5 Relatable Lessons from Paul and Timothy’s Relationship
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There are a few relationships in the Bible that I would have loved to have been able to witness. The friendship and mentorship of Paul and Timothy is one of them.
Mentor relationships have provided me with some of the most significant spiritual growth in my life. I truly believe in being guided by someone further in the faith, as well as investing in others who are newer in their journeys. It is the blessing that keeps on giving to the Christian community.
Here are five lessons from Paul and Timothy’s relationship in the Bible.
1. Friendship Knows No Age Gap
One particular attribute of Paul and Timothy’s friendship that I love is that their relationship does not rely on being in the same generation. They look past the differences and focus on the common thread that is faith in Jesus. Have you ever deemed someone as “out of your circle” due to their age? It is easy to misjudge someone as too outdated or too immature.
Instead of ousting others, what if we were humble enough to admit that we can learn and benefit from relationships with one another? Paul and Timothy modeled this in pushing past the barrier of age in their friendship. In fact, Paul encouraged Timothy, even in his young age, to be an example for other believers. He spoke life into his brother in Christ.
Paul shares with Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
2. Ministries Are Stronger with Diversity in Age
I am all for some good contextualized ministries. It is such a gift to be able to be in community with others who relate to you in your season of life and can empathize with the current challenges you are facing. However, if we only stay with those who are just like us, we never have an opportunity to grow in ministry and church settings.
When we are diverse in our ages, we glean wisdom from those who are older, and gather childlike faith from those who are younger. Paul and Timothy were stronger in their ministry because they had each other. I imagine that Timothy kept Paul up to date and Paul helped guide young Timothy.
I have had the joy of serving in this kind of ministry partnership. I was in conference ministry with a woman 30 years older than me who taught me the gift of true friendship, support, and unity. We prayed together, laughed together, sought the Scriptures with one another, and witnessed the gospel of Jesus to others. I have treasured this friendship to this day. Our various ages and life experiences made us more relatable and more effective in sharing the gospel and encouraging our audiences of young women and moms.
“We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:2).
3. Mentorship Is a Calling and Blessing from God
Scripture teaches us that God calls us to mentor others. Specifically, Titus 2:1-8 gives instructions on older men and women living in ways that invest and model for the younger men and women. Both have roles and standards of living according to the Bible.
Mentorship is more than just a hobby or a friendship, it is a true calling. To mentor someone younger in the faith is to be willing to be vulnerable about your own life and struggles, while also living empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a worthy model. We can only do this by the Spirit, our flesh will fail every time.
“Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:15-17).
4. Regardless of Our Earthly Situations, We All Have Spiritual Family
A precious lesson for us is that regardless of our biological, adopted or foster situations on this earth, we who are in Christ have a spiritual family. We have been given the gift of being called brothers and sisters in Jesus. As we cultivate relationships with other believers of various backgrounds and ages, we are all united by Jesus. We not only have friendship, we have family. This means that we will likely have rocky moments and challenges like any family, but our foundation on Christ is unshaken.
No mentorship relationship is perfect; I know that I have had my share of difficulties within these contexts and have by far not been the perfect mentee or mentor. However, family is family. We are eternally connected. There is a great comfort and encouragement in knowing that the Lord has provided such a sweet gift to adopt us into His family.
“Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’" (Matthew 12:49-50).
5. God Provides for Our Needs through Relationships
We were designed for community. We need relationships. Genesis 2:18 says, “The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
The Lord provides for our needs through mentorship relationships. When we are active in our pursuit of knowing others and being known, we have opportunities to live by the fruit of the Spirit, to exercise our spiritual gifts, and to grow individually and together.
Paul and Timothy had their need of a relationship met in one another. They realized that God had blessed them with a special friendship and bond like family. They were spiritual father and spiritual son. They were brothers in Christ.
The Bible does not say that Timothy had a father who was a man of God, but it does say that his mother and grandmother had sincere faith (2 Timothy 1:5-7). Likewise, we do not know if Paul had any biological children, or even if he was married. Within their relationship, Paul became a spiritual father to Timothy and Timothy became a spiritual son to Paul. This was a special blessing entrusted to them. It reminds us that all of our needs are met in Christ Jesus, even the places we are lacking on this earth.
The Lord hears our cries and knows our desires. He is able to bless us with various people. Ultimately, we remember that He is the perfecto Mentor and Mentee. He was the authority and teacher, but He was humble and submitted to the Father’s will. Even as we navigate these beautiful relationships in our lives, we can ponder how Jesus did it perfectly. And no matter what role we are in, we can look to Him alone for our identity and satisfaction, thanking Him for those He sends along the way.
We can learn from Paul and Timothy that friendship is beyond age, ministry is stronger with diversity, mentorship is a calling, we all have a spiritual family, and God provides for our relational needs. These two men were a fine example to us as we seek to be mentored and mentor others.
RELATED PODCAST: In a recent video that went viral, progressive Christian minister Brandan Robertson claimed that the problem with evangelicalism is that it focuses too much on the teachings of Paul and not enough on the teachings of Jesus. Robertson went on to claim that Paul even contradicts Jesus on a number of important points, and that when that happens, we should go with the teachings of Jesus instead of Paul's. In this episode, we discuss Robertson's specific claims and why we believe a number of things that he says are misleading or outright false. We also explore some of the tenants of progressive Christianity more generally and discuss how tethering ourselves to the historic Christian tradition helps us from coming up with innovative ways to arrive at old heresies.
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