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Be Prepared In Season And Out of Season

          In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (II Timothy 4:1-5)

           We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6-8)

          As Paul concludes his letter, he tells Timothy to preach, rebuke, and encourage. He warns that people may not respond. His job is like “herding cats.” He doesn’t say it, but some of those cats might be like domestic shorthairs, some might be feral, and some might be jaguars or lions. Herding them, and keeping them from harming one another or Timothy was a task that required diligence and patience. No matter what, Timothy was to do his job well. When the going got tough, Timothy was to keep doing his job.

          When we read this passage, we may be discouraged. Here’s another thing we don’t feel competent to do, but we’ve been commanded… preach, preach, preach, encourage, rebuke. I don’t have a problem getting up in front of a polite audience, but one-to-one? Rebuke and encourage? With great patience?

          What we are forgetting here is that Paul was writing to a pastor. If Timothy had been, for  example, a deacon, the exhortation might have been that Timothy should serve well and with great patience. If he’d been an administer, he’d have been told to administer with great patience, not lording it over others. In Romans, Paul points out that there’s more than one gift. And it’s possible for a person to have more than one gift, but whatever gift one has, one is to do it whole-heartedly, with great patience and endurance, even under oppression.

          So, if you see a problem and you have an idea for solving it, whether it means picking up trash or picking up people, do it with determination, patience, and joy. Use your gifts, whatever they are, no matter how small or insignificant they seem to you. Timothy doesn’t seem to have thought much of himself as a teacher, after all.


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