Advice from an Old Preacher to a Young Preacher (4)
In the final two verses of 1 Timothy 4, Paul gives the young preacher the following instruction:
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.
There are several words in these two verses that demand specific attention:
Practice (from the Greek, meletao) means “to continue to perform certain activities with care and concern” (Louw & Nida 68.20). The present tense emphasizes the need for sustained diligence.
These things references the matters related to Timothy’s example. He was to show care and concern in maintaining proper speech, manner of life, love, faith, and purity. He was to sustain due diligence in regard to the reading of Scripture, exhortation, and doctrine.
He was to devote [himself] to those things. Literally, this phrase means “to be in” something (Vincent). It is variously translated. “Be wholly in them” (Darby). “Give thyself wholly to them” (ASV; KJV). “Be absorbed in them” (NASB95). “Give yourself entirely to them” (NKJV). Paul wanted the young preacher to completely immerse himself in his own personal progress as a preacher. This was to be no part-time hobby. Timothy was to eat, drink, and breathe his own spiritual growth and his ministry.
Keep a close watch (often rendered “take heed”) translates the Greek epeche, which means to be continually ready and alert. What is Timothy to diligently watch? Himself and his teaching – in that order! On a practical level, young preacher, it will matter not how much you know or how well you can preach if your personal life is characterized by glaring hypocrisy. If you preach on stewardship, but you are a poor manager of your own money, your effectiveness will be greatly weakened. The same holds true with such things as language, evangelism, prayer, family life, personal health, temper, and many other matters of character and ethics. Preachers who are unwilling to be personally affected by the messages they preach dishonor that noble profession. Never preach a sermon to someone else that you have not first preached to yourself.
If Timothy would follow Paul’s inspired instruction, then everyone would see his spiritual progress (1 Tim. 4:15) and have no reason to despise his youth. Paul is not instructing Timothy to egotistically parade good works before others just to be seen by them (cf. Matt. 6:1ff). He is simply encouraging Timothy to focus on improving his own spiritual health. By so doing, others will naturally become aware of it. Motive is the key. As I heard another preacher observe, it is one thing to do something to be seen by men; it is quite another to do things that are seen by men (cf. Matt. 5:16). By watching his own life and his teaching, Timothy could stop the mouths of those who looked down on him just because he was young. The same can be true for you, too.
The ultimate end of heeding Paul’s advice would be that Timothy would directly and eternally contribute to his own salvation and the salvation of others – and isn’t that what it’s all about? As preachers of the gospel, we want to be sure that the message we preach is properly applied to ourselves so that we lose not our reward (cf. 1 Cor. 9:27), and we want to help others enjoy a blessed and happy eternity, too. By applying Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 1:11-16, we can do just that.
References:
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.). New York: United Bible Societies, 1996.
Vincent, Marvin R. Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. 4. New York: Hendrickson, 1985.
