Disciples in the Church (2 Tim. 3)

We’re taking a break from the gospel of Luke for a couple of months; next week we’ll be entering our annual Advent series.

We had a two-week gap between the two, and so decided to stay in the theme for our church retreat last week and see how the Bible would have us pursue being disciples of Christ.

We’re going to be in today, but before we get there, I want to share a little bit of my story, to help you understand why this is such a big deal.

Most of you know I grew up in church; my father was a youth pastor (my youth pastor) in a series of Pentecostal churches in America. I grew up knowing a lot of stories from the Bible. But nearly always, the takeaway from those stories was a moralistic view of salvation. Do the right things, don’t do the wrong things, and God will be pleased with you.

This moralistic view of salvation did absolutely nothing to convince me I needed salvation, because I was a pretty well-behaved kid. It wasn’t until I was already an adult that I started to realize the depth of my own sin, and realized my need for a Savior.

A few months after that, I met and fell in love with Loanne; we got married; and a year later we moved to France (she was coming home, I was embarking on my first “adventure” overseas). We moved to a small town in Normandy, where we were both working ordinary jobs and serving as best we could in a small church in our town.

The pastor of this church was well-intentioned and took a liking to me, so he started asking me to take on some responsibilities in the church, even though I knew next to nothing about the Bible (other than the stories I’d heard as a child). It wasn’t until I’d been doing that for a couple of months that I had a conversation with him, and I confessed that I felt ill-equipped—not just to do ministry in the church, but to do anything. I was realizing (through a series of personal difficulties) that I simply didn’t know how to live the Christian life. So I asked him for help.

And he suggested I go to Bible school. I did that for a year or so—a little charismatic institute designed to teach pastors the main points of charismatic doctrine, but which actually taught us very little about the Bible itself.

When that didn’t prove helpful, I turned to the only other resource I had: the Internet.

So I turned to the only other resource

I started listening to sermons and conference messages and online classes to help me understand how to read the Bible faithfully, and what the Bible said.

Now, God was gracious and helped me to grow during that time. But it wasn’t long before I realized what I was lacking.

In our church, we had church services and prayer meetings, but there was no real community to speak of, in which we could learn from other believers how to live out the gospel in practice. The only real “community” Loanne and I had at that time, the only community in which we could actually grow in obedience, was our marriage.

But it wasn’t long before I realized what I was lacking.

By God’s grace, we did grow in a lot of ways during this time—he allowed our marriage to be a “mini-community” in which we learned to live out the gospel in certain ways. But at the same time, it put an incredible strain on our already strained marriage, because marriage isn’t designed to support the load of all of our spiritual growth: a marriage is a very poor substitute for the church.

The more I grew in my knowledge of the Bible, the more I realized that the church is the primary means by which God helps us grow in our knowledge of the Word, and grow in our maturity in living the Word. That the community of the church (and not church services or church experiences) is designed by God to bring us to a right knowledge of the Bible, and to bring us to maturity and holiness. That’s what we saw last week.

And I realized that I had never seen what that looks like in practice.

When I came to my pastor, wanting to grow in my knowledge of the Bible, he pointed me outside the church. I don’t think he was malicious in his suggestions (I think that’s just the only thing he knew), but the reality is that my growth in the knowledge of the Word of God, and my growth in maturity, were effectively being outsourced to places outside the church which were totally unequipped to bring about that growth. (Frankly, it is a miracle of God’s grace and faithfulness that Loanne and I are still Christians today.)

The more we grow in our knowledge of the Bible, the more we will realize that the church is the primary means by which God helps us grow in our knowledge of the Word, and grow in our maturity in living the Word. That the community of the church (and not church services or church experiences) is designed by God to bring us to a right knowledge of the Bible, and to bring us to maturity and holiness. That’s what we saw last week.

But many people never see what that looks like in practice.

By God’s grace, I grew in a lot of ways during this time (

That’s what I want to look at today.

Last week we looked at the relationship between disciples of Christ and the church: that we cannot grow as disciples of Christ without the church. The church is God’s primary means of enabling his people to live out his Word and grow in maturity.

And to do that, we’re going to make our way through .

But we didn’t really see what that looks like.

Context: Sin in the Church (v. 1-9)

False Discipleship in the Church (v. 1-9)

At the time he receives this letter, Timothy is the young pastor of the church of Ephesus. (So Timothy is now the pastor of the church Paul wrote to in the letter we looked at last week.) They were very close: Timothy was Paul’s protégé, and Paul had left him in Ephesus to care for the church he had planted.

Paul is in prison when he writes this letter, and clearly he anticipates that his death will come soon. So this, for all intents and purposes, is his goodbye letter to his young brother in Christ: his final exhortation to keep the faith and to minister faithfully.

In chapters 1 and 2 Paul exhorts Timothy to guard the deposit of the faith which has been entrusted to him, using a series of metaphors (a soldier, an athlete, a farmer) to get his point across. He encourages Timothy to live faithfully for Christ and to transmit that faithfulness to his church.

And then, in chapter 3 he makes a bit of a turn. He warns Timothy of the danger ahead of him in the church (some of which have already begun to make themselves apparent), and he tells Timothy what to do in response to that danger.

The danger in question is the danger of false discipleship.

Let’s read starting at v. 1.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

So there’s something that we can miss if we skim over these first verses too quickly, but I’ll confess that the first time I saw this, it shook me.

In v. 2-4 Paul describes the kind of people who will start showing up in church, and he makes quite a list. Self-centered, greedy, arrogant, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, no self-control, and so on. He describes everything that none of us want to be.

And it’s not surprising to imagine that “in the last days” (which is an expression most often used to describe the period between Christ’s ascension and his return), things will get bad. It’s not surprising, because we’re used to hearing that things will get worse before they get better.

But here’s the surprising thing: these self-centered, proud, arrogant, abusive, slanderous, unholy, brutal people…have the appearance of godliness (v. 5). You would think that with the kind of list he describes before, these people would be easy to spot, because Christians aren’t supposed to act that way. Surely people with souls that dried up and corrupt, you could see them coming.

The incredible thing: these self-centered, proud, arrogant, abusive, slanderous, unholy, brutal people…have the appearance of godliness. So in everything he has just listed, he is not talking about patterns of behavior which are readily apparent, but dispositions of the heart that can be easily hidden.

But no—Paul says they have the appearance of godliness. These verses alone should disabuse us of the moralistic gospel so many of us have grown up hearing: “Do these things, don’t do these things, and God will be pleased with you.” It doesn’t work that way, because clearly these people were doing everything right—at least on the outside—but were still suffering from broken, twisted hearts. They had the appearance of godliness, but lacked the power of godliness, which is rooted not in right behavior, but in regenerated hearts.

So in everything he has just listed, he is not talking about patterns of behavior which are readily apparent, but dispositions of the heart that can be easily hidden.

You see, in everything he has just listed, he is not talking about patterns of behavior which are readily apparent, but dispositions of the heart that can be easily hidden.

These verses alone should disabuse us of the moralistic gospel so many of us have grown up hearing: “Do these things, don’t do these things, and God will be pleased with you.” It doesn’t work that way, because clearly these people were doing everything right—at least on the outside—but were still suffering from broken, twisted hearts. They had the appearance of godliness, but lacked the power of godliness, which is rooted not in right behavior, but in regenerated hearts.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God

You see, in everything he has just listed, he is not talking about patterns of behavior which are readily apparent, but dispositions of the heart that can be easily hidden.

So what do you get when you have people in a church who seem to be good, solid Christians, but who have not actually been transformed by the Holy Spirit? You get false discipleship.

V. 6:

6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Now just to clear up a misconception real quickly: Paul is not saying women are more easily led astray than men here. Anyone who’s ever been married knows that’s not true. More than likely, Paul is responding to an actual recurrent problem in the church in Ephesus, in which men who fill the bill he described in v. 1-5 preyed on those who would be easy targets in that culture.

His point here isn’t to point out whom they are targeting, but to reveal the deeper truth in what they are doing.

Women are not more easily led astray than men—more than likely, Paul is responding to an actual recurrent problem in the church in Ephesus, in which men who fill the bill he described in v. 1-5 preyed on those who would be easy targets in that culture.

They’re not just giving bad advice; they are actively opposing the truth. Why? Because they are not led by the Holy Spirit applying the truth to their hearts; they are led by their own sinful desire.

So often people think, If I can learn the right thing, if I can figure ________ out, then I’ll love God more and I’ll be able to live for him. So they’ll read books, and they’ll listen to sermons, and they’ll even go to Bible school… They’ll do all these good things, and never realize that their problem is not in what they know, but in what they want.

It’s so important to see this: because they are burdened by their sin, and led astray by their own sinful desires, they are always learning, and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Now matter how smart these people seem to be, they are led by their guts, and their heads follow suit.

What we know springs from what we want; and if we want sin, we will always live in opposition to the truth.

And the end result is that these men are corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

And they’ll end up taking other people with them: those who claim to be able to teach others about Christ are actually leading people away from Christ.

His point is not whom they are targeting, but rather the deeper truth of what they are doing.

They are opposing the truth, targeting those who are burdened by sin and led astray by sinful desires, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

This is a sobering reality for anyone who cares about the church: if we Christians do not do the work of discipleship, someone else will do it for us. If we, as a church, are not in each other’s lives and homes, helping one another to grow in a knowledge of Christ, out of a sincere desire to glorify God and know him as he has revealed himself in Scripture, someone else will come into our homes and lives and lead us away from Christ.

They are corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

That’s what Timothy’s already been seeing in his church, from all appearances. That’s what he’s up against: the false discipleship of people who say they know Christ but have no desire for Christ, so end up leading people away from Christ.

In other words, those who claim to be able to teach others about Christ are actually leading people away from Christ.

And this danger is present in every single church that has ever existed.

So if that’s what will happen if we do nothing, what do we do to counteract it?

Here’s what I think Paul is getting at here.

The only way to counteract false discipleship in the church is to live out true discipleship in the church.

If Christians do not do the work of discipleship, someone else will do it for them. If we are not in each other’s lives and homes, helping one another to grow in a knowledge of Christ, someone else will come into our homes and lives and lead us away from Christ.

Now, what’s the alternative?

True Discipleship in the Church (v. 10-15)

And there are two main domains in which this true discipleship plays itself out.

the time Paul spent with Timothy, discipling him;

The first domain in which discipleship plays out is our lives with other Christians.

Other Christians

the time Timothy spent under the care of his family

10 You, however, have followed my teaching...

Now let’s stop there for a second. We need to recognize that, especially in our connected age, most Christians stop right here.

Good teaching abounds. Christians will listen to sermons (at church and online), they’ll listen to podcasts, they’ll read blogs, they’ll listen to conference messages. We have a wealth of good teaching at our disposal, and many Christians make the most of it.

All that is good.

Paul taught Timothy—both in person, one-to-one, and in the time Paul spent teaching in Ephesus. And Timothy learned well. He took that teaching to heart. He learned it so well, in fact, that he could in turn teach it to others. Right teaching is essential to growth in Christian maturity.

But it cannot stop there.

Most Christians tend to stop there.

Anon, 2016. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

They will listen to sermons, they’ll listen to podcasts, they’ll read blogs, they’ll listen to conference messages.

All that is good. Paul taught Timothy—both in person, one-to-one, and in the time Paul spent teaching in Ephesus. Right teaching is essential to growth in maturity.

But it cannot stop there.

The sad reality is that for all the Christians who dive deep into good teaching, many of them get zero spiritual training anywhere else. They listen and study and learn and even know how to explain biblical truth to other people…and they do it all from the safety of their own computer screen

How many Christians have spent countless hours listening to wonderful truths in the faithful teaching of the Word…and found themselves still unable to conquer their sin, or to grow in their affection for Christ? How many Christians spend hours consuming right teaching, but remain, for all intents and purposes, unchanged?

Let me put this as bluntly as I possibly can, because I love you:

My fear is that for some of you, your passion for faithful Bible teaching amounts to little more than a stimulating hobby. You love it because it’s interesting, but you find yourself perplexed as to why, for all the time you spend exposed to faithful preaching of the Word, you still love John Piper more than Jesus.

I’ll tell you why: because as essential as right teaching is, if it stops there, it changes no one.

The teaching of Paul is not the only thing Timothy followed.

V. 10 again:

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

So you see: Timothy didn’t just learn from listening to what Paul said; he learned from watching what it looked like for Paul to live out his faith.

Timothy didn’t just learn from what Paul said; he learned from watching what it looked like for Paul to live out his faith.

Timothy and Paul spent a lot of time together, both in and out of ministry contexts. He saw him in action.

He saw him in action.

He saw his behavior. He saw when Paul lived what he believed, and he surely saw Paul repent when he failed.

He saw his single-minded passion for the gospel and for other believers. (He saw his tears as he said his goodbyes in Ephesus, cf. .)

He saw Paul’s faith to believe in this incredible gospel despite hardship.

He saw his patience with slow believers.

He saw his love for the brothers and sisters under his care.

He saw everything Paul suffered for the gospel—at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra—and how he persevered in the midst of that suffering.

Look in particular at v. 12:

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

So Paul reminds Timothy of his own sufferings, which Timothy witnessed, and then he reminds him: what you’re enduring right now in Ephesus is nothing strange—everyone who wants to live a godly life will suffer. It’s part of the deal.

But that suffering is refining: he says in v. 13 that evil people and impostors, who seem to have it easy, who don’t resist their own temptations, who are often rewarded for their wickedness, always come to a point where they are worse off than they were at the beginning—not because the circumstances of their lives are worse, but because they continue to be deceived by their sin.

By contrast, the persecution and suffering of the Christian helps us go from good to better: suffering and persecution are but one way God shapes us into his image.

Let me give you a really concrete example.

Yesterday we baptized ___ people. One of the young men we baptized was harshly rejected by his mother and father because they were being baptized. He’s an adult, but he was still living at home, and his parents kicked him out of the house. He is now staying with his sister.

This is an incredibly difficult thing. Your home is the one place, filled with the people you can depend on. And for Christ, he had that ripped away from him.

We talked about it after, of course, and I was honestly shaken—not by the reaction of his parents, but by the way he handled it. You never know what qualities or defects are going to come out of you in those moments until you go through them. And as difficult as his parents’ reaction was to accept, he spoke to his parents with respect, and told them he loved them, and as the same time stood firm behind his convictions.

As hard as it is, this whole experience served to strengthen his faith: when he was baptized yesterday, it wasn’t a ritual, or a rite of passage—that baptism meant something to him. And he is stronger today because of it.

And by the same token, the night he shared what had happened with my family and with our community group, we got to see what perseverance in suffering looks like. We all got to see firsthand God’s grace in changing a heart, to give our brother the strength to suffer well. We got to see it, and we learned from it.

That’s what Paul is saying here. This is what discipleship looks like.

He saw his faith to believe the unbelievable.

He saw his patience with slow believers.

Discipleship cannot limit itself to a church service, or even to meeting once a week to read the Bible with someone.

He saw his love for the brothers and sisters under his care.

Don’t get me wrong: those things need to happen—reading the Bible with someone is an essential source of learning—but it isn’t enough.

He was his perseverance in suffering.

And he saw his suffering.

If we’re reading the Bible together, but never get to see one another vulnerable, see one another suffering, see one another displaying patience in a stressful situation, see one another love despite opposition, then we are not seeing all we need to see.

Mirado—observing his reaction to his parents’ rejection of his baptism.

Brothers and sisters, the church isn’t an organization; it’s a family.

What it looks like to persevere.

When you live in a family, necessarily you will see each other in these kinds of situations, and you’ll learn from each other.

This is what discipleship looks like.

But the thing we so often forget is that this takes time, and effort, and intentional openness—in our homes, in our daily activities, in our schedules. It has to be intentional—we have to make the effort to see this happen—because in our connected society, it’s really easy to feel like we’re doing this, when we’re actually just sitting in front of our computer screens. We need to be pro-active and actually make this happen.

It cannot limit itself to meeting once a week to read the Bible with a more mature believer.

Mature Christians, you need to be inviting younger believers into your lives—and not just for a Bible study. They need to see what the Christian life looks like. You need to be inviting them into your lives, to watch and participate in the time you spent with your wife, with your husband, with your kids.

That needs to happen (that is an essential source of “teaching”), but it isn’t enough.

They need to see you living well. And they need to see you repent when you fail.

Don’t just tell them about it: show them what it looks like.

If we’re reading the Bible together, but never get to see one another vulnerable, see one another suffering, see one another displaying patience in a stressful situation, see one another love despite opposition, we are not seeing all we need to see.

And younger Christians: you need to be knocking on the doors of your older brothers and sisters, asking to be let in.

The church isn’t an organization; it’s a family.

I know that’s scary. It’s a scary thing to impose yourself onto someone else, because let’s face it—older folks tend to be set in their ways and protective of their routine.

But sometimes all we need is a little push—something to help us recognize that oh yeah, I SHOULD be doing this.

When you live in a family, necessarily you will see each other in these kinds of situations, and you’ll learn from each other.

Invite yourselves over. Impose yourselves on us, and watch us.

So knock on our doors. Invite yourselves over. Impose yourselves on us, and watch us.

That takes time, and effort, and intentional openness IN OUR HOMES, in our daily activities, in our schedules.

That’s what discipleship looks like in the body of the church. And for many people, that’s where it starts.

Mature Christians: you need to be inviting younger believers into your lives—not for a Bible study, but for time spent with your wife, with your husband, with your kids.

But for some of us—and Lord willing, for more of us as time goes on—it will and should begin not in the family of the church, but in our actual families, at home.

At the beginning of his letter, in chapter 1 verse 5, Paul mentions the faith of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. He says,

They need to see you when you’re not on your game.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

Young Christians: you need to be knocking on the doors of your older brothers and sisters, asking to be let in. Invite yourselves over. Impose yourselves on us, and watch us.

And now, in chapter 3 verse 14, he comes back to that heritage:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

At the beginning of his letter, in chapter 1 verse 5, Paul mentions the faith of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. He says,

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

So in case it’s not clear, Timothy is a young man who was raised in the faith. He grew up in church. His grandmother and his mother were both Christians, and they transmitted their faith to Timothy.

And what we don’t see Paul doing is giving Timothy the impression that his own discipleship of Timothy was more valuable than the discipleship he gained from his family.

That is simply incredible. This is the apostle Paul talking here—probably the most effective minister of the gospel in history. Imagine you had the opportunity to be discipled by, say, Tim Keller. Which learning experience would you instinctively say would be more valuable—what you learned from Tim Keller, or what you learned from your ordinary, faithful, Christian parents?

But Paul doesn’t say that Timothy really learned the faith from him; he talks about Timothy’s childhood, and says, Remember from whom you learned the Scriptures.

Parents (and those of you who hopefully will have kids one day), you need to know this: when your kids are young, the church is not the main vehicle for their discipleship. The home is.

Not because the family is holier than the church, but rather because we grow in holiness through the gospel lived out with other brothers and sisters; and nowhere is that more possible than in the family, because you’re together, under the same roof, living out the gospel, all the time.

Timothy’s mother and grandmother (cf. 1.5).

Parents, when your kids are young, the church is not the main vehicle for their sanctification.

So everything we said before about what young Christians need to see from more mature Christians applies first and foremost in the home.

Married couples, you need to make it your goal every day to disciple one another in the faith. Husbands, take the initiative to disciple your wives. Wives, submit to your husbands by responding to that initiative and discipling them well in turn.

Parents, disciple your kids. (And dads, lead in this. Don’t pawn this responsibility off to other “dads”. Don’t count on a Paul to come from the outside—be Paul for your kids.)

Your kids need to see your behavior. They need to see you live what you believe—in the most ordinary contexts, even when you’re washing the dishes or getting ready for bed—and they need to see you repent when you fail.

They need to see your passion for the gospel and for other believers. They need to see you inviting Christians into your home to live the gospel with them.

They need to see your faith in hardship.

They need to see your patience with them (because I guarantee, your kids will learn slowly—we all do).

They need to see you persevering in suffering—because they will see you suffer.

He saw his behavior. He saw when Paul lived what he believed, and he surely saw Paul repent when he failed.

The home is meant for that.

He saw his single-minded passion for the gospel and for other believers. (He saw his tears as he said his goodbyes in Ephesus, cf. .)

He saw Paul’s faith to believe in this incredible gospel despite hardship.

Not because home is holier…

Parents, we are called to disciple our brothers and sisters in Christ, absolutely. But our kids are, or Lord willing, they will become, our little brothers and our little sisters in Christ. And you are called to be their first mentors.

He saw his patience with slow believers.

It is not the church’s job to disciple your children. It’s not the Sunday School teacher’s job, or the youth worker’s job, to disciple your children. It’s your job. Our homes need to be so filled with the gospel that it is the air that we breathe.

He saw his love for the brothers and sisters under his care.

If we grow in holiness through the gospel lived out with other brothers and sisters, nowhere is that more possible than in the home, because you’re together, living out the gospel, all the time.

Now, really quickly, a quick word for singles and for single parents.

He saw everything Paul suffered for the gospel—at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra—and how he persevered in the midst of that suffering.

If you’re single—you’re not married and you don’t have kids—this kind of thing can be depressing to talk about, because you’d like to do these things, but right now you can’t.

You still need to take these things to heart, because you are still our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need help. Don’t assume that just because a person is married with children, that person doesn’t need what you have to give him. Parents need to be discipled too.

And as far as your own future family goes, take my word for it: if you already understand what kind of home the Bible calls you to have, before you get married, you will be much better equipped to actually do it when you have one.

And in the meantime, you’re free—you don’t have obligations at home which keep you from loving your church family well. So make the most of it. Our nuclear families—moms and dads and kids—are not eternal. Our family in Christ is eternal. So if you are not married, if you don’t have kids, no matter how much you want those things, in reality, you are lacking nothing. You have the family you need. So rather than spending your time lamenting the nuclear family you don’t have, pour yourself into the church family you do have.

One last thing: single parents. If you’re a single parent—and particularly a single mom, which is sadly more often the case—the weight of this burden can seem almost unbearable. How are you, one person, supposed to do something that two people are supposed to do together?

Notice what we see in this letter. Paul talks about Timothy’s mother, he talks about Timothy’s grandmother…but he makes no mention of Timothy’s father. So more than likely, either Timothy’s father wasn’t a Christian, or he was absent altogether.

Being a single parent in no way means that your child’s faith is in danger.

When the ideal is lacking, God’s grace abounds all the more. The vacuum left by the father or mother that should be there is filled in other ways. It is filled first by the church—by the big brothers and big sisters who come along and help disciple our kids in ways we can’t.

Grace for families in which the fathers are absent

And ultimately, that vacuum is filled by the Holy Spirit—you don’t bring your children to faith; God brings your children to faith. All he asks of us is to obey him as faithfully as we can, to disciple our kids as faithfully as we can, and trust him to save our kids. We plant, we water, but God gives the growth.

The church is there to help

An absent father is by no means a death sentence

Now finally, what is the goal of all this? We’ve taked a lot about what discipleship looks like in the context of the church—what is the goal?

Paul has already said that Timothy learned Scripture from his mother and grandmother, and that this Scripture is able to make us wise for salvation in Jesus Christ.

Fathers, don’t pawn this responsibility off to other “dads”. Don’t count on a Paul to come from the outside—be Paul for your kids.

But Scripture doesn’t just bring us to salvation in Christ; it brings about growth in Christ, through the experience of living out the gospel in community.

(We know Timothy was discouraged and ready to give up in this letter. What might he have been

The goal: Growth in the Word (v. 16-17)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

This is the key passage for speaking about the divine inspiration of Scripture: it is the key text we turn to when we want to speak about the inerrancy of the Bible. And these verses absolutely do affirm that.

But one mistake we often make when we quote these verse is that we forget the context. The context of these famous verses is not that of preaching, but of discipleship: Paul’s discipleship of Timothy. It’s only in chapter 4 that Paul turns to his charge that Timothy “preach the word” (4.2).

So what do these two things—discipleship and the sufficiency of Scripture—have to do with each other?

To put it simply, ever since Christ’s ascension, discipleship in the church is the means by which God continues to take his Word and make it human today.

For all Paul says about discipleship here, and for all people have said about discipleship in the past, it’s surprising how easily we forget this very simple fact: discipleship is the means by which God keeps showing us that he is a God who comes to us.

Or to put it another way, discipleship is the means by which God keeps showing us that he is a God who comes to us.

When God first revealed himself to humanity, he spoke to his people. He spoke through the Law, he spoke through the prophets.

But when he gave humanity his perfect revelation of himself, he did it by sending his Son as a human being. If we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus Christ. In the person of Christ, God came and dwelt with his people. Jesus Christ was the embodiment of the Law fulfilled—he obeyed every commandment, and he did it for the right reasons. Jesus is our picture of what it looks like for a human being to live out the Word of God in practice.

We read that, and we can get almost nostalgic. How often we wish we could have been there, to see Jesus living the Word before our eyes. Why did he ascend to heaven in ? Why didn’t he stay, to keep on showing us what a human being, living the Word of God, looks like?

He did.

The answer is really simple: he did.

He sent his Spirit to his people, and by his Spirit, his

Why do we long for that? Where did we get this idea that after Christ’s ascension, God no longer shows us what it looks like for a human being to live out the Word of God?

He sent his Spirit to his people, and through his Spirit, the presence of Christ lives in us. He opens our eyes to the truth of his Word, and he brings us into a body, in which we can live the Word of God in practice.

Human beings, living the Word of God, showing other human beings what it looks like to live the Word of God.

Discipleship is not a means to be more spiritual, or to feel more connected to other people, or to grow in life experience. Discipleship is a means by which we get to take the Word of God we know, and live it out together, in order to grow up in it. And if our discipleship is firmly based in the Word of God, that discipleship in the Word will make us men and women of God—complete, equipped for every good work.

The basis for all discipleship: the Word.

The result of all discipleship in the Word: v. 17.

Application

The application for this text is unbelievably simple, and incredibly difficult: love the Word; live the Word; and do it together.

It’s simple because there really isn’t much to do. You don’t consult a rule book to know how to live in a family. You spend time together, and you watch one another, and you learn from each other. People have been doing it since the dawn of man; there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

But at the same time, it’s incredibly difficult because it will require us to get off our phones, to tear our eyes from our screens, to get out of our comfort zones, and to deal with sinful human beings. With people who will annoy us, and try our patience, and disappoint us, and frustrate us.

I hope you can see that all that effort, all that frustration, is actually the reason why it will work. We don’t need to obey the multitude of commandments the Bible gives us about patience and love and perseverance if we’re living with folks who never bother us. But when we do, we get to obey—we get to live out the gospel in practice, and learn, and grow.

So love the Word. Live the Word. And do it together.