Finding Your Timothy

The word “disciple" was derived from the Greek word “mathetes,” which means a pupil (of a teacher) or an apprentice (to a master craftsman), from the  Latin word discipulus meaning a learner.  A true disciple of Christ is somebody who continuously learns from his Master. You cannot be a disciple if you do not know much about your Master. You cannot be a disciple if you do not continuously learn from your Teacher.  Of course, Jesus is more than just our teacher.  He is our Saviour.  He is our Master.  He is our Lord.

My wife and I became Christians in the year 2000, we were attending Word for the World in Makati City, Philippines.  It was a big church, about 4,000 members.  We were just Sunday-only Christians.  We just go there, attend the service, and then go home Sunday after Sunday.  Then there was a guy there named Timothy who  approached me one Sunday and asked me to help in ushering.  Little did I know that God was using him to call and equip me onto something.  

I was at the height of my career then… a young corporate executive with very good credentials. Tim was different. Tim was just an ordinary guy. He did not have a college degree nor a stable job. He was in-between jobs and the church was actually helping him a little bit because he was always there… he’s the head of Ushering, the head of Men in Ministry.  Tim was just an ordinary guy.  

He was an ordinary guy with an extraordinary mission from His extraordinary God. 

Tim has discipled me for about six months.  He would call me everytime in my office, see how I was doing. He would follow me up and made sure I would attend the Saturday morning Men in Ministry meeting and the Tuesday night teacher’s training and the Thursday night mid-week service and the early Sunday morning fellowship of workers.  He was not threatened by where I work or what my position in the company was… he was not afraid who will answer the phone from the other line… all he wanted to do was to follow the Lord and disciple someone.

I remember the first thing he told me when I joined Ushering Ministry, he said, maybe in your office, people serve you but here in this church… we are the one’s serving.  We don’t look at your accomplishments.  True enough, when I got to meet some of the men in the ministry, we had a doctor, a judge, a police officer, a pastor, businessman, speech-writer of the Philippine President… they were all serving the Lord.

God gave me six months with Tim because right after the church anniversary, he passed away.  I didn’t know he was sick.  He once told me that before he became a Christian, he abused himself too much… with alcohol, he used to smoke a few packs a day and he did drugs as well.  Then, he gave up all of those things when he became a Christian but of course, his body has already suffered much of the consequences. 

Six months was all he needed to create that much needed change in me.  My wife and I got baptized during those times. He encouraged me to play the guitar again. Eventually, I became the Ministry Head of Ushering and you know, just members of the Ushering Ministry, we were probably about 40.  

I would say he was an effective discipler.  His name was Timothy but actually he was my PAUL.

Today, we are going to meet another Timothy.  Timothy was probably one of the perfect examples of a true disciple and Paul was probably one of the perfect examples of a true discipler. We can see from the New Testament based on Paul’s epistles how effective their relationship was in terms of advancing the Gospel.

Let us read Acts 16:1-5

1Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.

2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

The Bible recorded several missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul.  Lystra was one of the towns he and Barnabas visited during his first missionary journey.  Lystra still exists today, in Turkey. If you will read Acts 14, you will learn that Paul preached the gospel in Lystra after he was persecuted at Iconium. Paul healed a man lame from birth which impressed the crowd so much that they called him Hermes, because he was the "chief speaker" and Barnabas for Zeus – of course they had strong Greek influence.  The crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them, but Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes in dismay and shouted that they were merely men. They used this opportunity to tell the people about God.   Influenced by the Jewish leaders, they stoned Paul and left him for dead. 

As the disciples gathered around him, Paul stood on his feet and went back into the town. The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derbe; but on the return part of their journey, they stopped once more at Lystra, encouraging the disciples there to steadfastness.

On chapter 16, we learned that Paul visited this town again.  You can see how persuasive Paul was.  Even if his life was threatened, he kept on coming back to this town.  For this next visit, he met someone.  He was a young man named Timothy who will soon become one of the pillars of the church.   We can see from the numerous epistles of Paul in the New Testament that Timothy played an important role in the  early church and Paul has mentored him, he has coached him and discipled him like a teacher to a student.  Timothy delivered his epistles to the churches.  Who was Timothy?  Earlier we were talking about credentials.  What was his background? What was his curriculum vitae?

 I came across an interesting Hebrew word -  “mamzer” which is a Hebrew word meaning “outcast”

Timothy's name means “honouring God”.  He was a native of Lystra. His mother Eunice was a Jew but his father was Greek.

So he was half-Jew, half-Greek – in the Jewish culture of those days, as a child of mix marriage,  Timothy was a mamzer.  If you read 2 Timothy 1:5 “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were faithful believers.

Paul also said in 2 Tim 3:15 “that as a young child, he has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

He was most likely converted during Paul’s First Missionary Journey

It’s interesting because Timothy may have heard a lot about Paul because of his missionary journeys.  In fact, he may have personally witnessed when Paul was stoned during his previous visit to Lystra and yet… However this did not make him afraid or be discouraged.  Timothy still decided to follow Christ and be one of Paul’s most effective disciples. 

Timothy was a mamzer.  Why would Paul choose a mamzer?   You know, Paul was an educated Pharisee before he met Christ.  Why not get somebody like him, somebody with a university degree or maybe his classmate under professor Gamaliel?   

Being a mamzer is not a good thing in those times. It’s not something to be proud of.  Remember the meaning of the word is “OUTCAST”  But how?

As a mamzer in the Jewish culture:

He was not circumcised on the 8^th day.  He was not allowed to go to the synagogue.  He was not permitted to read aloud from the Torah

In short, Timothy was an outcast in the Jewish society.

As a child, no one would play with a mamzer.  No one would want to have any association with a mamzer.  He was like an illegimate child… it doesn’t matter whether his parents are married…the issue was:  his mother married a Greek and the Jews despised that.  They looked at his mother like she’s some kind of a prostitute and they look at him like he’s some kind of a bastard, like someone born out of wedlock. 

In different times and different cultures, racial slurs and discriminating names have been used to segregate the society.  I remember in Philippine history, we learned that the Spaniards and the mestizos called the native Filipinos at the time as INDIOS.  When they called you INDIO at that time during the Spanish occupation, that’s not something to be proud of… you would rather be called a MESTIZO.  In the US, when racism was rampart especially against the African American, they used the N word to call them.  This world, throughout history, has created social classes that favour one class over another.

Same is true during Timothy’s days.  He was a mamzer.  Outcast.  Despised.  Laughing stock of the town.

The Bible tells us that Timothy is different.  His mother and grandmother were faithful believers and they have taught the young Timothy of everything they know from the Old Testament.  And in the opening verses of Chapter 16, it says there in verse 1 that Timothy was a DISCIPLE and in verse 2, the believers in Lystra spoke well of him.  Within the body of Christ, he has built a very good reputation… and his credibility has reached Paul.  Paul was probably reminded through Christ’s disciples of one of His teachings… the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.

We can learn from the experience of Paul in this story.  Despite the threats in his life, despite the hostile crown in Lystra, he still visited the place.  Maybe God spoke to him that God needs somebody from this town to play an important role in Church History.  I supposed Paul has been very sensitive to God’s calling and even if it would endanger his life, he was willing to obey God.

How much danger are we willing to face just to advance the gospel of Christ?  How much risk are we willing to take in order to minister to someone and eventually encourage that person to serve the Lord?

God wants us to FIND our Timothy.  God wants us to look for people with potential in the ministry.  But God wants us to take an active role in developing these people.

 FINDING OUR “TIMOTHY” MEANS…

1.                  Looking at people the way God sees them (v1)

Maybe Timothy was a mamzer but he knows that he is definitely more than being an outcast from the sight of the Lord.  If he is familiar with the Old Testament, he would certainly have known that we are fearfully and wonderfully made... that we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator… he may have heard the teachings of Jesus Christ saying that even the hairs of our head are numbered… and we are worth more than the sparrows or the lilies of the field.

Maybe Timothy learned about the teachings of Paul when he said:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.    There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;  for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:26-28 NKJV

Maybe Timothy was thinking… wait a minute… my mother is a Jew, my father is Greek.  I’m a mamzer.  I’m an outcast.  But that’s not how God sees me.  I am one with the others in Christ Jesus!

Church, God wants us to look at people the way He sees them… with no prejudgement nor  stereotyping.  The Bible tells us that “man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.”  Paul was able to see through the social standing of Timothy. We should do the same.  We should look at those people who may have been called by God to rise up in the ministry and we should be there to help them.

Sometimes even in the ministry we become so over-protective.  It’s as if no one else is good enough.  It’s as if no one else is qualified enough to take our place when we leave.  Maybe Timothy is not as educated or learned like Paul but God has a plan for him.  Remember, Jesus selected twelve unlikely disciples who will probably won’t make it to our short list if we base it on our own standards. 

2.                  Following the Great Commission by “making disciples.”

Timothy was a good disciple of Christ.  The Bible says in verse 2, the believers of Lystra was very fond of him.  When Paul took him, he even became a more effective disciple of Christ.  He visited lots of places and was able to spread the Gospel in lots of places.

Jesus told His disciples before He ascended to heaven:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

God is not instructing us to just share the Gospel and that’s it.  He is not instructing us just to make believers.  He said “GO” and make disciples! We should find people whom we can train to be a disciple of Christ.  This means we should invest time and effort on these people.  And He said “GO”  .. he did not say wait until the person approaches you.

Notice that Paul did not wait for Timothy to go to the town where he was.  He came back to Lystra, even if it endangers him… he went there against all odds and by doing so, he found Timothy.

3.         Getting rid of everything that can hinder us from effectively sharing the Gospel

The Bible says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

Hebrews 12:1 NIV

In verse 3, it says there that Paul had Timothy circumcised.  If you have been studying through the book of Acts, this may sound a bit strange to you. It might even seem to contradict the very decrees of the Jerusalem council that they  were taking with them to the churches (v.4)! Those decrees stated that circumcision was not necessary for salvation - Gentiles did not need to become Jews first in order to become Christians.

But when the integrity of the gospel was at stake, Paul steadfastly refused to compromise on circumcision. That is what we find in Galatians 2:1-3, where Paul himself writes, (READ THE BIBLE)

So why then did Paul have Timothy circumcised? Paul was not having a Gentile circumcised for entrance into the faith; he was having a Jew circumcised for entry into the synagogues. It was not for him to earn grace, but to enable him to preach the gospel of God's grace to the Jews.  He was single-minded about the gospel of grace and did whatever he could to remove anything that might stand as an obstacle to it.  

We should get rid of everything that can hinder us from effectively sharing the Gospel.   It could be our busy schedule.  Our hobbies.  Our overcommitment.  Our work.  

As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

CONCLUSION:

I like how this section of Chapter 16 ended.  Now we know the answer and the solution to the empty chairs we have here in Richmond.

If we can find and develop the right “timothies” the church will be strengthened and grow in numbers

Timothy from being a mamzer lived out true to the meaning of his name… “honouring God!”

Come to think of it, what makes us different from Timothy who was a mamzer?  Are we not all OUTCASTS before we met Christ?  Are we not all alienated from the Lord because of our SIN and our SINFUL NATURE?  The Lord himself took the initiative.   Bible says “for the wages of sin is death”  that’s what we were…spiritually dead! But Christ came to us… gave us hope and a future.  From being an outcast we become part of His family.

GOD expects to use us in order to offer that same chance to others.

Isn't it a great achievement for Christ if we can develop somebody to become an active worker in the church?  What do you think my friend TIM will think if he sees me now.  Maybe he will  be very happy and proud that his disciple is now serving the Lord.

Ask yourself, who is your Timothy?  Will you find your own Timothy? 

PRAYER

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life.  Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

(The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCF Richmond on November 30, 2014)

(I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors.  If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website for more information at www.wordchristianfellowship.com)