The next three letters of Paul are what we often call “pastoral epistles” — letters written from Paul to two pastors he discipled and left at their respective posts. These letters are far more personal in nature (compared to the letters penned to churches), but this doesn’t mean they weren’t to be shared. Paul writes these correspondences in such a way that they would be shared with the elders, and then the churches at large.
These letters are particularly useful because they speak of ecclesiological matters and address issues of church order and what we might call polity. This is also what makes addressing these books more difficult. In a similar fashion to Leviticus, we can either address the book verse by verse or at a “macro” level. I will again choose the latter for the sake of the scope of this series. This will also serve us well because of the rampant disagreement within the church on the more specific issues of church polity. I have no desire to dodge the tough conversations, but I also have even less desire to miss some of the greater, more poetic, and compelling points of the stories that lie behind these letters.
A great case in point will be the story of Timothy.
We don’t actually meet Timothy in the letters that are penned to him personally; we meet him in the book of Acts as a young boy. We’re told that when Paul visits Lystra, he meets Timothy, a young boy whose mother is a Jew, but whose father is a Greek. This is included because of its incredible relevance to Timothy’s situation. In the first century, this situation makes Timothy a “mumzer” (or “mamzer”), a term used to refer to a child of illegitimate birth. The Torah proclaimed that a mumzer was not allowed to enter the assembly of God’s people. He was not allowed to be circumcised (hence his circumcision by Paul later in Acts) and not allowed to be a part of the community of the faith — especially in a town like Lystra, which sits on the edge of the same region and province we spoke of in the context of Galatians.
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| The unexcavated tel of Lystra |
What’s interesting is that Paul is continually drawn back to Lystra. We mentioned before that Paul greatly diverted his course after the conversion of Sergius Paullus. He went north into the region of Galatia and made the same circuit more than once. The ruins of Lystra are incredibly reminiscent of the tel at Colossae; the small mound that sits in the middle of Turkey would be unidentified if it weren’t for a local farmer who plowed up a stone by the ruins that said, in essence, “Welcome to Lystra.” Like Colossae, the tel sits unexcavated and houses the ruins of a small, unimpressive town. Why is Paul being drawn back here?
Paul will eventually find his first disciple in Lystra. Paul will begin planting fewer churches and start making more disciples. Paul is beginning to look more and more like Jesus. Not only this, but just like his Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus), Paul will call those whom the world rejects to be his disciples. His first student will be a mumzer from Lystra named Timothy.
This story is one of the most moving in the New Testament. While it’s very difficult to capture the emotion this story packs, it’s heart wrenching to consider that this rejected loner of a child is approached by a student of the great Rabbi Gamaliel — now a student of Yeshua haMashiach — and hears the words lecha charai. “Come, follow me.”
The words of Paul will find all kinds of new meaning as you read his letters to Timothy.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.
Command and teach these things. 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. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
But before we draw conclusions about Timothy, it’s helpful to become acquainted with Titus.
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