Endurance (Part 5)―Mentor
and Protégé
NFL fans are anticipating the “Luck Sweepstakes” in
the next draft. Andrew Luck plays QB for the Stanford football team.
He’s a Heisman Trophy candidate and potential number-one draft pick.
Some say the winless Indianapolis Colts, if they pick first, will
select Luck (the protégé) to play behind future Hall of Famer Peyton
Manning (the mentor). It’s a scenario wherein Luck will receive the
best QB mentoring the NFL has to offer.
The relationship between mentor and protégé is a
powerful one! History is replete with examples of great men who
developed their raw potential under the tutelage of a master. The
relationship between Paul and Timothy was that of mentor and
protégé…but much more. They served together in the Gospel as a
father would with his son. In Second Timothy, Paul took the occasion
of his Rome imprisonment to pen words of encouragement to his
protégé, whose ministry would long outlive the apostle. The theme of
“endurance” is again in the spotlight.
The mentor urges his protégé to “endure hardness”
(2:3) and to “endure afflictions” (4:5). Both phrases are the
translation of the Greek verb kakopatheo, the combination of
kakos
(“evil, bad things”) and the verb patheo (“to suffer”). The
admonition packs power inasmuch as the mentor is serving prison time
He is imprisoned for one reason—the Gospel! One of the sobering
surprises endured by young preachers, who envision themselves one
day preaching the stars down to (and being loved by) their first
church, is the harsh reality that many who name the name of Christ
cannot and will not “endure sound doctrine” (4:3).
Thirty years ago I wrote the following adage in the
cover of my Bible: “Beware of those who cast down the palm branches
at your coming; for they will be the ones who drive the nails at
your leaving.” Those who harbor disdain for the Gospel message will
often attempt to destroy the messenger! If God has called you to
preach the Word of God, and equipped you as a pastor-teacher, be
prepared to do a little suffering along the way. It will come from
places and in ways that you cannot imagine.
In keeping with what a mentor offers to a protégé,
Paul cites his own example of endurance both as a model of
consistency and a source of motivation. Paul said: “Therefore I
endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2:10).
The ‘therefore’ points back to the gospel (the Word of God) and the
fact that it CANNOT be bound or made subject to prison chains (see
Acts 16). So, as the model Christian soldier, the mentor encourages
the protégé to go and do likewise (2:3-4).
Who are the elect ones for whom Paul endured all
things? The first possibility is Israel—God’s chosen people. Paul
testified to the persistent sorrow and great heaviness of heart he
endured for them as well as his willingness to be accursed from
Christ for their salvation (Romans 9:3). Acts portrays the ministry
of a man who lived out in its fullest sense “to the Jew first, and
also to the Greek.” Moreover, Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.
For the most part, Gentiles heard him gladly in almost every city he
visited. Most of the afflictions he endured came at the hands of
reprobate Jews who were determined to discredit the message and
destroy the messenger. The elect nation of Israel, in all
likelihood, is what Paul had in mind. Timothy would have no doubt
connected the dots.
A second possibility is the Church. Members of that
body are “in Christ” the Elect One. The context provides support for
this view as well. In 2:2, Paul told Timothy to teach faithful men
what he had learned, who would be able to teach others. Since
Timothy was pastor of the church at Ephesus, these men would have
been members of his church. A dozen verses later (2:14), Paul
reiterates to Timothy his obligation to the people. He is to put
THEM in remembrance of the “eternal glory” of their salvation
(2:11-13), charging THEM to avoid strife about profitless words.
Since 2:2 and 2:14 both refer to believers, why not interpret the
elect of 2:10 as believers? In that case, the "salvation" is a
“glory to glory” sanctification (2 Corinthians 3:18) with “eternal”
rewards.
The elect ones of 2:10 could be understood to be
inclusive of both Israel and the Church without doing violence to
the context. Paul endured a myriad of hardships on behalf of both
elect groups. What the context does NOT support is identifying the
elect of 2:10 as a group of yet-to-be-justified sinners and proof
text for unconditional election. However, if “salvation” in 2:10 is
seen as a reference to justification, Paul no doubt had God’s chosen
people Israel in mind. The fact is believers are elected “in Christ”
to inherit everything. Lost men are elected to absolutely nothing!
The Jew is elected by virtue of physical birth; the believer by
virtue of spiritual birth.
There is no endurance so
valuable as that which translates into the salvation of sinners and
sanctification of the saints. May the Lord enable each of us to put
ourselves in the shoes of the protégé, rally around the legacy of
endurance that Paul the mentor left for us, and then go and do
likewise!
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