Why are so few men and women stepping into gospel ministry? 

Maybe cultural pressures are making the costs of ministry feel too great. Or maybe we’re simply recruiting the wrong sort of people into ministry to begin with.

I wonder though if, at least, one problem is: we’re not providing the right sort of training for fruitful gospel ministry today.

We need to ensure that we are actually training men and women for gospel ministry in the right ways but in order to do that, we need to ask the hard questions:

1. Are we training leaders, not just teachers?

People often assert: “the only competence requirement in 1 Timothy 3 is being ‘able to teach’.”

That claim suffers three problems: firstly, it’s not true; secondly, it leads us to recruit the wrong sort of people; and thirdly, it makes us neglect the right sort of training.

In 1 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul describes the pastor as “an overseer” – a word used to describe the role of an administrator.

An ability to lead is also included in the metaphor of a “shepherd” or “pastor” who oversees the flock (Acts 20:28; Eph 4:11-12). In fact, Paul even explicitly honours “the elders who are good leaders” (1 Tim 5:17).

The pastor is not just a teacher; he is also a leader. In many contexts, ministry training focusses on one-to-one Bible reading and walk-up evangelism.

These activities are important but if we only train people to teach, we are training them for just 50% of their task.

We need to train men and women to not just teach but also to lead: to cast vision, oversee teams, multiply ministries, start something new and apply the gospel in the life of the church.

2. Are we training teams, not just individuals?

Our natural temptation is to focus on the man or woman training for gospel ministry. That’s not wrong.

In fact, the focus on individuals is right there in Paul’s personal charge to Timothy: “the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim 2:2).

We want to raise up many individuals like Timothy! And yet, did you notice that Timothy’s mission is to entrust the gospel not to one person but many people?

In fact, that’s the pattern of ministry we find in Acts – teams of men and women proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth.

So we shouldn’t just focus on training one man to one day become the senior pastor of a church, good though that is.

We should be training cohorts of men and women for different and complementary roles in the body of Christ – not just the senior pastors but teams pastors as well.

And where we can, we should be training them together as a team.

3. Are we training women, not just men?

The Old and New Testaments are replete with examples of godly women who teach God’s word and lead God’s church.

Just think of Euodia and Syntyche who are “coworkers” in the gospel with Clement (Phil 4:2-3). Or Phoebe or Lydia who serve as a deacon and household leader (Rom 16:1; Acts 16:13-15).

Not to mention Deborah who judges Israel and Huldah who prophesies over Judah (Judg 4–5; 2 Kgs 22:14–23:3).

It’s good that we’re eager to train up more men like Timothy and Titus to plant and pastor churches. We should be equally excited to train up more women like Tryphena and Tryphosa who can partner together in ministry.

Godly effective female leaders don’t just exercise a ministry to women in the church; as mothers and sisters in Christ, they also play a vital role in discipling men (1 Tim 5:1-2). 

Just as “the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”, we can’t say “We don’t need to train women!”

In fact, “woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman” (1 Cor 11:11) – so let’s train both men and women for leadership in the church.

4. Are we training the “why?”, not just the “how?”

Many of our churches have established ways of doing ministry. Clear models of how to preach, how to lead a small group and how to read the Bible one-to-one.

But the danger of being so clear on the “how?” is that we’re not clear on the “why?”

Why do we preach the way we preach? Why do we lead small groups using this method and not that? And why do we disciple people by reading the Bible one-to-one? Why not another way?

The “why?” questions are always the hardest. 

But if we don’t train people to ask “why?”, we risk creating clones of ourselves. Men and women who carry a kind of missional imperialism that imposes a cookie-cutter ministry on every church in every context.

We need to train people in wisdom so that they can critique any ministry practice, even our own.

5. Are we training a love of people, not just a love of ministry?

In many cases, young men and women train for ministry out of a love for ministry.

That’s not wrong in itself. After all, it’s hard to see someone flourishing as a gospel worker – let alone blessing others – if they don’t have some desire to teach God’s word and lead his people (1 Tim 3:1). 

And yet, a love of ministry itself is not only insufficient, it’s dangerous. A disproportionate love of ministry can very easily turn inwards and become a vanity project.

God’s word and people become the collateral means to a self-serving goal. In the end, a love of ministry is just a love of self.

Are we training men and women to love people more than ministry? Are we encouraging them to enter people’s lives and apply the gospel to their hearts?

And are we reminding them to be humble and “endure all things for the elect” (2 Tim 2:10)? 

6. Are we training resilience, not just rest?

Don’t get me wrong: rest matters. Our mental health and personal well-being are important and we should beware the dangers of burnout.

As finite creatures, our limitations are not a defect but a design – God is God and we are not.

And yet, the reality remains: gospel ministry is hard work. Paul describes his ministry as “suffering as a good soldier of Christ”; he equates it with the discipline of an athlete and the hard work of a farmer (2 Tim 2:3-7).

Gospel ministry requires resilience as much as it demands rest. Suffering is part of the warp and woof of gospel ministry (see 2 Cor 1:6).

We need to train men and women to rest in the sovereignty of God. But also, to work hard, give of themselves and persevere in God’s grace.

That means being honest with them about the costs of ministry, allowing them to endure hardships of their own, and inviting them to work hard as a servant who has only done our duty (Lk 17:10).