As humans, we are attracted to speed. Fast cars, fast food, fast Internet, and the fastest possible route to success. If there is something that we want, we’ll try to find a way to get it quickly.
But is the quickest way always the best way? When we learn to slow down and be patient, sometimes what we’ll find at the end is something much greater. In Asia Minor, away from all the big cities and major centers, there was a small, quiet town called Lystra.
In this town lived a boy named Timothy. Timothy was different from most of the others in this town, as he was the son of immigrant parents. And not just any immigrant parents, but his father was Greek, and his mother was Jewish.
As the son of a mixed couple in a small community, Timothy was always a bit of a social outcast. As an uncircumcised boy he was seen as too Greek to be accepted into the Jewish community, while for the Greeks he was too Jewish to be accepted into their community. Over time Timothy became fearful and timid.
When Timothy was still young he witnessed something that would make a profound impact on his life. A Jewish rabbi named Paul came to their town, proclaiming freedom from the power of sin to everyone who had faith in Jesus, regardless of their background. However there was something different about this rabbi from all the others.
He not only demonstrated the power of his message through the healing of a crippled man, but he also demonstrated an exceptional conviction in his message when he received a public stoning, to the point where everyone thought he was dead! For Timothy, that was the turning point in his life. From that point on he decided that he wanted follow the example of Paul.
He dedicated his life to faithfully serve Jesus, and he immersed himself in studying Scripture. Even though he was still young, he quickly distinguished himself in the Christian communities throughout Lystra and beyond as someone with exceptional character, and a remarkable understanding of Scripture for his age. About a year later when Paul returned to Lystra he recognized that Timothy was someone with great potential.
He knew that with the right training and discipleship, Timothy could have a tremendous impact in giving leadership and oversight to the churches he was planting. He invited Timothy to join him on his missionary journeys, where he would train and mentor him to his full potential as a follower of Jesus. From that point on Timothy became a student of Paul’s, and one of his closest and most trustworthy companions.
When a church needed strengthening and encouragement in the face of persecution, Paul sent them Timothy. When a church needed an example of Godly character to imitate, he sent them Timothy. When Paul wrote a letter to bring correction and instruction to a church, he included Timothy’s name right next to his.
Through all the good times, and through the times of difficulty and hardship, Timothy and Paul were inseparable. After about nine years together, they were to face one of their biggest challenges yet. Paul was falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple in Jerusalem and would spend four years in prison.
For two years he was imprisoned in Caesarea, and then for two more he was in prison in Rome, awaiting his trial before Caesar Nero. But despite this unexpected circumstance, Timothy remained with Paul and continued to grow and mature in his faith. After all these years in prison, Paul couldn’t help but worry about how the churches he had planted were faring.
It is believed that he was released from this imprisonment, and he along with Timothy went back to revisit these churches to teach and bring encouragement. They found that many of the churches continued to grow and flourish during this time. However when they came to Ephesus, they found a church that was in need of more help than they thought.
Much of the growth in the Ephesian church was led by Christians who were still immature in their faith. They sought a quick path to leadership, without taking the time to first ground themselves in the Truth of Scripture in the way that both Paul and Timothy had. Because of this, some of them were getting caught up into all kinds of petty distractions and false teachings.
These ideas were keeping many of them from living in full obedience to God, and in fact were leading some away from God’s truth altogether. Rather than extend his stay in Ephesus and address these issues himself, Paul had a different idea. For more than a decade, he had been mentoring Timothy for this very task.
It was now up to him to take hold of his calling and bring maturity, order, and leadership to this church. So, leaving a nervous Timothy behind in Ephesus, Paul took a trip to visit the churches in Macedonia. Knowing that this was the first time that Timothy had been entrusted with such a task, he wrote the letter we know as 1 Timothy, reminding him of what he needed to do, and encouraging him in his calling.
Over the next year or two, Paul and Timothy continued to visit and strengthen these churches throughout Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia. Meanwhile, hostilities towards Christians was increasing in many parts of the Roman Empire. Back in Rome, Caesar Nero began seeking out and killing Christians, which caused fear among Christians throughout the empire.
In spite of the increased persecution, Paul’s boldness to proclaim the Gospel message never changed. He became a focal point of much of the hostility and persecution, and ended up being imprisoned again in Rome. Seeing this, many of his close companions and coworkers deserted him in his most difficult hour.
Paul knew that this time it would not end with his release, but would end with his execution. However Paul realized that as his life and ministry was about to end, Timothy’s ministry was just getting started. He was finally ready to take on the ministry to which he was called!
In his last letter, known to us as 2 Timothy, Paul champions Timothy to carry on their ministry through all circumstances, and calls his faithful child to join him by his side one last time. The Ephesian Church and Timothy stand in stark contrast to one another. The Ephesian Christians tried to take the quickest path to leadership, but this led to all kinds of poor teaching, and even ideas that led some of them away from the Truth of Jesus.
However Timothy took the better way. He faithfully studied Scripture, and patiently trained under Paul for many years before he took on his calling. It is the same with us today.
When we are faithful in study, and patient with our calling, we can also model the Timothy effect.
