We talk a lot about measurable outcomes in education today. What outcomes should the students achieve from the program they study? What, then, are the outcomes of pastoral training that will measure success? Seminary training has increasingly focused on transactional pragmatism to attract students to meet the needs of churches. The training is transactional because pastoral ministry emphasizes a transactional agreement between churches and pastors, the pastoral profession. It is pragmatic because the training equips pastors to do what churches want them to do. We train people to perform the functions of the pastoral profession.
I have been reading and re-reading the Pastoral Epistles for the past year, seeking to identify the objectives and core competencies of pastoral training in the apostolic church. Paul wrote to his apostolic delegates, Timothy and Titus, to instruct them in training pastoral leaders for the local churches in Ephesus and Crete. These letters serve as training manuals for pastoral leadership. What was the educational outcome of the training? What was the goal of pastoral training in the first century church?
GODLINESS
Godliness is the goal. If we are to teach others to become Christlike, we must be growing in Christlikeness ourselves. Paul didn’t devote much attention to pragmatic transactionalism. He was passionate about something much deeper and more vital than merely performing certain ministerial functions. The idea of godliness or piety is very common in the Greco-Roman world, appearing in many lists of leadership virtues. However, the term “godliness” is rare in the New Testament, except in the Pastoral Epistles. Some form of the word group occurs 13 times in the Pastoral Epistles, making godliness a striking emphasis of Paul’s pastoral training.
[1]Paul wrote:
Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (1 Tim. 4:7-8, ESV).
The word translated as “train” literally meant “exercise naked” because it referred to the training done in the ancient Greco-Roman gymnasiums.[2] Training is spiritual exercise. Training required discipline and intentionality. Like a wrestler prepares to compete in the ring, our rigorous study and personal conditioning should prepare us to be pastors. Godliness is the goal of our training. We know we will never fully achieve this goal in our ministries, but we must be consciously making demonstrable progress toward the goal (1 Tim. 4:15). This progress is measurable. It should be “evident to all.” Progress toward godliness is the measurable outcome of pastoral training.
WHAT IS GODLINESS?
Godliness is such an archaic, old-fashioned term today. Unfortunately, godliness seems like a subjective, old-world term describing someone who is isolated and spends their time in meditation but never gets much done in the real world. Our modern pragmatism leads us to think of godly people as pious but useless. It seems like the antithesis of what leadership is all about today.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The Greek Septuagint uses the term godliness only 4 times in the Old Testament. The translators used the term to render the Hebrew expression “the fear of the Lord” in 3 of the 4 instances (Prov. 1:7; Isaiah 11:2; 33:6). John Murray wrote, “the fear of God is the soul of godliness.”[3] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge, so godliness is the foundation for spiritual knowledge and wisdom. God’s knowledge is tied inextricably to godliness. When we fear the Lord, we worship and honor Him. We are devoted to Him, and because of our devotion to God, we obey His commands. We know and do what He wants us to know and do, which is why the word is often translated “piety.”
CHURCH BEHAVIOR
Godliness, then, is intensely practical for any leader intent on serving God. When we read the Pastoral Epistles, we see how godliness is at the heart of everything a pastor does. Godliness is grounded in the gospel and teaches us how to behave in the church (1 Tim. 3:15-16). Our knowledge of the truth is “according to godliness” (Titus 1:1). So, godliness is the standard by which we measure our knowledge. “Godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied with contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6). Godly contentment avoids all the controversial disputes, shock talk, conspiracy theories, and pride-filled quarrels of this world (1 Tim. 6:4-5).
SOUND DOCTRINE
Godliness measures sound doctrine (1 Tim. 6:3). The real test of whether we know theology is not the ability to ace a final exam in a classroom. The test of our doctrinal knowledge is our godly lives. We pray for our political leaders and our nations so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity (1 Tim. 2:2). As pastors, our desire for the government is that we be allowed to live peacefully, quietly, and with dignity, which are qualities associated with godliness. Pastors must not be controversialists.
TESTED BY LIFE
Our families test our godliness (1 Tim. 5:4). That is why one of the characteristics of a pastor is that he can manage his household well (1 Tim. 3:4-5). Godliness entails living sensibly in this present age, avoiding worldly temptations (Titus 2:12). However, we should expect to experience persecution when we live godly lives (2 Tim. 3:12). Pressure from the world will test our godliness. How we respond to opposition, both inside and outside the church, demonstrates whether we are godly or not.
A WORKING DEFINITION
I like the working definition of godliness that Jerry Bridges has established. “Godliness is devotion to God which results in a life that is pleasing to him.”
[4] The goal of pastoral training is to produce leaders who are pleasing to God. I have a favorite mug that one of our church members gave me many years ago. The mug reminds me, as I drink my morning tea, that godliness is the measure of ministry. The inscription reads:
Lord, I have nothing to do today but to please you.
[1] Andreas Kostenberger, Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation: 1-2 Timothy & Titus,498-499.
[2] BAGD, 167.
[3] Cited by Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness, 24.
[4] Bridges, Godliness, 20.
