For the first time in nearly 31 years Beth and I are living alone in our house. Cori is married and living with her husband and daughter in Mobile. Jeremy is married and living with his wife and two children in Colorado Springs. Trevor is living in Bangkok, and Kelly is married and living with her husband and son in Pensacola. Since Trevor left in June, we have officially become “empty nesters,” a title we have embraced with mixed emotions. Certainly, we now enjoy more time to ourselves, but we also miss the daily interactions, intrusions and intimacies that are a part of family life.
Now we are also enjoying the fruit of our investments – our children and their families. We value every time they come over to hang out, bringing our grandchildren with them. Trevor calls regularly from Thailand just to talk. The love they extend to us fills our souls. Their lives elicit in us almost unspeakable joy.
This joy, in essence, is the fruit of what Paul is talking about in 2 Timothy 2:2: Investing our lives in other people and replicating in them who we are and what we have learned. The rewards – of parenting, of mentoring, of nurturing and relationship building – are guaranteed when we do this work. Our faithfulness to invest in “Timothy” (whether actual or spiritual sons or daughters) is genuine discipleship and is the very soul of Christian work. It also pays the greatest rewards of all human experience.
Paul’s charge to Timothy – “What you have heard from me… commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2) – is perhaps one of the most profound sentences in scripture. In a single, simple statement, Paul defined how the church works – one person modeling knowledge and character to another, with profound consequences.
When we are good parents, our children admire us. As they grow, their admiration deepens and then they begin to inquire of us. As we continue to invest our time and attention into their lives, they embrace what we “teach” them and begin to aspire to be like us – to do what we have done, and even more! Then, as we release them to their adult lives, they marry, have children, and develop personal passion to inspire others.
Changing the world isn’t as difficult as we sometimes think. Parents and Christian leaders have incredible power – for good or for evil – to influence the people in their circle of care. The difficulty is that many of us are not consistently living this simple process. Too many people are not willing to invest in Timothy, or they do so with the wrong motives. Broken homes, broken promises, and disillusioned lives are a sad testimony to this fact.
But we can make a difference! No matter what spiritual gift mix you have, and no matter what failures may be a part of your testimony, you can start influencing people – by the way you follow Jesus and the time you spend with them. People today, young people especially, long for meaningful connection with others. They want a mentor who will guide them into growth and purpose. People aren’t just looking for the next exciting revival meeting or church program. Certainly, everyone needs these encounters with God too. But, people are looking for a person – a person to be Paul – to mentor them, to guide them, to show them – by personal example – the way to live.
You can be that person to someone right now! My charge to you is this: Invest in Timothy! There is a Timothy in your life right now. You know who this person is, or who these people are. Don’t fail them! Don’t let them down. Spend time with them and guide them into God’s future.
Invest time and genuine attentiveness in their lives – they will ADMIRE you.
Invest in them until they come to you for advice – they will INQUIRE of you.
Invest in them as a model of the way to live – they will ASPIRE to be like you.
Invest in them until they discover their own values – they will then INSPIRE others.
Raising our children to adulthood has taken Beth and me 31 years. It was time well spent and I have no regrets. I’m glad we made our marriage and family life work, even when it was tough. The kids alone were worth it.
In the verses following 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul writes about a soldier’s difficulties, an athlete’s commitment to rules, a farmer’s work ethic, and his own struggles and sufferings. In our hedonistic, self-serving contemporary culture, duty and obligation are grossly under-valued commodities. But they are essential for making disciples of Jesus, and Paul lived his life this way as an example to others.
Living life as an example to others is worth the investment – yes, even the personal pain – for the reward we receive in the end. That reward is measured, not by what we receive, but by the enrichment that comes to others. Soldiers die for this stuff. Farmers work for this stuff. Parents suffer for this stuff. Jesus gave His life for this stuff. And ministers and missionaries are called to do the same thing. Our rewards are lived vicariously through the people we have influenced for good.
Here’s to the Timothy’s in your life! Go and help them be men and women of God!
Doug
