In these posts regarding mentoring, I will contend that Paul’s mentoring approach to raising Timothy up as a leader includes nurturing a person relationship with him, sharing life alongside of him, training him in an incremental way, and releasing him to multiply into other leaders.  I will share the first of these components in this post. 

Christian leadership is personal more than professional. It requires tenderness and discernment in word and action. In Acts 16:1-3, Paul encounters a young man named Timothy in the region of Lystra and Derbe.  Timothy’s parentage is mixed with a mother that is Jewish and a father that is a Gentile (Acts 16:1).  We are not told of how or when Timothy believed the Gospel.  The Scriptures reveal that he is a third-generation Christian who was taught the word by his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 2:5).  We do know that Timothy earned a good reputation amongst the believers in Lystra and Iconium and Paul desires Timothy to come with him on his missionary journeys (Acts 16:2). In fact, it was Timothy’s witness and reputation among the believers that attracted Paul to him.  In Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, I. Howard Marshall writes, “Paul’s attention was drawn to the young man by the good report which was given of him by the Christians in the neighborhood, both in Lystra itself and in Iconium, some 18 miles (31 km) away.”^[1]  The personal and paternal nature of Paul’s approach also satisfies Timothy’s need for a spiritual father. The Scriptures say Timothy’s father was a Greek and it is inferred that his earthly father did not have much influence in his spiritual life. The Scriptures also reveal his Jewish mother, and grandmother taught him the Scriptures (2 Timothy 1:5), and it was Paul who circumcised him, an act traditionally reserved for a father (Acts 16:2b).^[2] John Polhill clarifies the necessity of Paul’s circumcision of Timothy as preparation for their upcoming ministry. He writes: “Timothy would have been considered a Jew. His father, however, being a Greek, would not have had his son circumcised; and the local Jews were aware of this (v. 3). Thus, Paul had Timothy circumcised. Paul always worked through the Jewish synagogues where possible. To have had a member of his entourage be of Jewish lineage and yet uncircumcised would have hampered his effectiveness among the Jews.”^[3]

Paul, as Timothy’s mentor, begins his journey with Timothy by preparing him for future ministry among Jews and Gentiles.  Timothy surrenders to Paul’s request for preparation.  It is an act of submission that begins a relationship of trust between the two men for many years.

The language of Paul to Timothy in his letters to the churches reveals a close relationship that is consistently paternal and personal. Paul is explicit in affirming his confidence in Timothy as strong believer, while expressing intimacy with him as a son in the faith in at least three churches.  There are six different times Paul refers to Timothy as a child or son (I Cor. 4:17; Phil. 2:22; I Tim. 1:2, 18; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2:1).  The word Paul uses to describe Timothy as his son is “teknon”.  Louw and Nida explain, “Teknon can be used for a person of any age for whom there is a special relationship of endearment or association.”^[4] The first example of this use is the letter to the Corinthian church during Paul’s third missionary journey in AD 54-55.^[5]  In I Cor. 4:14-15a, Paul writes to admonish the believers as “beloved children” and tells them they do not need guides, but rather they need a spiritual father.  He tells them in verse 15, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” He encourages them to imitate him as a father.  He then explains in verses 16-17 that this is the reason he has sent Timothy, his “beloved and faithful child in the Lord”, to remind them of his “ways in Christ.” In The New American Commentary on I Corinthians, author Mark A. Taylor summarizes these verses. He writes, “Timothy, like the Corinthians, is also Paul’s “beloved child” (NASB), but to this descriptor Paul adds “and faithful in the Lord.” Timothy is a trustworthy child. Paul desires the same in his children in Corinth.”^[6] Paul’s confidence in Timothy as a model of a son in submission to a father is to be an example for the Corinthians to follow. Thomas Schreiner writes, “The Corinthians are exhorted to imitate Paul, and that was why Paul sent Timothy to them, for in observing and following the example of Timothy they would be imitating Paul.” ^[7]

The second example of paternal and personal language is the letter to the church in Philippi in AD 60-62, written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome.^[8] In Philippians 1:1, the letter addresses “the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Phillipi”. The letter is from Timothy and Paul who are both referred to as “servants of Christ”. In chapter two Paul distinguishes Timothy as a leader unlike others he is mentoring. His intention is to send Timothy to the Philippians because he will be “genuinely concerned” for them and will not seek his own interest, but those of Jesus Christ.  Paul makes an emphatic statement of confidence, which reflects his level of trust and intimacy with Timothy.  In verse 22 he says, “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” The mentoring of Timothy is framed in paternal terms with an application of master and apprentice. In The IVP Commentary on Philippians, Gordon Fee, comments on the multi-faceted relationship of Paul to Timothy in verse 22.  He writes, “The Philippians well know, that relationship is like that of a son with his father, the apprentice son who exhibits the mind and concerns of his father, alongside whom he has served for so many years^[9]

A final example is Paul’s letters to Timothy in the pastoral epistles. In I Timothy, written about AD 60-62, the second verse of the first chapter communicates Paul’s relationship “to Timothy, my true child in the faith.”^[10] The word “true” can be understood as “one who is considered a valid member of a family, legitimate, true.^[11] In the same chapter in verse 18, Paul charges Timothy once again as “my child”. In 2 Timothy, like 1 Timothy, Paul refers to Timothy as his “beloved child.” The word employed to describe “child” is “beloved” and it means “one who is in a very special relationship with another^[12]  During the writing of 2 Timothy, between AD 64-67, Paul was imprisoned in Rome and facing imminent death.^[13] The letter is reflective of deep love and emotion between Paul and his son in the faith Timothy.  II Timothy 1:4 Paul writes to Timothy, “As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.” This verse reflects the depth of connection between these two men’s souls.  Later in that same letter in 2 Timothy 4:13, Paul requests Timothy to “come to him soon.” Paul, recognizing the end is near for him, twice implores Timothy to come and see him before his impending death sentence (4:9, 21).  The word used to describe this longing is a strong compound Greek verb epipotheo. It means to “long for desire” for the purpose of being filled with joy.^[14]  Some of the joy Paul had known is that the gospel would continue to be passed down because of faithful men like his friend and mentee Timothy.  

These three examples, and the wording employed by Paul to describe his special relationship with Timothy, demonstrate a personal and paternal approach to developing Timothy as a leader.  It is an intimate mark of distinction between Paul and Timothy.  In his letters, Paul did not refer to other men he discipled as a beloved son; however, he does commend that others follow his example as Timothy did with his father mentor.

As I reflect upon Paul’s initial engagement and language employed to describe his relationship with Timothy, I consider how important it is to frame the Christian mentor and mentee relationship with family language and behavior. Paul’s mixture of paternal and pastoral words and actions shaped Timothy’s heart and fueled his heart to fulfill his Gospel calling with passion and confidence.

^[1] I. Howard Marshall, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 5, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 275.

^[2] David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 450.

^[3] John B. Polhill, Acts, vol. 26, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 343.

^[4] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 2^nd Ed., vol. 1 (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 109. 

^[5] Fitzmyer, Joseph A. First Corinthians. Anchor Yale Bible. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), 213–215, 582–584.

^[6] Mark Taylor, 1 Corinthians, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 28, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 126.

^[7] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2018), 105.

^[8] Moisés Silva, Philippians. 2nd ed. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005) 1-10, 112-118. 

^[9] Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, vol. 11, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1999), 118.

^[10] Towner, Philip H. The Letters to Timothy and Titus. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006, 1–25, 41–49.

^[11] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 202.

^[12] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 7.

^[13]I. Howard Marshall, The Pastoral Epistles. International Critical Commentary. London: T&T Clark, 1999, 1–12, 793–799.

^[14]  Ralph Earle, The Expositors Commentary, vol. 11, I & II Timothy, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 394.