DAY 2: 2 TIMOTHY 4:9-22
IMPERFECT BUT READY
Read 2 Timothy 4:9-12.
Paul’s loneliness is revealed here perhaps more than anywhere else in his letters. Practically everyone that was with him has left him – some on not such good terms (Demas, for example), others because Paul actually sent them away (Tychicus, for example, who probably delivered this letter). While Luke is still with him, there is a strong possibility he was also in prison, and out of contact with Paul (see Heb. 13:23). So he calls on Timothy to visit and to bring Mark along with him. You remember Mark, the one who previously deserted Paul on his first missionary journey – Acts 13:13; 15:36-39. He now proved useful to Paul. Time has a way of growing people.
At the end of his life, I find it noteworthy that Paul calls on young people to visit him. As I recall Paul’s first encounter with Timothy and Mark, they must have been in their late teens maybe early 20’s. They were raw and unproven. No doubt their potential was visible. In the months to follow, Mark was rejected by Paul, and in his place he chose Silas, and shortly thereafter added Timothy to his second missionary journey team (see Acts 15:40-16:3). But Timothy had his issues as well. He appears to have been timid (2 Tim. 1:7-8), perhaps afraid of those older than him (1 Tim. 4:12), maybe tempted by youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22). Indeed, there was still room for growth even at the time of the writing of 2 Timothy. Yet these were the men – the young ones from years past – who would carry on the work after Paul left.
Perhaps you are one of the younger ones among our church family. You are growing in Christ, but you feel like you have a long way to go. One day, God will entrust into your hands the work that is presently being carried out by those much older than you. You will not be perfect, but your day will come.
Perhaps you are one of the older, more mature members of our church family. Remember the years of your youth? How far God has taken you since then! While you’re still growing, you have the task of coming alongside the younger ones and raising them up to carry on the faith. There will come a time when the handoff will need to happen, but you will feel, “they aren’t ready yet”. I am reminded that people like Timothy and Mark were far from perfect when Paul passed the torch. It requires a certain amount of faith to entrust one’s lifetime of work into the hands of our younger people. But it must happen – not overnight, but gradually, patiently, faithfully.
To consider: If you are one of the younger ones, can you see your place as a leader of the future? If you are an older one, how were the reigns of leadership handed down to you? Where do you currently see the ministry gradually being released into the hands of younger people? What difficulties have you seen and experienced in the process? What fears might you have as the ministry gradually changes hands? What changes do you see coming down the road that may be uncomfortable, but perhaps necessary? Are you willing to let those changes happen?
