“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”
~ 1 Timothy 1:15
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you think of yourselves as being Timothys? Your grandpaa thinks that Timothy was probably a teenager when a Christ-following dude from the town of Tarsus decided to have Timothy travel with him on the missionary journey that he was on – which would give this guy the chance to mentor Timothy as he would have mentored his own kid – if had had a kid. The bloke’s name had been Saul. Saul years earlier had God – after God had hit him with a flash of super bright light, change his name to Paul. Your grandpaa thinks that Timothy made a decision of faith during the first visit that Paul made to the town of Lystra to accept as being true what took place when an incarnate man died ignominiously after being hung on and nailed to two crossed wood beams as a ransom payment for his sins. Timothy’s ma – Eunice, and his grandma – Lois, also probably made decisions of faith at this time. After Paul and Silas – Silas being Paul’s traveling companion on this second missionary trip that he was making, showed back up in the town of Lystra, a timid, fearful Timothy found himself on a dream odyssey that would have him become one of the key early Christ-follower leaders. Paul’s return to the town of Lystra probably took place about 50 A.D. When Paul decided that God – as God the Spirit, was explicitly directing him to check in with the Christ-follower leaders who were in the city of Jerusalem – where Paul would be ultimately incarcerated, Paul asked Timothy to ‘hold down the fort’ in the city of Ephesus. Before started out on the missionary leg back to city of Jerusalem, Paul had been the ‘go to’ leader of the Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals in the city of Ephesus. Paul began his first letter – which was around 65 A.D., that he couriered to Timothy – in 1 Timothy 1, affirming Timothy by telling Timothy that Timothy was his true son. When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, Paul knew the kinds of guys who were living in the city of Ephesus – guys who wanted to bubble up as being the ‘go to’ Christ-follower leaders in the city of Ephesus, who Timothy had to deal with and confront probably daily. Paul knew that there were guys in the city of Ephesus who were teaching false doctrines, who were teaching Jewish myths, who wanted to be teachers of the Old Testament law but who had never studied the Old Testament law, who were making up endless stories that were far-fetched or fictitious that were based on obscure genealogical points, who were vain and conceited, who were argumentative, who did not have a clue what they were talking about, who were teaching ascetic practices and/or who were using their positions as religious leaders for a personal financial gain. Your grandpaa does not think that very much has changed over the last nearly 2000 years as guys – and gals, are still jockeying for positions of leadership in Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals where once they have that spotlight, they think that they can use the pulpit to intimidate guys, gals and kids to join his or her flock of parishioners, bully guys, gals and kids to believe what they believe and coerce guys, gals and kids to hand over their last dollar.
Okay – maybe your grandpaa has overstated today’s health of the leadership in Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals in the United States. Paul was very outspoken about wannabe Christ-follower leaders who hanging out in the city of Ephesus. Having lived in the city of Ephesus for about three years and where he possibly, personally taught some of these guys at the Tyrannus Bible School, Paul probably had a good idea that Timothy – because of how God – as God the Father, had hardwired Timothy, was in a rather untenable situation. In this first letter that Paul sent to Timothy, Paul tries to help Timothy through being vulnerable. Paul reminds Timothy early on in this letter how bad of a dude that he had once been as a blasphemer, persecutor and violent guy and how evil of a guy that he still was. Paul mentions in what is now verse 15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” Paul reminds Timothy that his teaching focus should not be on the merits of the Old Testament law – which he reminds Timothy was no longer a viable tool for a Christ-follower guy or gal to measure his or her personal relationship with God – as God the Father. Paul saw the Old Testament law as a demarcation line that when crossed identified who were the lawbreakers, rebels, sinful, ungodly, irreligious, ma and/or dad killers, murderers, adulterers, perverts, slave traders, liars, perjurers along with every guy or gal who did anything that was contrary to or that opposed the sound doctrinal teachings that guys and gals who were Christ-followers adhered to that had been espoused by Paul and by his mentored disciple – Timothy.
How far to you think a faithful Christ-follower leader should go to when he is faced with a guy – or gal, who is teaching heretical or false ideas, who is living a compromised lifestyle and/or who has shipwrecked his or her life by his or her vile words or actions? When Paul was told that two guys – Hymenaeus and Alexander, were back living corrupt lives after having rejected the Good News truths, Paul’s solution for Timothy was to kick the two guys out of the city of Ephesus’ Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals – in intentional remedial way, by handing them back over to Satan with whom they would end up with an internal emptiness caused by their blaspheming lifestyle decisions. To pull a Timothy is to be a faithful Christ-follower in whatever spot that a guy, gal or kid finds himself or herself. To pull a Timothy is to never let God’s free faith gift be compromised by sinning. To pull a Timothy is to be surrounded by a network of Christ-follower guys and gals. To pull a Timothy is to always go to God for His help.
1 Timothy 1 (839)