Caring for the Blood-Bought Church of God

Paul’s faithful exposition exonerated him from responsibility for the blood of his hearers (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 252). Paul may have been alluding to Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry. God called Ezekiel to be a faithful watchman (Ezek 3:18-19; 33:1-9). The prophet’s job, then, was to sound the alarm when he saw danger. If the citizens failed to heed the warning, then they would have no one to blame for the consequences except themselves (ibid., 253). Paul could say that he sounded the alarm. He faithfully preached the life-and-death message of the gospel; therefore, his conscience was clear.

Paul’s ministry was both comprehensive and consistent. He didn’t view the ministry as a career. He didn’t punch a clock. His ministry was an all-consuming task, and he fulfilled it in Ephesus daily. He fulfilled it with humility and passion, with faithfulness and courage. He set the pace for the elders who would build on his foundation (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 255). This is how leaders should hand off a ministry to others.

Acts 20:28-32

After looking back, Paul looks ahead. He announces his departure for Jerusalem, along with his expectation never to see the elders again. He also predicts future dangers to the church. In light of these things, he exhorts the elders to watch their own lives and to watch over the flock. Paul raises a number of important concepts here.

First, the Holy Spirit ultimately appoints elders (v. 28a). A man can’t call himself into the ministry. The Spirit of God works in the heart of a man, giving him a desire for the task (1 Tim 3:1). The local congregation then affirms his Spirit-initiated calling (cf. Acts 13:2-3). No one, then, should take the office of elder lightly.

Importantly, you don’t have to be an elder to do significant kingdom work. If the Spirit of God isn’t calling you to this task, then find other ways to make a gospel impact in the world. The Spirit uses every Christian to do ministry (Eph 4:7-16).

Second, God paid the highest possible price for the church(v. 28b). How valuable is the church? She was purchased by the blood of Jesus (the title “God” here probably referring to “Jesus”; cf. Rom 9:5). This means we should never have a low view of the church. We should love the church deeply, and shepherds should care for the church carefully.

With this in mind, consider Paul’s two charges to the elders.

Paul reminds the elders of the utter necessity of godly lives (cf. 1 Tim 4:16). Charles Spurgeon said this to his students:

When we say to you, my dear brethren, take care of your life, we mean be careful of even the minutiae of your character. Avoid little debts, unpunctuality, gossiping, nicknaming, petty quarrels, and all other of those little vices which fill the ointment with flies. (Lectures to My Students, 20–21)

Robert Murray McCheyne said it well: “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness” (in J. I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, 33).

Holiness is necessary for faithfulness in ministry. You may be gifted to do the work to which God has called you, but if you aren’t godly, then you won’t have a ministry. Just ask the countless pastors who have fallen morally and are no longer serving in the pastorate. Many of them are incredibly gifted and bright. But it doesn’t matter how good your theology is or how dynamically you speak if your character doesn’t match your teaching. If you don’t have holiness, you won’t have a ministry. I’m not talking about living in sinless perfection. I’m talking about living “above reproach” (1 Tim 3:1-7).

Holiness is also necessary for compensating for deficiencies in ministry. There are many faithful pastors who aren’t great speakers, but they’re godly. As a result of their holiness, people find them interesting, and their ministries bless the people. As a pastor, I can’t separate my life from my vocation as those in other vocations may be able to do. My life will inevitably impact my ministry. If I’m following hard after Jesus, it will show in the way I teach and serve. So in the words of Paul to Timothy, watch your life persistently (1 Tim 4:16). Don’t ever stop putting sin to death and pursuing Christlikeness, no matter your job. As a Christian, you are also a minister.

Paul warns the elders about what will happen after his departure. Not only do churches face the threat of wolves on the outside, but sometimes wolves will “come in among” the believers, too. Paul predicts that some teachers—for their own devious reasons—will try to attract disciples to themselves rather than to Christ (v. 30). They will pose as pastors but will actually be predators (cf. Matt 7:15).

Paul thus tells the elders to keep a watch on themselves—to watch one another for the good of the flock. Paul is not only emphasizing personal accountability (1 Tim 4:16) but also mutual accountability. And this is one of the reasons a plurality of elders/pastors is so important (see Acts 14:23; Jas 5:14). Leaders need to be held accountable for how they live and for what they teach. They need to “guard each other from error and arrogance, and the flock from abuse” (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 256; emphasis added).

By the time Paul writes to Timothy, who was leading the church in Ephesus, wolves had already entered (2 Tim 2:17-18; 3:1-9; 4:3). Wolves were teaching deviant doctrines (Acts 20:30) and doing great damage to the churches of Asia (cf. Eph 5:6-14; Col 2:8; Rev 2:2). So here Paul wasn’t exaggerating the threat. The leaders needed to “be on the alert” so that the flock would be protected from such savages. The overseers needed to follow Paul’s own example of faithful and passionate teaching (v. 31). They needed to teach sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it (see Titus 1:9).

After this serious warning, Paul gives the elders a wonderful word of assurance: “I commit you to God and to the work of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified” (v. 32). This transitional verse highlights two important concepts.

First, it highlights the Word of God, centrally a message of grace, which grants believers a share in the heavenly inheritance (cf. 26:18; Eph 1:13-14; Col 1:12). Paul reminds the leaders of the power of the gospel, which saves the lost and builds up believers.

Second, it draws attention to the fact that God himself is the ultimate watchman. He is the faithful protector of his church (cf. 2 Tim 2:19). Previously in Acts, when Paul appointed elders in each church, he committed the elders “to the Lord in whom they had believed” (14:23; cf. 13:3; 14:26; 15:40). Paul is reminding the elders that they don’t shepherd alone. Jesus is with them (Heb 13:5), and Jesus will build his church (Matt 16:18). God’s promises, God’s presence, and God’s powerful gospel bring much needed comfort and assurance to pastors who feel the weight of their shepherding task.

Acts 20:33-38

While it seems like the speech concludes with verse 32, Paul doesn’t stop there. He wants to take up one more important matter: the leader’s relationship to material goods. Every Christian—not just elders—should pay careful attention to Paul’s theology and practice of work and wealth here.

Paul’s testimony here is consistent with what he says elsewhere regarding work and wealth. Paul avoided greed and never used ministry as a means to cover it up (1 Thess 2:5). He supported himself by working with his hands, as we observed in Corinth (Acts 18:2-3; cf. 1 Cor 4:12; 9:12,15; 2 Cor 11:7). We read of the same pattern in Thessalonica, where Paul described his work ethic (1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:7-8) and also urged his readers to imitate him (1 Thess 4:11; 2 Thess 3:9).

Greed can pose a major problem for everyone, and pastors aren’t exempt from the temptation (1 Tim 3:3,8; 6:3-10; Titus 1:7,11), so it’s fitting that Paul would include this subject in his address to a group of overseers.

One of the major incentives for hard, honest work is noted here in the Miletus speech: so that one may “help the weak” (v. 35). In a speech that deals so much with preaching and teaching, Paul also includes this note about caring for the poor (cf. Rom 15:1; Gal 6:21; Eph 4:28; 1 Thess 5:14). Paul truly had a well-rounded, comprehensive ministry that serves as a wonderful model. Even though Paul was mighty in the Word, he didn’t neglect practical deed ministry to the poor. Tim Keller writes,

The apostle Paul viewed ministry to the poor as so important that it was one of the last things he admonished the Ephesian church to do before he left them for the last time. In his farewell address, Paul was able to ground this duty in the teaching of Jesus. “We must help the poor,” he said, “remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than receive’” (Acts 20:35). You don’t use your “last words” without saying something that is all-important to you. For Paul it was: “Don’t only preach—help the poor.” (Generous Justice, 73)

Modern-day preachers should pay attention to Paul’s model of both teaching and showing mercy to the weak.

Paul quotes the saying of Jesus, reminding the elders that they should be givers, not takers. They should also remember that one experiences tremendous blessing when practicing generosity. Church leaders should set the example of grace-motivated generosity. Jesus himself, the chief Shepherd, modeled this concept. He gave everything in order to help us in our poor, weak condition (2 Cor 8:9). The more we understand the grace of Jesus, the more generous we become.

Verses 36-38 are transitional; they conclude Paul’s Ephesian ministry and connect to the narrative of Paul’s journey to Jerusalem (21:1-16). The warmth and love between believers expressed in these verses are expressed again in this next section.

Looking back over the Miletus address, one can’t help but ponder the richness and relevance of the shepherding metaphor for pastoral ministry. A pastor isn’t a cowboy, he’s not a CEO, he’s not a rock-star celebrity; he’s a shepherd. Faithful shepherds know the flock, care for the flock, pray for the flock, feed the flock, and protect the flock from wolves. We should be careful to build our philosophy of pastoral ministry, then, from the Bible—not from popular leadership books (though we can learn from them). Pastoral leadership is unique and important; therefore, let everyone who aspires to the office of the overseer do so with humility and dependence on the great Shepherd (Heb 13:20). He purchased the church with his own blood.