2 Timothy 2:1-7
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
This is an incredible payload of teaching and training for Timothy. Paul says we should “reflect” on what he is saying here. This is exactly what we are going to do line-by-line. This is a break-down of what Paul thinks of ministry. Both Paul and Timothy what we’d consider were full-time ministry leaders and oversaw churches. (Special thanks to Tim Kernan for sharing this lesson with the Phoenix International Christian Church staff and house church leadership groups.)
Be Strong In The Grace (2 Timothy 2:1)
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.“
If I don’t feel forgiven (e.g. “strong in the grace”) then how can I help someone else feel strong in it? Someone who is “strong in the grace” works hard. Paul said himself, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Cor 15:10) Someone “strong in the grace” also has a strong character of righteousness. The scriptures explain that grace “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…“. (Titus 2:12) A disciple strong in the grace is self-motivated, seeks advice and direction, and is eager to serve in whatever capacity they can. They have the mindset of Jesus – making themselves “nothing” and taking on the very nature of a servant. (Philippians 2:1-4) When we are strong in the grace, being someone’s son or daughter in the faith is a natural result. If you don’t have a father/mother in the faith and/or sons and daughters in the faith, are you really strong in the grace? “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 & c.f. 1 Corinthians 4:14-15)
Entrust To Reliable Men (2 Timothy 2:2)
“And the things you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others”
What did Paul preach? He wrote some 50,000 words of the new testament! Paul says, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2) Yet there were many things he taught. In short, Paul taught the BIBLE. Things from the “Old Testament” (c.f. 1 Corinthians 10:1-5) as well as his revelations directly from Christ (Galatians 1:15-17) comprising a major portion of the “New Testament.” Paul says what is taught is entrusted – this implies a seriousness and a thoughtfulness. Are we treating discipleship times as casual talks where little to no bible is used? We need to take the bible out and entrust teaching to them! We need to bury it into their heart! “In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.” (Titus 2:7-8) The goal is to qualify them to teach others. All our enemy, Satan, has to do is to convince someone they are useless. Then their mission becomes simply to “not fall away.” That’s nobody’s destiny in the kingdom of God!
We must help people become reliable. The best way to test this is to give them a specific task and see if they actually do it. If we are not reliable and we drop the ball on “minor” things we will stay “stuck.” They say if you want something done, give the task to a busy person. If you give to a “not-so-busy” guy and he’ll proceed to teach you why he is not so busy. We must be reliable and responsive. There is a road to becoming reliable and responsive for everybody right now – its just one not many want to travel. As we are good examples, we will have what we need to teach others and examine others’ examples.
Qualified to Teach Others (2 Timothy 2:2b)
In this one sentence there are four generations of discipleship: Paul training Timothy who trains “reliable men” who train others. “Reliable men” don’t need to like you. Understand – “reliable men” don’t start qualified. They must walk with their “Paul/Timothy” and spend time with them. They will learn to trust and learn to do what they need to do in this way. Paul is essentially telling Timothy here to “get some apostles” (“reliable men”). This was Jesus’ pattern/example and it was Paul’s pattern/example as well! (e.g. Acts 19:7, 20:17-31) It must be ours as we strive to build God’s church. Who is your Paul? Do you have “reliable men?” Is there someone who is like a Timothy to you? In essence, who are we in this paradigm? We must become hardcore in our commitment to this model. Be someone else’s “apostle” (reliable man/woman) or “Timothy.” This takes time and is a serious spiritual investment.
Pleasing Our Commanding Officer (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer.”
Civilian affairs are the things of this world that do not concern our commanding officer – Jesus. When we become disciples of Jesus, God works on our character. We come into God’s kingdom typically lacking gainful employment, lacking social skill, lacking the disposition necessary for a healthy dating and marriage life, and with character weaknesses hindering us. All of us have God “work on us” through his Holy Spirit, our walk with him, and his plan of discipleship even if we are a “5 talent” individual.
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27)
Our life skills and understanding begin grow we see how God “fixes” us up. We are given a good job. God blesses us with a girlfriend/boyfriend or even a spouse. We are able to buy a good car or two and maybe a house…and then we start putting limits on what we’ll do for Jesus. We start drawing lines in the sand when it comes to our obedience and sacrifice and now all the sudden we have “limitations.” We say things like, “ministry is not for me” or “leadership is not for me” – well, how about Matthew 28:18-20? Did we forget we said “Jesus is LORD” and committed to give up everything? (Luke 14:33) It’s our commanding officers “command” to make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything he commanded. We are all doing the same exact job, obeying the same command, irregardless of our office or role in the church! Don’t “fit your discipleship into your life” instead, change your life radically to fit discipleship!
Receiving The Victor’s Crown (2 Timothy 2:5)
“Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
The rules are the scriptures and the examples therein of ministry. You can’t cut corners making disciples. Jesus Christ was a leader. He trained his apostles to be leaders. Therefore, If we are followers of Jesus Christ, we too will become leaders, and we too will train others to lead spiritually. It’s like Jedi who make more Jedi. (1 Corinthians 11:1) The problem is we can love things and use people instead of using things to love people. “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9) You have to compete according to these rules because if you get distracted from them you will NOT get the crown! There are a lot of administrative tasks in leadership that can distract us. It’s important not to spend all day looking at spreadsheets! Instead, we need to look at “eye-balls!” Consequently we are to disciple and mentor the administration team. Meet with them with bible’s out and discuss character and not just agenda. Work through people or you’ll not receive the victor’s crown!
Sharing In The Crops (2 Timothy 2:6)
“The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.“
When you don’t work through people there are no crops. When you invest in and work through people, it’s because they know you believe in them and are training them. There are crops that come when you work through people like this. We need to see the crops of people. Crops are enjoyable! There are many who have fallen away – and one reason is they did not share in the crops. For years they did not make “apostles” (reliable men) nor were they someone’s “apostle.” They sacrifice so much money in tithes and missions and in time and in tears and feel as if they have nothing to show for it! They did not make “apostles” nor were they ever truly someone’s “apostle.” So there is no sense of these “crops” to share in! Because they did not invest in people they eventually fall-away. So don’t waste your time or your life! You need to know you will eventually see the crops! Because when you do see them, you will have the heart to “do it all over again.“
Reflect On This (2 Timothy 2:7)
“Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”
This is what Paul wanted Timothy to do in terms of these first six verses. This what we have just done. Let us become “strong in the grace” and determined to continually train our hearts and minds to be so. In order for us to “entrust to reliable men” we must also strive to be reliable and responsive ourselves so we can qualify others to teach others! We must become laser-focused on “pleasing our commanding officer!” What limitations must we let go of so we can let God use us to our full potential? Let us be astutely aware of the rules, the examples and directives in the scriptures, so we can count on “receiving the victor’s crown.” In order for us to fully embrace this “payload” of teaching on ministry we need to carefully ask God in prayer for insight in applying it! If we pray and live like this we are assured we will be “sharing in the crops!” And that will be to God’s glory! (John 15:8)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.