Where Are the Timothies?

To be a leader, one must have followers. In other words: If no one is following, can a person be called a leader?

I recently received an email from a conservative Baptist organization with whom I have been involved for over a decade. They sent me a directory of their current membership, which amounts to a few hundred members. As I read through the directory, I noticed that all 73 board members were included in the membership roster. Almost one-third of the members of this organization are in its leadership! I know many of these men and their ages. By my estimation only 4 of the board members are under the age of 50, and most are in their 60s and 70s. This troubles me.

For several years, I have quietly voiced my concern with the conservative movement. I have challenged some of the leaders of this organization and others, spoken at various functions calling for investment in the younger generation of pastors, and pleaded with organizational heads to reform the system to include leaders in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. However, many years have slipped by with minimal incorporation of young pastors into leadership. The leadership of yesteryear refuses to pass the proverbial baton, instead calling for young pastors to simply follow their lead. If this continues, we will soon be void of biblically sound leaders who hold to the fundamentals of the faith and provide Biblical direction to churches, ministries, and organizations.

Years ago, young men in the ministry were accused of being "Young, Reformed, and Restless." The leading conservative pastors of the 2000s complained that young men were too doctrinally unsound and fickle. Many conversations were dedicated to rebuking these young men rather than compelling them in the faith. I believe part of this problem was that conservative Baptists were not challenging the next generation with passionate theological writings. Instead, budding theologians looked elsewhere for thinkers who were engaging them—albeit not always correctly. I am not trying to argue theology here. Rather, I want to reveal our deep need for young conservative leaders. They are out there, and they are being ignored!

Instead of teaching the next generation how and why to defend the faith, older leaders simply silenced and rebuked young upstarts for asking questions and challenging the old paths. I speak in generalities based on the organizations I have been affiliated with, but I beg you to take this to heart. If we do not instill excellence in knowing what to believe theologically—and how and why it matters—we will NOT raise up another generation of spiritually influential pastors.

Is this hitting a nerve?

Conservative Baptist leaders have become guardians of the old paths rather than guides. They have not invited young leaders to join them, guiding them with loving training and wisdom. Rather, older leaders ostracized and ridiculed young men still trying to find the path. To be clear, I'm not saying the older generation should have handed the baton to novices or ill-equipped men, but they should have agreed with Paul: "Be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).

Enough rebuke! Leadership necessitates passing the baton. I do not think it is too late to revive the dying conservative Baptist movement. Let us teach and train rather than solely reminisce about the good old days. Let us look for young men of promise who desire to lead others in following Christ. Find these men, invest in them, and work yourself out of a job!

Practical Investing

I am only 41 years old, and I now realize how little I understood when I began ministry at 21. Over the last four years I have been inundated with requests from young pastors who desire and need help. We have discussed how to schedule preaching over a year, how to organize a service with one unified flow from opening music to the message's culmination, how to incorporate more Scripture, and how to involve as many people as possible so they are not merely observers. There is a difference between worshipping and watching a performance. These conversations have taken place around a round table of 10 to 12 pastors ranging from 26 to 48 years of age. These men no longer want to sit under a big-name evangelist and be rebuked for poor leadership. They want practical help for a world clamoring for compromise in the church. What does theology look like lived out with passion before the church? How do we disciple our people if church leaders have not been discipled themselves?

Replacement Leadership

I have sat on a few boards and found most to be highly unprofitable. I labored with one organization for years to create a plan for investing in new leaders, only to have the board of 40-plus men ultimately confess they didn't want to give up their seats of influence. Just this year, several gave up their seats as the Lord took them home—and now there is no one trained, discipled, or ready to fill them. The board is dying, and so is the organization. I read a book this year called The Second Man in which the author said, "Work yourself out of jobs, create new ones." Good advice—but it must be followed. If everything hinges on us as individuals, all we are building are kingdoms, not ministries. We must find promising young men with vision for the future, who know where we should be heading, and give them the ability to lead the next generation there.

Grace-Filled Leaders

Wise leaders are perpetual learners. We should never stop growing and seeking to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul struggled with the gap between intentions and practice in his flesh (Rom. 7), so it is safe to say it happened in his ministry as well. We don't need perfect leaders; we need honest ones—leaders ready to tell the next generation, "I didn't always know what to do. I struggled to serve the Lord rather than man. I was tempted to care too much about what others thought, to build my own kingdom, to refuse to admit my shortcomings." Let us not demand perfection from the next generation. Let's allow them to fail and falter but still lovingly lead them. We live in a society where parents refuse to let their children fail—seen on the sports field, in schools, and in the workplace. Let us not be leaders who prevent our spiritual children from failing and thereby prevent them from learning and growing. Paul wrote to young Timothy, challenged him to remain faithful, and let him lead. He called Timothy to be on guard but remain a guide, to finish strong the task given to him—all while knowing he wouldn't be around much longer.

This is the beauty of 2 Timothy. Paul had trained up a leader and then let him lead. No micromanaging, no failure to relinquish control, no kingdom building. Paul glorified God by guiding Timothy to faithfulness.

Where did Paul learn this? From Barnabas—one of my favorite men in the New Testament. In Acts 9:27, Barnabas took a chance on Paul and began training him. In Acts 11:25, he brought Paul into the work of ministry. In Acts 13:1–2, Barnabas was directly guiding him. A critical transfer then occurs: as their missionary journey began, Barnabas is listed first, clearly the mature leader (13:1, 7). In verse 13, the dynamic shifts and Paul becomes the primary speaker. By Acts 13:43, it is a Paul-and-Barnabas team—Paul out front, Barnabas stepping aside. Barnabas had worked himself out of a job. Their later split produced its own difficulties, but as we see in 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul commends the work of Mark—Barnabas' next protégé. Paul became a leader who discipled leaders and successfully passed the baton.

So I conclude: where are the Timothies? Who will be a Barnabas and Paul?