Selecting a Protégé

Acts 16:2-3 (NIV) – The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.  Paul wanted to take him along on the journey.

Mentoring makes a difference. I can think of several people at different times of my life who invested in me, took me with them, or, through a single conversation, helped me understand things in a new way. These relationships have formed and shaped who I am and how I do things. We often call this kind of senior-to-junior, relationship-based, experiential training mentoring after Mentor, the older man Odysseus had supervise his son Telemachus while he was away from home fighting and returning from the Trojan War in Homer’s Odyssey.

In its classic form, mentoring takes time and focus. Most educational methods enable one instructor to teach several individuals. Mentoring provides situational and personal interaction that cannot happen in a larger group. As a result, most mentoring is one-on-one at least part of the time. Some mentoring can happen by chance and be of a short duration, but we see the apostle Paul demonstrate the classic pattern of mentoring by taking Timothy with him on his second missionary journey. This mentoring relationship continued until Paul’s death. The last letter we have from him was written to his protégé and contains words of parental intimacy that convey appreciation for the years of ministry together and a desire to be together as Paul’s execution drew near. (“Make every effort to come before winter.” II Timothy 4:21).

Although we can tell Paul mentored several other individuals throughout his ministry at a variety of levels, we see Timothy mentioned more through his letters than any other – thirteen times in his letters to churches. Paul even goes so far as telling the Philippians, “I have no one else like him.” (Philippians 2:20) Although we cannot know what words they shared on the road as they traveled in those early journeys, we do read the words Paul wrote to Timothy in two letters near the end of his life and some words Paul used to commend Timothy to the churches to which he sent him as a messenger and, sometimes, as a bishop. We also have Luke’s account in the Book of Acts, which gives us some insight into Paul’s selection of this closest protégé.

As Acts Chapter 16 begins, Paul sets off without his own mentor, Barnabas, after the split recounted in Acts 15. However, we know that relationship did not stay severed. (See I Corinthians 9:16) The split did motivate Paul to take Silas with him. They returned to check on some of the Lycaonian churches they founded on the first journey. They met Timothy in Lystra. Paul likely met him on the first journey as a boy, but this second journey started this special relationship. Why did Paul pick Timothy?

1)    Paul’s preference – There was something about Timothy that made Paul “want” to take him on the journey. Luke’s wording is specific. Taking Timothy was Paul’s decision and Paul’s desire. Paul had experienced the loneliness and challenges of First Century travel. Having two travel companions would increase safety and ability. Yet, it sounds like Paul also enjoyed being with Timothy. There was an intuitive connection; however, Luke is also clear there was sound reasoning for this decision.

2)    Timothy’s reputation - The Christians in the region – not just his own town of Lystra but also the city of Iconium twenty miles away – had good things to say about him. Even though he was of mixed race, perhaps Paul thought that might be more of a bridge than a barrier as he ministered to both Jews and Greeks. Paul must have taken Timothy’s reputation along with his own observations into account as he made the decision to take him on the journey.

3)    God’s confirmation – In both of his personal letters to Timothy, Paul refers to a special work of the Holy Spirit, likely at the time he left home in Acts 16, that confirmed God’s calling and gifting of Timothy for ministry. “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” (I Timothy 4:16) “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (II Timothy 1:6) Paul and the elders of the church at Lystra laid their hands on Timothy to commission him for God’s work and they saw God give him a spiritual gift in that moment he would be able to use for the rest of his life in ministry.

Paul’s significant decision of who to take as a protégé involved three ways we can decide today. Paul’s wanting to take him seems to be intuitive but leaning on his reputation with those who knew best seems intentional and rational. Certainly, God’s confirmation was supernatural (what I call Catching God’s Story in How to Make Big Decisions Wisely). Yet, notice how the supernatural followed the more seemingly natural processes. Ideally, we do get all three in a big decision, and I always seek them, but this pattern of triple confirmation is not always the way God works. Let’s be open to all, though, and seek opportunities to help others fulfill their God-given potential.