“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.”
~ 2 Timothy 2:24
Hi James and Ellen,
What kind of guy, gal or kid is a Christ-follower to be like? Paul – in 2 Timothy 2, tells Timothy that a Christ-follower is to be a teacher who teaches others to teach others, a soldier who serves his commander by fighting for him, an athlete who wins by vigorous training and observing the rules, a farmer who works hard in his fields to produce a bountiful harvest, a laborer who is never ashamed of his workmanship, an instrument who has been made for a noble purpose to do good work and a servant who unreservedly serves his or her master. How many years of studying in a college and/or university do you think that it takes for a guy or gal to become a qualified teacher? What kind of intensive training do you think that a guy needs to have to become a battle ready soldier? How many hours, days, weeks, months, years do you think that a guy or gal needs to train in order to win an athletic event? How do you think that a guy knows when he is to plant a specific crop, when to harvest the crop and how to store the crop? How do you think that an everyday laborer kind of guy can become a blue collar type of guy? What do you think is involved in the making of a beautiful instrument? Why do you think that a guy or gal would want to unconditionally serve another guy or gal? Your grandpaa thinks that Paul is telling Timothy in this letter that he couriered to Timothy – after he sent Timothy to the city of Ephesus to come alongside the leaders in Christ-follower fellowships that were in the city of Ephesus, that each Christ-follower guy, gal and kid is to be always preparing to become and to be a teacher, soldier, athlete, farmer, laborer, instrument and servant. While a Christ-follower guy is teaching others, fighting battles, running races, harvesting crops, building buildings, being a goblet and serving kings, he or she must be always living with a mindset of needing to learn more and pursuing training to do better in what he or she is doing. A Christ-follower guy or gal cannot decide that he or she is going to be just one or two or three or . . . of the seven examples that Paul tells Timothy what a Christ-follower guy or gal is to be; a Christ-follower guy or gal is to be all seven of the things that Paul tells Timothy that a Christ-follower guy or gal is to be. When your grandpaa has taught from this chapter, he has asked for a guy or gal who is or has been a teacher to come up front so that he can interview the guy or gal – asking the guy or gal how many years of formal studies that he or she had to go through and what kinds of classes that he or she had to take to become a teacher and why it is not possible for a guy or gal to be a good teacher without first studying at a college or university. Your grandpaa would then ask a guy to come up front who had been a soldier. Your grandpaa would ask this guy what he had to do to become a battle ready soldier and why a guy who had not had any military training would not be a good soldier to fight alongside of in a battle. Your grandpaa would then ask a guy to come up front who is an athlete – like a guy who plays soccer. Your grandpaa would ask this guy what he has done and is doing that has made him a good soccer player and why if he did not practice that he would probably not be a good soccer player. Your grandpaa would then ask a guy who farms to come up front. Your grandpaa would ask this guy who taught him to be farmer and why a guy who had always lived in a city probably would not do very well farming if he has never ever lived and worked on a farm. Your grandpaa would then ask a guy who works construction to come up front. Your grandpaa would ask this guy what he would have to do and how many years that it would take for him to be a master builder. Your grandpaa would then ask a guy or gal who has made something out of clay to come up front. Your grandpaa would ask this guy or gal how many times that he or she has had to start over again before he or she was satisfied with what he or she was making. Your grandpaa would then ask a gal who had been a maid to come up front. Your grandpaa would ask this gal what it was like being a maid – cleaning up someone else’s mess.
Your grandpaa really likes to teach from this chapter as this chapter visualizes to guys, gals and kids that to be a teacher who teaches others, a soldier who will not run from a battle, an athlete who wins prizes, a farmer who raises large crops, a laborer who helps to build sturdy homes, a pure sounding instrument and a servant who willing serves his or her master takes a lot of time, training, experiences, etc. to become while at the same time – at times, a guy – or a gal, with very little or without any kind of Bible education or hands-on training or experiences, will arbitrarily take on being the Christ-follower leader of a fellowship of guys and gals and assuming all the power, prestige and position that he or she perceives comes with being a leader. As educationally and experientially prepared that guys and gals become to do what they do for a vocation, a guy or gal who is a Christ-follower fellowship leader at times has not begun to be versed or seasoned enough to pass on Biblical truths to guys, gals and kids.
Your grandpaa has been using verse 24 for years as his Christ-follower life job description, “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” If you ever decide to use this verse as your Christ-follower life job description, always be prepared to be wronged.
2 Timothy 2 (782)