📖 Huduma za Kichungaji — Sehemu ya 7: Uanafunzi na Kuwakamilisha Watakatifu📖 Pastoral Ministries — Unit 7: Discipleship and Equipping the Saints

MwelekeoOrientation

Mchungaji mwaminifu hatimaye ataliacha kanisa lake. Atastaafu, atahamia mahali pengine, ataugua, au atafariki. Swali si kama ataondoka, bali ni nini atakachokiacha nyuma. Mchungaji aliyehubiri mahubiri makuu tu huacha kusanyiko linalokosa sauti yake. Mchungaji aliyejenga utawala imara huacha kanisa linalokosa mpangilio wake. Lakini mchungaji aliyefanya wanafunzi — aliyemimina maisha yake ndani ya waumini wachache wanaokua, aliyewainua walimu na mashemasi na wazee na vijana walioitwa kwenye huduma — huacha kanisa lililo imara zaidi baada ya kuondoka kwake kuliko lilivyokuwa alipokuwapo.The faithful pastor will eventually leave his church. He will retire, move, fall sick, or die. The question is not whether he will leave, but what he will leave behind. A pastor who only preached great sermons leaves a congregation that misses his voice. A pastor who built a strong administration leaves a church that misses his organization. But a pastor who discipled — who poured his life into a handful of growing believers, who raised up teachers and deacons and elders and young men called to the ministry — leaves a church that is stronger after he is gone than it was while he was there.

Sehemu hii inachunguza huduma ya mchungaji ya kufundisha nje ya mimbari. Tutaangalia agizo la Biblia la kufanya wanafunzi, kielelezo cha Paulo na Timotheo, ngazi mbalimbali ambazo mchungaji hufundisha, mtazamo wa muda mrefu wa vizazi, na jinsi mchungaji mwenyewe anavyoendelea kukua kama mwanafunzi.This unit examines the pastor's teaching ministry beyond the pulpit. We will look at the biblical mandate of disciple-making, the Pauline pattern of Paul and Timothy, the levels at which a pastor teaches, the long view of generations, and the pastor's own continued growth as a learner.

I. Mchungaji kama MwalimuI. The Pastor as Teacher

Orodha ya Paulo ya karama ambazo Kristo alilipa kanisa katika Waefeso 4:11 ina kifungu ambacho mara nyingi hupuuzwa: "Naye alitoa wengine kuwa mitume, na wengine kuwa manabii, na wengine kuwa wainjilisti, na wengine kuwa wachungaji na waalimu." Angalia kwamba mchungaji na mwalimu wameunganishwa chini ya kibainishi kimoja katika Kigiriki. Wasomi wengi wanaamini kwamba Paulo anaeleza ofisi moja iliyounganishwa — mchungaji-mwalimu. Mtu anayechunga ndiye pia anayefundisha. Huwezi kweli kufanya kimoja bila kingine.Paul's list of the gifts Christ gave the church in Ephesians 4:11 contains a phrase that often gets overlooked: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Notice that pastor and teacher are joined under one article in the Greek. Many scholars believe Paul is describing one combined office — the pastor-teacher. The man who shepherds is also the man who teaches. You cannot truly do one without the other.

Kusudi la karama hii, Paulo anasema katika mstari unaofuata, ni "kwa kusudi la kuwakamilisha watakatifu, hata kazi ya huduma itendeke, hata mwili wa Kristo ujengwe" (Waefeso 4:12). Kazi ya mchungaji si kufanya huduma yote yeye mwenyewe. Kazi yake ni kuwakamilisha watakatifu ili wao wafanye huduma. Mchungaji anayejichosha hadi kuishiwa nguvu akijaribu kufanya kila kitu ameyasoma vibaya maelezo ya kazi yake. Mchungaji ni kocha, si timu ya mtu mmoja. Anafundisha, anafunza, anaonyesha kwa mfano, anatuma, na anatuma tena. Kazi ya kanisa inapaswa kufanywa na watakatifu. Kazi ya mchungaji ni kuwakamilisha ili waifanye.The purpose of this gift, Paul says in the next verse, is "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12). The pastor's job is not to do all the ministry himself. His job is to equip the saints to do the ministry. A pastor who runs himself ragged trying to do everything has misread his job description. The pastor is a coach, not a one-man team. He teaches, trains, models, sends, and sends again. The work of the church is supposed to be done by the saints. The pastor's job is to equip them to do it.

Nilihudumu kama profesa wa seminari kwa takriban miaka kumi na moja. Kipindi hicho kilinifundisha jambo ambalo nilikuwa nimejifunza kwa sehemu tu katika huduma ya kichungaji: ufundishaji unaofanywa vizuri huzidisha. Hotuba nzuri darasani haiwapi tu wanafunzi habari — inamuunda mchungaji wa baadaye, ambaye atauunda kusanyiko, nalo litaiunda jamii. Nimewaona wanafunzi kutoka darasani kwangu wakienda kupanda makanisa, kuongoza huduma za umisheni, kuandika vitabu, na kukifundisha kizazi kijacho cha wanafunzi. Mwalimu anayefundisha kwa uaminifu hamimini maisha yake ndani ya hadhira moja tu. Anayamimina ndani ya kila hadhira ambayo wanafunzi hao watawahi kusimama mbele yake. Kuzidishwa huko huko kunapatikana kwa mchungaji katika kanisa lake la mahali, ikiwa ataiona kazi yake kama huduma ya kufundisha badala ya onyesho.I served as a seminary professor for about eleven years. That season taught me something I had only partly learned in pastoral ministry: teaching done well multiplies. A good lecture does not just inform a class — it shapes a future pastor, who will shape a congregation, which will shape a community. I have watched students from my classroom go out to plant churches, lead missions, write books, and teach the next generation of students. The teacher who teaches faithfully is not pouring his life into a single audience. He is pouring it into every audience that those students will ever stand before. That same multiplication is available to the pastor in his local church, if he will see his work as teaching ministry rather than as performance.

II. Agizo la UanafunziII. The Discipleship Mandate

Agizo Kuu si wito wa uinjilisti peke yake. Ni wito wa kufanya wanafunzi. "Basi enendeni, mkawafanye mataifa yote kuwa wanafunzi, mkiwabatiza kwa jina la Baba, na Mwana, na Roho Mtakatifu; na kuwafundisha kuyashika yote niliyowaamuru ninyi" (Mathayo 28:19–20). Angalia vitenzi. Fanyeni wanafunzi. Batizeni. Fundisheni. Agizo Kuu lina hatua tatu, na ya tatu — kuwafundisha kuyashika yote niliyowaamuru ninyi — ndipo makanisa mengi huishia kabla ya kuifikia.The Great Commission is not a call to evangelism alone. It is a call to disciple-making. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19–20). Notice the verbs. Make disciples. Baptize. Teach. The Great Commission has three movements, and the third — teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you — is where most churches stop short.

Uinjilisti humleta mtu kwa Kristo. Ubatizo huashiria ukiri wa hadharani wa imani hiyo. Lakini uanafunzi ndio unaotokea kwa miaka arobaini inayofuata. Ni kazi ya polepole, ya subira, ya wiki baada ya wiki, ya kumuunda muumini kuwa mfuasi mkomavu wa Yesu Kristo. Mchungaji anayefanya uinjilisti tu huacha nyuma watoto wachanga wa kiroho. Mchungaji anayefanya wanafunzi huacha wanaume na wanawake wanaoweza kusimama kwa miguu yao wenyewe, kuzitunza familia zao, kuongoza katika mazingira yao wenyewe, na wao wenyewe kukifanya kizazi kijacho kuwa wanafunzi.Evangelism brings a person to Christ. Baptism marks the public profession of that faith. But discipleship is what happens for the next forty years. It is the slow, patient, week-after-week work of forming a believer into a mature follower of Jesus Christ. The pastor who only evangelizes leaves spiritual infants behind. The pastor who disciples leaves men and women who can stand on their own two feet, hold their own families, lead in their own contexts, and disciple the next generation themselves.

III. Kielelezo cha PauloIII. The Pauline Pattern

Kielelezo kilicho wazi zaidi cha kufanya wanafunzi katika Agano Jipya ni uhusiano kati ya Paulo na Timotheo. Paulo hakumhubiria Timotheo tu. Alimchukua Timotheo pamoja naye katika safari zake za umisheni. Alimwacha Timotheo amtazame akishughulikia migogoro. Alimwacha Timotheo amwone akiomba. Alimwacha Timotheo ashindwe, kisha akamwinua. Alimwandikia Timotheo barua walipokuwa mbali. Aliihangaikia afya ya Timotheo. Alimtendea Timotheo kama mwana.The clearest model of disciple-making in the New Testament is the relationship between Paul and Timothy. Paul did not just preach to Timothy. He took Timothy with him on his missionary journeys. He let Timothy watch him handle conflict. He let Timothy see him pray. He let Timothy fail, and he picked Timothy up. He wrote letters to Timothy when they were apart. He worried about Timothy's health. He treated Timothy as a son.

Sentensi moja ya 2 Timotheo 2:2 imeunda huduma nyingi za kufanya wanafunzi kuliko pengine mstari mwingine wowote katika Biblia: "Na mambo yale uliyoyasikia kwangu mbele ya mashahidi wengi, hayo uwakabidhi watu waaminifu, watakaofaa kuwafundisha na wengine." Isome kwa makini. Vizazi vinne vimo katika mstari mmoja. Paulo ni kizazi cha kwanza. Timotheo ni cha pili. Watu waaminifu ni cha tatu. Wale wengine ambao wanafunzi wa Timotheo watawafundisha ni cha nne. Mchungaji anayeishi kwa mstari huu hajaribu tu kukuza kanisa lake. Anajaribu kuanzisha mwendo wa kuzidishwa utakaodumu miaka mia moja baada yake.The single sentence in 2 Timothy 2:2 has shaped more disciple-making ministries than perhaps any other verse in the Bible: "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Read that carefully. Four generations are present in one verse. Paul is the first generation. Timothy is the second. The faithful men are the third. The others Timothy's disciples will teach are the fourth. The pastor who lives by this verse is not just trying to grow his church. He is trying to set in motion a multiplication that will outlive him by a hundred years.

Uhusiano wa Paulo na Timotheo ulikuwa na vipengele vinne ambavyo kila mchungaji wa leo anaweza kuvitekeleza. Muda pamoja. Paulo na Timotheo walisafiri pamoja kwa miaka mingi. Huduma ya pamoja. Timotheo hakuwa mtazamaji; alipewa majukumu. Kusahihisha kwa uaminifu. Barua za Paulo si maneno ya kubembeleza. "Bali wewe uwe na kiasi katika mambo yote," anamwandikia Timotheo. "Ustahimili mabaya, fanya kazi ya mhubiri wa Injili, timiza huduma yako" (2 Timotheo 4:5). Na hatimaye, urithishaji wa kiroho. Paulo hakumwona Timotheo kama msaidizi tu bali kama mtu ambaye angeibeba Injili baada ya Paulo kuondoka.The Paul-Timothy relationship had four elements that every modern pastor can practice. Time together. Paul and Timothy traveled together for years. Shared ministry. Timothy was not a spectator; he was given assignments. Honest correction. Paul's letters are not flattery. "Be watchful in all things," he writes Timothy. "Endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5). And finally, spiritual succession. Paul saw Timothy not as an assistant but as the man who would carry the gospel after Paul was gone.

IV. Kufundisha katika Ngazi MbalimbaliIV. Multi-Level Teaching

Mchungaji hufundisha katika ngazi nyingi kwa wakati mmoja. Kila ngazi ni ya lazima, na kila moja inahitaji mkao tofauti.The pastor teaches at many levels at once. Each level is essential, and each requires a different posture.

Mimbari ni ngazi moja. Mchungaji huhubiri kwa kusanyiko lililokusanyika. Tayari tumetenga sehemu nzima ya kozi hii kwa kazi hiyo. Lakini mimbari peke yake haiwezi kumfanya mtu kuwa mwanafunzi.The pulpit is one level. The pastor preaches to the gathered congregation. We have already devoted an entire unit of this course to that work. But the pulpit alone cannot disciple a person.

Funzo la Biblia au darasa la shule ya Jumapili ni ngazi nyingine. Hapa mchungaji hufundisha kikundi kidogo zaidi, ambapo kuna nafasi ya maswali na majadiliano. Darasa la shule ya Jumapili ni mojawapo ya vyombo vya uanafunzi visivyothaminiwa ipasavyo katika kanisa la leo. Vizazi vya waumini viliimarishwa katika imani yao kupitia walimu waaminifu wa shule ya Jumapili — wengi wao hawakuwa wachungaji hata kidogo, bali waumini wa kawaida (walei) ambao wao wenyewe walikuwa wamefundishwa vizuri.The Bible study or Sunday school class is another level. Here the pastor teaches a smaller group, where there is room for questions and discussion. The Sunday school class is one of the most underestimated discipleship tools in the modern church. Generations of believers were grounded in their faith through faithful Sunday school teachers — many of them not pastors at all, but laypeople who had themselves been taught well.

Kikundi kidogo nyumbani ni ngazi nyingine. Hapa waumini sita au kumi na wawili hukusanyika kwa ajili ya maombi, Maandiko, na kushirikiana maisha kwa karibu. Mchungaji hawezi kuongoza vikundi vidogo vyote katika kanisa lake, wala hapaswi kujaribu. Lakini anapaswa kuwa ndani ya kimoja — ili kuonyesha kwa mfano jinsi kikundi kidogo kinavyopaswa kuwa, na ili kuwafanya viongozi wa vikundi vidogo kuwa wanafunzi.The small group in a home is another level. Here a half-dozen or a dozen believers gather for prayer, Scripture, and life-on-life sharing. The pastor cannot lead all the small groups in his church, and he should not try. But he should be in one — both to model what a small group looks like and to disciple the small-group leaders.

Mazungumzo ya mtu mmoja na mwingine ndiyo ngazi ya ndani kabisa. Kikombe cha kahawa na kijana anayehangaika na wito wa huduma. Chakula cha mchana na shemasi anayekabiliwa na uamuzi mgumu nyumbani. Matembezi marefu na mwanamke ambaye ndoa yake inaanza kusambaratika. Mwongozo wa funzo la Biblia mezani, Biblia imefunguliwa kati yenu, maombi mwishoni. Hapa ndipo wachungaji wanapoundwa. Hapa ndipo mashemasi wanapojengwa. Hapa ndipo wamisionari wa baadaye wanapotumwa.The one-on-one conversation is the deepest level. Coffee with a young man wrestling with a call to ministry. Lunch with a deacon facing a hard decision at home. A long walk with a woman whose marriage is fraying. The Bible study guide on the table, the Bible open between you, prayer at the end. This is where pastors are made. This is where deacons are formed. This is where future missionaries are sent.

Mchungaji lazima azishughulikie ngazi zote nne kwa makusudi. Kishawishi ni kuishi mimbarini tu. Kishawishi hicho ni halisi kwa sababu mimbari inaonekana, inapimika, na inasifiwa. Lakini mchungaji ambaye huduma yake ya kufundisha ni mimbari tu huzalisha wasikilizaji ambao hawajawahi kuwa wanafunzi.A pastor must be deliberate about all four levels. The temptation is to live only in the pulpit. The temptation is real because the pulpit is visible, measurable, and praised. But the pastor whose teaching ministry is only the pulpit produces hearers who have never been disciples.

V. Kuwainua ViongoziV. Raising Up Leaders

Kila kusanyiko lina, mahali fulani ndani yake, kizazi kijacho cha viongozi wake. Kazi ya mchungaji ni kuwapata na kuwaunda.Every congregation has, somewhere in it, the next generation of its leaders. The pastor's job is to find them and form them.

Biblia ina sifa zilizo wazi kwa wanaume wanaohudumu katika ofisi za mchungaji, shemasi, na mzee (1 Timotheo 3; Tito 1). Mchungaji mwaminifu hutumia sifa hizi si kama orodha ya kuajiri bali kama mtaala wa kuunda. Hulitazama kusanyiko lake na kuuliza: Ni nani anayeweza kuwa mtu wa namna hii? Itahitaji nini? Kisha anaanza kazi ya polepole, ya subira, ya kufundisha, kuonyesha kwa mfano, kusahihisha, kutia moyo, na kutuma.The Bible has clear qualifications for the men who serve in the offices of pastor, deacon, and elder (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). The faithful pastor uses these qualifications not as a checklist for hiring but as a curriculum for forming. He looks at his congregation and asks: Who could become this kind of man? What would it take? Then he begins the slow, patient work of teaching, modeling, correcting, encouraging, and sending.

Baadhi ya kazi ya kufanya wanafunzi yenye matunda mengi zaidi niliyowahi kuiona ilitokea mahali ambapo hakuna aliyetarajia. Nilifanya kazi katika gereza moja huko Louisiana kwa miaka mingi. Mmoja wa wafungwa aliyeamini huko alikuwa mtu aitwaye Arthur. Wakati fulani alikuwa amehesabiwa kuwa mhalifu sugu huko Angola — gereza ambalo wengine wamelitaja kuwa gereza lenye umwagaji damu mwingi kuliko yote Amerika — naye aliwahi kuniambia kwamba alikuwa amefikiria hata kujitupa kutoka juu ya ukuta ili kujiua. Lakini Arthur alimpokea Kristo ndani ya kuta hizo. Mabadiliko yalikuwa kamili. Alijitoa kikamilifu katika huduma kwa wafungwa wenzake, na aliifanya kwa unyenyekevu ambao nimeuona mara chache kwa mchungaji yeyote nje ya gereza. Nilikuwa nikiwaambia watu kwamba yeye ndiye mchungaji mkuu zaidi niliyewahi kukutana naye. Arthur alipoachiliwa hatimaye, aliendelea kuhudumu bila kusita. Si muda mrefu uliopita alinipigia simu kuniambia kwamba amekuwa mkuu wa wachungaji wa gereza (head chaplain) katika Gereza la Parchman huko Mississippi, gereza kubwa kuliko yote katika jimbo hilo. Bwana alimfanya mtu huyo kuwa kiongozi wa viongozi.Some of the most fruitful disciple-making I have ever seen happened in a place no one expected. I worked in a Louisiana prison for many years. One of the inmates who became a believer there was a man named Arthur. At one time he had been considered an outlaw at Angola — what some have called the bloodiest prison in America — and he once told me that he had even thought about throwing himself over a wall to end his life. But Arthur came to Christ inside those walls. The transformation was complete. He poured himself into ministry to other inmates, and he did it with a humility I have rarely seen in any pastor outside the prison. I used to tell people he was the greatest pastor I had ever met. When Arthur was eventually released, he kept right on serving. Not long ago he called me to tell me that he had become the head chaplain at Parchman Prison in Mississippi, the largest prison in the state. The Lord made that man into a leader of leaders.

Hilo ndilo uanafunzi unaloweza kufanya. Mchungaji anayetazama zaidi ya sura ya nje na kuona kile ambacho Mungu anaweza kujenga kutoka kwa mtu wa kawaida, au kutoka kwa mtu aliyevunjika, atamaliza huduma yake akiwa amezungukwa na viongozi ambao kamwe wasingesimama kama asingewekeza ndani yao.That is what discipleship can do. The pastor who looks past surface appearances and sees what God can build out of an ordinary man, or out of a broken man, will end his ministry surrounded by leaders who never would have stood up if he had not invested in them.

VI. Mtazamo wa Muda Mrefu — VizaziVI. The Long View — Generations

Mchungaji lazima ajifunze kufikiri kwa vizazi. Kijana unayemfanya mwanafunzi mwaka huu, baada ya miaka ishirini, atakuwa akiwafanya wanafunzi vijana ambao bado hawajazaliwa. Mwanamke kijana unayemfundisha sasa kujifunza Biblia yake, kufikia wakati utakapokuwa mzee, atakuwa akiwafundisha wajukuu wake kwa njia ile ile. Mwanaseminari unayemlea atajenga, katika mji wa mbali, kusanyiko ambalo wewe hutalitembelea kamwe. Mchungaji anayefikiri Jumapili moja moja tu atachoka kabisa kufikia mwaka wake wa tano. Mchungaji anayefikiri kwa vizazi ataendelea kwa miaka arobaini.A pastor must learn to think in generations. The young man you disciple this year will, in twenty years, be discipling young men who are not yet born. The young woman you teach now to study her Bible will, by the time you are old, be teaching her grandchildren the same way. The seminarian you mentor will, in a faraway city, build a congregation you will never visit. The pastor who only thinks one Sunday at a time will burn out by his fifth year. The pastor who thinks in generations will keep going for forty.

Mtazamo huu wa muda mrefu hubadilisha jinsi mchungaji anavyoushughulikia ukuaji wa polepole wa wanafunzi wake. Hamkatii tamaa mtu ambaye bado anapambana na dhambi ile ile miaka mitatu baadaye, kwa sababu anaelewa kwamba utakaso ni safari ndefu. Hamtupilii mbali shemasi ambaye bado ana kasoro nyingi, kwa sababu anakumbuka kwamba yeye mwenyewe alikuwa na kasoro zaidi katika umri huo. Anabaki mvumilivu. Anabaki karibu. Anaendelea kufundisha, wiki baada ya wiki, mwaka baada ya mwaka, akijua kwamba mavuno si mara zote yatakuja katika maisha yake.This long view changes how the pastor handles the slow growth of his disciples. He does not give up on the man who is still wrestling with the same sin three years later, because he understands that sanctification is a long road. He does not write off the deacon who is still rough around the edges, because he remembers that he himself was rougher at that age. He stays patient. He stays present. He keeps teaching, week after week, year after year, knowing that the harvest is not always in his lifetime.

Paulo hakuwahi kukutana na watu wengi ambao maisha yao yangeguswa na huduma yake. Vivyo hivyo mchungaji anayesoma maneno haya. Kazi ya mchungaji si kuona mavuno. Kazi ya mchungaji ni kupanda, kutia maji, na kumtumaini Bwana wa mavuno afanye kile ambacho Yeye peke yake ndiye anayeweza kufanya. "Mimi nilipanda, Apolo akatia maji; bali Mungu ndiye aliyekuza" (1 Wakorintho 3:6).Paul never met most of the people whose lives his ministry would touch. Neither will the pastor reading this. The pastor's job is not to see the harvest. The pastor's job is to plant, water, and trust the Lord of the harvest to do what only He can do. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6).

VII. Mchungaji Mwenyewe Kuendelea KujifunzaVII. The Pastor's Own Continued Learning

Mchungaji hawezi kutoa kile asichokuwa nacho. Mwalimu aliyeacha kujifunza ni mwalimu asiye na jipya la kufundisha. Mchungaji aliyemaliza kitabu chake cha mwisho cha maana mwaka ule alipohitimu seminari, kufikia mwaka wake wa kumi na tano wa huduma, atakuwa akijirudia. Mahubiri yake yatasikika vile vile. Ushauri wake utarudia mashauri yale yale. Mafundisho yake yatakuwa ya juu juu. Nafsi yake mwenyewe itakauka.A pastor cannot give what he does not have. The teacher who has stopped learning is a teacher with nothing fresh to teach. The pastor who finished his last serious book the year he graduated from seminary will, by his fifteenth year of ministry, be repeating himself. His sermons will sound the same. His counseling will rehearse the same advice. His teaching will go shallow. His own soul will dry up.

Mchungaji mwaminifu husoma. Hujifunza. Huhudhuria makongamano anapoweza, huketi chini ya wahubiri walio bora kuliko yeye, hujifunza kutoka kwa wanatheolojia waliomtangulia, na yuko tayari kuwa mwanafunzi tena akiwa na miaka hamsini kwa urahisi ule ule kama alivyokuwa na miaka ishirini na mitano. Kuna aina ya kiburi kinachodhani kwamba mchungaji hana jambo jingine la kujifunza. Kiburi hicho huua huduma.The faithful pastor reads. He studies. He attends conferences when he can, sits under preachers better than himself, learns from theologians ahead of him, and is willing to be a student again at fifty as easily as he was at twenty-five. There is a kind of pride that thinks a pastor has nothing more to learn. That pride kills ministries.

Sasa nimeishi miaka ya kutosha kujua jambo hili kutoka ndani. Nilihudumu katika huduma ya kichungaji. Nilihudumu kama mchungaji wa gereza (chaplain) na kama mkuu wa gereza. Nilihudumu kama profesa wa seminari kwa takriban miaka kumi na moja. Sasa ninahudumu katika kipindi kingine cha kufundisha katika Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala. Kila kimoja cha vipindi hivyo kilinifundisha mambo ambayo vipindi vilivyotangulia havikunifundisha. Bwana bado ananifundisha. Ataendelea kunifundisha mpaka nitakapomwona uso kwa uso.I have lived enough years now to know this from the inside. I served in pastoral ministry. I served as a prison chaplain and warden. I served as a seminary professor for about eleven years. I now serve in another season of teaching at Chapala Theological Seminary. Every one of those seasons taught me things the previous seasons had not. The Lord is still teaching me. He will be teaching me until I see Him face to face.

Acha nikupe picha ndogo ya jinsi jambo hili linavyofanya kazi kwa vitendo. Katika madarasa yangu ya ushauri nimekuwa nikijumuisha mbinu ya John Drakeford, aliyefundisha kwa miaka mingi katika Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Drakeford mwenyewe alisoma chini ya O. Hobart Mowrer, mwanasaikolojia ambaye kazi yake kuhusu uadilifu, kuungama, na uwajibikaji binafsi iliunda kizazi kizima cha washauri wa kichungaji. Fuatilia mnyororo huo kwa sauti: Mowrer alimfundisha Drakeford. Drakeford alinifundisha mimi. Sasa ninakifundisha kizazi kijacho cha wachungaji. Huo ndio hasa mnyororo ambao Paulo alimweleza Timotheo — mambo yale uliyoyasikia kwangu, uwakabidhi watu waaminifu, watakaofaa kuwafundisha na wengine. Vizazi vinne vya ufundishaji, vimefumwa ndani ya darasa moja kando ya Ziwa Chapala. Mchungaji anayeendelea kujifunza huendelea kufundisha kwa upya. Na kanisa linalofundishwa kwa upya huendelea kukua pia.Let me give you a small picture of how this works in practice. In my counseling classes I have been incorporating the methodology of John Drakeford, who taught for many years at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Drakeford himself studied under O. Hobart Mowrer, the psychologist whose work on integrity, confession, and personal responsibility shaped a whole generation of pastoral counselors. Trace the line out loud: Mowrer taught Drakeford. Drakeford taught me. I am now teaching the next generation of pastors. That is exactly the chain Paul described to Timothy — the things you have heard from me, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Four generations of teaching, woven into one classroom on the shores of Lake Chapala. The pastor who keeps learning keeps teaching with freshness. And the church that is taught with freshness keeps growing too.

HitimishoClosing

Huduma ya mchungaji ya kufundisha ndiyo ya polepole kuliko huduma zake zote. Mimbari humpa mwitikio wa dakika thelathini kutoka kwa kusanyiko kila Jumapili. Harusi humpa alasiri moja tu. Mazishi humpa asubuhi moja tu. Lakini uanafunzi humpa miongo. Miongo ya kuwekeza. Miongo ya kungoja. Miongo ya kumtazama muumini mchanga akikua na kuwa kiongozi imara.The pastor's teaching ministry is the slowest of all his ministries. The pulpit gives him a thirty-minute response from the congregation every Sunday. The wedding gives him a single afternoon. The funeral gives him a single morning. But discipleship gives him decades. Decades to invest. Decades to wait. Decades to watch a young believer grow into a strong leader.

Pia ndiyo huduma inayodumu kuliko huduma zake zote. Mchungaji anapoondoka, mahubiri husahaulika, picha za harusi hufifia, na vijitabu vya ratiba ya mazishi huishia ndani ya droo. Lakini wanafunzi hubaki. Bado wanazifundisha familia zao. Bado wanaongoza makanisa yao. Bado wanakiinua kizazi kijacho. Sauti ya mchungaji mwaminifu haikomi huduma yake ya mimbarini inapokwisha. Inaendelea kunena kupitia kila mwanamume na mwanamke aliyewahi kumfanya mwanafunzi, na kupitia kila mwanamume na mwanamke ambao wao nao watawafanya wanafunzi baada yake.It is also the most lasting of all his ministries. When the pastor is gone, the sermons are forgotten and the wedding photographs fade and the funeral programs end up in a drawer. But the disciples remain. They are still teaching their families. They are still leading their churches. They are still raising up the next generation. The faithful pastor's voice does not stop when his pulpit ministry ends. It keeps speaking through every man and woman he ever discipled, and through every man and woman they go on to disciple after him.

"Na mambo yale uliyoyasikia kwangu mbele ya mashahidi wengi, hayo uwakabidhi watu waaminifu, watakaofaa kuwafundisha na wengine" (2 Timotheo 2:2). Kila mchungaji anayesoma maneno haya na auweke mstari huo moyoni, awapate akina Timotheo wake, amimine maisha yake ndani yao, na amtumaini Bwana kuzidisha kile ambacho yeye asingeweza kamwe kukizidisha kwa nguvu zake mwenyewe."And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). May every pastor reading this take that verse to heart, find his Timothys, pour his life into them, and trust the Lord to multiply what he could never multiply on his own.

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

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