Yesterday morning found me walking out behind the school where I work in the crisp fall air. It has been a busy week since my previous post and this particular morning found me reflecting on the past few days and praying for what to write about.
In my reflections, I turned over in my head the surprising requests from two young ladies in my church to meet with me to be mentored. While other people in my life’s circle have not been surprised by this, I admit that I have been. One comment from such a friend had been circling in my head: “the mentoring thing is really a throwback to the past, you know Paul and Timothy!”
I sat back and initially looked at that statement and wondered, am I Paul or Timothy?
As I walked that morning, I began to pray about that statement and where I found myself feeling stuck. Once upon a time I might have relished the idea of being a teacher like Paul, but life has humbled me down to the point where I feel more like Timothy.
The Spirit led me back to part of the scripture that was in this past Sunday’s sermon at my church. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul writes about how though he is free, he uses his freedom to become all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some to Christ:
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Paul was a teacher to Timothy, who was a student/disciple under Paul, one whom Paul had led to Jesus (1 Timothy 1:2 shows Paul addressing Timothy as his “true son in the faith”). But the letters of 1 and 2 Timothy find Timothy as a leader in the church of Ephesus. Timothy was both a student and a teacher. And that struck me as another way that one’s freedom can be used to win people to Christ.
It’s important to be teachable while knowing sometimes you’re called to be the teacher.
In the past two years, I have spent a lot of time studying, becoming a student all over again. I do not plan to stop that study, but I now have an invitation to enter into a new season where I will be putting what I learned into action.
I wonder if Timothy had doubts when he shifted into leadership of the church at Ephesus. I think he must have, given that Paul wrote this to encourage him:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12
I will honestly confess that I have doubts. Sometimes I forget that I’m not 20 years old anymore. Where does the line between “young adult” and just “adult” get drawn? No one has ever explained that to me! (Maybe they don’t know anymore than I do?)
Yet in His good, gentle way, the Spirit has also pulled up two scriptures to remind me that I’m on the right path:
- Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”
- Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
These two references have followed me from square one of discovering that God has called me to ministry. Since 2018, these passages have reminded me that when I face uncomfortable circumstances, God is stretching my tent curtains wide, preparing me for more responsibility, more territory, more assignments. He reminds me that He is doing the new thing; He is the One making the water flow from desert places that will bring new life. All I have to do is say yes and be faithful in this moment, and the next moment, and the next. He will provide the wisdom I need; I just have to ask for it (James 1:5).
In every step forward from here, I have decided that I want to become Timothy. I want to lead and teach, while never forgetting to learn and be teachable. In this aspect of Everyday Ministry, I can be the student and the teacher, my own version of “all things to all people” that Paul wrote about.
Being a Timothy is not limited by age. While historically Timothy was a young leader, the posture of your heart regardless of age can allow you to become a Timothy too. Lead others well when you are put in such a position. Be humble and teachable when you need to be taught something. Know that in being both things, you are showing Christ to the ones in front of you.
Blessings,
~Lynne
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