1,000,000 Chapters – Part 5Sample

Think about when you first started out in life – either in your work, your marriage, whatever. You probably had a mentor - someone who gave you guidance on how to handle situations and circumstances that came up that you didn’t have the wisdom to handle. 

In 1 & 2 Timothy, we have the conversation between a mentor – Paul the Apostle – and a young pastor named Timothy who is trying to work with a church in a troubled community called Ephesus. It is the same city where the letter to the Ephesians is written, so some of the conflicts and issues that we see in Ephesians translates over to the letter to Timothy. 

The two letters are written to address some specific situations that Timothy had to face, namely how to lead a church in a community like Ephesus where so many people worshipped both God through Jesus and the goddess Artemis at her temple. That’s why part of 1 Timothy deals with leadership – specifically the question of women in leadership and 1 Timothy is where we find Paul saying that he doesn’t allow women to have authority over men in the church, but they are invited to learn and grow in their faith the same way men were. 

Paul had a good reason for this teaching – in a city where Artemis had only female priests and where the worship practices were far off from what Christians were called to do, followers of Jesus didn’t need to be confused with Artemis worshippers. 

Also included are instructions on worship, how to deal with people who begin to twist the truth about Jesus, and how to handle specific household questions such as marriage and slavery. 

The second letter to Timothy is very encouraging, reminding Timothy to keep the Scriptures in focus because they are “God breathed, and useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

As you read these two letters, try to hear them with the ears of a younger man being guided by a wise mentor and ask the question, “God, where are you guiding me through this? What wisdom do you want to teach me as I read these words?”