We can easily think of Paul as the great apostle to the Gentiles, and of course he was. Yet, there were others; the gospel reached Rome before he did, for example. Moreover, Paul was aware of the need to develop a team and train up people who would take on the baton of pioneering for the Gospel after him. One of these was a man called Timothy, and we actually know quite a bit about him, since he is mentioned in Acts, Paul's two letters to him (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) and several other of Paul's letters (his two letters to the Corinthian church and two to the Thessalonians, those to the churches in Rome, Philippi and Colossae, as well as his letter to Philemon and the anonymous letter to the Hebrews).
Timothy was probably converted to Christianity, along with his mother and grandmother, during Paul's first missionary journey through modern day Turkey around 45 AD. Paul came across him about four years later, the next time he was in the area, when he arrived in Lystra with Silas and maybe others. He found that this young man was well thought of not only in his home town, but also in neighbouring Iconium. His mother was a Jewish believer in Jesus, his father a Greek. Paul was impressed by him, finding him to be a man with a true faith and knowledgeable in the Jewish scriptures. So he offered him the chance to accompany him on the rest of his journey.
Jumping in with both feet as a young man, a Christian of only four years, Timothy took the opportunity given to him - a willing heart is more important to God than age or experience.
Timothy was part of Paul's team as they travelled through towns in Phrygia and Galatia, then on to Troas and across the Aegean Sea to Samothrace, where they shared their first sight of European soil. Then they travelled together down the west coast of the Aegean, through Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia and Thessalonica to Berea. Paul needed someone to stay in Berea while he continued on south to Athens, so he chose Silas to take the lead and Timothy to support him. Timothy had had plenty of time to see how Paul and Silas ministered in the many towns they'd visited and to get involved himself; now he had the opportunity to be second in command. Once in Athens, Paul called for Silas and Timothy to join him there.
After a while, he needed to send someone back up the coast to Thessalonica and this time chose Timothy himself, to build up and comfort the church and bring back news about them. By the time Timothy returned to Paul, he had moved on to Corinth, so they met up there, where Paul mentioned him in his letter to the Romans. Paul then returned home via Ephesus, where he left some people behind, perhaps including Timothy, because the next we hear of him is when Paul is back in Ephesus on his third missionary journey.
This time Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years and then decided to send someone back to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in western Turkey. It seems that this time Timothy was probably put in charge of the missionary journey, supported by Erastus. They journeyed on to Corinth and in a letter to the church there, Paul asks them to look after Timothy well and then send him back. They actually met up again in Macedonia, travelling from opposite directions, where they together wrote to the Corinthian church. Timothy was now a co-author with Paul, as well as a missionary team leader.
Timothy was in Paul's team returning from Macedonia via Troas, Miletus, Rhodes, and Patara to Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea and, eventually, Jerusalem. No events are recorded in Acts about this long journey, but we can't imagine that they were silent about the gospel to those whom they met. When Paul was finally sent to Rome to be heard by the Emperor, we know that Timothy ended up with him there and was was a key companion of Paul while he was in prison and then house arrest in the capital of the empire. They co-wrote at least three letters from Rome and Paul wrote to the Philippian church that he was intending to send Timothy to them.
Timothy reminds us that the 12 apostles and Paul wasn't enough - God needs all of us.
By the time Paul was writing his first letter to Timothy, after his release from his first imprisonment in Rome, Timothy was in Ephesus, where Paul urged him to remain and ensure that the church were taught well. Paul also gave instructions in how to appoint leaders, so Timothy was clearly in a position of overseeing the church in the city. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the second time, awaiting execution, he called for Timothy to join him as he was being replaced by Tychicus in Ephesus. Timothy was to collect some possessions of Paul's from Troas on the way, and also take John Mark along to him.
What happened to Timothy from then on we don't really know, except that he was in prison for a while and later released. However, we can see that in the space of about 23 years he had grown from a young man, fairly newly converted to Christianity, into an apostle in his own right, overseeing the Christian affairs of a major city, and co-authoring several letters with the greatest letter writer of the New Testament. He had become Paul's probably most trusted co-worker and faithful friend. Paul told the Philippian church that he had no one like Timothy whom he could trust to send to them to be truly concerned for their welfare. He also told them that Timothy worked for the gospel with him, like a son with his father.
Timothy's story reminds us that the gospel of Christ is not spread by a few great individuals. Over the centuries the message of salvation has gone forth through the preaching, serving, and loving of huge numbers of people, mainly in teams. Paul needed Barnabas, Silas, Timothy and many others. Timothy needed support. Timothy's supporters needed support and so on. The harvest is ripe and there are still too few workers. There is something great for all of us to do in one way or another.
It takes a team, of all shapes and sizes!
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