Qualifications
Not Natural but Spiritual
Timothy was a young man
- it would seem that he was little more than a boy - when
Paul first found him. In addition, he was of a very timid
and shrinking disposition and temperament - anything but
self-assertive and self-sufficient; he was one who could
easily be put down by anyone who was assertive. Because
of his youth and of his timid disposition he could easily
be despised; and perhaps also because evidently he was
not physically robust. "Use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake and thine often infirmities" Paul
later wrote to him (1 Tim. 5:23). Young, shrinking,
timid, physically weak; yet the Apostle looked at him -
and Paul was not one to act impulsively, without thought
and care and discernment - and said, 'I want that lad
with me.' Then we find that young man's name joined with
the name of the great Apostle - may we not say, with the
name of the greatest of the Apostles? Their names are
joined in association in the superscription of both the
letters to the Thessalonians, of the second letter to the
Corinthians, of the letter to the Philippians, of the
letter of the Colossians, and then there are two whole
letters written by the Apostle to Timothy himself; so
that Timothy was connected with each of the four groups
of Paul's letters. Then, after Paul's release from the
first imprisonment, Timothy is found with him going on a
journey, and Paul leaves him at Ephesus in charge of the
church there.
If you were seeking a
'call' - as it is termed today - to a church, for various
reasons you would not have chosen Ephesus, especially if
you knew your own weaknesses as Timothy knew his. But
Paul put him there in charge of the church because there
was very serious need; some very difficult situations
needed dealing with. That is the church where Timothy had
to set things in order, in accordance with all that the
Apostle gave him in those two letters which he addressed
to him there.
Why? If we look to see
why Paul did it, we see no natural grounds at all to
justify either the choosing of him in the first place or
the appointing of him to that great responsibility. Paul
must have seen something, however; and I think we are
able to discern some of the things that accounted for it.
Devotion
to the Lord
There is no doubt that
one thing characterised Timothy, and that was genuine
devotion to the Lord. That is the first thing - real
devotion to the Lord. You see, there are tremendous
possibilities where there is that foundation. There may
be many deficiencies and weaknesses, but real devotion to
the Lord is a ground upon which the Lord can build big
things and do a great deal.
Energy
in the Things of the Lord
Another thing about
Timothy clearly was his energy; out of his devotion
sprang his energy in the things of the Lord. I leave you
to trace the life of Timothy from the day Paul took him
away. See what Paul says about him, and see where he is
and what he is doing and everything else that you can
trace, and you will find that what I am saying has plenty
of support. He was not in any way slothful. Paul was at
one time far away from him and in need, and he sent for
him to come, and to bring with him the cloak and the
parchments that Paul had left at Troas (2 Tim. 4:9-13):
We can have no doubt that Timothy hastened to reach the
Apostle as quickly as he could. There is this mark of the
businesslike about Timothy, of real energy.
Unselfishness
I think another thing
is perfectly clear - his absolute unselfishness (c.f.
Phil. 2:19-22).
These three things
amount to this - that Timothy, with all his natural
handicaps and disadvantages, was a young man who meant to
be no second-rate servant of the Lord. He was on stretch
to be the fullest that it was possible for a man to be
for God, and you know that it is remarkable and very true
that the spiritual value of a man or a woman can more
than make up for a great deal of natural lack. How often
we have to say of someone, 'Well, there is this and there
is that about them, they are not this and they are not
that, and those features would really rule them out; but
their spiritual value more than makes up for all that.' I
am sure that is how it was with Timothy, and that is what
Paul saw - that here was one who, from his conversion in
early life, was utterly for God, who really meant
business. There is no 'survival of the fittest' here. A
young man like this - no natural leader: with these men
at Ephesus trying to ride over his head (Paul said,
"Let no man despise thy youth"): with all that
weakness and handicap - he is the man for the task, he is
the man who is drawing out from the Apostle all that is
in the two epistles written to him. How greatly a man
with many limitations can count for the Church's good for
many centuries to come because there are some things
about him which entirely supersede all his natural
limitations! I think that is the message here.
Greatness
is a Matter of the Heart
If you look at it the
other way round, there are plenty of people full of
assumption and presumption who are always pushing
themselves forward - always ready to be in the limelight,
to do the talking, and so on - who are fairly sure of
themselves and have no hesitation and certainly no
shrinking, but you do not always find the real spiritual
values there. Such people are self-sufficient. But, on
the other hand, what we have been saying is a
tremendously encouraging thing, because I suppose most of
us feel that if the Lord were looking for a good and
capable servant we should not expect Him to look in our
direction; and yet, you see, "The Lord looketh on
the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7), and if He really sees that
we mean business, that there is a selfless devotion to
Himself, and real energy, these things will count with
Him; they give Him ground upon which He can build, and He
will act accordingly.
If all that we have
said of Timothy as to his natural disqualifications were
true, and if Paul had been looking for the naturally
robust type, he would not have looked a second time in
Timothy's direction; he would have said, 'That will let
me down.' But no; it comes about that this young man of
whom these things are evidently true, who does need a
good deal of encouragement, support, reassuring,
nevertheless for some reasons - there are reasons for it
- becomes in this way, for all time, linked with the
great Apostle Paul. Do you not think that it is
remarkable that Paul should link Timothy's name with his
like that? "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ
Jesus..." It says something very encouraging - that
there are certain things which make a tremendous amount
possible with the Lord, but when you look to see what
those things are, there is not necessarily anything
natural at all. It is purely spiritual value. Anything
is possible when the Lord has in us spiritual measure. It
outweighs everything else.