This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 19 October 2025. The Lectionary Bible Reading was 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen

Introduction

Keep at it. Keep pushing. You can do it. These sorts of encouragements are often shared with those who are treading a difficult path. It might be when they are trying to set new personal records at the gym or are pushing boundaries in their chosen sport. It might be when they’ve started a new job or embarked on a new personal project.

But how do you know when you’ve succeeded? How do you know when you’ve reached your goal? In some cases, it’s probably pretty straight forward. If your goal is to be able to life a certain amount of weight in the gym, then you’ve accomplished that goal. But what about the project at work? Have you found success simply if it’s done? Is there a metric to measure it by? Do you need to rely on other people’s feedback and affirmations to know that you have succeeded in doing something well?

Many aspects of life and work are cloudy, including our calling as Christians and as a Church to preach God’s Word to all creation. How do we measure success in that endeavour? What dangers exist when we look to the wrong place for success? What comfort does God have for us in this work?

What does success look like as Christians? How can we measure it, or can we measure it? Many times in the Gospel’s, we see how Jesus’ ‘success’ brought him into conflict with the ruling authorities who always challenged him over something he said or objected to a miracle he performed. What could be more successful than an adoring crowd begging a messenger from God to stay with them and continue the work among them?

Well, appearances can be deceiving. Entertainers and politicians often measure success by numbers and visible metrics. How many people attended that concert? How many movie tickets were sold? How many people were present at that rally to hear that speech? If the number is big, that is success; if the number is small, that is failure. And some church leaders use those same metrics to determine the success of a church. But figures don’t always give a full picture – several other factors have to be taken into account.

1. Faithfulness

In our Reading from 2 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul reveals to young pastor Timothy where his focus should be. And nowhere does Paul mention crowd, audience, or congregation size as where he should be focused. Rather, from Paul’s point of view, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the thing that determines gospel success is faithfulness.

Paul begins with an encouragement that is probably familiar to our ears 3:16-17: All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking correction, and for training in righteousness. There is a lot there, more than we have time to unpack this morning. But very briefly, Paul encourages Timothy above all else to stay faithful to the Word that he was brought up with, because that Word is the flawless, inerrant, inspired Word of God.

Teaching (to enable us to live out our faith); Rebuking (to guard our souls); Correction (to enable us to live in the right way); Training (to live out our calling). Why? Vs17: So that the man (and women) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All scripture is God’s revelation of Himself to His people. We must never get into the habit of treating the Bible as any other book. It isn’t. It is eternal and life changing. It is always relevant and always speaks to the issues of our time. The Bible is a manual and a guidebook for life, but it’s a rule for life not a life of rules. It is instructive not destructive.

2. Itching Ears

That all sounds great. But what happens when things go awry? What happens when the motivations of messenger and listener get distorted? Paul addresses this in 4:3-4: For there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, because they have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in line with their own desires. They will also turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 

Paul is suggesting that people will grow tired of what God has to say and seek other sources of spiritual guidance that are more appealing. Perhaps this messenger emphasizes self-help that offers visible, practical benefits for people in their daily lives. Maybe this messenger understands that people prefer not to dwell on the negative aspects of God’s law and tends to avoid discussing sin, death, or hell, instead focusing on God’s love and peace.

The theologian Tom Wright remarks: We live at a time when sound doctrine is mocked as pompous dogmatism, when teachers of new myths are arising to satisfy those with itching ears … That is a much more popular tact than challenging people to expand their thinking and challenge their feelings because that work is hard and uncomfortable. Tom Wright:

Jesus’ own message looked ahead to the days that would follow his ministry, when his disciples would wait in perplexity through persecution and hardship. The encouragement is equally relevant in our own day, not least for the many Christians under persecution, but not only there. Those who face apathy rather than anger at their Christian witness need just as much to set their faces like a flint, to continue their labour of prayer come what may. And in this work they may find their constant resource in the Scriptures, and in teaching based upon them.

3. Fulfil Your Ministry

So, how do you measure success when it comes to the gospel ministry? What is the measure for success when it comes to the mission of the Church? Well, Paul tells us in his encouragement to Timothy 4:1-2: I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching. … keep a clear head in every situation. Bear hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfil your ministry.

Notice what is missing here? Nothing about the people’s reaction, the crowd’s size, or the message’s popularity. Success in gospel ministry is dictated by faithfulness by God’s messengers. That means that we will not shift our message to meet the social norms of the day. While there’s certainly no reason to be a sour taste in our community, we shouldn’t compromise God’s words to make people feel happy or more comfortable.

Instead, we focus on Jesus and Jesus alone. He alone absolves our sins through his death. He alone provides certainty for eternal life through his triumphant resurrection. He alone – his teachings and his work on our behalf – is the centre of the entire Bible and, therefore, must be the focus of all of our work in his name. What does that work look like? It looks like sharing this message with people as you have the opportunity. As Paul told Timothy, “…whether it is convenient or not.” It means living in, and living out, God’s Word so that we can draw from that Word for this sharing work.

4. Let Your Light Shine

As a result, we will let our lights shine in the world with joy and thankfulness to God for His free and complete forgiveness. This thankfulness means we will show love – true, unconditional love – to everyone. Not just our families or our church family, but everyone everywhere. That includes showing love to our neighbour with whom we don’t get along, our co-worker who can be a bit obnoxious, and the stranger who needs help and support.

Someone amusingly once wrote: To love the whole world for me is no chore; my only real problem’s the neighbour next door. Perhaps that love God calls us to share starts with earthly kindness, but it always longs to address the more significant, eternal matters of sins forgiven and life in heaven because of Jesus’ work for us.

The late Tony Campolo in his book ‘The Kingdom of God is a Party’ told how, upon arrival in Honolulu, he made his way unwittingly to a seedy part of town for a snack at 3:30 in the morning only to be surrounded by eight or nine prostitutes who had just finished their ‘work’ for the night. He overheard one talking to her friend, “Tomorrow is my birthday.” Her friend rebutted, “So what do you want from me? You want me to get you a cake and sing, ’Happy Birthday?’ The birthday girl protested, “Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that’s all. Why do you have to put me down? Why should you give me a birthday party now when I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life?”

When the prostitutes left, Campolo’s heart was touched. He decided to throw her a surprise party. He decorated the place the next night with the help of the bartender, who happily chipped in the cake. The next day, the stunned girl was deeply touched when the whole bar sang a birthday song to her. Campolo offered to say a prayer for the woman before the stunned crowd, and after the prayer, the bartender remarked, “Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” Campolo replied, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.” The bartender then sneered, “No you don’t. There’s no church in the world like that. If there was, I would join it.”

Conclusion

Faithfulness in our message, and how we live our lives, is the key to success as Christians. And that begs the question: are we proclaiming God’s Word clearly and accurately? Can people learn from us what God has done for them through the Lord Jesus? If so, then, regardless of the response, we’re fulfilling what God has called us to do. And what about the impact of the Word on the hearts of those who hear? Well, that is God’s work, not ours, so in our faithfulness, let’s not worry and let God be God and be prepared to be links in the chain – and that is something I do every time I take a wedding here in Paphos.

The world’s response to God’s word doesn’t change God’s work, and, as co-workers together with him, whether positive or negative, encouraging or discouraging, let us lift up our hearts in joy to the God who has saved us and given hope and purpose to our lives.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.