📖 Sehemu ya 12: Kumaliza kwa Uaminifu Baada ya Safari Ndefu📖 Unit 12: The Long Faithful Finish

UtanguliziOrientation

Hii ndiyo sehemu ya mwisho. Sehemu kumi na moja zimepitia kile mchungaji anachofanya na mchungaji ni nani. Sehemu hii inauliza swali linalokusanya nyuzi hizo zote: je, alimaliza vizuri?This is the final unit. Eleven units have walked through what a pastor does and who a pastor is. This unit asks the question that gathers all of those threads: did he finish well?

Wachungaji wengi huanza vizuri. Wachache humaliza vizuri. Idadi ya majeruhi njiani inatisha na kutufanya tutafakari. Wengine huacha. Wengine huanguka kimaadili. Wengine huteleza katika uchungu. Wengine hawakui kamwe kupita muongo wao wa kwanza. Wale wachache wanaomaliza vizuri — wanaoweza kusimama mwishoni mwa miaka arobaini au hamsini na kusema pamoja na Paulo, "Nimevipiga vita vilivyo vizuri, mwendo nimeumaliza, imani nimeilinda" — hawakufika hapo kwa bahati. Walifika kwa sababu ya nidhamu walizozikuza, maamuzi waliyoyafanya, na neema ya Mungu iliyowahifadhi katika kila msimu.Many pastors begin well. Few finish well. The casualties along the road are sobering. Some quit. Some fall morally. Some drift into bitterness. Some never grow past their first decade. The handful who finish well — who can stand at the end of forty or fifty years and say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" — did not arrive there by accident. They arrived because of disciplines they cultivated, choices they made, and the grace of God that kept them through every season.

I. Kuaga kwa Paulo — 2 Timotheo 4:6–8I. Paul's Farewell — 2 Timothy 4:6–8

Paulo aliandika barua yake ya pili kwa Timotheo kutoka gereza la Rumi, akijua kwamba safari hii hangeachiliwa. "Kwa maana mimi sasa ninamiminwa, na wakati wa kufariki kwangu umefika. Nimevipiga vita vilivyo vizuri, mwendo nimeumaliza, imani nimeilinda; baada ya hayo nimewekewa taji ya haki."Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy from a Roman prison, knowing he would not be released this time. "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness."

Neno la Kiyunani la kufariki (kuondoka) ni analusis — kufunguliwa kwa kamba za meli inayokaribia kuanza safari. Paulo hakuona kifo chake kama mwisho. Alikiona kama kuanza safari kuelekea pwani ya mbali. Picha ya sadaka ya kinywaji inatoka katika dhabihu za Agano la Kale, ambapo divai ilimiminwa pamoja na sadaka ya kuteketezwa kama tendo la mwisho. Paulo alikuwa akisema: maisha yangu yanamiminwa kabisa; hakuna kilichozuiliwa; ninakwenda kwa Bwana nikiwa na mikono mitupu na moyo uliojaa. Huko ndiko kumaliza vizuri. Si kumaliza ukiwa tajiri. Si kumaliza ukiwa maarufu. Ni kumaliza ukiwa umemiminwa.The Greek word for departure is analusis — the unmooring of a ship about to sail. Paul did not see his death as the end. He saw it as setting sail for a far shore. The drink offering imagery comes from Old Testament sacrifice, where wine was poured out alongside the burnt offering as the final act. Paul was saying: my life is being poured out completely; nothing held back; I go to the Lord with empty hands and a full heart. That is finishing well. Not finishing rich. Not finishing famous. Finishing poured out.

II. Kauli TatuII. The Three Statements

"Nimevipiga vita vilivyo vizuri." Neno la Kiyunani agōn ni neno la shindano la michezo — mieleka, kushindana dhidi ya mpinzani. Huduma ya kichungaji ni vita. Ni vita dhidi ya mwili, dhidi ya ulimwengu, dhidi ya Ibilisi. Mchungaji anayekataa kupigana atashindwa na kuzidiwa. Mchungaji anayepigana kwa silaha zisizofaa — kejeli, ujanja, mbinu za kisiasa — anapigana bure. Mchungaji anayepigana kwa maombi, Maandiko, tabia thabiti, na ujasiri wa unyenyekevu anavipiga vita vilivyo vizuri."I have fought the good fight." The Greek agōn is the word for an athletic contest — wrestling, struggling against an opponent. Pastoral ministry is a fight. It is a fight against the flesh, against the world, against the devil. The pastor who refuses to fight will be overrun. The pastor who fights with the wrong weapons — sarcasm, manipulation, political maneuvering — fights in vain. The pastor who fights with prayer, Scripture, steady character, and humble courage fights the good fight.

"Mwendo nimeumaliza." Neno la Kiyunani dromos linamaanisha njia iliyopangwa, uwanja wa mbio wa kukimbiwa tangu mwanzo hadi mwisho. Paulo hakusema kwamba ameshinda mbio. Alisema ameumaliza mwendo. Mchungaji anayeendelea kujilinganisha na wachungaji wengine — makanisa makubwa zaidi, wahubiri wa makongamano — hajazielewa mbio hizi. Mbio zake ni zile ambazo Mungu alimpangia, mahali ambapo Mungu alimweka, kwa karama ambazo Mungu alimpa. Mchungaji mwaminifu anazikimbia mbio zake mwenyewe hadi mwisho."I have finished the race." The Greek dromos means a course laid out, a track to be run from start to finish. Paul did not say he had won the race. He said he had finished it. The pastor who keeps comparing himself to other pastors — the larger churches, the conference speakers — has misunderstood the race. His race is the one God assigned him, in the place God put him, with the gifts God gave him. The faithful pastor runs his own race to the end.

"Imani nimeilinda." Maana mbili zinakutana. Imani inamaanisha jumla ya mafundisho ya Kikristo yaliyokabidhiwa kwa kila kizazi tangu mitume. Nimeilinda inamaanisha nimeitunza, nimeihifadhi, nimeikabidhi ikiwa kamili. Mchungaji anayemaliza vizuri hajaongeza kitu katika Injili wala hajapunguza kitu kutoka kwayo. Hajabuni theolojia yake mwenyewe. Hajajisalimisha kwa roho ya zama zake. Ameishika amana na kuikabidhi, Injili ileile iliyomwokoa, kwa watu waliokuja baada yake."I have kept the faith." Two meanings collide. The faith means the body of Christian doctrine entrusted to every generation since the apostles. Kept means guarded, preserved, handed on intact. The pastor who finishes well has not added to the gospel and has not subtracted from it. He has not invented his own theology. He has not surrendered to the spirit of his age. He has held the deposit and passed it on, the same gospel that saved him, to the people who came after.

III. Ustahimilivu Katika Miongo MingiIII. Endurance Across Decades

Mchungaji anabakije katika mbio? Si kwa kung'aa kwa muda mfupi. Si kwa kipaji. Ni kwa ustahimilivu. Neno la Kiyunani hupomonē linamaanisha subira thabiti ya mtu anayeendelea kusonga akiwa amebeba mzigo. Ustahimilivu haupendezi machoni. Ndio unaozalisha huduma za miaka arobaini. Ustahimilivu hujengwa siku moja baada ya nyingine. Mchungaji aliye mwaminifu katika maandalizi ya mahubiri wiki hii atakuwa mwaminifu wiki ijayo, na miaka kumi kuanzia sasa, na arobaini. Mchungaji anayeomba asubuhi hii ndiye mchungaji atakayeomba kila asubuhi. Mchungaji aliye mwaminifu katika ndoa yake leo ndiye mchungaji ambaye ndoa yake itakuwa kamili baada ya miongo mitatu.How does a pastor stay in the race? Not by flash. Not by talent. By endurance. The Greek hupomonē means the steady patience of a man who keeps going under load. Endurance is not glamorous. It is what produces forty-year ministries. Endurance is built one day at a time. The pastor faithful in his sermon preparation this week will be faithful next week, and ten years from now, and forty. The pastor who prays this morning is the pastor who will pray every morning. The pastor who is honest in his marriage today is the pastor whose marriage will be intact in three decades.

Wachungaji wengi wanaoanguka hawaanguki kwa dhambi moja kubwa. Wanaanguka kwa maafikiano madogo elfu — ukosefu mdogo wa uaminifu katika fedha, kuchezea kidogo majaribu, kubadilisha kidogo maombi kwa programu — yaliyolimbikizana kwa miaka mingi. Ustahimilivu pia hujengwa kupitia mateso. Mchungaji ambaye utambulisho wake umetulia katika Kristo atalia, ataomboleza, atapambana — na ataendelea kusonga mbele. "Pande zote tunadhikika, bali hatusongwi; twaona shaka, bali hatukati tamaa; twaudhiwa, bali hatuachwi; twatupwa chini, bali hatuangamizwi" (2 Wakorintho 4:8–9). Hiyo ndiyo lugha ya ustahimilivu.Most pastors who fall do not fall from one giant sin. They fall from a thousand small compromises — small dishonesty in money, small flirtations with temptation, small substitutions of program for prayer — accumulated over years. Endurance is also built through suffering. The pastor whose identity rests in Christ will weep, will grieve, will struggle — and will keep going. "We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). That is the language of endurance.

IV. Sababu Iliyofichika — Ujuzi wa Kuhusiana na WatuIV. The Hidden Reason — People Skills

Miaka mingi iliyopita, nilipokuwa nikifundisha katika seminari, rais wa seminari aliniomba nifundishe kozi kuhusu ujuzi wa kuhusiana na watu. Nilimwambia haiwezekani. Ujuzi wa kuhusiana na watu haujifunzwi darasani. Unafuliwa katika maisha yote — katika ndoa na urafiki na migogoro na kuombana msamaha, katika msamaha unaotolewa na kupokewa kwa miongo mingi. Mtu ama anakua katika ujuzi wa kuhusiana na watu anapopitia maisha, ama hakui kabisa. Kilicho bora zaidi ningeweza kufanya, nilimwambia rais, ni kufundisha kozi kuhusu jinsi ya kushughulika na watu wagumu. Basi hicho ndicho nilichofundisha.Years ago, when I was teaching at the seminary, the president asked me to teach a course on people skills. I told him it was impossible. People skills are not learned in a classroom. They are forged across a lifetime — in marriages and friendships and conflicts and apologies, in forgiveness given and received over decades. A man either grows in people skills as he goes through life, or he does not grow at all. The best I could do, I told the president, was teach a course on how to handle difficult people. So that is what I taught.

Lakini hili ndilo jambo nililoliona ambalo limebaki nami katika miaka mingi ya kazi ya kichungaji, uchungaji gerezani, na ufundishaji wa seminari: nimewaona wachungaji wengi wakifukuzwa ghafla kutoka makanisa yao. Siwezi kukumbuka tukio hata moja — hata moja — ambapo tatizo lilikuwa theolojia. Tatizo daima lilikuwa mgogoro. Mchungaji hakuweza kushughulika na shemasi mgumu. Mchungaji hakuweza kupokea ukosoaji mkali bila kulipiza kisasi. Mchungaji hakuweza kuomba msamaha alipokosea. Mchungaji hakuweza kuacha kosa dogo lipite bila kulikuza. Mchungaji hakuweza kusimama kati ya makundi mawili yanayopigana na kubaki mpatanishi. Aliweza kuhubiri hubiri zuri lenye mafundisho sahihi. Aliweza kunukuu theolojia yake kwa usahihi. Lakini hakuweza kushughulika na watu, na kanisa likamfukuza. Wachungaji huondoka makanisani kwa sababu wanakosa ujuzi wa kuhusiana na watu.But here is the observation that has stayed with me across many years of pastoral work, prison chaplaincy, and seminary teaching: I have watched many pastors be summarily dismissed from their churches. I cannot recall a single instance — not one — where the problem was theology. The problem was always conflict. The pastor could not handle a difficult deacon. The pastor could not absorb a sharp criticism without retaliating. The pastor could not apologize when he was wrong. The pastor could not let a small offense pass without escalating it. The pastor could not stand between two warring factions and remain a peacemaker. He could preach a sound sermon. He could quote his theology cleanly. But he could not handle people, and the church dismissed him. Pastors leave churches because they lack people skills.

Mchungaji wa baadaye, sikia jambo hili kutoka kwa mtu aliyeliona kwa miaka arobaini. Jenga mafundisho — ilinde amana. Lakini pia, kwa uharaka uleule, mjenge mtu mwenyewe. Msome mke wako kwa uangalifu kama unavyosoma vitabu vyako vya maelezo ya Biblia. Sikiliza kuliko unavyosema. Omba msamaha unapokosea, hata kama inagharimu kiburi chako. Mtu mgumu anapokujia kwa ukali, usilingane na sauti yake — jibu kwa neema. Sehemu kubwa ya kumaliza vizuri si werevu wa kitheolojia. Ni kuwa mtu wa aina ambayo watu wanaweza kudumu katika uhusiano naye kwa miongo mingi. Wachungaji wanaomaliza vizuri ni wachungaji ambao watu wanataka kuwa karibu nao mwishoni.Future pastor, hear this from a man who has watched it for forty years. Build the doctrine — guard the deposit. But also, just as urgently, work on the man. Read your wife as carefully as you read your commentaries. Listen more than you speak. Apologize when you are wrong, even when it costs your pride. When a difficult person comes at you, do not match their tone — answer with grace. Most of finishing well is not theological brilliance. It is being the kind of person people can stay in a relationship with for decades. Pastors who finish well are pastors people want to be near at the end.

V. Mabadiliko Kati ya MisimuV. Transitions Between Seasons

Ni wachungaji wachache wanaobaki katika kanisa moja katika kipindi chote cha huduma yao. Wengi hupitia mabadiliko mengi — wakati mwingine kati ya makanisa, wakati mwingine kati ya aina za huduma. Kila badiliko ni kumaliza kidogo na mwanzo mpya. Mchungaji mwaminifu hushughulikia kila moja kwa neema, akiacha kila mahali pakiwa bora kuliko alivyopakuta na akiingia kila mahali papya kwa unyenyekevu.Few pastors stay in one church for their entire career. Most experience multiple transitions — sometimes between churches, sometimes between forms of ministry. Each transition is a small finish and a new start. The faithful pastor handles each with grace, leaving every place better than he found it and entering every new place with humility.

Huduma yangu mwenyewe imehusisha mabadiliko kadhaa makubwa. Nilianza kama mchungaji. Bwana aliniita katika uchungaji wa magereza katika Idara ya Magereza ya Louisiana (Louisiana Department of Corrections), ambao ukawa mojawapo ya misimu ya kina zaidi katika maisha yangu — kwanza katika Kituo cha Marekebisho cha Rayburn (Rayburn Correctional Center), kisha katika nafasi za utawala, na hatimaye kama Naibu Mkuu wa Gereza (Deputy Warden), nikifanya kazi pamoja na wachungaji wafungwa niliowaeleza katika sehemu zilizotangulia. Kutoka ulimwengu wa magereza Bwana aliniita katika ufundishaji wa seminari kwa zaidi ya muongo mmoja, nikiwafundisha wachungaji na wachungaji wa taasisi katika kazi ambayo nilikuwa nimeifanya mwenyewe kwa miaka mingi. Kisha Bwana akanileta Meksiko, katika Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala, ambapo ninaandika maneno unayoyasoma sasa. Kila badiliko lilionekana wakati ule kama mwisho. Kila moja liligeuka kuwa mwanzo mpya ambao Bwana alikuwa ameuandaa mapema. Mchungaji anayekataa kuhamishwa Bwana anaposema hama atakosa sura inayofuata ya huduma yenye matunda ambayo Bwana amemwekea.My own ministry has involved several major transitions. I began as a pastor. The Lord called me into prison chaplaincy in the Louisiana Department of Corrections, which became one of the deepest seasons of my life — Rayburn Correctional Center first, then administrative roles, and eventually as a Deputy Warden, working alongside the inmate chaplains I described in earlier units. From the prison world the Lord called me into seminary teaching for over a decade, training pastors and chaplains in the work I had spent years doing myself. And then the Lord brought me to Mexico, to Chapala Theological Seminary, where I am writing the words you are reading now. Each transition felt at the time like an ending. Each turned out to be a new beginning the Lord had prepared in advance. The pastor who refuses to be moved when the Lord says move will miss the next chapter of fruitful ministry the Lord has waiting.

VI. Kustaafu, Urithi wa Uongozi, na KukabidhiVI. Retirement, Succession, and Handing Off

Wachungaji wengi hustaafu vibaya. Ama wanakataa kuachia nafasi, wakishikilia hata baada ya kupoteza ufanisi wao kwa sababu hawawezi kuwazia utambulisho nje ya nafasi hiyo; ama wanaporomoka katika hali ya kukosa kusudi mara nafasi hiyo inapoondoka, kwa kuwa hawakujenga maisha yoyote nje ya mimbari. Makosa yote mawili yanatoka katika mzizi mmoja: utambulisho uliofungamana kwa nguvu mno na ofisi. Kustaafu kunakofanywa ipasavyo huanza miongo mingi kabla — kwa mchungaji ambaye utambulisho wake uko katika Kristo, aliyewekeza katika ndoa na urafiki na nidhamu zitakazodumu kuliko huduma yake, ambaye amekuwa akiwafundisha wengine kufanya kazi ili anapojiweka kando, wanaume wawe tayari kusimama.Most pastors retire badly. They either refuse to step down, holding on past their effectiveness because they cannot imagine an identity outside the role; or they collapse into purposelessness once the role is gone, having built no life outside the pulpit. Both failures come from the same root: an identity tangled too tightly with the office. Retirement done right begins decades earlier — with a pastor whose identity is in Christ, who has invested in marriage and friendships and disciplines that will outlive his ministry, who has been training others to do the work so that when he steps aside, men are ready to step up.

Andiko la kichungaji lenye kina zaidi kuhusu urithi wa uongozi ni 2 Timotheo 2:2 — "Na mambo yale uliyoyasikia kwangu mbele ya mashahidi wengi, hayo uwakabidhi watu waaminifu, watakaofaa kuwafundisha na wengine." Paulo, mwishoni mwa maisha yake, alikuwa bado akiwekeza kwa Timotheo. Timotheo alikuwa akiwekeza kwa watu waaminifu. Watu hao waaminifu walikuwa wakiwekeza kwa wengine. Mnyororo huo unaenea katika miaka elfu mbili na unamfikia kila mchungaji mwaminifu anayesoma maneno haya. Nakiri kwamba kozi hii yote, kwangu, ni tendo la 2 Timotheo 2:2. Niko karibu zaidi na mwisho wa huduma yangu kuliko mwanzo wake. Wanaume wanaosoma mtaala huu wataishi miongo mingi baada yangu. Kile nilichojifunza katika miaka mingi ya uchungaji, kazi ya magereza, na ufundishaji wa seminari, ninawakabidhi wao — ili nao wawafundishe na wengine. Kozi unayoikamilisha ni sehemu ya jinsi ninavyomaliza vizuri: kukabidhi kile nilichopewa, wakati bado kuna muda wa kukikabidhi.The deepest pastoral text on succession is 2 Timothy 2:2 — "And the things you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Paul, at the end of his life, was still investing in Timothy. Timothy was investing in faithful men. Those faithful men were investing in others. The chain stretches across two thousand years and reaches every faithful pastor reading these words. I confess that this entire course is, for me, an act of 2 Timothy 2:2. I am closer to the end of my ministry than to the beginning. The men reading this curriculum will outlive me by decades. What I have learned across many years of pastoring, prison work, and seminary teaching, I am committing to them — that they may teach others also. The course you are completing is part of how I am finishing well: handing off what I have been given, while there is still time to hand it off.

VII. Urithi — KinachodumuVII. Legacy — What Endures

Urithi halisi wa mchungaji si jengo lake. Si hifadhi ya mahubiri yake. Si ukubwa wa kusanyiko lake anapostaafu. Ni watu. Watu aliowaongoza kwa Kristo. Ndoa alizookoa. Vijana wa kiume aliowalea hadi kuingia huduma. Imani iliyotia mizizi ndani ya watoto waliokulia katika kanisa lake na sasa wanamtumikia Bwana wakiwa watu wazima. Mashemasi aliowaunda. Wajane aliowafariji. Wafungwa aliowatembelea. Mrithi aliyemwandaa.The pastor's real legacy is not his building. It is not his sermon archive. It is not the size of his congregation when he retires. It is people. The people he led to Christ. The marriages he saved. The young men he mentored into ministry. The faith that took root in children who grew up in his church and now serve the Lord as adults. The deacons he formed. The widows he comforted. The prisoners he visited. The successor he prepared.

Majengo hubomoka. Programu huisha. Madhehebu hugawanyika. Matofali ya kanisa lolote hatimaye yataanguka. Lakini wanafunzi ambao mchungaji amewaunda watafika hadi umilele. Watadumu kuliko kila programu, kila jengo, kila zama. Mchungaji aliyetumia maisha yake kwa ajili ya watu anaacha urithi usiofifia. Urithi wa Paulo ulikuwa Timotheo. Urithi wa Timotheo ulikuwa wazee aliowaweka wakfu. Urithi wao ulikuwa waumini waliowafanya wanafunzi. Mstari huo unaenea hadi kusanyiko lolote utakalolichunga, gereza lolote utakalolitembelea, mwanafunzi yeyote utakayemfundisha.Buildings crumble. Programs end. Denominations split. The bricks of any church will eventually fall. But the disciples a pastor has formed will reach into eternity. They will outlast every program, every building, every era. The pastor who has spent his life on people leaves a legacy that does not fade. Paul's legacy was Timothy. Timothy's legacy was the elders he ordained. Theirs was the believers they discipled. The line stretches all the way to whatever congregation you will pastor, whatever prison you will visit, whatever student you will train.

VIII. Agizo kwa Kizazi KijachoVIII. The Charge to the Next Generation

Mchungaji wa baadaye unayesoma maneno haya: jihadhari. Kozi uliyoikamilisha imejaribu kukuandaa kwa miaka arobaini ya huduma. Usiipoteze miaka hiyo. Jenga huduma yako juu ya misingi ya kibiblia ya Sehemu ya 1, kamwe si juu ya haiba au mitindo ya wakati. Uwe na uhakika wa wito wako na ulinde tabia yako kama katika Sehemu ya 2 — upande wa giza utakuwinda. Hubiri Neno kwa njia ya kuponya kama katika Sehemu ya 3, lakini kamwe usiishushe Injili kuwa tiba tu. Ongoza ibada na usimamie maagizo ya kanisa kama katika Sehemu ya 4. Uwe mchungaji harusini na mazishini na kando ya kitanda cha mgonjwa kama katika Sehemu ya 5. Watembelee watu wako kama katika Sehemu ya 6 — uwepo wa kichungaji hauwezi kubadilishwa na kitu kingine. Wafanye wanafunzi kama katika Sehemu ya 7. Washauri kama katika Sehemu ya 8 kwa roho ya paraklēō, na uwapeleke kwa wengine inapobidi. Ongoza kwa roho ya mfanyakazi mwenzako kama katika Sehemu ya 9 — kamwe si kama bosi. Fanya kazi ya mwinjilisti kama katika Sehemu ya 10. Linda ndoa yako na watoto wako na mwili wako na nafsi yako kama katika Sehemu ya 11.Future pastor reading these words: take heed. The course you have completed has tried to prepare you for forty years of ministry. Do not waste those years. Build your ministry on the biblical foundations of Unit 1, never on personality or trend. Be sure of your call and guard your character as in Unit 2 — the dark side will hunt you. Preach the Word therapeutically as in Unit 3, but never lower the gospel into mere therapy. Lead worship and steward the ordinances as in Unit 4. Be the pastor at the wedding and the funeral and the bedside as in Unit 5. Visit your people as in Unit 6 — pastoral presence cannot be replaced. Disciple them as in Unit 7. Counsel them as in Unit 8 with the paraklēō spirit, and refer when you must. Lead with the spirit of a co-worker as in Unit 9 — never as a boss. Do the work of an evangelist as in Unit 10. Protect your marriage and your children and your body and your soul as in Unit 11.

Kisha — maliza. Kimbia mbio zako. Pigana vita vyako. Ilinde imani yako. Ifanyie kazi tabia yako na ujuzi wako wa kuhusiana na watu bila kuchoka kama unavyoyafanyia kazi mafundisho yako. Wakabidhi wale wanaume wanaokuja nyuma yako kile ulichopewa. Siku yako itakapofika, uweze kusema pamoja na Paulo, "Nimevipiga vita vilivyo vizuri, mwendo nimeumaliza, imani nimeilinda." Mchungaji Mkuu anakungoja upande wa pili. Anazitazama mbio unazozikimbia sasa hivi. Ameandaa taji isiyokauka. Mbio ni ngumu. Njia ni ndefu. Bwana ni mwaminifu.And then — finish. Run your race. Fight your fight. Keep your faith. Work on your character and your people skills as relentlessly as you work on your doctrine. Hand off what you have been given to the men coming behind you. When your day comes, may you be able to say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." The Chief Shepherd waits for you on the other side. He is watching the race you are running right now. He has prepared a crown that does not fade. The race is hard. The road is long. The Lord is faithful.

HitimishoClosing

Siku moja kila mchungaji anayesoma haya atahubiri hubiri lake la mwisho. Ataongoza mazishi yake ya mwisho. Ataketi katika miadi yake ya mwisho ya ushauri. Ataomba ombi lake la mwisho katika chumba chake cha kujifunzia. Ataifunga Biblia yake juu ya meza ambayo mtu mwingine ataikalia hivi karibuni. Kisha atakwenda nyumbani — kwanza katika msimu wa utulivu zaidi, na hatimaye kwa Bwana aliyemtumikia. Kati ya sasa na siku hiyo kuna njia ndefu ya huduma ya kichungaji. Njia hiyo ina vilima ambavyo mchungaji kijana bado hawezi kuviwazia. Ina mabonde ambayo hatajua jinsi ya kuyapitia mpaka atakapokuwa ndani yake. Ina utukufu — mtu kuongoka, ubatizo, ndoa iliyookolewa, mfungwa aliyekombolewa, mtoto anayekua na kumpenda Yesu — utakaozidi mateso yote safari itakapokwisha.One day every pastor reading this will preach his last sermon. He will conduct his last funeral. He will sit at his last counseling appointment. He will pray his last prayer in his study. He will close his Bible on a desk that someone else will soon occupy. And then he will go home — first to a quieter season, and finally to the Lord he has served. Between now and that day stands the long road of pastoral ministry. The road has hills the young pastor cannot yet imagine. It has valleys he will not know how to walk through until he is in them. It has glories — the conversion, the baptism, the rescued marriage, the redeemed prisoner, the child who grows up to love Jesus — that will outweigh all the suffering when the journey is done.

Kimbia njia hiyo, ndugu mchungaji. Ikimbie katika misimu ya furaha na misimu ya huzuni. Ikimbie kanisa likiwa limejaa na ikimbie likiwa tupu. Ikimbie katika kila badiliko ambalo Bwana anakugawia. Ikimbie hadi pumzi yako ya mwisho, nawe utasikia kile ambacho kila mchungaji aliyemaliza vizuri amesikia:Run the road, brother pastor. Run it through the seasons of joy and the seasons of grief. Run it when the church is full and run it when it is empty. Run it through every transition the Lord assigns. Run it until your last breath, and you will hear what every pastor who has finished well has heard:

"Vema, mtumwa mwema na mwaminifu... ingia katika furaha ya bwana wako."
— Mathayo 25:21"Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your lord."
— Matthew 25:21

"Na Mchungaji Mkuu atakapodhihirishwa, mtapokea taji ya utukufu isiyokauka" (1 Petro 5:4)."And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away" (1 Peter 5:4).

Huu ndio mwisho wa kozi. Bwana aliyekuita na akulinde, na Neno ulilojifunza likuunde kuwa mchungaji anayemaliza mbio ambazo Yeye ameweka mbele yako.This concludes the course. May the Lord who called you keep you, and may the Word you have studied form you into a pastor who finishes the race He set before you.

— Dkt. Wayne Cook
Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala (Chapala Theological Seminary)— Dr. Wayne Cook
Chapala Theological Seminary

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