A sermon by Pastor Dave McMurry. More about Grace Bible Church: https://begrace.org

Summary

Pastor Dave opens his sermon with a disarmingly simple question: “Are you too young to lead?” — and immediately spoils the answer. No. You’re not too young. You’re not too old. You don’t need a title, a position, or a seminary degree. Drawing from 1 Timothy 4-5, Pastor Dave builds the case that every member of the body of Christ is called to lead, teach, and encourage others right where they are. The big idea of the series, Reclaim the Truth, is that gospel churches must be built around the gospel — and that means everyone, not just the professionals, plays a role in proclaiming and passing on the truth of Jesus Christ.

To illustrate the point, Pastor Dave shares a story about a father and son in a Chick-fil-A bathroom. The father gently instructed his son to wash his hands and wait his turn — and within thirty seconds, the little boy was already turning around to pass that same lesson on to a stranger in line. That, Pastor Dave says, is exactly what the church is called to do. We receive truth, and we pass it on. Timothy learned this from the Apostle Paul, and we learn it from the same Word of God today.

The first way every believer can lead is by example. Pastor Dave points to 1 Timothy 4:12, where Paul charges Timothy: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.” You don’t have to wait to graduate into this. You can live out the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23 right now — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. The Greek word for “example” is tupos, meaning a Mark or impression, like tire tracks left in the mud after a rainstorm. Your life leaves a Mark. As you walk with Jesus in the open — transparently, accountably, in community — others will see your progress and be shaped by it. Pastor Dave recommends books like Love Walked Among Us by Paul Miller, Habits of Grace by David Mathis, and The Songs of Jesus by Tim Keller as helpful tools for growing in this kind of everyday, example-setting discipleship.

The second way every believer can lead is through teaching. Pastor Dave walks through 1 Timothy 4:11-16, where Paul charges Timothy to command and teach the truth, devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, and not neglect the gift God has given him. While the church is rightly built around official Bible teaching — led by elders and pastors who are able to teach — every believer has a role in exhorting one another in the Word. This might look like a platform and a curriculum, or it might look like grabbing a couple of friends for coffee and working through the Gospel of John together. It might look like reading the Bible with your kids at breakfast, using resources like The Jesus Storybook Bible, My ABC Bible Verses, or the New City Catechism. Pastor Dave is honest that even after decades of ministry and seminary training, he still felt like a “doofus” doing family devotions — but he did it anyway, because Jesus had entrusted him with something beautiful worth sharing. He also makes a direct appeal: the church desperately needs more people willing to teach children in the elementary and preschool ministries, and more people willing to step into life-to-life discipleship with a friend or neighbor.

The third way every believer can lead is as a family member. In 1 Timothy 5:1-2, Paul instructs Timothy: “Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity.” The tone here is everything. The word translated “encourage” is the Greek parakaleo — the same word Jesus uses in John 14 for the Holy Spirit, the Helper who comes alongside. Pastor Dave draws a sharp contrast between leading from a posture of high-and-mighty authority and leading from a posture of humble, familial love. He challenges the congregation to think about how they would exhort a sibling who has seen them at their worst — not from a place of superiority, but from a place of shared weakness and shared grace. He also pushes back against the modern tendency to never correct anyone at all, reminding us that gentle, humble exhortation is not only permitted in the body of Christ — it is expected. “One poor beggar showing other poor beggars where to find bread,” as he puts it.

Pastor Dave closes by pointing to the baptism of Jesus, where God the Father speaks from heaven and declares, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” While that moment uniquely confirms Jesus as the eternal Son of God, the rest of the New Testament — in both Galatians and Romans — makes clear that everyone who trusts in Jesus receives that same Spirit of adoption, crying out “Abba, Father.” You belong to Him. You are in His family. And because you are in His family, you are already called into the family business. Are you too young to lead? No. Too old? No. Too unqualified? No. You can lead by example, lead through teaching, and lead as a family member — and you can start right now.