“But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. Therefore, King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, Why are you not repairing the house?” (2 Kings 12:6-7 ESV).

“For that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly” (2 Kings 12:14-15).

It is well known among churches of Christ that many missionaries are aging. Though very capable, their time in the field is obviously limited. A burning question is, "Who is going to replace them? How can we assure that the many good works in so many countries will continue into and through later generations?"

One aspect of that question is that of trust. How do we know that the people who inherit these works will continue with the same commitment to truth and evangelism which the founders displayed? Will they have the same work ethic, zeal for the lost, and love for the people of target nations which was exemplified by the founders of those works?

When young King Jehoash (also known as Joash) of Judah came to the throne, he soon initiated reforms and restoration of legitimate worship to the Lord God of Israel, including the sanctification of the priesthood, Levites, and Temple in Jerusalem. The people of Judah supported these efforts with generous contributions including, but not limited to, their tithes and first-fruit offerings as required by the Law of Moses.

For some reason unknown to us, the priests to whom those contributions were entrusted did not immediately initiate cleansing and restoration work on the Temple. In the twenty-third year of Jehoash’s reign, he called the priests to account for their tardiness, and changed the procedure of collection and distribution of the funds. Certain men were designated to record the donations and to deliver it to workmen for the repairs to be made (2 Kings 12:9-16).

Significantly, the money designated for repairing the House of the Lord was not subject to accounting, because "they dealt honestly" (2 Kings 12:15). Dishonesty regarding those funds would have been quickly exposed since the work could not be done unless that money was given to the workers. Those handling the repair fund had proven their trustworthiness and therefore gained the confidence of the King and people of Judah.

Paul applied this principle to spiritual matters: "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). The New Testament clearly teaches that the Church must train future leaders so that the gospel will continue to be taught without error and the church will continue to grow through all generations.

Sadly, there is little evidence of intentional leadership training among us today. Few congregations have challenging adult studies designed to promote growth in the knowledge of the Bible and in the spiritual qualities required of leaders (cf 2 Peter 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 2:5-16). Too much preaching today focuses on feel good topics and ignores doctrinal instructions (Matthew 28:18-20).

Preachers, elders, and other leaders are selected largely on personality and popularity, with being "able to teach" (1 Timothy 3:2) and to "give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it" (Titus 1:9) generally ignored.

These lacks exist on many mission fronts, often due to the youth of Christians there. They also are prevalent among our "sending churches" in the U.S. There are looming gaps in mission fields precisely because there are gaps in our training of future missionaries (and preachers, and elders) here at home. We must address this need if the church is to continue to grow both here and abroad.