Ep. 19 | Every Timothy Needs a Paul | Philippians

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Philippians 2:19-24. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Formed by the Word, a podcast where we don't just read the Bible, we invite it to shape our lives. In each episode, Pastor Eddie Blaylock will provide daily devotionals seeking to connect real scripture to real life. We'll be starting with the book of Philippians. This incredible letter clearly reveals how life in Christ shapes a resilient faith and a joy that is not dependent on circumstances. So wherever you're listening, whether you're driving, working out, or just scrolling for something meaningful, lean in, open your heart, and let's be formed by the word together.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Well, welcome into our study of Philippians. Today we're in chapter two, and we're going to be looking at verses 19 through 24. It's Friday. It's been a great week of study, and I want to really finish it with I think something very important that we learn here from Paul as he cites the need for having a mentor. Michael Jordan is an example. Michael Jordan was an incredibly talented basketball player. In my mind, he was the GOAT. That is the greatest of all time. Now, some people would argue that it's LeBron or some might say Kobe or maybe Magic or maybe Larry Bird, but for me, it's Michael Jordan. But talent alone, we learned from Jordan, didn't win championships. Jordan went a long time winning scoring titles without a championship. Enter Phil Jackson, a coach. Jackson didn't just coach Jordan's skills, he mentored his leadership. Jackson taught Jordan the triangle offense, and with that came a trust in the system. Jackson pushed Jordan to trust his teammates and challenged his intensity and even learned to channel it. He helped him evolve from superstar to champion. And so Jordan won scoring titles without Jackson. He won championships with him. The point is, mentors help us to grow. So having a mentor is a good thing. A long time ago, one of my mentors taught me that everyone needs three people in their lives. Everyone needs a Paul, that is someone to mentor you, to mentor above you, like Timothy had. And then everybody needs a Barnabas, that is an encourager to walk beside you. And everyone needs a Timothy, a person that you invest in, and you pay it back in. Well, I'm going to talk about that for the next couple of days, and we'll go into it a little bit more next week. But for today, let's look at the value just a minute of a mentor. Why is it important to have a mentor? A mentor, number one, sees what you can't see. We all have blind spots. A mentor can help us identify those patterns that you notice, but you know, you don't like to look at. A mentor can call out strengths that you underestimate and confront weaknesses that you excuse, and a mentor is able to see things you're blind to. Second, a mentor shortens the learning curve. Very important. Experience is a great teacher, but someone said that someone else's experience is a faster one. A mentor helps you to avoid preventable mistakes, to navigate complex decisions and discern when to push and when to wait. And mentors have probably already stepped into the potholes that you're about to. Third, mentors provide accountability. Left alone we drift. That's our tendency. A mentor can be there to ask the hard questions and to challenge our comfort level, not in a controlling way, but in a sharpening way. As someone said, iron sharpens iron, but iron doesn't sharpen itself. Number four, mentors are valuable because a mentor expands your vision. Sometimes you don't need more effort, you just need a bigger perspective. A mentor can help you to see beyond your current situation, your current season in life. And a mentor will often see future potential in you before you do. I'm convinced that everyone needs a Paul. Everyone needs a mentor. Look at what he says, beginning in verse 19. Paul writes, Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by news about you. For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interest. All seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ, but you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father. Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I can see how things go with me. I'm confident of the Lord that I myself will also come soon. Every Timothy needs a Paul. Everyone needs a mentor. Now, a couple of observations from the text that help us arrive to that point. First of all, I notice that Timothy was with Paul. Very important. He says, I'm going to send Timothy to you soon. He has served with me. In other words, he was there with Paul. Paul was going to send him, but right now he was with Paul. Just as he was with Paul in ministry, just as he was with Paul, as he would move to various locations, he was called to be with Paul. That was typical of a rabbi. A rabbi would call his followers, first of all, to be with him. Paul probably met Timothy on his first missionary journey in Acts chapter 14, at which time the young man probably was converted. He was a son of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father, but Paul always considered him as his own, as his own dearly beloved son in the faith. I'd love to talk about that sometime. That's another subject, but we we have these sons and daughters in faith, don't we? Timothy replaced John Mark on Paul's missionary journey, and so they became very close and they worked tightly together. But every Timothy needs a Paul to spend time with, a mentor just to be with. But second, I learned that Timothy was not only with Paul, he learned from Paul. Paul said, This is the only one I have who is like-minded, in other words, who thinks like I think. Why? Because he learned from Paul. We see here that the mind of Christ is not something that suddenly automatically appears in the life of a believer. Timothy had to develop and to cultivate that mind. It was surely not natural for him to be a servant, but as he walked with the Lord and worked with Paul, he became the kind of servant that Paul could trust and that God could bless and who was like-minded because he had learned from Paul about what being a servant means. Every Timothy needs a Paul to learn from, to be with. And then the end goal of every rabbi was for his followers to not only be with him for a period of time and to learn from him, but to be like him, to become like him. And Timothy surely became like Paul. In fact, Paul says, Of course he's working with me. We work together like a son with the father. In other words, as a son becomes like the father, he's become like me. It was Paul who wrote to another place, mimic me as I mimic Christ. In other words, do what I do as I do what Christ does. In other words, see me do it, learn from me, and then do it. So Timothy had a servant's mind, verses 19 to 21. He had a servant's training, verse 22. He had a servant's reward, verse 23. Every Timothy needs a Paul to become like. So I guess today to apply this text, I think maybe a good thing to do is to ask ourselves some questions. Do we have a Paul in our life? Do you have a mentor who mentors you along? Maybe it's your someone who can mentor you in motherhood? Maybe it's someone who can mentor you in being a husband. Maybe it's someone who can mentor you as becoming mature in your faith. If not, why not begin this morning by or this afternoon or this evening by asking God to send you a Paul, to send you a mentor. Look for a Paul to learn from. Find someone that you know I would just like to sit with that person and learn from that person and to be like that person. Then why don't you take the initiative and set up an initial meeting with your Paul? I'm sure that if you just ask, you may be surprised how many Pauls are out there who are willing to invest some time in your life. Every Timothy needs a Paul. Heavenly Father, thank you for this time together today. And God, I pray that you would drive this truth home to our hearts today, and that many who are listening right now will ask themselves that question: who do I have as a mentor? Who's my Paul? Is there someone out there that I could tap? Just tap on the shoulder and ask to be my mentor. Show them I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Thanks for joining us today. We are so glad that you chose to spend a few moments with us in God's Word. If this episode has encouraged you, we ask that you leave us a review or maybe share this episode with a friend. Also, would you consider sending us a note to let us know what God is doing in your life? Pastor Eddie would love to hear from you. You can find this email in the show notes. Until next time, stay in the scriptures, keep following Christ, and allow your life to be formed by the Word.