2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded,endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy is an intimate letter between teacher and pupil. Paul was keenly aware his life was coming to an end, in fact, most scholars agree, this is the final chapter from the final epistle we have from his hand. Here Paul passes the baton and delivers a profound charge to Timothy. Timothy had ears to hear and I pray we do as well.
Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus to combat false teachers (Acts 20, 1 Tim 1). We find several imperatives in this text.
Preach
Be prepared
Reprove
Rebuke
Exhort.
Those are hard sayings. Challenging commands. However, they were entirely necessary, in Paul’s view, because sound doctrine was being rejected. Paul describes those who are easily led astray as: not enduring sound teaching, having itching ears, seeking out teachers that will tell them what they want to hear, and turning from the truth.
This is 1st century Asia Minor, not 21st Century America, Paul is referencing. Assuming Paul didn’t time travel and was writing about is visit to us, it seems the world was deteriorating long before the Enlightenment, Darwinism and the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. The problems were real and the consequences would be disastrous. Paul is urging Timothy to rail against it. Expose it. Replace misplaced ideas and desires with Biblical principles. Preach the Word!
This text is often used in ordination services and commissioning ministers. While this text is written specifically to Timothy, and often applied to preachers, all Christians who have a voice should take heed of the challenge Paul puts forth. Our culture is full of people who seek their own way, submit to their own passions, have ears itching like they were eaten up by mosquitos in Cazale.
We were created for such a time as this. Let us proclaim the truth of his word.
We must not proclaim these excellent truths because of any misplaced sense of moral superiority. The authority with which we preach is not based in ourselves but on Scripture itself. In the immediate context of this passage we find Paul explaining that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). The Bible is more that a guide, it is authoritative in our lives.
Paul couples these imperatives with admonishing Timothy to complet them with complete patience and teaching. Any preaching, rebuking, reproving or exhorting done in this context has a restorative nature to it. We do not lord the Biblical text over anyone. We must aim for a result of restoration and reconciliation. Be must also bear in mind that, while the Biblical text is inspired by God, our interpretation of it is not. This reality will serve to keep us humble, keep us seeking, keep us meditating upon it.
And we cannot forget Paul’s command to be prepared. We prepare ourselves by filling ourselves up with the Word of God. The Bible deserves better than being treated as an afterthought or obligation. Study it. Digest it. Meditate on it. Let it take root in your heart and life. This is how we prepare to preach the Word to a lost and dying world. When we are so full of it, so captivated by it, that it cannot help but come out in our conversations, interactions and attitudes.
This is not easy work. That is why I have persevere with a capital P in the title of this post. We have to do the diligent work of digging in. We are obligated to do the difficult task of opening our mouths and speaking truth that may not be popular. Paul prefaces all he says to Timothy here by admitting persecution will come (2 Tim 3:12), but he also adds that he has practiced all he is requiring of Timothy over the course of his life and ministry and remains confident, that while the cost is great, the reward is greater (2 Tim 4:7-8)
crown of righteousness > persecution and suffering.
We cannot persevere if we are not prepared. We cannot prepare ourselves if we do not persevere.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.