Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. - 1 Timothy 4.12

Pharmacists, military officers, cops, and daycare providers: what do these professions have in common? Americans trust them more than pastors.

The Gallup Pole has released its annual survey of where Americans rank various professions in terms of honesty and ethical standards. Nurses once again lead the field with an eighty-two percent ranking. Ministers bat below five hundred and finish ninth in a field of twenty-one. Some good news: we did beat out lawyers, car mechanics, and members of Congress.

Paul admonishes Timothy to overcome the stereotypes of immaturity by displaying the marks of wisdom. He wants his protege to be an "example," the pattern on which other Christians model themselves. The apostle seems unconcerned with the opinions of outsiders, but does want pastors to provide a worthy example of honesty and ethics to other Christians. He even prescribes the means by which his friend can overcome the prevailing bias against Millennials: good preaching (v.13) and self-awareness (v.16). 

Timothy labors under the handicap of his "youth," a term which probably puts him somewhere north of thirty and south of forty. Having long ago left those numbers behind on my own odometer, I find this passage still speaks to me. Creaking knees and a propensity to naps make me ponder the words of Shakespeare's fool in "King Lear" - "Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise." Youth is fleeting, but immaturity can be the gift that keeps on giving. 

No pastor ever outgrows the need for mature ministry, and Paul's prescription likewise remains valid: the study of Scripture reveals God's ethical standards, and the study of self keeps us honest regarding them. It interests me that Paul did not say anything to Timothy about being a leader, about organizing events, about buying sermons off the internet to clear one's schedule for vision casting (all things I have heard suggested in various church growth manuals). Paul offers simple instructions: Know God's Word, and know yourself in relation to that Word. Preach well from your pulpit and in your practice. People might never trust us more than nurses, but surely we at least have a shot at overtaking pharmacists?

For more on this survey see: Nurses Keep Healthy Lead as Most Honest, Ethical Profession