So Many Things - 2 Timothy 2:1-13

2:1-2 - I’m not sure if Paul contrasted the two apostates with his faithful friend Onesiphorus to demonstrate the “spirit of fear” vs. “spirit of power,” dynamic in specific examples that Timothy would be aware of, but it seems that Onesiphorus’ example of true Christ-like love is the reason that Paul continues, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul was giving Timothy examples of the two extremes that people can take the teachings of the gospel, one out right rejection and one complete commitment and the benefit the commitment makes to others, like comforting Paul when he was imprisoned. Verse 2 reads like Paul’s implying that Timothy should teach the gospel according to Paul, but I don’t think that that is what is meant here. It’s kind of like at work when someone says something to a patient like “I’ll have my doctor call you with the results.” This bugs me because there is no “my doctor,” their relationship with the doctor is not possessive, they don’t own them or me and they aren’t in charge to dictate terms. This is really just a pet peeve that I need to get over, but it’s just one way that people speak and understand their surroundings and it irritates my insecurities, there’s nothing wrong with addressing people in this manner or viewing relationships in this way. I think that’s what Paul’s doing here, it’s just his speaking style. If he believes that he’s teaching the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, then that is the gospel that Timothy should be teaching in Paul’s view. Paul doesn’t feel like he corrupts the teachings, so whether from Christ directly or from Paul, the teachings would be the same. 2:3-5 - There is a metaphor for being obedient to the gospel that Paul uses, which is that of a soldier. Imprisoned in Rome and throughout the Roman empire, soldiers would have been a daily staple in the lives of both Paul and Timothy. Even though it doesn’t seem that either men served in the military the obedient and dedicated lifestyle of the Roman soldier would have been common knowledge among the civilians they surround. Paul tells Timothy to endure afflictions “as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” We all know that soldier fight in war, that’s their main job, and many times that fighting ends in serious injury or death, but the soldiers accept the hazards of the job because they are committed for various personal reasons. Likewise, to be a soldier for Christ, we have to accept the hazards of discipleship because we believe that Jesus will do what he says he will do, and as we have experiences with God’s love and care throughout our lifetimes, that trust grows. I mean if we really think about it, we are born in this world, we are told many things throughout our lifetime, we experience trauma that significantly affects our ability to trust, believe, or understand many things. As I’m sitting here, I try to think about why I believe in this version of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know my reasons and as much as I believe that they are strong and valid, it might be difficult for someone who hasn’t experienced them first hand to believe that my version of events is significant enough to commit to Christ. It’s an interesting conundrum that faith is built on such small and simple things when viewed from the outside, but when personally experienced, then it becomes rock solid belief. Paul describes the level of commitment a soldier has as “no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” When I was in the army, it was a 24/7 commitment, the army consumed your entire life. You might even say that the comforts or urges or desires of the natural life were sacrificed for the completion of the mission. I wouldn’t say that my main motivation was to please the person who chose me to be a soldier because of the vastness of the network, but it was definitely because I wanted to do a good job, and yeah I think that I wanted the people in charge of me to think I was a good soldier. But everything else was sacrificed for the needs of the army. It wasn’t just that we had to be in the army, but we had to do our jobs the right way. Paul notes that you can’t be rewarded “except he strive lawfully” which I took to mean that we have to not just believe the gospel but live it as well. This is overall just a way to say that living our lives according to the teachings of the gospel and having a testimony of Jesus Christ is more important than earthly desires because the gospel is eternal and this earth life is not. That’s not to say that we don’t have mortal responsibilities because we absolutely do but it’s about what our main priorities are, what we spend our energies trying to obtain. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com has a large quote from Ezra Taft Benson talking about how every young man should serve a mission and if they don’t it’s only because they have sins that they haven’t repented of. While I agree that missions are important, it’s hard for me to read something like that because I know that there are so many factors that come in to play when making a decision like that, and it just feels so flippant and dismissive of the real trauma that is experienced by the youth at the hands of the church, either institutionally or individually. I mean, it happened to me, I wouldn’t have served a mission if I had been a male, and I feel like the failure to do so and the social stigma and judgment that would come from that decision would have probably prevented me from returning to church at all. In fact, my best friend, her husband got very ill and came home after a year on his mission, and he’s had lifelong health issues due to this illness. But when he got home, despite his willingness to serve a mission, despite his horrible health conditions acquired due to his mission service, and despite the fact that he would suffer debilitatingly because of this illness, he was treated like garbage. His parents and siblings and other church leaders told him that he was pathetic and a quitter and unworthy and just excusing his sins that he’s obviously committed and just hasn’t repented of yet. He was told that he was unworthy of being called a returned missionary and that no self-respecting woman would ever marry him because he “quit” his mission. I know that that’s not what President Benson meant when he made this statement about every boy serving a mission, but this is what it was turned into by those who insecure people who became modern day Pharisees. And his story is not unique, I’ve heard these accounts by many men my age and other horror stories of missions and BYU and I have to ask myself, can we really blame any of these people when they leave the Church? Do we require that they stay committed to an institution that has abused them repeatedly? 2:6-7 - Another parable that Paul uses is that of the husbandman who “laboureth” in the field, “must be first partaker of the fruits.” The article says, “Any servant of the Lord, but particularly the missionaries, are going to be much more effective if they have already experienced the blessings of the gospel- the fruits of the Spirit which are ‘love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.’ These fruits must be shared with investigators and less active members. These fruits must be apart of the demeanor and stature of the servants of the Lord. How convincing is the preaching of a missionary who doesn’t have a testimony? How much influence can he have if his life does not reflect Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit?” This is a psychological finding that correlates with human behavior. People are naturally attracted to others who are happy. If you are trying to convince someone of the value of your message but demonstrate unhappiness or dissatisfaction with your life, then no one is going to believe that anything in your life brings you joy, especially not the very thing that is promised to do so. Does this mean that our lives as Christian disciples are going to be happy? Not necessarily. We know that believers suffer in this life just as much, if not more, than unbelievers, so how do we find joy in life? I’m a naturally pessimistic person, very much a Debbie downer depressive, but I’ve been able to train myself to come out of that some, and then I turn to Jesus and ask him to help me and he really has enabled me to be more positive, more optimistic. His grace has helped a lot but also holding on to an eternal perspective, which allows me to trust that all will be compensated for in the end, that I am blessed and protected and that everything is God’s will. 2:8 - When encouraging Timothy to remember the ultimate triumph in the resurrection, Paul refers to Jesus as “the seed of David.” We know that Timothy was only half Jewish, but was certainly raised that way. I know we talked about this a lot several years ago when we were going over Jesus’ lineage about there being a legal blood line and a religious leadership blood line that made Jesus “King of the Jews” both legally and religiously. We know that through Mary, Jesus was the rightful successor of one of them and by Joseph, Jesus was the rightful successor of the other, but I can’t remember which one was which. The article says, “That Mary was of Davidic descent is plainly set forth in the scriptures. Jesus was frequently addresses as ‘Son of David; He did not disclaim that title.” Even though Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father, as far as ancient Jewish law goes, Jesus was legally Joseph’s son because he claimed him to be such and raised him. And as far as I know, there was never any disputing about Jesus’ biological parentage until after Joseph died and Jesus began his mortal ministry. 2:9-13 - My own personal translation of Paul’s writings here goes something like, “Remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, just like I taught, and I suffer persecution for those teachings. These persecutions are worth the suffering because other people accept the gospel through my teachings and also become saved.” Paul contrasts Christ’s death with our life and then our death to Christ’s life to further illustrate the point that even though Christ physically died just like we will physically die and through him we can live again, just like he lives now. Then he contrasts many points, like that if we live our lives to “die” in Christ, we will also live with him. If we suffer for His sake, we will “reign with him,” if we “deny him, he also will deny us,” and if we don’t believe his promises, he can’t give mercy when justice is required, he can’t break the law. Our blessings and opportunities in this life and in the next are our choice, we choose whether or not we live with God again. I know that it seems like when the time comes everyone will want to live with Jesus and he will be like “get away from me,” but that’s not how it’s going to be at all. The article points out that even though all people will be resurrected, not all people will live with God. The article says, “If their life and death have not been with an eye single to His glory, then they cannot expect to be recipients of that same glory. They will not live with him in the Millennium, they will not live with him in the Celestial Kingdom… For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory… And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.” It seems like there is no room for error in that previous statement, but think about how liberating it is to realize that where we go in the next life is our choice? As long as we are trying to choose Jesus, then he will always choose us. It’s hard for us to understand this because in this life our time, energy, and resources are limited so we couldn’t possibly give someone everything they need, to be so involved in their lives to help them 24/7. But God has the resources and desire to live exactly like that. We are limited in our understanding and love of each other, we draw lines in the sand, we give ultimatums, we require complete obedience, but Jesus doesn’t. He’s not so petty that he can’t hold our hands when we need it or that he gets his feelings hurt when we react to the horror in this life in a way rejects him. Some of the best advice I ever got was “Jesus is not so small that he won’t allow us to be angry with him.” The complexity of our lives in this mortal world and in our spiritual development helps me to see just how dedicated Jesus is to our success. It’s really a beautiful thing, very freeing, and very empowering.