"As I Urged You ... Remain"

THE MIRAGE OF SAMENESS: 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (part 2)

It's easy to pass over, but Paul tells Timothy to stay in Ephesus, while he goes on to visit Macedonia. Can't we charge Paul with a simple case of: "Do as I say, but not as I do"?

The Miasma of "Fairness". As the father of two sons with six years' difference in age, I have long been very familiar with the question, "How come he gets to do that and I can't?!" -- usually (though not always) raised in complaint by the younger about the older. Yet not only in age and understanding but in temperament, talents, and needs, the two, now young men, are very different. To treat them identically would have been a dangerous mistake.

We live in a society burdened by -- sometimes, seemingly paralyzed by -- ideas of fairness that can approach the ridiculous in application. Paper cups are stamped, "Warning! Contents may be hot!" when they are designed and used exclusively for steaming beverages, as a bowing to fairness (I presume) toward the clumsy or not very bright. A parent objects to a costume party in a classroom, so an entire school district bans such celebrations for all students, all the time. In seminary, a bulletin board in one classroom had a round of pocket bread attached followed by the formula "divided equally = justice". Catchy and facile, but not usually true because people's needs are rarely identical.

A growth point in discipleship is recognizing that God's call in my life may be quite different from that of someone else. This is part of what Jesus is getting at with Peter at the end of John 21. As Oswald Chambers points out in My Utmost for His Highest, this can also mean that some activities and influences, while not sinful in themselves and okay for someone else, may be wrong or dangerous for me.

None of us is "special" in the Kingdom of God in the sense of being preferred over others or being exempt from the demands of discipleship; yet each of us has been made unique by the Creator. Timothy's path of service paralleled Paul's for a time, then they diverged. Paul's call was one thing; Timothy's, another. The same is true for each of us.


Lord, thank you for your call in my life. Forgive me when I look with envy on your calling in other lives, or receive with distrust what you say to me. Let me neither react with resentment, not lord it over others in pride, when the differences in calling become apparent. Help me to remember, as Jesus said, that I am "an unworthy servant" -- but even an unworthy servant is still blessed to be Your servant. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"As I Urged You"

STAYING THE COURSE: 1 Timothy 1:3-4

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith."

In journalism, I am told, one always leads the story with the most important piece, first. On the same principle, Paul wants to get his instruction to Timothy right on out on the table, first thing: Stay in Ephesus!

Tradition, perhaps informed by this passage, tells us that Timothy was the first settled overseer, or bishop, of the Church in that town. Ephesus was an important site in the Greco-Roman world: ruins of the library of Ephesus, one of the major research centers, remain to this day; it was also the center of the cult of Artemis (compare Diana). At the time, it was also a major port on the western coast of Roman Asia, and a small metropolis -- all belied by the relatively insignificant Turkish town (Efes) which is today's successor to the ancient city.

Research site, crossroads, cultic center, urban zone: Ephesus was a place of influence; indeed, a place whose reputation and influence went far and wide in the ancient world. It was a strategic center for Christian witness.

At the same time, it was probably not an easy place to serve. Paul was subjected to riot and abuse there, when the tradesmen found their idol-making dealerships threatened. If the tradition is true that Timothy ultimately suffered martyrdom at the hands of the pagan priests, he and the Christian community there were likely subjected to attempts at threat and intimidation long before it came to that. Little wonder, then, Timothy was subject to "frequent ailments", brought on either by rigorous fasting with prayer, or by stress!

Did Timothy want to leave Ephesus? Hard to say. Perhaps he desired an easier, or more fruitful, venue for service. Maybe he just missed his friend and mentor, Paul. Perhaps hard work brought discouragement, frustration, and depression -- what we today call "burnout". Or maybe Paul is just emphasizing the importance of the mission to Ephesus. Whatever the case, Timothy was God's man -- and the apostolic representative -- for that place at that time. He was called to "stay the course".

Where are the strategic places in the world today where Christian witness is hard, dangerous, or just frustrating -- yet where it is urgently needed? Where are the places in my community where the Gospel needs to be, because they are the crossroads points? (Starbucks, schools, soccer fields, gyms, and shopping malls all comes to mind.) Perhaps just as important, where are the places in my life and world where it is particularly important to maintain the witness, though it is tough and maybe seems like an exercise in futility, or self-immolation?

Lord, give me the staying power to be your witness in my life and world, wherever you put me. Remind me that each place is strategic in its own way, and help me to live worthily of the charge that you give me. Forgive my desire for flight or easier venues of service. Let me look to you, and be faithful to those who depend on me; remembering that sometimes, as with Paul and Timothy, those on whom I think I depend are also truly counting on my service as well. In the Name of Christ. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"To Timothy"

PROTEGE OF AN APOSTLE: 1 Timothy 1:2 (part 2)

Just who was Timothy?

His name (Greek Timotheos) means either "one who honors God" or (less likely, I think) "honored by God". It turns out that most of what we know about him comes from the New Testament, in which he is shown to be a protege of the apostle Paul. The son of a Greek (Gentile) father and observant Jewish mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois -- see 2 Tm 1:5), he traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys. Paul had met him at Lystra, and arranged for his circumcision as a Jew, for the sake of the mission to the Jews (Ac 16:1-3). The author of Hebrews tells us that a Timothy (presumably the same person) was imprisoned but then released, a sign of his suffering for the sake of Christ. He also had strong ascetic traits, for instance frequent fasting; hence Paul's encouragement to him to make medicinal use of wine (1 Tm 5:23).

Other early Christian sources tell us a little more. Eusebius (History of the Church 3.4) tells us that Timothy became the first bishop of Ephesus, and was evidently Paul's troubleshooter and undershepherd there, as Titus was on the island of Crete. That's suggestive, since tradition also tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary Theotokos and John the Apostle both spent their last days at Ephesus, which may mean that Timothy was their pastor. If this is true, it's a second tie between the Theotokos and Paul, the other being Luke the Evangelist and (traditionally) first iconographer, whose first work was of the Virgin.

He is believed to have been martyred at Ephesus during the reign of the Roman emperor Nerva by enraged pagans, for honoring God (timo-theos!) by opposing idols.

Timothy learned this reverence of God on his grandmother's knee and at his mother's breast, and under the guidance and tutelage of his mentor Paul. A generation after the man from Tarsus laid down his life for the Gospel of Christ, Timothy followed, but not before serving long and well as the trusted leader of one of the most important sees of the Christian Church.

Lord, thank you for the example of Timothy, and for his faith. Enable us to learn well and to teach well, so that those who are guided by us and who follow us will also minister well and faithfully to your people, blessing Your own heart. Let me, also, be truly found to be "one who honors God". Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)