A Staying Faith
From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus…
Mark Twain closes out Huckleberry Finn with his title character determined to "light out for the territory." Like the American spirit he represents, Huck is suspicious of the sedating and conforming effects of civilization. He has his eyes on the freedom of the frontier.
Though they speak quite differently, Huckleberry Finn and the apostle Paul have that much in common. Paul has a pioneering heart. He doesn't want to preach the Gospel where it has already been preached. He doesn't want to lay work on another minister's foundation. He has an apostolic calling to break new ground and no doubt in excitement at the signs and wonders of testimony which result in cultures and individuals being dramatically changed as God uses Paul to deliver His Word. Paul, I suspect, never quite loses the faraway look toward the spiritual horizon.
This spiritual entrepreneurship, entirely to the good, is what makes the opening of 1 Timothy so comprehensive. Paul is a go-er with a twitch and a compulsion to push the boundaries of the Kingdom of Light and encroach upon the temporary Kingdom of Darkness. Yet, he also has a heart for one guy at a time and addresses this entire letter to one often anxious pastor. That somebody with Paul's wanderlust tells Timothy to stay put seems jarring, maybe even unfair.
But let's look again at Paul's example in these opening verses. With all his zeal for new frontiers, Paul's heart never entirely lights from Timothy's concerns. Peripatetic as he moves from location to location, Paul's heart is a staying heart. He is likely to see more dramatic returns from his labors where the Gospel hasn't yet been preached, and yet he cares for incremental, sometimes halting, gains in Timothy's life passionately. He can tell Timothy to stand fast because, in spirit, Paul is the sort to stand fast with him.
What does this mean for those of us who aren't apostles? The dynamic is still similar. New relationships will still have more luster. They offer both more risk and more open affirmation. If we are to see our Ephesus changed, however, more perseverance is required than that which would scan for the quickest attentional payoff. Continuing to invest our words in Timothies we now know from experience won't be sanctified all at once requires a more steady faith. Pouring into people we now realize are temperamentally different from ourselves, and yet for whom Christ died, is to discipline ourselves as we disciple others.
Living out this subjugation, though, we can with credibility urge those we influence to stand fast. Nothing guides through difficulty like narrative, and by abiding steadily with those who present challenges rather than instant affirmation, we will accumulate 21st-century evidence that Christ is still in the business of making authentic community possible around Himself. We will stay in the relationships within which Christ has placed us because we want to overflow the healing balm there which He continually pours on us.
2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus…
Mark Twain closes out Huckleberry Finn with his title character determined to "light out for the territory." Like the American spirit he represents, Huck is suspicious of the sedating and conforming effects of civilization. He has his eyes on the freedom of the frontier.
Though they speak quite differently, Huckleberry Finn and the apostle Paul have that much in common. Paul has a pioneering heart. He doesn't want to preach the Gospel where it has already been preached. He doesn't want to lay work on another minister's foundation. He has an apostolic calling to break new ground and no doubt in excitement at the signs and wonders of testimony which result in cultures and individuals being dramatically changed as God uses Paul to deliver His Word. Paul, I suspect, never quite loses the faraway look toward the spiritual horizon.
This spiritual entrepreneurship, entirely to the good, is what makes the opening of 1 Timothy so comprehensive. Paul is a go-er with a twitch and a compulsion to push the boundaries of the Kingdom of Light and encroach upon the temporary Kingdom of Darkness. Yet, he also has a heart for one guy at a time and addresses this entire letter to one often anxious pastor. That somebody with Paul's wanderlust tells Timothy to stay put seems jarring, maybe even unfair.
But let's look again at Paul's example in these opening verses. With all his zeal for new frontiers, Paul's heart never entirely lights from Timothy's concerns. Peripatetic as he moves from location to location, Paul's heart is a staying heart. He is likely to see more dramatic returns from his labors where the Gospel hasn't yet been preached, and yet he cares for incremental, sometimes halting, gains in Timothy's life passionately. He can tell Timothy to stand fast because, in spirit, Paul is the sort to stand fast with him.
What does this mean for those of us who aren't apostles? The dynamic is still similar. New relationships will still have more luster. They offer both more risk and more open affirmation. If we are to see our Ephesus changed, however, more perseverance is required than that which would scan for the quickest attentional payoff. Continuing to invest our words in Timothies we now know from experience won't be sanctified all at once requires a more steady faith. Pouring into people we now realize are temperamentally different from ourselves, and yet for whom Christ died, is to discipline ourselves as we disciple others.
Living out this subjugation, though, we can with credibility urge those we influence to stand fast. Nothing guides through difficulty like narrative, and by abiding steadily with those who present challenges rather than instant affirmation, we will accumulate 21st-century evidence that Christ is still in the business of making authentic community possible around Himself. We will stay in the relationships within which Christ has placed us because we want to overflow the healing balm there which He continually pours on us.
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