Leaders Lead To Transformation
True leadership in the Church is akin to parenting. This is why we call our priests "father." They lead by being an icon of the Father and move us to transformation!
I never will forget what a wise, old pastor once told me about being a leader in a church: “Son,” he said, “You can say anything you need to to a group of people who know you love them.”
Wow, how I’ve learned the truth of this over the years.
If a group of people knows you love them, have confidence you want what’s best for them, and believe you know that “father” isn’t just a title, you can say even very hard or uncomfortable truths to them and they will listen.
However, the work the leader must do to be known as a true father truly comes first.
Being a father, whether biological or spiritual, is a great privilege and responsibility. It has been the defining characteristic of my heart’s desire - to be a good father. I confess my weaknesses in my failings, but nothing has brought me more joy and satisfaction in life than fatherhood. But it is only after years of practice that I can say I am even approaching being a good father.
Demanding people do what you say before you’ve done that work among them usually ends in tragedy and anger!
Look at our lesson today and see St. Paul’s wisdom to his spiritual son, Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:9-15:
Timothy, my son, the saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
St. Paul sent St. Timothy to oversee the church in Ephesus, and Timothy became the first bishop of Ephesus, dying in AD 97.
However, Timothy was a young man when he assumed the duties of a bishop in that great city, and being a young man, he had the potential to make it difficult for him to lead this new church. So Paul, being Timothy’s mentor, gave him the path to strong leadership among the believers.
If Timothy were going to avoid having them “despise” his youth, he would have to focus on being an example to the believers of true Christian transformation.
His speech and his conduct had to exemplify love, faith, and purity.
There’s nothing like a good example to overcome the suspicion that you don’t know what you’re doing! A true shepherd of a parish stays awake to the dangers of his undisciplined words and his undisciplined living. And he also embraces the power of repentance when he stumbles.
Sometimes, the most potent example a leader can set for his people is the example of being willing to repent.
Next, St. Paul gives Timothy a laundry list of activities to focus on if he’s going to be an effective leader of this church. If you examine this list, you’ll see the key to truly growing a parish and being faithful to its calling as a parish that transforms your local community. And make no mistake, transformation IS THE GOAL!
Timothy should set his priorities to these:
The Public Reading of Scripture. St. John Chrysostom declared that ignorance of the scriptures causes sinful behavior. Of course, most people couldn’t read the scriptures for themselves because books were very expensive at that time, and many were illiterate. Therefore, the strong and public reading of the Holy Scriptures was necessary for the faithful to understand the Bible.
Preaching! St. Paul says in another place that it was through the “foolishness of preaching” that God’s wisdom would change the world. (see 1 Corinthians 1:21) The strong and effective preaching of the Good News is an integral part of establishing effective leadership in the Church.
Teaching! Paul distinguishes the difference between Preaching and Teaching by setting these two priorities next to each other. Preaching is public speech meant to change, move, and motivate people. And Teaching is the personal and vital passing on of knowledge and wisdom of the Faith in an intimate and face-to-face setting that gives the people the intellectual resources to be formed as purposeful Orthodox Christians.
Finally, don’t neglect the Gift given to you. St. Paul wants to remind Timothy that it is through God’s grace that Timothy’s talents and abilities can be effective, and forgetting this “gift” can lead to the foolish notion that I’m good enough by myself” to accomplish the calling of “father.”
The primary reason we Orthodox encourage, and frankly insist, that reading the lives of the saints is necessary for your healthy formation as a Christian is precisely because the saints embody this transformational witness to God's grace.
One prime example of this is the two saints we remember today.
St. Prokopios was born to a believing father and a pagan mother. His father’s name was Christopher (meaning “Christ-bearer”), and his mother’s name was Theodosia. When St. Prokopios’ father passed away, his mother had Prokopios brought before the Emperor in the hope that the Emperor would appoint him to an office, and she would see the influence of his father dissipate as Prokopios became enmeshed in the pagan political world of the empire. The Emperor appointed him Duke of Alexandria and sent him there to persecute the Christians. But Christ appeared to St. Prokopios as He had to St. Paul, and turned the would-be persecutor into a great preacher of the Orthodox Christian Faith. His mother betrayed her son to the Emperor, and St. Prokopios was arrested and tortured. The saint was brought into a pagan temple to offer a sacrifice, but at the saint’s prayers, the idols crumbled before the crowd, convincing a large number of witnesses, including the saint’s own mother, to convert to Christ. The Emperor then had all the believers killed for their faith! This all happened in the latter part of the 3rd century.
Today, are you willing to embrace timeless wisdom to be an effective leader? It isn’t your age that makes you effective or not. It’s your willingness to be an example to others and set the spiritual priorities that help us all be Normal Orthodox Christians.
P.S. Devoutly aflame with godly zeal for Christ your Lord, and armed with the strength and power of the precious Cross, you cast down headlong your foes' exalted pride, O Procopius, exalting Christ's holy Church, advancing in faith and shedding light on us.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouraged
