How To Be A Timothy - Philippians 2:22-24 Series

Philippians 2:19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

Introduction

The title of the sermon today is How to Be a Timothy, and I’m dead serious about that “How to” part, because in last week’s sermon we dealt with an area that is probably the most difficult aspect of the entire Christian life, namely, the emotions of godliness. When you are reading the Bible and it tells you to behave a certain way, that’s hard enough. But when it tells you to feel a certain way - to have real joy over something or to weep over something or to have anxiety for people’s spiritual progress, or to love God with all your heart, or to have deep affection for one another in the church – those are the hardest kinds of commands to obey. We have been studying through the book of Philippians and we are in a section here where Paul is showing us some examples for us to follow. But the examples are so high that we run the risk of being discouraged rather than inspired, so it is really important for us to have the “how to.” And that’s where we will end up at the end of the sermon, but for now, let’s finish looking at the example of Timothy.

Last week we saw the primary quality that made Timothy the only one fit for this ministry: selflessness. He got worked up about the spiritual needs of the people more than his own, temporal concerns. But spiritual anxiety wasn’t his only quality. The rest of the paragraph shows us at least five others, and they all spring out of the foundational one, which is humility.

Humble

Timothy was humble.

Philippians 2:22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

Slaved in the Work

One way you see his humility was in his servant’s heart. When Paul says he served with me in the work, the word for served literally means to serve as a slave. Literally, he slaved … in the work. Timothy thought of himself as a slave. He understood Matthew 20:25 where Jesus said,

Matthew 20:25 … the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and … exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.

Some men want to get up and preach, but they are not all that interested in serving. Ask them to get up on the platform and speak, and they are all over it. Ask them to fix a toilet, and suddenly they are really busy. There is a long line of men who have their eye on the glamorous aspects of the ministry, but they don’t have a servant’s heart. Some tasks are beneath them. Not Timothy. He took the posture of a slave – and also of a child.

Served as a Child

Verse 22 says he worked with Paul like a son with his father. Again - humility. He thought of himself as being like a kid with his dad. Timothy was one of the most capable spiritual leaders in the world. Paul himself said there was no one else like him. He had an incredible resume, a huge amount of ministry experience, tremendous giftedness, his name was a household word in the church. Timothy was a big deal – in other people’s eyes, but not in his own eyes. Even though Paul thought of him as a colleague, he didn’t think of himself that way. He thought of himself as being like a little kid with his dad. He was humble, and out of that virtue came the next one – he was teachable.

Teachable

This is one of the most important tests of humility in ministry: is the person teachable? So many men especially get so puffed up with pride that they aren’t teachable. They might take a class, but all they do is just critique it. They can tell you all about what’s wrong with this preacher, and that book, and this program, and that conference, but you rarely hear them talking about what they have been learning lately. Instead of thinking of themselves like a kid learning from his dad, they see themselves as everyone’s father. You can tell by the way they interact with you that they think of themselves as being several levels above your level. And they think they are being really humble because they are willing to give up some of their precious time to actually listen to someone like you. And so it is rare that anyone can teach them anything. The only people they can learn from are preachers or authors they have never met. Because they have found so many faults in all the ones they have met, that they can’t learn from them anymore. Timothy was the opposite of that.