1 Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. 2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
Have you ever played the game telephone? The one where you sit in a large circle and one person comes up with some sort of saying maybe: "The journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step", they whisper it into the ear of the person beside them, who then has to repeat it whispering it to the person next to them, and so on until the message has made it to the final person in the line of the chain. Then their task is to announce the message that they have received, or more importatnly how they have received it. So boldly they proclaim "The yearning of thousands of smiles begs the first snip" and everyone laughs at how the message was able to become so tainted by passing only through 10-12 ears.
When I read this message from Paul to Timothy, I see accountability in action. First and foremost as is a continual theme throughout this letter is the reminder that Timothy is not doing this on his own, but that is to be strong through the grace that God gives him through Jesus.
But then Paul goes on to remind Timothy of the teachings, or the message, that Paul had taught to young Timothy, and reminds him of this Accountability. He says "You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses". You see Paul was not coming up with new ideas, and new theologies, he was affirming the true theology that he and many other believers already had known and experienced through that theology coming to life. Paul just put it into words. Glorious words. But he reminds Timothy, that these words are not just something he thought up and taught. Instead they are teachings and messages that have been put into words by the affirmation and confirmation of reliable witnesses. Paul did not walk with Christ, but Paul did walk with those who walked with Christ. I imagine the discussions an excited Paul would have late at night with the apostles, and friends like Luke. Asking them to tell more of the stories of Christ's life, more of the Parables that he shared, more of the example he lived. And then formulating truths based on such accounts to provide us with the messages we have today. I would love to have been in Paul's Shoes.
Essentially what Paul was doing was a bit like playing telephone, but cheating! You see he would get a message from an apostle, and then say it back to the apostle out loud. Then he would get another message from another reliable source, and share both messages between the 2 to make sure the message was still the same. And then Paul began sharing these messages, always being in check with those who could affirm and confirm his words. So the final message that we as believers are able to receive is not a distorted and tainted truth, but it is the same truth that came from those who walked and talked with Jesus. HOW COOL!
And so Paul goes on to finish explaining to Timothy that Timothy must also do the same. He is to teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
I imagine what the Gospel would look like if it were simply done as a game of Telephone. But truthfully I also know that our messages can become like that of a game of Telephone when we do not have people in our life affirming and confirming our messages. When there is no accountability. I remember meeting a travel speaker on time and talking with him. He was bold, he was intense, he was charismatic. And I remember asking him what church was his home church, and having him tell me that he did not have a church, that he didn't really believe in the institution of church, and he was gone speaking all the time anyway to have any real home congregation. I left that time with him thinking "who is keeping this guy accountable?". who is making sure he is not teaching heresy and poor doctrine and creating a web of tainted truths and messages?
This reminder from Paul to Timothy is a reminder to us all of the importance of such community and accountability and a reminder of the importance of how we handle the word of God and the truths within rich affirmed theology.
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