Timothy was Paul’s “true child in the faith.” That is an awesome title. How cool would it have been to have Paul as your father in the faith?!
Many years I prayed for a mentor, someone who could help me in my ministry. Give me some godly counsel, insight, and help. Someone to bounce some ideas off.
I used to talk to my dad a lot about pastoral things. What to say at funerals. What was that thing you’re supposed to say at weddings about power vesting and stuff? What do you think Romans 7:17 means? We would call each other on Saturday nights and talk about our sermons for the next day, go over points, bounce stuff off each other. It was cool.
Then four years in, he died.
Then there was no one. No one showed up even after all my praying for someone to. I tried with a couple older guys. I was open with them, revealed some stuff, hoped they would be a mentor. Instead the used the information against me, stabbed me in the back, and left the church.
So that was nice.
Instead of a mentor I went to the Bible. I read the Bible over 40 times in my 21 years of ministry. I had nowhere else to go. This was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.
I know pastors who had mentors, spiritual friendships, and counselors. A few of them seemed to really benefit from it. Probably most just became warped into their mentor’s image. They seemed unable to have a free thought and just followed the leading of Their Guy.
It’s a mixed bag. What I do know is that having Paul for a mentor would have been awesome!
Paul prepared Timothy to defend right doctrine. He starts with the charge to not let anyone mess up the doctrine he gave them.
Doctrine is the foundational teachings of the faith. Doctrine is essential to spiritual growth and certainly to healthy churches. Messing up doctrine goes hand in hand with messed up behavior. It’s a chicken and egg thing, but I know they go together.
Bad conduct will lead to misusing Scripture and teaching terrible things. Our guilt will make us justify sins, which will lead to more sin. Misusing Scripture will lower the standard, warp it into following human ideas and will create bad manners.
Doctrine and behavior go together.
Many churches have decided that doctrine is too divisive.
Yeah, no kidding. Truth has that tendency. Chucking doctrine for “unity” or seeker sensitivity might sound like a good idea, and might even work great in the short term, but the long term effects will be devastating.
Doctrine does divide, but not if all people in the church truly desire truth. Sound doctrine is the only safe foundation. Our spiritual leaders need to be instructed in sound doctrine and given the authority and conviction to teach and uphold it.
Unfortunately, if a church decides to do this, people will leave. They will go to another church that has the doctrine they are comfortable with. There are so many choices in the church culture. The church with sound doctrine will probably shrink, while all those who leave those churches flock to the ones with the warped doctrine that satisfies the flesh.
Cynical? You betch’ya, but that’s what I see happening.
Paul’s mentorship wasn’t just about making Timothy’s dreams come true like a life coach. It wasn’t about establishing an institution or making it “grow.” It was simply about knowing, teaching, and fighting for sound doctrine.
Imagine if our church leaders today were equipped for such a thing. Amazing things would happen. For instance, 86% of all churches would close down almost immediately.
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Failing Pastor 