While 1 Timothy 4:12-13 does acknowledge youth as being a problem for some, it does not seem to see it as an obstacle for preachers. Quite the opposite. “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers as an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Youth is not an obstacle to ministry for Paul.

This is a response to Virgil Walker’s article, The Problem with the Young, Full-time Pastor, that appeared on The Aquila Report.

In this article, Walker spells out some problems with young ministers today. And if I understand his article rightly, he contends that the problems with young pastors is that they are young, that they lack life experience. And therefore, they might not be broken, might not be able to relate to or sympathize with, or speak to people living real lives. He further suggests several temptations for young pastors, namely, chasing things like fame, popularity, etc.

However, these temptations are not exclusively tied to the young. The recent revelations of seasoned minister Josh Buice is exhibit A for the defense.

And while an unbroken minister is indeed a problem, age is not a measure of brokenness. We are broken by the Holy Spirit applying God’s Law to us, showing us our original and actual sins. Thus, whether 28 or 68, the minister who is converted will be broken over his own sin.

Furthermore, while 1 Timothy 4:12-13 does acknowledge youth as being a problem for some, it does not seem to see it as an obstacle for preachers. Quite the opposite. “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers as an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Youth is not an obstacle to ministry for Paul.

Bi-vocational ministry is indeed a wonderful, biblical, and noble enterprise, if done for the right reasons. Paul gives us some right reasons in 1 Thessalonians 2:9, “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.” Paul worked a second vocation in order that the as a church planter/pastor he would cost the mission field nothing while offering the free gospel to his hearers. It had nothing to do with Paul’s maturity level or lack thereof.

Bi-vocational ministry should not be used for the goal of gaining life experience. Life experience by itself does not bring maturity. The Holy Spirit brings maturity. And any man, well versed, deeply meditating on the Word of God will be led by the Holy Spirit. I do not think Mr. Walker’s argument can stand if he is saying Jesus or Paul needed the extra work in order to gain any life experience or maturity.

This argument betrays a secular value where life experience is as equally necessary as the power of the Gospel and knowledge of God’s Word. Walker stated that, “The sheep don’t need more quotes, they need your scars.” But my people need none of my scars, but they need the scars of Jesus! They need to forget the channel, seeing only him, who died for them. Swe should not pit life experience over and against the learning of the Bible, which is God’s chief and most effective tool for sanctification (John 17:17).

Let me encourage any young man considering the ministry: Samuel was called while still young; Jeremiah was called while still in the womb; Timothy was called from infancy. And even though Apollos needed to be taught, Pricilla and Aquila did not tell him to stop preaching, they did not tell him to go live some life to get more experience, they simply instructed him how to minister more faithfully. Through your weakness, through your insufficiency, young pastor, Christ proves himself strong. Do not be deterred from your desire to be an elder in the Church of Christ; it is a good thing you desire (1 Timothy 3:1). Experience does make the Gospel sweeter, but youth does not make the Gospel less powerful.

J. Parks Turner (25), is pastor of Grace PCA in Cedartown, GA.