Great cooks become great cooks because they have a great love for great food. They love it and want to share it with others. You know their names. Wolfgang Puck. Anthony Bourdain. Bobby Flay. For heaven’s sake, the TV Food Network dishes them up 24/7/365.
A couple of thousand years before Gordon Ramsey threw his first kitchen tantrum or Guy Fieri ever drove up to a diner, drive in, or dive, Pastor Timothy was serving up delicious portions of God’s Word to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus. In a letter to his spiritual son, Paul encourages Tim to serve up the same scrumptious Gospel meals he grew up eating. “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed” (v6). God’s grace isn’t just great tasting, it’s great for you.
This is a big change from the junk food the Ephesian believers have been getting recently. Instead of the truth about who Jesus is and what He’s done, a team of false teachers has been cooking up all sorts of unhealthy garbage (1Tim 1:3-4). Myths. Speculations. Worthless ancestry research. These lying hucksters have intentionally lied to folks about self-salvation by subtraction (1Tim 4:1-3). Don’t get married, they say. Avoid certain foods, they say. In other words, live the monk life. Yeah, doesn’t sound very appetizing to me either.
After giving the boot to the spiritual con artists, Paul tells Tim to get the people of Ephesus back to on a nutritious diet. He’s to “put these things before the brothers” (v5). A lot of scholars have their undies in a bundle over just what “these things” are. Are they the things in the preceding verses (1Tim 3:16-4:4)? Are they the things mentioned once we get to chapter 5? I say both. Tim is to fill their plates with “these things” we read all throughout the letter.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking the apostle is leaving the ladies out of the loop here. Most translations simply say “brothers” or “brethren.” This was first century language for every believer in the fellowship. What a great reminder that we’re aren’t a social or civic club like the Elks or the Kiwanis. We’re a family. God’s family. Through the work of our ultimate Big Brother Jesus, God has adopted us as His sons and daughters.
Paul sees the importance of basic nourishment for God’s people. The ESV translates the Greek verb hupotithemi as “put.” But there’s a bit more to it than that. It’s a compound word that literally means to “under (hupo-) lay (-tithemi).” It pictures placing under or laying down something. The term carries the idea of basic instruction and foundational teaching. Tim needs to rebuild the church and must start with a new foundation. It’s first things first. Back to the basics. From a spiritual nutrition standpoint, this is the bottom of the Food Pyramid.
It’s imperative to have a strong foundation to your faith. Know who Jesus is. Know what He’s done. We’re trusting in the fact that He lived the perfect life we failed to live. We’re trusting that He died the death for our sin we should have died. We’re trusting that He rose to the new life we don’t deserve. Those are the footings of our faith. Trust in Christ and His completed work.
When a pastor like Tim cooks up regular meals using the meat of solid teaching, he “will be a good servant of Christ Jesus” (v6). “Servant” (Gr. diakonos) paints a picture of an attendant, minister, and helper. Earlier, Paul uses the same word describe a deacon (1Tim 3:8,12). It also describes a waiter who serves food and drinks. Back in the very first church, the apostles needed hardworking dudes full of God’s Spirit to make sure everybody was getting food (Acts 6:3). The man from Tarsus sees Pastor Tim as the attentive server delivering the needed nourishment of God’s Word to the church.
Tim has been “trained in the words of the faith of the good doctrine that you have followed” (v6). So maybe you’re not exactly buying all these food images. Well, check out what Paul says here. In the original language, “trained” is the verb entrepho. It means to nourish or feed oneself on needed sustenance. That’s why it is sometimes translated as nurture or rear. You’ll only find this word in two places ancient Greek lit. Here in Paul’s letter to Tim. Also in one of Plato’s writings. Just another reminder that the apostle was VERY well read. You could say he was a voracious reader. See what I did there?
Paul reminds his protege that he’s grown up at the training table of God’s Word. Now he’s to prepare meals for the followers of Jesus in Ephesus. In the sequel to this epistle, the apostle reminds Pastor Tim of this again. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (2Tim 3:14-15).
Every follower of Jesus should have the taste for God’s Word. It shouldn’t just be limited to teachers and preachers. Let’s regularly read the Bible. Study what God has to say. Meditate on His truth. Remember, this isn’t to fill your head with all sorts of facts and figures. It’s to deepen your relationship with the One who came to your rescue.
A pastor fulfills God’s call on his life by preparing and delivering scriptural meals to the followers of Jesus that are doctrinally nutritious. Like a great chef, Tim has a passion for the food found in God’s Word and he can’t wait to share His goodness with believers. Messages and Bibles studies are like trips to the training table. Lots of protein. Packed with nutrients. It’s spicy and anything but bland. If you love to eat it, make a point of learning how to prepare it. Who knows, you may be the next great chef in God’s kitchen.
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