What do Luke Skywalker, Po the Panda, and Timothy have in common? They were all mentored by great masters.
Luke Skywalker learned how to be a Jedi Knight from Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
Po learned Kung Fu from Master Shifu and his 5 other disciples.
Timothy learned the Christian life from the Apostle Paul.
Each of them became who they were because they had great teachers, examples, mentors who apprenticed them in their area of expertise.
Timothy’s apprenticeship with Paul started around 52AD when Paul invited him to join him on his second missionary journey. At the writing of 2 Timothy it is about 15 years later (give or take) which, perhaps not too coincidentally, was about the same amount of time a person would spend as a rabbi’s disciple before “graduating” as a rabbi himself. Over that decade and a half, Timothy listened, watched, and questioned Paul. He let Paul listen, watch, and question him as he learned to grow in the grace that God had given him. Paul makes it very clear throughout 2 Timothy that he was satisfied that his spiritual son had not only mastered his yoke (his teaching) but his way of life as well (2 Timothy 1:13-14, 2:2, 3:10-11).
Timothy also knew and experienced Paul’s suffering that he endured because of his faith in Jesus; and just as importantly, saw God’s faithfulness to Paul in every one of those times (3:11). Paul wanted Timothy to remember that. Suffering was not an option. Nor was it a sign that God was rejecting him, or that he was doing something wrong, or as Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12 that something strange were happening. Rather this was expected on the path he had chosen to travel; the same path that Timothy was on (3:12).
Paul encouraged him to stay on that path, to “be the rabbi,” to double down on his conviction of the truth of the Gospel. Paul gives two reasons for this:
2 Timothy 3:14 (NIV), because you know those from whom you learned it.
2 Timothy 3:15 (NIV), and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Certainly Scripture is laid out as the foundation upon which Timothy’s faith should rest. Scripture is the proper foundation for two reasons: first, it is the inspired, authoritative word of God (3:16-17), and second, because people come and go. Scripture is constant, people are not. Scripture is consistent, people are not always so. God in His grace has provided us with an authoritative, inspired, and written revelation about Himself so that we always have everything we need to know about living for God through Christ.
But we should not rush past the fact that Paul first calls Timothy’s attention to the people who discipled him—Paul, his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (1:5). Timothy knew them and knew them deeply. He had seen them, watched them, and listened to them his whole life. Their life and walk was proof that the Scripture really was the word of God and that their teaching of it (their yoke) was accurate.
Timothy became the mature Christian leader, teacher, and discipler he was because he had been intentionally, consistently, and lovingly apprenticed.
Discipleship is a way of life. It isn’t a program, it isn’t a class, it’s a way of life.
Discipleship is intentional. It is an intentional way of looking at life in which we’re always looking for what God is teaching us in whatever is going on, and paying careful attention to how we can help others learn to love god and love others in what is going on in their lives.
Discipleship is relational. It’s relational because discipleship is about teaching how to love God and love others. You can’t disciple people from a distance or at arm’s length. It involves getting to know people. It involves your time, it involves personal investment, it involves being vulnerable together.
Up to now in my discussions on discipleship, I’ve been focused more on the “always on” aspect of it. Because discipleship is a way of life, it happens all the time in all our relationships. After all, Jesus did not just disciple the twelve, they were part of a larger group of 72, and he had other disciples beyond them. The twelve were his chief, his closest, the ones He spent the most time with. When Jesus spent time with the woman at the well in John 4 that was discipleship going on, right? He stayed and the discipleship the people there and Samaria for two more days. That was discipleship, but it wasn’t long term.
But there is also an aspect of discipleship that is very much like apprenticeship, the kind of discipleship that Jesus had with the Twelve. And this is the facet of discipleship but I really want to talk about in this week’s posts.
As always, your thoughts are welcome.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 