“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil (2Tim 2:24).
Perfect conditions foster perfect results. For instance, everything in science goes as planned in the lab. Chemicals and compounds react as they should in a clean and climate controlled environment. But when something gets spilled or broken, it all goes off the rails.
It’s the same in sports. Just about every decent athlete can perform during practice. A quarterback looks like superstar when there’s no pass rush. A slugger feasts on batting practice fastballs. Free throws are a piece of cake in a quiet gym. Perfect conditions foster perfect results.
But there’s just one little problem called the Real World. Things break. Stuff gets messy. To be effective, a scientific breakthrough must work when it’s not sterile. You may be a all-star at practice, but games are played with against skilled opponents in hostile conditions. Linebackers blitz. Pitchers throw nasty curveballs. Free throws in front of a rabid crowd on the road with the game on the line are a different beast. And we haven’t even brought up bad weather.
We’re all pretty good when conditions are perfect. But who can still deliver the goods when when things are less than their best? That’s exactly the kind of situation Paul is writing to Timothy about here. “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (v24-25).
Paul encourages Tim to keep his cool when the situation boils over. As a servant of Jesus, don’t get sucked into the fight. Instead of throwing gasoline on the fire, soothe with kindness. See it as a teachable moment. Hang tough in harmful settings. Be a grace-filled fire extinguisher. Remember, we don’t serve our Savior in a climate controlled lab. Life is messy. People are messier. Jesus calls us to be our best when things are the worst.
You might be saying, “But Paul, you’re an apostle. You wrote a huge chunk of the Bible. That’s easy for you to say. You have no idea the kind of crap I’m dealing with at (fill in the blank…work, home, school, church, or all of the above).” I hate to break it to you but I’m pretty sure the situation the author of this little letter is facing trumps anything you’ve got going.
As he writes this letter, the apostle is doing hard time behind bars at Caesar’s Supermax in Rome, better known as the Mamertine Prison (2Tim 1:16, 2:9). He’s in the final days of his life on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). He writes with two simple purposes. One, he’s passing the torch of ministry to Pastor Tim (2Tim 2:1-4:5). Two, he’s pleading for one last visit from his protege (2Tim 4:9, 21).
Timothy isn’t exactly kicking back on a long vacation at Sandals Jamaica either. He’s in big port city of Ephesus continuing the reform of what has become an incredibly dysfunctional church (1Tim 1:3). He’s dealing with a team of troublemakers who are spreading a fast-growing cancer throughout the congregation (2Tim 2:17-18). Three different times Paul tells the young pastor not to take the bait and get involved in a war of words with them (2Tim 14, 16, 23). Now’s the time to put on your big boy pants. Stop chasing kid stuff and start chasing God stuff (2Tim 2:22).
Paul reminds Tim just exactly where he sits on the org chart. He’s “the Lord’s servant” (v24). The apostle drops a term here (Gr. δουλος/doulos) that describes a First Century bondservant. It’s a person completely controlled by another. Someone devoted to another’s cause with no disregard of his or her own interests. In this case, that other person is the Lord. Like Timothy, I need to remember Whom I serve. I serve Jesus. He’s in charge. He’s the Boss. If you’re one of His followers, you’re His direct report. Let’s just say He’s the one handling your ultimate performance review.
That means I do what He says. Christ isn’t just my Savior, He’s my Lord. He’s not only my Rescuer, He’s my Leader. I can’t just buy His eternal fire insurance. I turn over my entire life to my Lord. His agenda becomes my agenda. His desire becomes my desire. His will becomes my will.
He calls me to serve as He served. What follows in verse 24 are qualities that He exhibited during His time here on Earth as the Suffering Servant. He didn’t go looking for a fight but was incredibly kind to everyone he met. He’s the greatest teacher the world has ever known. No one has ever withstood the kind evil he faced during His betrayal, torture, and crucifixion. He consistently corrected His enemies with a firm but wonderfully gentle touch. He’s my model. He’s my example. And just like Jesus, I serve by doing my best when everything is the worst.
One of the most important ways to serve the Lord is by not picking fights, or in Paul’s words, they “must not be quarrelsome” (v24). As we mentioned, the man from Tarsus just told Tim that we’re to steer clear of getting involved in War of the Words. Not once. Not twice. But THREE times (2Tim 14, 16, 23). Don’t walk around locked and loaded, looking for a fight. Too many so-called Christians are more like a hockey goon just hoping he can drop the gloves and pound somebody senseless with self-righteousness. There are few things worse than a religious bully. Put down the 10-pound Bible and back off.
Instead of being ready to throw, a servant of the Lord should be “kind to everyone” (v24). Note that there are to be no restrictions of who’s on the receiving end. We don’t make eye contact with anyone who’s not eligible for kindness. The apostle uses a Greek word for “kind” (Gr. ηπιος/epios) that describes being soothing, mild, or gentle.
In another letter, Paul reminds his friends in Thessalonica just how kind he and his team was when they were in town. “We were gentle (Gr. ηπιος/epios) among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children” (1Th 2:7). Is there a better image of tenderness and kindness than a young mother gently caring and comforting her newborn baby?
Ancient Greek writers used this word (Gr. ηπιος/epios) when describing medicines which bring relief. There was a commercial in a previous millennium for Alka-Seltzer with a catchy little jingle that went a little something like this. “Plop, plop. Fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.” Do you bring peace wherever you go? Do you provide soothing relief to the situation?
We’re not talking about conflict avoidance. There’s a boatload of evidence in the Bible where Jesus is more than willing to stir things up for the right reasons (Mt 21:12-13; Jn 2:15-17). We see several times in the NT how Paul is ready to confront sin. He even gets in the grill of the apostle Jesus nicknamed Rocky when he acted like a hypocrite (Gal 2:11-14). But each instance was to eventually bring healing to soothe the situation and restore God’s shalom when it hits the fan.
A servant of Jesus also sees tremendous value when life gets crazy. They are “able to teach (Gr. διδακτικος/didaktikos)” (v24). Paul uses a word that describes being apt and skillful to instruct. It’s that amazing ability that allows others to learn easily. Instead of acting like a hotheaded coach who berates their players in front of the entire team and the crowd, we’re not looking to punish or browbeat folks who fall short.
Use mistakes and sinful action as teachable moments. Keep your cool and ask questions. Why did you do that? What were you trying to accomplish? How did it turn out? How could you have done it differently? Remind them of who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. Remind them who we are in Him. It’s how Paul starts every one of his letters. And remind yourself while you’re at it. A good teacher teaches himself as well.
Finally the apostle tells the young preacher how the Lord’s servant must hang tough when under personal attack. It requires “patiently enduring evil” (v24). This little phrase is actually just a single word in the original language (Gr. ανεζικακος/anexikakos). It’s actually a compound term that literally means to hold on while in the middle of harm. God’s servant must be ready to bear up under difficulties without resentment.
Let’s not pull any punches. Openly identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus makes you an easy target. Society certainly has more than its fair share of hate for lawyers, politicians, and journalists, but they’ve added Christians to this list in the past few years. That’s in addition to Satan putting believers in his bullseye for as long as anyone can remember.
So how do we hold up in the middle of harm? Think of yourself like a big cactus in the desert. Amazing plants like the saguaro are incredibly drought tolerant. They not only simply survive in harsh conditions but actually thrive. Despite living some of the most hostile ecosystems on our planet, these cacti grow over 70 feet tall! In the same way, God’s servant needs to be harm tolerant. We do that by finding our source of nourishment in the endless supply of Living Water that only Jesus provides (Jn 4:10-11; 7:38). He gives us the strength to hold up in the middle of harm. He gives us the ability to not simply survive but thrive in harshest conditions.
At this point you may be more than ready to punch out. All this Jesus stuff is great but I don’t want any piece of this action! Look, dude, I’m trying to make my life as stress-free as possible. There’s no way I could ever keep my cool when things get crazy. If that’s you, here’s the crazy thing. You’re EXACTLY the person God is looking for! He specializes in using the weak and foolish to shock the world (1Cor 1:27). The weaker you are the more powerfully His grace gives you power (2Cor 12:9-10). His light shines brightest through broken containers (2Cor 4:7-11).
This doesn’t mean you’re going to serve God perfectly. We need to constantly remember that every single one of us is a work in progress. There are going to be times when we do quarrel, when we aren’t kind, when the only way we teach is by providing the bad example, where we fold under the pressure. When we do, repent and turn back to your Savior. We’re going to need Him every step of the way. Remember, He was perfect so I don’t have to be.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, life will be perfect some day soon. And it will be perfect forever! But in the meantime, we don’t exist in a clean room. We don’t live life in a lab. We don’t play our games on the practice field. Every single day we open our eyes in the morning, you can count on one thing. It’s going to get messy. Jesus is looking for servants who can serve when everything hits the fan. He’s calling us to be at our best when life is at its worst.
Perfect conditions foster perfect results. For instance, everything in science goes as planned in the lab. Chemicals and compounds react as they should in a clean and climate controlled environment. But when something gets spilled or broken, it all goes off the rails.
It’s the same in sports. Just about every decent athlete can perform during practice. A quarterback looks like superstar when there’s no pass rush. A slugger feasts on batting practice fastballs. Free throws are a piece of cake in a quiet gym. Perfect conditions foster perfect results.
But there’s just one little problem called the Real World. Things break. Stuff gets messy. To be effective, a scientific breakthrough must work when it’s not sterile. You may be a all-star at practice, but games are played with against skilled opponents in hostile conditions. Linebackers blitz. Pitchers throw nasty curveballs. Free throws in front of a rabid crowd on the road with the game on the line are a different beast. And we haven’t even brought up bad weather.
We’re all pretty good when conditions are perfect. But who can still deliver the goods when when things are less than their best? That’s exactly the kind of situation Paul is writing to Timothy about here. “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (v24-25).
Paul encourages Tim to keep his cool when the situation boils over. As a servant of Jesus, don’t get sucked into the fight. Instead of throwing gasoline on the fire, soothe with kindness. See it as a teachable moment. Hang tough in harmful settings. Be a grace-filled fire extinguisher. Remember, we don’t serve our Savior in a climate controlled lab. Life is messy. People are messier. Jesus calls us to be our best when things are the worst.
You might be saying, “But Paul, you’re an apostle. You wrote a huge chunk of the Bible. That’s easy for you to say. You have no idea the kind of crap I’m dealing with at (fill in the blank…work, home, school, church, or all of the above).” I hate to break it to you but I’m pretty sure the situation the author of this little letter is facing trumps anything you’ve got going.
As he writes this letter, the apostle is doing hard time behind bars at Caesar’s Supermax in Rome, better known as the Mamertine Prison (2Tim 1:16, 2:9). He’s in the final days of his life on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). He writes with two simple purposes. One, he’s passing the torch of ministry to Pastor Tim (2Tim 2:1-4:5). Two, he’s pleading for one last visit from his protege (2Tim 4:9, 21).
Timothy isn’t exactly kicking back on a long vacation at Sandals Jamaica either. He’s in big port city of Ephesus continuing the reform of what has become an incredibly dysfunctional church (1Tim 1:3). He’s dealing with a team of troublemakers who are spreading a fast-growing cancer throughout the congregation (2Tim 2:17-18). Three different times Paul tells the young pastor not to take the bait and get involved in a war of words with them (2Tim 14, 16, 23). Now’s the time to put on your big boy pants. Stop chasing kid stuff and start chasing God stuff (2Tim 2:22).
Paul reminds Tim just exactly where he sits on the org chart. He’s “the Lord’s servant” (v24). The apostle drops a term here (Gr. δουλος/doulos) that describes a First Century bondservant. It’s a person completely controlled by another. Someone devoted to another’s cause with no disregard of his or her own interests. In this case, that other person is the Lord. Like Timothy, I need to remember Whom I serve. I serve Jesus. He’s in charge. He’s the Boss. If you’re one of His followers, you’re His direct report. Let’s just say He’s the one handling your ultimate performance review.
That means I do what He says. Christ isn’t just my Savior, He’s my Lord. He’s not only my Rescuer, He’s my Leader. I can’t just buy His eternal fire insurance. I turn over my entire life to my Lord. His agenda becomes my agenda. His desire becomes my desire. His will becomes my will.
He calls me to serve as He served. What follows in verse 24 are qualities that He exhibited during His time here on Earth as the Suffering Servant. He didn’t go looking for a fight but was incredibly kind to everyone he met. He’s the greatest teacher the world has ever known. No one has ever withstood the kind evil he faced during His betrayal, torture, and crucifixion. He consistently corrected His enemies with a firm but wonderfully gentle touch. He’s my model. He’s my example. And just like Jesus, I serve by doing my best when everything is the worst.
One of the most important ways to serve the Lord is by not picking fights, or in Paul’s words, they “must not be quarrelsome” (v24). As we mentioned, the man from Tarsus just told Tim that we’re to steer clear of getting involved in War of the Words. Not once. Not twice. But THREE times (2Tim 14, 16, 23). Don’t walk around locked and loaded, looking for a fight. Too many so-called Christians are more like a hockey goon just hoping he can drop the gloves and pound somebody senseless with self-righteousness. There are few things worse than a religious bully. Put down the 10-pound Bible and back off.
Instead of being ready to throw, a servant of the Lord should be “kind to everyone” (v24). Note that there are to be no restrictions of who’s on the receiving end. We don’t make eye contact with anyone who’s not eligible for kindness. The apostle uses a Greek word for “kind” (Gr. ηπιος/epios) that describes being soothing, mild, or gentle.
In another letter, Paul reminds his friends in Thessalonica just how kind he and his team was when they were in town. “We were gentle (Gr. ηπιος/epios) among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children” (1Th 2:7). Is there a better image of tenderness and kindness than a young mother gently caring and comforting her newborn baby?
Ancient Greek writers used this word (Gr. ηπιος/epios) when describing medicines which bring relief. There was a commercial in a previous millennium for Alka-Seltzer with a catchy little jingle that went a little something like this. “Plop, plop. Fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.” Do you bring peace wherever you go? Do you provide soothing relief to the situation?
We’re not talking about conflict avoidance. There’s a boatload of evidence in the Bible where Jesus is more than willing to stir things up for the right reasons (Mt 21:12-13; Jn 2:15-17). We see several times in the NT how Paul is ready to confront sin. He even gets in the grill of the apostle Jesus nicknamed Rocky when he acted like a hypocrite (Gal 2:11-14). But each instance was to eventually bring healing to soothe the situation and restore God’s shalom when it hits the fan.
A servant of Jesus also sees tremendous value when life gets crazy. They are “able to teach (Gr. διδακτικος/didaktikos)” (v24). Paul uses a word that describes being apt and skillful to instruct. It’s that amazing ability that allows others to learn easily. Instead of acting like a hotheaded coach who berates their players in front of the entire team and the crowd, we’re not looking to punish or browbeat folks who fall short.
Use mistakes and sinful action as teachable moments. Keep your cool and ask questions. Why did you do that? What were you trying to accomplish? How did it turn out? How could you have done it differently? Remind them of who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. Remind them who we are in Him. It’s how Paul starts every one of his letters. And remind yourself while you’re at it. A good teacher teaches himself as well.
Finally the apostle tells the young preacher how the Lord’s servant must hang tough when under personal attack. It requires “patiently enduring evil” (v24). This little phrase is actually just a single word in the original language (Gr. ανεζικακος/anexikakos). It’s actually a compound term that literally means to hold on while in the middle of harm. God’s servant must be ready to bear up under difficulties without resentment.
Let’s not pull any punches. Openly identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus makes you an easy target. Society certainly has more than its fair share of hate for lawyers, politicians, and journalists, but they’ve added Christians to this list in the past few years. That’s in addition to Satan putting believers in his bullseye for as long as anyone can remember.
So how do we hold up in the middle of harm? Think of yourself like a big cactus in the desert. Amazing plants like the saguaro are incredibly drought tolerant. They not only simply survive in harsh conditions but actually thrive. Despite living some of the most hostile ecosystems on our planet, these cacti grow over 70 feet tall! In the same way, God’s servant needs to be harm tolerant. We do that by finding our source of nourishment in the endless supply of Living Water that only Jesus provides (Jn 4:10-11; 7:38). He gives us the strength to hold up in the middle of harm. He gives us the ability to not simply survive but thrive in harshest conditions.
At this point you may be more than ready to punch out. All this Jesus stuff is great but I don’t want any piece of this action! Look, dude, I’m trying to make my life as stress-free as possible. There’s no way I could ever keep my cool when things get crazy. If that’s you, here’s the crazy thing. You’re EXACTLY the person God is looking for! He specializes in using the weak and foolish to shock the world (1Cor 1:27). The weaker you are the more powerfully His grace gives you power (2Cor 12:9-10). His light shines brightest through broken containers (2Cor 4:7-11).
This doesn’t mean you’re going to serve God perfectly. We need to constantly remember that every single one of us is a work in progress. There are going to be times when we do quarrel, when we aren’t kind, when the only way we teach is by providing the bad example, where we fold under the pressure. When we do, repent and turn back to your Savior. We’re going to need Him every step of the way. Remember, He was perfect so I don’t have to be.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, life will be perfect some day soon. And it will be perfect forever! But in the meantime, we don’t exist in a clean room. We don’t live life in a lab. We don’t play our games on the practice field. Every single day we open our eyes in the morning, you can count on one thing. It’s going to get messy. Jesus is looking for servants who can serve when everything hits the fan. He’s calling us to be at our best when life is at its worst.
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