Philippians 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”
Paul describes the Biblical pattern for assisting upcoming preachers as a father-son relationship. In this illustration, he took Timothy under his fatherly wing to teach him, encourage him, help him, and guide him in his growing ministry. Many times, in the Scripture, Paul refers to Timothy as his “son”; that is, his “son in the faith” (I Timothy 1:2). Both, I Timothy and II Timothy, reflect this fatherly love as He teaches and encourages the younger preacher. Paul made it clear that their relationship was not a master-servant relationship; for, he declared that Timothy “served with me in the gospel”; that is, they were fellow servants of the Lord, not that he “served” him. A formal public education can be a great help and blessing to an upcoming minister, but having a good father in the ministry is the Biblical pattern and the best way to learn. A father in the ministry cannot make someone a minister, only the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit does that. But, it is clear that a beginning minister ought to have a loving and capable “father” in the ministry to sit with them and share with them the things they have learned concerning the Gospel, explaining to them how to carry out the various duties that are required of a minister, and how to conduct themselves as a faithful minister of our Lord’s Gospel. Let us pray for doctrinally sound and loving fathers in the ministry and for upcoming ministers that are anxious to learn and preach our Lord’s Most Precious Gospel!