How are we to go about doing ministry in “difficult times”? In one sense, ministry is always difficult. Yet there does seem to be, in the Apostle Paul’s thinking, a difference between the “regular times” in which he had been ministering, and the more “difficult times” ahead of which he is warning Timothy.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. (2 Tim 3:1)

Not all times are equally bad. Not all times are equally difficult for Christian ministry. Some cultures and eras have been more hospitable to Christian ministry than others. Others have proven less conducive. Though he had not yet entered the “difficult times,” the Apostle Paul warns Timothy they “will come.”

By all accounts we are in a difficult time for Christian ministry. The latest polling date shows that all the numbers are down since 1990: the number of professing Christians from 86% to 76%; the number of Protestants from 58% to 49%. Protestants are now less than half of the population in North America for the first time since the founding of Jamestown in 1607. Reported weekly church attendance hovers around 40%, down from over 60% in the early 1960’s.1 Moreover, one senses that we have been passing through a cultural sea-change that began in the mid-1960’s and continues to the present. The American culture of the mid-1930’s through the mid-1960’s was largely friendly to biblical Christianity. There persisted through these years a cultural and moral consensus that was generally Christian. The importance of the family was understood. The distinction in roles between men and women were widely embraced. The critical role of Christian morality in undergirding the family was understood. The 1950’s, in this respect, were the high-water mark in the evolution of a family-friendly, child-friendly culture. Children were not being sent to work at the age of 12, as they had during the industrial revolution through the early twentieth century. Women were able to stay home and focus their energies on child-rearing, which everyone agreed was a noble task. Church-going was encouraged. The Hays Code still restrained moviemakers from producing obscene films. Divorce was rare. Public moral standards were very high, almost prudish. The public schools mirrored and reinforced those standards.

Evangelical Christianity thrived in this environment. Its churches and institutions grew rapidly. One can almost call the period from the mid-1930’s to the mid-1960’s a “Fourth Great Awakening.” These years saw the creation of Fuller Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Gordon-Conwell Seminary, among others, the influential magazine Christianity Today, ministries such as Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, Inter-Varsity, Youth for Christ, Young Life, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and World Vision. The momentum of this “awakening” carried right into the mid-1980’s, and then began to stall.

The culture was shifting. What had been a hospitable environment for Christian families and churches became increasingly hostile. The national moral consensus was shattered by the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s. The Feminist Movement, also of the 1960’s vintage, heaped scorn on stay-at-home moms. The Gay Rights movement would ultimately undermine the definition of marriage itself. Moral consensus was replaced by moral relativism. The mainline Protestant churches lost their nerve and muted their voices, increasingly endorsing rather than challenging the new moral vision. Once again, the public schools mirrored and reinforced the changing standards. Meanwhile, technology was making it increasingly difficult to keep the world out of the home. The advent of cable television meant that parents couldn’t count on family-friendly programming. Children were being exposed to adult themes, even to perversion. The internet made even more, and worse, perversion available at the click of a mouse. One worried about one’s own children and, beyond that, what their friends were seeing in the homes of less vigilant parents.

Meanwhile, the youth culture developing in that environment was creating more and more unsupervised space for itself, always a dangerous thing. Chaperoning quickly became passé. More recently cell phones allowed outsiders to contact one’s children directly, without having to call the house or use the family phone. Texting, instant messaging, chat rooms, MySpace, and Facebook created forums for youth to discover each other, and often quite likely, expose themselves in unseemly ways.

The American and more broadly Western culture of the twenty-first century is hostile to the Christian community. The Christian religion finds itself at odds with this civilization at almost every point. It claims that Jesus is the way (Jn 14:6) in a world that is committed to religious relativism. It claims that the law of God is absolute in a world committed to moral pluralism and diversity. It urges self-restraint and self-denial in a culture that encourages uninhibited hedonism. It preaches an eternal perspective to a world that lives for the present moment. It teaches marriage to a world that demands serial fornication and cohabitation. It teaches heterosexuality to a world that is intent on normalizing homosexuality. Finally, it is a religion of a book in the world that is increasing visual; it is typographic in a world that has gone pictographic.

These are difficult times. What are we to do? Surely we need to adapt. Surely we need to change in order to communicate to a changing culture. We will need to fine-tune our message and spruce-up the presentation. We need visuals for a visually-oriented culture. We need excitement in an entertainment-driven civilization. The time has come to cast aside the opposition to images that we inherited from the Church Fathers and Reformers, and begin to use PowerPoint, light shows, drama, liturgical dance, and praise bands. The old methods won’t work. We need to identify our target audience and tailor our services to appeal to it. The generic ministry of previous generations won’t work. If we are to reach those shaped by this excitement-obsessed and entertainment-driven culture, we will have to have services and messages that are exciting and entertaining. Or so the argument goes.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says to Timothy. After providing the details that distinguish the difficult times from the regular times, he urges not a change in strategy or tactics; not a change in methods or means; and not a change in ministry or message. Rather, he says,

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; (2 Tim 3:14)

“Continue,” he says. Continue. Don’t change the message and don’t change the ministry. What was adequate for regular times is adequate for difficult times. What worked in the past will work in the future as well.

Accelerating Evil

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. (2 Tim 3:1)

What is it that makes the “difficult times” difficult? As we’ve noted, ministry is always difficult, and evil is always ready to oppose. But there are times when evil accelerates rapdly, making the Christian message more out-of-step than usual. What we notice, as we read the details, is that first century “difficult times” sound remarkably like twenty-first century “difficult times.”

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, (2 Tim 3:2)

“Lovers of self, lovers of money?” Does that not sound like today?

unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, (2 Tim 3:3)

“Without self-control?” Is that not the contemporary world?

treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; (2 Tim 3:4)

“Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God?” Did he not hit the twenty-first century nail right on the head?

holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. (2 Tim 3:5)

Isn’t “religion,” “spirituality,” “a form of godliness,” without piety a problem today?

For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, (2 Tim 3:6)

Isn’t carnality among religious leaders a problem today?

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim 3:7)

Isn’t learning or education divorced from truth a problem today? Aren’t opposition and persecution, described in verses 8-13, problems today?

Continue

Are our times so different from all other times before us? It would seem so. They rode camels and we fly in jets. What more needs to be said? Space travel, air travel, motor vehicle travel; radio, cinema, television, personal computers, cell phones were all unknown to every previous century prior to the twentieth. We seem so very different. But are we?

The answer of this passage shows that clearly we are not. The fundamental things of human nature and the nature of the gospel do not change. That is why the description of accelerating evil in 3:1-13 sounds contemporary. This is what accelerating evil has always, and will always, look like. This is why he can counsel Timothy then, and counsel us today, to “continue” the same message and the same form of ministry.

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; (2 Tim 3:14)

The pattern of ministry established by the Apostle Paul in the “regular times” in ancient times is the pattern that we are to follow, because that pattern always works. It is forever the norm. What pattern is that? It is ministry centered in God’s word.

and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15)

The “sacred writings” that played a decisive role in your salvation in the past, in your childhood, are the same means by which others will be saved in future times and difficult times. Do not abandon the Scriptures. Do not lose confidence in them. Do not neglect them for other, allegedly superior means. They “are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation.” They have that capacity. They have that power. They “are able” because,

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Tim 3:16)

Because the Scripture is “inspired” or “breathed out by God” (ESV), it is “profitable” for needy souls. Do we think that our churches today are the first ever to encounter a decadent culture? Perversion was the rule in the Roman Empire of the first century. Most of the art of that period can’t be put on public display because of its perverseness. It was a brutal, twisted world. Are we the first to encounter an entertainment-obsessed culture? The classical world had its Olympic games, its gladiatorial games, its drama, its music. Timothy’s contemporaries were “lovers of pleasure” indeed. Are we the first ever to encounter a pictographic culture? Of course not. The Apostle Paul and Timothy were both ministering to largely illiterate civilizations. The great mass of the people either couldn’t read or didn’t read much. Yet, for all that, if you want people to get saved, Timothy, that will come through “the sacred writings.” They and they alone “give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” He continues,

. . . that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3: 17)

Timothy, do you want Christian people to grow in doctrine (“teaching”), in morals (“for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness”), and in ministry (“that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”)? Then you must give them God’s word. The word of God is the key to ministry in ancient times and in modern times, in regular times and in difficult times. It is never out-of-date. It is never inadequate to the task. It is ever sufficient for effective ministry. This is our central conviction.

Pattern of ministry

In what form is Timothy, and are we, to present God’s word? What does apostolic ministry, ministry in regular times, as well as ministry in difficult times, look like? The Apostle Paul is quite specific in the Pastoral Epistles, as well as his other writings. It’s a very simple ministry, conducted “in holiness and godly sincerity” (2 Cor 1:11). The Apostle renounces “walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God,” instead simply relying upon “the manifestation of the truth” (2 Cor 4:2). He refuses “cleverness of speech” (1 Cor 1:17). He will not preach “with superiority of speech or of wisdom” (1 Cor 2:1). His message and preaching “were not in persuasive words of wisdom (1 Cor 2:4).

First, continue in expository preaching. The Apostle Paul’s case for continuity continues:

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Tim 4:1,2)

The Apostle could hardly use stronger language with which to exhort the church to continue faithful preaching. The charge of 4:1 is enough to strike the fear of God in even the most devoted innovator. “Preach the word,” he says. Preaching is forever contemporary. The word of God is suitable for proclamation “in season and out of season,” when fashionable and unfashionable, when convenient and inconvenient. He directly condemns the trend, so widely encouraged by those who would “market” the church, of preaching what people might want to hear.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. (2 Tim 4:3,4)

Sadly, ear-tickling has become all too common today. I take these verses as a promise from the Apostle as well as a warning. Preaching will never be outdated. Sequential, expository preaching will always be the norm. Through the “foolishness of preaching” God is pleased “to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21).

Second, continue in sequential public Scripture reading.

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. (1 Tim 4:13)

What it literally says is, “give attention to the reading.” The reading? He can use the definite article because “the reading” was a known item in the life of the church. It was inherited from the synagogue and consisted of the continuous readings of the law of the prophets to which the New Testament Scriptures were eventually added (see Acts 13:14ff; 13:27; 15:21; 2 Pet 3:16). Substantial Bible reading is an important part of Christian ministry. By the way, the preaching mentioned above is based on, and is an explanation of, the reading with exhortation. Look again at 1 Timothy 4:13:

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. (1 Tim 4:13)

“Exhortation and teaching” follow upon the reading. We see this as well in Acts 15:21:

For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.

Note the close association of reading and preaching of the synagogue, the pattern adopted by the early church.

Third, continue praying a full-diet of prayer. Earlier he said to Timothy,

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, (1 Tim 2:1)

These far-ranging prayers are public prayers.

for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1 Tim 2:2)

Upon these prayers depends “a tranquil and quiet life,” a favorable environment for Christian life and ministry. (1 Tim 2:3ff). Frankly, it must be admitted that prayer is boring for the unbeliever and for immature Christians. Also, public prayer is often poorly done. Yet this is a necessary part of how the church survives, thrives, and grows. Public prayer is not dispensable, as you might be led to believe if you looked over the church scene today. We are committed to the six basic prayers of the Christian tradition, whether separated or combined:

o praise

o confession of sin

o thanksgiving

o intercession

o illumination

o benediction

The promise of Jesus to answer prayer is specifically the prayer of the Christian assembly, of the two or more who have gathered in His name (Mt 18: 20). The church’s worship service is a prayer service, and our public prayers are crucial to the fruitfulness of our ministry.

Fourth, continue to sing edifying psalms and hymns. The Apostle Paul doesn’t mention singing to Timothy, but he does elsewhere in his writings. He urges the singing of “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; Jas 5:13). He requires of the Corinthians that both the prayers and songs of the church edify, instruct the mind, and engage the spirit (1 Cor 14:13,14). He says,

What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also. (1 Cor 14:15; cf. vv 17,19)

“Let all things be done for edification,” he commands (1 Cor 14:26). This is his requirement of every element or activity of the service: it must edify. The songs required by the Apostles are rich in content, and so are able to teach and admonish as well as give thanks (Col 3:16).

Fifth, continue in the regular administration of the sacraments. Again, we have to go elsewhere for this. However, it is clear enough that baptism was a regular part of the life of the church (e.g. Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38,41; 1 Cor 1:13-17; Eph 4:5), as well as the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23-32), and held in highest regard as means of grace (cf. John 6:26ff; Matt 26:26-29 and parallels; Luke 24:30-35).

These five elements constitute the core of Christian worship in all times and all places. It is the pattern of ministry developed by the Apostles for regular times, for difficult times, and for all times, ancient and modern. It was the patterned practice by the Apostle Paul, commended to Timothy, continued by the early church, compromised in the Middle Ages, revived by the Reformers, and practiced by this church, with slight variation, for 254 years.

Support

We are calling on you to support this ministry beyond your regular tithes. What we are asking you to support is a ministry committed to following the Apostle’s command to “continue.”

We do so knowing that many churches, liberal and conservative, have lost confidence in this pattern of ministry. Visit the most successful churches, the mega-churches, and rarely will you find Scripture reading (beyond the few verses upon which the sermon is based), expository sequential preaching (vanished in favor of topical, practical messages), a full-diet of prayer (indeed prayer has all but disappeared along with Scripture reading), psalmody or biblical hymnody (replaced by a few lines repeated over and over), or the regular administration of the sacraments. The apostolic pattern has either been abandoned or watered down beyond recognition. Yet it is the mega-churches, especially Saddleback and Willow Creek, whose seminars over the past twenty years have taught literally hundreds of thousands of church leaders how to “do ministry.” The mega-church seminars have supplanted the seminaries. Their pattern, beginning with the twenty-minute song set, led by the praise band, followed by crowd-breakers from the gregarious leader, a skit, a dance routine, and a topical sermon addressing felt needs, has become the norm throughout conservative evangelical Protestantism; public ministry that is devoid of Scripture, devoid of prayer, and doomed to failure.

At the same time, we know that God works when and where He will. He uses a great variety of peoples and churches. We wouldn’t deny that for a moment. Yet we also ought to focus our energies in those areas where He has promised to work. A Fuller seminary professor recently told a story about a woman converted by listening to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” (“Jesus loves you more than you can know”). God is generous. We shouldn’t make the exception the rule, but claim those means which He has promised to bless.

Support this church because we are providing what your family needs: the word of God read, preached, sung, prayed, and (the visible word) administered. This is what your souls need. Faith comes by “hearing the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). Sanctification comes by the word of truth (Jn 17:17). Growth comes by “the pure milk of the word” (1 Pet 2:1,2). Regeneration takes place as “the living and abiding” word of God is preached (1 Pet 1:23). The diminished role of the word of God in the contemporary church is an unmitigated disaster, suffocating the true growth of the church. It is no surprise to us that at the very time that contemporary patterns of ministry have come to be widely embraced, that the actual number of church attendees, Protestants, and Evangelical Protestants have declined.

Support this church because our success, in a success-driven ecclesiastical era, means that we can be a model for others of simple, biblical ministry. What kind of success have we had? Enough growth to strain our facilities. The year 2003 is not that long ago. Yet we have 110 more people in Sunday School than we did then (331 to 219). We have 125 more people in morning worship (541 to 417). We have 85 more people in evening worship (286 to 200). April was the highest average attendance ever recorded at IPC in one month (642), and May was the second highest (592). We have been regularly over 600 since March, and on Easter Sunday for the first time in living memory we exceeded 900 in attendance.

Wear and tear in our facilities is considerable. We have too few classrooms, and many of the rooms we do have are overcrowded.

Not many other churches are doing what we do. Leave Savannah and you will find that the traditional or historic ministry of Reformed Protestantism is rare. Our few numbers do not concern us. We will not compromise our message or our ministry. We are pledged to continue the simple ministry of the word of God, read, preached, sung, prayed, and administered.