Paul was an absolute super soldier for Christ. He met Christ on the road to Damascus and then went straight into ministry and never left it. He laid the foundations for almost all the churches in the Mediterranean world because God chose him and he was willing to bust his butt for Christ and His Kingdom. Along Paul’s many, many travels he met a young man by the name of Timothy who Paul started to take with him as he crossed the Roman world spreading the Good News. Paul poured himself out for the benefit of all he met hoping to lead a few of them to Christ, but with Timothy, Paul really spent time and energy to build up Timothy so that he could take the reins from Paul after he passed. Paul wrote about the weakness of our mortal bodies and how we all long to be with Christ in Heaven, but we have a race to run first. We have a mission to accomplish and part of that mission is to reach out to those around us, and also part of that job is creating permanent results. I do not mean to say that church buildings need to be permanent, but churches as the gathered believers need to be permanent and independent from the “Paul”. They often times need “Timothy(s)” to carry on the leadership and to take the Church to new places that “Paul” could never have taken it. America is graying, sort of. There are so many young people who do not know Christ. These young men and women lost in a broken world are probably more likely to relate to Timothy rather than Paul. Paul needs to ALWAYS be raising up Timothys.
Zach W
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I agree many times i find myself relating to timothy rather than paul. this is a helpful perspective on the approach to discipleship.
I think one of the important things for us to identify about Paul is that he didn’t have it all figured out, but despite that he still felt that he could mentor someone like Timothy. I like your idea of “permanent and independent.” Paul was a stable “permanent” part of Timothy’s life, but he was also “independent” and performed his own ministry.
Good insight, I never really thought of it this way. I always thought about relating myself to Paul, but never relating new believers needing to begin as Timothy(s) and making their own identities in Christ. With that, I also need to make my own identity in Christ and not strive to be exactly as Paul was. He is a good example of how to strive to live, but I know I don’t have the same gifts as he did so it is pointless to try to be like him. Everyone needs to find their own identities in Christ!