Full Dedication

Acts 16:1-5

Introduction

How committed are you to the Church? I don’t mean specifically Queen Street Baptist Church, although there is overlap with what I’m talking about. I mean more specifically, how committed are you to being the Church?

When I have talked to Christians of older generations about commitment, the response was usually somethings like “Twice on Sundays and Wednesday nights.” For some people, commitment or dedication to the Church was about attendance. It is true that if a person is able to attend but chooses to rarely attend, that may reflect their level of commitment.

Other people may measure it by the number of ministries or programs that they volunteer for. Again, this could be a good sign. Or it may be a suggestion that the person has a need to be needed.

What if we widen this from the local church? What would it look like for a person to being fully committed to be a part of Christ’s Church, the Body of Christ, the fellowship of believers? Without going into details yet, we would think it would be more than just adding activities or attending some more meetings. Full commitment should affect the core of the person and not leave faith on the periphery. 

We are going to look at an individual that will become very important in the New Testament but is just introduced here. This is a person who was committed.

Timothy’s Commitment

We have been watching the evolution of Paul’s ministry team. First it was Paul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their assistant. Then, because of a disagreement, it became Paul and Silas. Now another young man is going to be added to the team. That man is Timothy.

We learn from 2 Timothy that his mother’s name was Eunice and his grandmother’s name was Lois. We are not told his father’s name, only that he was a Greek in contrast to the Jewish heritage on his mother’s side. We are told that he was raised learning the Scriptures, that which we call the Old Testament.

This Timothy was a follower of Jesus before meeting Paul and the people in his community spoke highly of him. Paul was probably still feeling his disappointment over John Mark, and so it speaks to the impression he had of Timothy that Paul wanted him to join the team.

What an incredible opportunity to receive a personal invitation from the great Apostle Paul to join his ministry team. Imagine all that he would learn and experience through this opportunity.

I’m not sure where in the conversation that it came up that Paul wanted Timothy to get circumcised. How did Timothy react to that?

If you have read the New Testament carefully, you might be confused by this suggestion by Paul. The main controversy surrounding Paul is that he was arguing that people could follow Jesus without getting circumcised. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul argues forcefully against circumcision, even suggesting that if they agreed to be circumcised, they were in danger of losing their salvation. Elsewhere, we see Paul supporting Titus who refused to be circumcised. Why was Timothy different?

Timothy actually was different from the Galatians and Titus. They were Gentiles. The reason circumcision was being demanded of them was a theology that believed that you needed to follow the Jewish Law before following Jesus. It assumed that Gentiles were incapable of having direct access to God and thus need to convert. Paul rejected that. Grace is grace and all people can be in relationship with God through Christ.

Timothy was a Jew. Sort of. His mother was a Jew and his father was Greek. Even today, Jewishness is determined by the mother’s side. Normally the son of a Jewish mother would be raised as a Jew. For whatever reason, Timothy was not circumcised as a baby, perhaps because his father disapproved. Now Paul wanted him to complete the process by being circumcised as an adult.

This was not because Paul thought this was necessary for Timothy to follow Jesus. Rather, despite his stated frustration with those Jews who rejected his message, Paul still loved his people and was looking for opportunities to minister to them. Timothy, with his existing Jewish heritage and receiving circumcision, would have greater opportunities to minister to the Jewish people with Paul. Paul was asking this, not for the sake of himself or for Timothy, but for the sake of ministry.

Despite the terrible physical pain that adult circumcision would cause, Timothy agreed to take this step. Timothy went on to become one of Paul’s closest companions. He wrote to Timothy: “To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith.” (1 Timothy 1:2) Paul also wrote two of his last letters to Timothy. As Paul was approaching his own death, he want to pour into Timothy one more time. Unlike John Mark, Timothy had proven his commitment and dedication.

Our Commitment

What was Timothy’s commitment level and how does that speak to our own? The point is not that he did get circumcised, it is why he got circumcised. 

He could have argued that he knew the Bible and he was happy to tell people about Jesus and that was sufficient. He could have stayed near his mother, do what he could as opportunities came his way. If anyone asked him about Jesus, he would have been happy to tell them.

However, the opportunity to minister to his mother’s people was important enough for Timothy to go way outside his comfort zone. He did not have to get circumcised but the work of the kingdom was worth it. What we see in Timothy is a commitment to the Church being at the core of his being, shaping fully his identity.

Whether or not you are member of Queen Street Baptist Church, if you are a Christian, you are a member of the Church. What does that mean to you? How important is your faith? In what ways does following Jesus shape your identity?

The easy measures are how we use our time, talent and treasure. Those are good but this goes deeper. When it comes to your own comfort versus the building of the kingdom, who wins? Is faith something that stays on the margins of your life or is it at the core?

None of this is meant to condemn or to make people feel guilty. The truth is that all of us waver in our commitment from time to time. What this is meant to do is to inspire us by Timothy’s example. Extreme discomfort was a reasonable price for more opportunities to share Jesus. Timothy was not just a Christian, he was Christian. 

Instead of beating ourselves up for not being like Timothy, let us ask this question: How can I move Jesus from the margins and closer to the centre? What level of discomfort am I willing to endure?

Conclusion

Paul discovered a young man named Timothy. This would be the beginning of a long and fruitful ministry. The reason for this is not just that he was loyal to Paul. The reason was that Timothy was committed to the mission of the Church. He was willing to do whatever it took to build the kingdom in his corner of the world.

We are not just a church, we are the Church. How does our commitment and dedication compare to Timothy? It would be easy for me to tell you to attend more often, volunteer for more ministries and put more money in the plate. But those are just outward signs. What is needed is what Timothy had, a commitment to what Christ was calling him to do. Let’s reflect on Timothy’s example and move Jesus out of the margins and into the centre.