“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophesy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” – 1 Timothy 4:12-16
We have learned throughout this Lenten journey that our story is a part of the bigger story…the One Story. This means that our story is integrated with the stories of people around us and we are a part of their’s as well. This brings both challenges and blessings. We have already addressed the challenge we have to work together in harmony with each other in love and generosity…respecting our diversity in gifts and personality. Today, we address the temptation to write another person’s story the way we think it should go and how we deal with others who want to write “our story” for us.
The letters of Paul to Timothy encourage this young church leader to stay true to his story and to work hard at helping others stay true to theirs.
Human beings have a tendency to discriminate. It is part of our selfish pride that we treat people who are different from us differently. This shows itself in culture, age, economic status, gender, height, what kind of food you like, etc. We measure people by our own experience. This, of course, is not good and we have seen the havoc it has wreaked throughout history. It can be seen in the body of Christ as well.
The Scripture above implies that young Timothy is encountering some criticism in the church simply because he is young…age discrimination. Maybe people were saying things like, “He doesn’t have enough experience to lead”, “There’s nothing that young guy can teach me”. And so it goes, once again, we begin to put our requirements and preferences as barriers to people’s involvement in the work of the Kingdom. We pick up the pen and we begin to write these opinions and limitations into their story.
News flash for us all! There are no age restrictions in the Kingdom…there are no height requirements to get on this ride. God invites all of us, men and women, young and old, black and white, tall and short, to be a part of His story and to contribute to it.
So, there are two things to take away from this today. First, I encourage you to live out the calling God has put before you. At a minimum, that is reading the Scripture and living your life as an example in the things that you say and all that you do. David said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
Second, we must be careful not to quench the work of the Spirit in the lives of others by holding them to our opinions and preferences. We must not force them to write their stories exactly like ours. God calls us to appreciate the differences in His people and to allow those differences to help us to grow. In the Book of Acts we find this given as evidence of the Kingdom’s presence,
“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...” -Acts 2:17
So, today, stay true to your story. Let the words of your mouth, the meditation of your heart and the work of your hands be acceptable in the Father’s sight. May the Name of Jesus be lifted up in all you do…and encourage those around you to do the same!
Live “Your story”!