1 Timothy 4:14-16 English Standard Version

¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

While meditating on the issues of progress I was led to these passages. Progress is an observation state. It is not one in which we see things as we pass them, it is where those who are stationary get to see us pass them on our journey.

Keeping a close watch on ourselves is not a matter of measuring our progress as much as in checking our behaviors and making sure our actions match our theology, our teachings. What this means is the forward progress has to be in line with the Word of God. Forward progress away from God’s Word is heading in the wrong direction.

The bottom line here is “save both yourself and your hearers.” If our gifts lead us into shepherding others, then we best be leading them in the right direction. If our gifts lead us to teaching then we must teach them truth and not some vain notion. If our gift is prophetic then we must not abuse the gift by installing our own judgements.

What should be noted is the order Paul sets before Timothy, the elders recognize our gifts and see to their identification, training, and use within the administration of our churches. We do not get to practice them in another’s pasture.

The second point is vital to our progress, the eldership must be involved in seeing to the identification of our gifts for the health of the church.

Psalm 26:3 English Standard Version (ESV) For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.

Psalm 101:6 English Standard Version (ESV) I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.

When in Vietnam we had an ambush set up go horribly wrong. It happens. Most of us had been there for a long time and we were conditioned, experienced, and had conquered our fears. I was assigned rear guard, it was my job to see that no one was left behind.

A newbie, fresh off the plane, was on his first night ambush and with everything going wrong his fear level was really high. As we were running through the wet muddy rice paddies he was being outpaced by everyone else until it came time for me to see to it he wasn’t left behind. I helped him get unstuck.

His gratitude was to believe I had saved his life. I had not. I was just helping a weak man that had not gotten conditioned to the elements.

That is what this is all about, getting unstuck. We walk by faith and some of us have been doing it for a long time and to a newbie it looks like we are saving them. We are not. We are here to help the newbies get acclimated in walking by faith.

We walk in His faithfulness not our own. Jesus leads us in faithfulness but to the new babes in Christ it doesn’t look that way. They will come to know Jesus and experience all that He does in us. Until then it is our job to help them when they are stuck in the muck.