2 Timothy 2:1-13: Soldier, Athlete, Farmer

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. - 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Timothy obviously needed some encouragement and, in writing this letter which would be read by at least the elders of the church where he was working, they were also being informed to encourage Timothy in what was apparently a difficult and contentious ministry assignment.

There were some real temptations in these kind of pressure cooker situations. You can get distracted, like a soldier who forgets his commanders orders to get involved in some sort of side gig. You can cheat, like an athlete that tries to take the easy way by not competing according to the rules. You can give up early, like the farmer who gives up the hard work before the crops are ready.  I recognize these temptations in my own life. 

Really the theme of these verses is: there is no failure, only lack of perseverance. "God's word is not chained, therefore..." Even in the midst of the worst situation for him personally, he is not worried about his own failure but rather insists that he will continue on, using Jesus as his example. 

The goal is always about other people. What Paul had found-how God was rescuing and changing people-was worth it. One of the reasons he could carry on was he was doing it for the right reasons. Not to satisfy my pride (whatever excuse I may give publicly). Not to appear holy or smart or competent or well read or even to appear caring and considerate or even to appear sacrificial in our giving and life stress. Selfishness can spoil even the most beautiful truths,  like the gospel.

Have I found the right goal, even if it isn't grand? Is it really about other people or a subtle way of redirecting focus back on myself. And, if I have the right goal, am I willing to persevere up to the point of my own failure? 

Luke 8:15: Perseverance Is Patience Prolonged

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. - Luke 8:15

Paul says that "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4). I have wondered whether being annoyed counts as "suffering" in this context. Because I am often annoyed. :-) It doesn't take a coliseum full of hungry lions or midnight raids and secret trials. A slow-moving buffet line or a shopping cart angled across the aisle of a grocery store will do it easily and with a lot less...fuss. l often mentally catalog ways that people could optimize their handling of a tedious situation to make it easier for other people. I am easily annoyed and, therefore, I am on the fast track to hope and saint-hood, right?

What I have found instead is that fostering annoyance or impatience leads me to be a more irritable and impatient person. And when I reflect on what I am saying (silently or out loud) and thinking (loudly) about other people in these circumstances, I find I am not a person whom I can admire.

So I have begun to do four things over the past few months:

1. Deliberately choose slower options, such as slower lanes of traffic or longer check-out lines. I call this the "discipline of the longest line". It is a means of fighting my me-first, critique-filled attitude and a means of testing where I am in this process.
2. Keep a tally of the number of times that I am impatient with people in these types of situations, 
3. Talk with God each time to discuss why I felt so entitled and in a hurry and 
4. Discuss this process with some that I trust. 

Why? Because I don't like the type of person I am when I am impatient. Because I am chronically in a hurry even when I have plenty of time. Because my wife and good friends see it also.

It's early days, so nothing is settled. I have gone from a high of about 18 or 19 incidents in a week to a record low of 4 this past week. Thanks to God's work through this, I am doing better in traffic and at stores, but I have found new areas. I didn't even know how irritable I am in buffet lines (12 "incidents" in one evening!) or airport security. Each time is a prompt to reset myself before God:

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

I hope that these seasons of patience ("perseverance") in the little things produces the harvest Jesus talked about. As farmers know, no harvest ever came without perseverance and perseverance consists of day-after-day patience in the same direction as God does his life-changing work.

But with character, there is hope. Hope that I can actually be different. Hope that I can actually be the person that Christ imagines in me.

Your Wandering Is Not In Vain (1 Corinthians 15:58b)

Sometimes Christians believe that if they know the will of God, then everything is crystal clear. Pride can misdirect. But it does not follow that all dead-ends are the result of pride. Indeed, wandering often seems to be fully in the purposes of God for our lives. Because God's goal is not ours.

We see a mountain, and we want to know how we will get over, around or under that mountain or, even whether we will avoid the mountain altogether. We don't think that perhaps that any of those alternatives might be correct, because God is not worried about the mountain, but about us and the kind of people we will be by dealing with the mountain in dependence on God. That is faith doesn't move the mountain, faith trusts that God can move the mountain even if it still remains unmoved right now.

This is certainly true in working with a church. How many times have we seen an opportunity for ministry, prayed for wisdom on how to pursue it, consulted wise friends and jumped in with 100% effort. Then it fails. So we take a deep breath, gear up again and jump in again. Failure. And again. And again. We wonder what is wrong. We double-check our motives, our prayer registry, our commitment level. All ok, but no results.

This is why Paul wrote:

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58b

There is a tendency to pull back in our efforts, because we think it is not working. But, in fact, it is working...on us. It is not in vain. In fact, this very keeping-on-going helps us fully understand God's love (cf. Romans 5:3-4).

 

This verse reminds me of another similar thought expressed by Paul elsewhere:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9

The sense is flipped, but the meaning is the same. In the first it is: do A (give yourselves fully) because you won't lose B (results of your labor). In the second it is: don't give up A (doing good) because you will gain B (harvest).

 

The wandering, not the overcoming, is producing what God wants. The very frustration, and how we rely upon God in failure, is the path God uses.

 

How I wish he would skip it sometimes! How I am tired! But faith says the result God has planned is better than the one I envision.