After finishing studying Galatians I had planned to move onto Ephesians since it's right next door, but after meeting with Evey about a week ago I'm following her suggestion to examine 1 and 2 Timothy. However, in order to begin this study it is necessary to look back in Acts (another book I will definitely need to critically study again). To get to know Timothy, one must also look at his mentor and father-figure, Paul. This guy was boldly preaching the gospel, planting new churches like nobody's business and being severely persecuted for his unashamed and unadulterated testimony about Jesus Christ.
Acts 14:8-20
Paul and Barnabas go to the Greek towns of Lystra and Derbe to preach Jesus and Paul heals a crippled man. The crowds believe them to be Zeus and Hermes because of their greek mythology (ref. also to a poem by Ovid where only one Greek family welcomed the gods and were thus spared from destruction). Paul and Barnabas obviously protest this and point them to the true God instead. They say, "Men, why are you doing this? (they were trying to make sacrifices to them) We too are only men, humans like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." Notice how Paul is not afraid to speak the truth, the OFFENSIVE truth wherein what the Greek people believe is... did you catch it... WORTHLESS. I love how this is what the Spirit of God leads his spokesmen to say. Not because it pisses people off (though it most certainly does) but because it is demonstrably clear where Paul's allegiance lies. JESUS, and no one or no thing else. The fact that he speaks in such a way shows how he is sold out to Christ even to the point of being hated, mocked, beaten, jailed, and if you continue reading a few verses later, STONED almost to the point of DEATH. I am taken aback by the faithfulness of this man. He has no filter on his mouth that manipulates his words to be sensitive and culturally respectful. He calls them out in their sin and offense to the Living God. The Greeks worship idols and false gods, with a theology that is so warped that they ascribe to Paul and Barnabas the status of gods, worthy of worship and sacrifices. It is imperative to notice how Paul responds to such nonsense. His response will either offend man or offend God. We have the propensity to be overly respectful, sensitive, and diplomatic, not wanting to step on anyone's toes or challenge anyone else's personal views about God. But you know what that ends up doing in the end? Pleasing the depraved humans with whom we interact rather than the holy and perfect God who we claim to serve and worship with our whole lives. Really? Are we worshipping Him in that moment where we choose rather than to say a harsh, but honest word to a person about their ideas of God, we diminish the truth of Jesus and instead say some foolish thing like, "Oh, I can see what you mean. That makes sense."? Imagine if Paul behaved the way we do - "Oh, I can see why you would think I am a god. It makes complete sense for you to sacrifice those bulls and wreaths. Well, let me just get to know and understand you/your views/your culture/your whatever and put aside Jesus for another time." Seriously, thank God for Paul and others like him who actually are so devoted to the Lord that they would rather face fatal persecution than even consider for a second to cheapen or dilute the gospel of Christ.
Moving on. Paul also says that, "In the past, he [God] let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." So, what is he saying here? He tells the Greeks the proper way to understand the reality of their lives. It is not due to their many mythical gods, but rather, the one true God. The effects of his kindness alone is what they are seeing and receiving; they must acknowledge it as such and reject their own misconceptions and wrong interpretation of the world. Paul explains something known as common grace, where God shows his grace and favor even to those who are not his own or are still apart from him. With the Greeks, He is showing them kindness and mercy in spite of their ignorance and idolatry. Paul is communicating to them that this is by his grace and love. But as is typical, they do not believe. And what is worse, the Jews who Paul and Barnabas pissed off earlier in Antioch and Iconium show up in Lystra and win the crowd over as allies against them. It is interesting to note that these angry Jews came from an region over 100 miles away. Now you got to be pretty hated for some of your enemies to travel that long of a distance to find you and try to kill you. It is really easy for us to read a story like this and believe that that kind of behavior and interaction among people is unique to Scripture and is not to be expected of us today. After all, we are to be loving and supportive and peaceful and friendly like Jesus, right? We should tone down our challenging attitudes and preach a gospel of tolerance, just like our beloved Messiah who loved all people, right? Not quite. When Paul says that God let all nations go their own way, does that not strike a chord in you about how all these different religions and paths to heaven might have come about? What unifies these nations' religions and paths is not that they all lead to the same place, but that they have all departed from the one true Way. I like this highway logic game - if you were to take I-275 N and I-275 S from the Underground, you are not going to end up in the same place. Someone will be in Seminole Heights while the other is Downtown. Throw in I-4, and that guy is all the way out in Orlando. These various roads and directions that a person can take in life do matter. They matter because of the destination. Not all highways lead to the same place. Even more so, not all religions lead to the same place. In truth, it is only Christ that leads to the kingdom of heaven and life everlasting. All others are rightly called worthless. They lead to nothing other than lies, deceit, death and eternal damnation. Now if we actually understand and know this to be true, how is it that we continue to play this game that a person's thoughts and beliefs about God aren't that serious and aren't worth the metaphorical stoning of challenging them?
We speak of being radical. We don't even know the meaning of the term. Radical is preaching boldly, fearlessly and with integrity the name of Jesus. Then not only getting crap for it but being physically attacked for it. And that's not the end of it. THEN (go ahead, read verse 20) GETTING UP AND GOING BACK into that place where you were JUST assaulted. Not fleeing, not bad-mouthing, but loving. Now, of course it does not have to be that extreme, but the question is: are we willing for it to ever get that extreme? How true to God's Word are we willing to be? How ridiculous and narrow-minded are we willing to be perceived? Have far are we willing to go and what risks are we willing to take? It is a question of faith and devotion to this God we have laid our lives down for. We have A LOT to learn from Paul. And by God's grace, we can.
Acts 16:1-10
Here Paul returns to Derbe and Lystra some time later and he meets Timothy, who lives in Lystra and is part of the church that was planted there. Despite a confused upbringing in this Greek town, we find out that he is now a disciple. Perhaps he was present and converted when Paul first came and preached back in Acts 14. At any rate, the brothers speak well of him. He has a good reputation. He's known as a man who loves the Lord and has been called by God. Paul notices this and decides to take Timothy along with him on his missional journey. He will further instruct Timothy and train him to be a leader in the church. Not only a leader, but his #2 guy in ministry. Paul and Timothy will become very close as they set out delivering the gospel and strengthening the churches together. Paul will come to call Timothy on a number of occasions, "my son," serving as a kind of intimate father-figure in this young man's life for some 15 years. I am looking forward to learning more about these two men, their incredible friendship and their amazing service to God. I especially desire to see how we can learn from the life and leadership of Timothy. There are very few people called to be leaders like Paul, but a vast majority who are chosen by God to be Timothys. As much as I try to resist leadership and the responsibility that it entails, I feel like I am in a place where I need to embrace it. Especially as I learn to step up with leading the Walk for however long God desires that I do so. I hope that through studying these two epistles and taking the spiritual leadership class at the Underground, God will speak to me and challenge me to be a more committed follower of Jesus whose confidence is in Him, not my own ability and whose drive to lead is not to do good works for God, but rather to love God with my whole heart and allow His love to pour out from me to touch the lives of others, be it youth or family or friends or a stranger.
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