Now we come to the very important matter of ministering Christ as life to the saints with the nourishing words of the New Testament faith. In 1 Timothy 4:6 Paul says, “Laying these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.” A minister of Christ does not mainly denote a minister who belongs to Christ but a person who ministers Christ to others. A minister of Christ is one who serves others with Christ, ministering Christ as Savior, life, life supply, and every positive thing. He differs from the teacher of law and of other things (1 Tim. 1:7, 3).
Today there are a great many ministers who belong to Christ, but very few of them minister Christ to others. To be a minister of Christ does not primarily mean to preach Christ, teach Christ, or tell others about Christ. The main significance of this term is ministering Christ to others.
Paul’s use of the expression “being nourished” indicates that his concept is that of supplying life to others. It is significant that in 4:6 Paul does not say “being taught” but “being nourished.” If we would minister Christ to others, we ourselves must first be nourished. Being nourished with Christ, we shall have Christ as food, as life supply, to minister to others. The words “being nourished,” therefore, give us the ground to say that a good minister of Christ does not merely teach others about Christ but ministers Christ into others as food. Others should be able to testify of us that we have nourished them with Christ.
Being nourished, a matter of life, is for growth. This differs from being merely taught, which is a matter of knowledge. As we minister to others, we need to exercise our spirit not just to pass on knowledge, but, while giving forth a certain kind of knowledge, to supply something nourishing to them. Our desire should be to minister the riches of Christ as food that the saints may be nourished.
If you have a heart to care for others in the Lord’s recovery, you should not give them mere teaching. Whenever you fellowship with others concerning Christ, you may give them some knowledge. But while you are teaching them, you need to exercise your spirit to minister spiritual food that they may be nourished. If you do this, you will be a good minister of Christ.
With Paul and Timothy we see an excellent pattern. Before Timothy could minister to others, he first had to feed on the words of the faith himself. He had to digest them, assimilate them, and allow them to saturate his inner being. Then he would be able to lay these things before the brothers. Today we should follow Timothy’s example and lay before the saints the things with which we have been nourished by the Lord through the ministry. How wonderful the church life would be if we all did this!
I am deeply burdened by the fact that many who love the Lord Jesus and seek Him have been deceived and frustrated. We must find a way to share with them the spiritual riches the Lord has provided us. Many who truly love the Lord are starving. We must take up the burden to supply them with food. We all need to be good ministers of Christ, serving others with His riches. Let us first be nourished ourselves and then minister this nourishment to all the people of God.
In 4:6 Paul specifically speaks of “being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching.” The words of the faith are the words of the full gospel concerning God’s New Testament economy. The words of the good teaching are the sweet words that contain and convey the riches of Christ to nourish, edify, and strengthen His believers. Actually, the words of the faith and the words of the good teaching refer to the same thing. If we would teach others, we ourselves must follow these words closely. Following them closely and being nourished with them, we shall then be able to feed others. For example, if a mother does not know how to nourish herself properly, she will not know how to feed healthy food to her children. Through her own experience of being nourished, she will know what food is best for her children. This is especially true of a nursing mother. The nourishing food she eats and digests will then become the milk with which she nourishes her baby. This illustrates the fact that as good ministers of Christ, we must first be nourished ourselves with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which we have closely followed, and then we shall be able to nourish others by ministering Christ as life to them.
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