2 Timothy - part 2
As a Good Soldier
The story of Sgt. York
The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn't tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from ... And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out ... And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard.
- Sgt. Alvin York’s Diary, 1930
On Oct. 8, 1918 Sgt. York was part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and charged with taking a German occupied hillside. Unfortunately for the Americans, the German entrenchments included several machine gun positions that suppressed any advancement. York’s group, led by Acting Sgt. Bernard Early, was ordered to make their way around the fortifications and take the hill.
The group made their way to a flanking position and was able to begin picking off the Germans one by one. They captured a large group of Germans who had been positioned to finish the entrenched Americans at the base of the hill. After capturing dozens of Germans, York’s men suffered another round of German gunfire. A group of Germans had seen the attack and came to rescue their fellow soldiers. York, along with a few other Americans, began picking off the new attack with small arms fire.
There is one version of the story that says York had almost emptied his pistol when the Germans’ courage started to falter. He knew he had two shots left, and only two shots left, so he used one to wound an officer and yelled for the group to surrender. They did so, and York took them captive along with the original captives having only one shot left on him.
Upon returning to his unit, York reported to his brigade commander, Brigadier General Julian Robert Lindsey, who remarked: "Well York, I hear you have captured the whole German army." York replied: "No sir. I got only 132."
Sgt. York’s actions that day earned him a Medal of Honor and later a movie chronicling his exploits.
Even more, for us today, his story reminds us that serving as a faithful and good soldier involves a high risk, but that risk can also lead to a great reward. We are continuing Paul’s letter to Timothy, and as we read through chapter 2, we are going to find guiding principles for us as we serve in the Lord’s army. If we follow these principles, we too, can be faithful soldiers under the command of our King of Kings.
Gather an army
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:1-2
Paul’s charge to Timothy is to entrust the task of teaching to faithful men. Ministry is never meant to be a solo sport. Just as Paul entrusted leadership to Timothy, so also Timothy is to entrust leadership to others. In modern parlance, ministry gurus call this “ministry multiplication.” The idea is that one person can do so much, but two can do much more. In fact, they tend to accomplish more than double. Well, if that’s true (and it is), then three or more could do exponentially more. The story of Acts actually records how this worked for the earliest Christians, and church history demonstrates it even more so. Whenever the Church is equipping and training new leaders who are rooted in the Gospel, she flourishes. Whenever the Church fails to charge new leaders, or when she upholds tradition against godly innovation, she flounders. Timothy must charge new leaders in order for them to multiply the ministry in their communities.
Effective ministry multiplies the number of leaders in a given area.
Whatever our ministry is, whether a Sunday School teacher, deacon, pastoral care leader, or whatever, we should always be looking for those people God has put in our path to train and equip. In our church, we actually have in our policies that there should always be two teachers to a classroom. One reason is because there is a built in substitute in case of sickness, but also, two, because one is the senior teacher and the other is the one in training. Once the second-in-command has enough experience, they can go start another class to multiply our effectiveness.
Now, one retort to this principle is, “What if the new leader isn’t needed?,” or in other words, what if there aren’t enough places for them to serve? That’s just not possible. If we get into the situation where we have an “extra” leader, then we are actually in a great position to send them out as a missionary to begin a new ministry.
Before we move on to the next set of verses, I’d like to propose something for you to pray on. Typically, I preach about asking God to show you where to plug in. But I want to address those who are already engaged in a ministry. Ask God to show you who you should ask to come alongside and help. Whatever you are doing, whether you think it is big or small, ask God to place on your heart the person that can come alongside you to help, to be equipped, and who can be charged to continue the ministry. If you aren’t serving or leading in some capacity, then guess what…pray your heart is open to when someone comes and asks if you can help.
Jesus told his disciples to the state of ministry which hasn’t really changed in the last 2000 years.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:37-38
A church always needs more leaders and workers because there are always more people to reach. The harvest will remain plentiful until Christ returns.
Command the army
The next set of verses are something of an overarching statement for what follows. Paul writes,
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
2 Timothy 2:3-7
The command is to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Timothy is to liken his ministry to warfare, which makes sense considering Christianity is about spiritual warfare. Paul uses similar metaphors in other letters, especially the famous “Armor of God” passage in Ephesians.
But then, he offers two more metaphors—the athlete and the farmer. So, what do a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer have in common? They must train, must focus, and must be undeterred in their pursuit.
Success for each only comes after long periods of focused effort toward their goal. And, if they wish to see the heights of their respective fields, they must ignore anything else in this world that could lead them astray.
It is no accident the very next line is a reminder to focus on the mission and story of Jesus. God gave up heaven in order to pursue the mission of restoring lost humanity. We should not expect comforts when our mission will inevitably lead to some form of suffering. The key word here comes in verse 10.
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
2 Timothy 2:10
The faithful soldier of Christ requires endurance to complete his God-given mission—just like the faithful soldier of a country, just like the faithful athlete seeking his prize, and just like the faithful farmer seeking his harvest. The “prize” here, the mission and the harvest, are the souls who are not yet saved but will come to faith in Christ.
Christians are called to endure the hardships of life and leadership for the sake of those who will turn to Jesus Christ.
This type of endurance requires the faithful Christian to abstain from matters that would derail the mission. That is why Paul mentions how the faithful soldier ignores civilian affairs. The good soldier has a mission to accomplish which requires letting civilians deal with their own problems. The principle can sound cold to those who have not served, but the fact is a soldier has a job to do, and he can’t do it if he is entangled in civilian affairs.
Sometimes Christians can get entangled in affairs that are off-mission. Paul has a remedy for such times.
Staying On-Mission
The first principle is found in 14-18. Read with me.
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
2 Timothy 2:14-18
Now, the overarching command is in verse 15. This verse isn’t just a good AWANA verse, it is the goal of discipleship, of maturing as a Christian. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. Of course you will never earn your salvation. That isn’t Paul’s point. His point is to live as a faithful soldier who seeks the approval of his commander. To this point, Paul tells Timothy to focus on the Word of God and rightly handling it rather than allowing quarreling and bickering about false teachings or philosophy. Notice how verse 15 is bracketed by two statements concerning foolish talk. The faithful soldier cannot be caught in foolish conversations that will lead to disrupting the mission.
The faithful soldier of Christ must rightly handle the Word of God to stave off false teachings that disrupt the Mission of God.
The example Paul gives is name dropping two members who have claimed the resurrection has already happened. This section takes a bit of history to better understand. When the story of Jesus circulated the Middle East, there were quite a few different responses to it. Each response depended on what the hearer believed prior to hearing about Jesus. One particular response sounds much like what we today would call ‘liberal Christianity’. The belief was that Jesus’ resurrection had more to do with spiritual awakening or enlightenment than an actual bodily resurrection. There’s a line in an extra-biblical writing that essentially says Jesus resurrected first, and then was put to death. Now, that may not make much sense to the Christian’s ears, because how can Jesus rise from the dead before being dead? Well, it is related to some false teachings today. The emphasis is on the person’s own understanding of morality, spiritual enlightenment, and seeking communion with “something greater than ourselves.” It can sound very academic and very spiritual, but it is very wrong. Paul told the Corinthians that if Jesus isn’t raised from the dead, then our faith is useless, and we are a people to be most pitied. This false claim about the resurrection being a spiritual resurrection led to a wide array of heresies concerning Christ that continued for the next few centuries in the ancient world. Many of them continue on today through various groups that fall outside what we call orthodoxy.
Regardless whether one is dealing with false teachings or general babble (gossip), the principle is still the same. Our study and focus should be on the Word of God, the truth of God, in order for us to defend against false teachings that will lead our group away from what God has ordered us.
The second principle comes in the next section.
But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:19-21
Paul gives two sayings that work together. “The Lord knows those who are his” refers to remembering God will sort out humanity when the time comes. Christians know that some people who call themselves a Christian aren’t actually a Christian. They may claim the name, but their life and beliefs dictate otherwise. Even so, it is not up to us to condemn them. “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord” not the good soldier. We can correct, persuade, or debate, but we must always allow God to sort them out. The second saying reminds us to flee sin, which is more important in Paul’s eyes.
We cannot control what other people do. We can only respond to what they do, and we are called to respond well. Responding well requires us to flee from sinful acts. Paul says if we want to be used by God for honorable purposes, then we must flee from iniquity to be ready for every good work.
Perhaps in your ministry you have to face false Christians or other false teachers. Well, you can’t control them, but you can leave them in God’s hands. What you can do is live your life in such a way that others realize the truth of your claims and the falsehood of theirs. Remember what the Gospel says, Jesus came to bring forgiveness, eternal life, and to restore us to the design God intends for us. That inherently means removing sin from our lives. Thus, if we want to prove the power of God, then we must remember to pursue the removal of sin in our lives.
The faithful soldier of Christ must rightly handle his/her actions to keep sin from disrupting the mission of God.
These two principles guide the faithful Christian soldier—maintain focused study on the Word of God and maintain focused effort in removing sin. Notice both of these are for how the soldier should act. Neither principle is about forcing others or telling others what to do. When the soldier is conducting himself properly, then his effort and influence will be felt around him. That is essentially what the remaining verses in this chapter are about. They explain in a bit more detail how these principles operate in the life of the believer.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22
“Youthful passions” are those we tend to relate with being a child or teenager, but the fact is adults can find themselves caught in those passions, as well. Paul tells Timothy to flee them. They are of no help and can lead to sin. Instead, Timothy should pursue the fruit of the Spirit. Pursue those things which breed sound ethics and sound judgement. And he adds “along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” to remember the mission. Timothy is supposed to be finding likeminded Christians that can help seek and save those who have not yet heard about Jesus.
The mission of God is to seek and save the lost. That means interacting with and engaging both those who know nothing of Jesus and those who have a faulty view of Jesus. False Christians may be our opponents in a debate, but they are not the enemy. They are the victims of the same sin and devil that have captured other lost people, and ourselves at one time.
Thus, Paul finishes this section with a reminder to Timothy on why the faithful soldier endures such hardships.
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
When confronting falsehoods about Jesus, the faithful soldier must maintain his composure in order to give the opponent the opportunity to know the truth and repent from their errors. It can be quite difficult at times, but the soldier must remember their enemy is the devil, not the person.
Christian, whenever you face someone who argues, berates, or otherwise demonizes your faith, keep in mind they are not your enemy. They are a victim of your enemy. They are a civilian who has been terrorized and maimed by your enemy.
The faithful Christian must always maintain a loving, patient composure in order to address their true enemy.
Now, I will be the first to say that is easier said than done many times, but that is the standard of faith we are called to. That is the command from our High King. We are to rightly handle the weapons of our faith, the Word of God and our life’s testimony. And we are to always remember who the true enemy is and who the victims are.
The next time you are embroiled in some quarrel that you didn’t actually want to be in, remember the person fighting you is the victim. They are the victim of lies and spiritual blindness. Point them to Jesus whose light can shine through every darkness.