Over the last few weeks, I’ve been struck by a challenging reality. Generations have been forming as virtual tribes in our contemporary culture; tribal warfare is busting out along the perimeters that define the boundaries around these age/stage cohorts. Modeling constructive relationships across generations could use a refresh. Where do we find that?

            I appreciate the historical footprints left by Saul of Tarsus – you might know him as Paul the Apostle – as he pursued his God-sourced Kingdom Calling across the ancient Roman world. While he attended to that significant assignment, he took very seriously his role in fostering the next generation of Kingdom leaders who would ultimately step into his shoes.

            Paul’s itinerary brought him to Lystra, where he met a young man whose mom was a Jesus follower, though not his dad. Timothy was old enough to have caught the attention of the believers in his hometown who endorsed him to Paul. Timothy joined Paul’s ministry entourage; their relationship progressed to the point that Paul would describe Timothy as one of his “true sons in the faith.”

            Two letters of instruction from Paul to Timothy are included in the New Testament formation. While packed with counsel – from the senior statesman to the emerging successor – they include vital wisdom that would allow Timothy to ensure his long-term sustainability as a vital new-generation leader in the emerging Christian faith movement.

            Listen to what Paul was encouraging in his protégé: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:11-16).

            This is a succinct coaching nugget whose value is above the podcast-drivel that drives much modern thought. To make it powerful, here’s what Paul said he was praying for Timothy.

            First: watch your life. The starting point for long-term impact is the self-management that authenticates all that follows. For Christian leaders, their first stewardship is not of the organization or platform or messaging: it’s the proof-of-concept evidenced in the leader’s own life. Before God uses our leadership to influence others, He intends our lives model the supernatural transformation that we’re called to enable in those we lead.

            Second: watch your doctrine. “Orthodoxy” sounds like something from antiquity but it’s the critical confirmation of whether one’s messaging is blowing in the contemporary wind or is founded on the timeless truth of the Scriptures. A Christian leader doesn’t merely transmit information: they express a worldview. Every generation is tempted to adjust biblical truth to cultural preference, organizational convenience, personal reputation, or popular opinion. It’s God-sourced, and not malleable.

            How long would Timothy stay with that counsel? “Persevere in them…” Faithfulness would make those two imperatives a life-long pursuit. The incredible promise: “…for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

            In the last few years, we’ve watched high-visibility Christian leaders flame-out and lose their positions of spiritual influence; most have never resurfaced. What happened?

            They didn’t watch their life and doctrine closely. The enemy knew their weak spots; the privilege of their calling was compromised by the dismissal of these basics.

            Allow me to echo Paul: Watch your life and doctrine closely.

 — Bob Shank