers online as well as through face-to-face classes. We do ministerial training at a variety of academic levels, from very basic for people without much formal academic training all the way up through doctoral programs.
How does the church train leaders globally? While the impression may have been the a resident Bible school was the preferred method, that's not been the case through history either of the Church as a whole or of the Church of the Nazarene in particular.
Some denominations have set a certain degree as the path to ordination. That's not been the case in the Church of the Nazarene. We've always had a variety of ways in which ministers could get training leading to ordination. Why? Well, because we focused on outcomes. Thus, there has been individualized study, Bible schools, universities, seminaries and seminars run by districts. Such flexibility and diversity reflects who we were in early days
Some places programs are open only to those already pastoring churches. In others, the program requires an church-planting internship to be completed before graduation.
Examples of what is being done around the world include:
None of this is set in stone. Helping people acquire the competencies for ministry is the main thing!
-- Howard Culbertson,
This mini-essay on a key issue in world missions outreach is an article in the "Mission briefing" series published in Engage, a monthly online magazine produced by the Church of the Nazarene.
"So many evangelical Christian churches fail in developing their leadership. We don't work on replacing ourselves as leaders in the church, which is one reason the church is struggling so badly in the West." -- Kevin B., Northwest Nazarene University graduate student
"If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task." -- 1 Timothy 3:1
Richard Zanner. himself a veteran of cross-cultural missionary service, outlines important characteristics that missionaries should cultivate
When a missionary arrives at his place of service, he must learn to understand his role as someone who has been "called by God and sent by the church" to achieve, to work toward, and to accomplish certain objectives.
We can best be humble servant leaders if we:
Christian leaders must understand that they are ambassadors for Christ. So, trying to model ourselves after Jesus Christ will be a helpful exercise.
Culture, in this instance, is loosely defined as "the way things are done by a group of people," whether an ethnic group or a local church or district situation. A Christian leader is to demonstrate that his interest cannot be primarily directed to his own family, their comfort and security. A missionary must recognize that there are already enough differences between him or her and the constituency. No extra differences or barrier are needed. [ more on cross-cultural understanding ]
As much as possible, we should strive to fit in with the local Christians while remaining mature Christian models, examples, and teachers. We must ask for God's wisdom in knowing what to accept as culturally neutral (and therefore not inherently sinful or wrong) and what to challenge as anti-Christian.
If one wants to understand the "soul" of a people, one must be able to speak their language or at least understand it.
Learning a language is not easy. Those who have done this will remember that they initially seemed to have an outward personality change. That is because people speaking a language in what is sometimes describied as a "broken" manner will often hae difficulties projecting their true personality).
Learning a language can be humbling. Yet, it is necessary because unless we know a people's language, we will never fully understand their mind-set, their thinking patterns, and their emotions. Without mastery of the language, we may never get beyond surface masks of courtesy and politeness. [ more on language learning ]
This becomes important after you have been in a given area for a while and after the first disillusionments have jerked you into facing reality. Unless you can be accepting of ways which are as different from yours as night is from day, you will have relationship problems.
There is a subtle temptation for the long-term missionary at this stage to become cynical. This can manifest itself in snide remarks or jokes about the local people and will eventually negatively foster attitudes when dealing with them. Keep a sweet, open, accepting spirit and you will prevent such attitudes from sabotaging your effectiveness as a leader.
The best advice here is to be noncontroversial. Some years ago I went to visit a missionary. I did not find him at home. When I asked where he might be, I was told that I could find him at his home country's Embassy library. Everybody knew that the brother was there twice a week. This made me curious, so I went there. Sure enough, there he sat, watching sports on television.
Of course, there is nothing wrong in him doing that except that in his case it typified a lack of adaptation. I asked that missionary how many times he had watched an African soccer game in the maize fields. He did not know what I was talking about. He had never been to one.
It is quite acceptable to maintain your own personality and mother culture within reasonable bounds. It is also wise to build bridges by developing interest in local enthusiasms.
Make conscious efforts not to speak about "back home" or "over there" even if you need to make comparisons.
In the same vein, when we talk about "our" president, we need to mean the one of the country in which we reside. When we talk about "our country" and "our law," we again talk about our place of residence.
If we will adopt the people and the nation in which we live as our own, new horizons will open up. We too will wind up being adopted.
Do not expect others to do what you are not prepared to do yourself. One of the most subtle excuses can be that "they are used to it."
Nothing is so demeaning to people as to be given a task by a leader because that leader was not prepared to personally do that task.
Know your direction. Be clear about what is expected of you. Know what the church requires from you as a "partner in ministry." Have a clear picture of your assignment. Let everybody see that you have a plan and that you have set out to accomplish a certain task within a certain time.
Let everyone see that you enjoy your challenge and that you work with enthusiasm. Think big, and get your fellow laborers to think with you.
Be transparent in your dealings, whatever they are. Be ready to give your rationale for what you do and why you do it "this way." Make sure that there is a report-back or accountability system. If people see that you are answerable to someone else for what you do, they will find it easier to develop accountability as well.
Become known as a person who seeks God's blessings and His guidance. Do not neglect prayer, public or private. Do not yield to the temptation to think that a problem could be too big for you. Believe within your own soul that solutions exist for all problems. Even personality conflicts can be mitigated when people meet at the cross. Give credit to others and glory to God.
This article was originally published in Trans-African. Adapted and used by permission
"When the rulers are good, the people are happy. When the rulers are evil, the people complain." -- Proverbs 29:2, Easy to Read Version
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Doing missions well: Biographical sketches
Fiery sayings to inspire global evangelism
World missions slogans
Mini-essays on missionary Bible verses