A Misguided Pastoral Motive

By R. Scott Pace, Jim Shaddix

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

The Bible is clear that the way to be a good leader is not by developing skills to influence people and command organizations. Rather, the way to be a good leader is to be a good servant (Matt. 20:25–28; Mark 9:35).

Living according to this curious economy of leadership doesn’t start with a focus on serving others—it begins with serving the Master who established that economy, the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul expects that his young protégé desires to be such a servant. (1 Tim. 4:6). Here, being a servant is described with the term that emphasizes someone who serves another in some useful way (diakonos; see 1 Cor. 4:1–2; 2 Cor. 3:6; 6:4). Paul assumes that Timothy aspires to such a role in his relationship with Jesus. Thus, it must be the motive of every pastor not first to be a leader of people, but to be a useful servant of the Master. Leading people well will follow serving Jesus well.

How does a pastor offer such useful service to our Lord? Paul lays out specific qualifications for being a “good servant” of the Master. He first says that such servanthood will be realized “if you put these things before the brothers” (1 Tim. 4:6). The term “these things” is used eight times in this letter to summarize the practical and doctrinal issues he’s been addressing, like prayer, modesty, authority and submission, qualifications of pastors and deacons, and destructive legalism.

Like Timothy, every pastor must lead his people to believe rightly and live obediently when it comes to all the aforementioned issues and more.

Studying God’s word for spiritual nourishment and preaching preparation contributes directly toward pastoral leadership!

The Pastor’s Goal Is Godliness

Leadership is not an end in and of itself; it naturally implies a destination. It’s kind of like application and illustration in a sermon—these elements serve as means to other ends. We don’t just do application in our sermons; we apply something. We use application to demonstrate how the truth is to be lived out.

Christian Leadership always involves a destination—we don’t just lead, we lead somewhere. For Paul, that somewhere is godliness.

Article excerpt taken from The Gospel Coalition (U.S. Edition). Read the full resource here: https://www.crossway.org/articles/a-misguided-pastoral-motive/?srsltid=AfmBOorRTuQvlKj8XpqDfBsaUamPzCxmOgroD3eXCGDRfQYUPEsfFykQ

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BPCIS UPDATE

27 July 2025

FIFTEEN YEARS & THE NEXT DECADE

“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33.15

BPCIS will be 15 next year! We started in 2011 with four churches. Today we have eleven churches. Recently, two exciting events took place.

Our annual Leaders Retreat (7-8 July) saw a record 99 participants gathered at Opero Hotel in JB. Following it, for the first time, was an Envisioning Exercise (8-9 July), eleven of us seeking the Lord’s will for the Next Decade (2026-2035).

LEADERS RETREAT

Furthermore, our Retreat welcomed six delegates from a BP church in Perth, Australia, who had requested fellowship with BPCIS with hope that a similar Presbytery could be forged among BP churches in Australia. We have already informal association with a Presbytery of 17 BP churches in India.

Our Retreat considered the theme “Revitalizing Ministry” with concrete examples shared of member churches reaching out to help and revitalize weaker churches within BPCIS. In the Next Decade, we desire to see more of such collaboration. One area is the training of younger pastors and ministry leaders in an apprenticeship programme, and subsequent support of them (financially and in other ways) when they serve in our churches.

ENVISIONING EXERCISE

We can’t and won’t go forward unless the Lord is with us (Ex 33.15), so we claimed His promise: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” .14(Ex 33) We also enlisted the help of AI which sums up our 2-day Envisioning Exercise as follows:

“In a synthesis of group discussions, five central values emerged to guide the denomination forward:

1. Spiritual Family: Prioritizing relational depth over institutional formality.

2. Truth and Grace: Holding fast to doctrine while cultivating humility and gentleness.

3. Mutual Encouragement: Strengthening one another through prayer, pulpit sharing, and mentorship.

4. Missional and Kingdom-Minded: Looking outward to plant, partner, and serve beyond BPCIS.

5. Visible Unity in Diversity: Embracing generational and stylistic differences while preserving core beliefs.

The proposed vision for the next decade is “From Strength to Strength” - not so much in size or influence, but in faithfulness to God, leadership maturity, and depth of community.

Scripture foundations such as Exodus 33 and Ephesians 4 provided a biblical lens for imagining BPCIS as a network of churches that restore, equip, and grow up into Christlikeness.”

God helping us, we look forward to our 15th Anniversary next year and the launch of our Next Decade. Pray and work with us!

Please visit our website BPCIS.org.sg for reflections and photos on the Retreat, as well as stories from our BPCIS churches.

Pastor David Wong

General Secretary, BPCIS