Your Mother’s Faith
Your Mother’s Faith
2 Timothy 1:5
Not long ago, I heard a supposed Bible “teacher” say that we need to forget about “external context” when trying to understand the Scripture. We need, she said, to simply read the words in the Bible because the words mean what they mean. External context only confuses the issue.
The problem with that is that if I were to ask you why Jesus said something, or why Paul wrote something, you would not be able to tell me. External context, denied by that individual, is actually vital to understanding the Scripture. For example, why did Paul tell Timothy to not let women teach in Ephesus, but said nothing about women in ministry to Thessalonika, Philippi, Colossae, or the Galatian churches, while commending women in ministry in Rome? Why did Paul give directions in 1 Corinthians 11 about women preaching or praying in church, and then in chapter 14 tell women to keep silent in church? You can’t answer the why without knowing what she called “external context.”
“External context” includes who wrote, who they were writing to, why they wrote – that is, what was the crisis that required the letter? – and what was going on in the church. I have identified eight layers of context (in my book on The Revelation) that need to be considered in order to fully understand the Scripture. Context is king. Context matters. And context is more than just the words on the page. “Teachers” like that one are adept at misinterpreting because they deliberately ignore both internal and external context.
Paul’s letters to Timothy, especially, require us to understand the context. The question we begin with is why. Why did Paul feel the need to remind Timothy, in this second letter, of the faith of his mother and grandmother? He didn’t write the words for no reason. So we have to ask why.
In fact, the first six verses of this letter include a form of the word “remember” four times: in verse 3 - I constantly remember you in my prayers. Why? Why does Timothy need prayer and why does he need to be reminded that his mentor is praying for him? In verse 4 - Recalling your tears ... Why did Timothy weep? Verse 5 - I am reminded of your sincere faith. We’ll get to that in a moment. And verse 6 - For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God ... What is going on that Paul needs Timothy to remember his spiritual gift, in this case, his ordination?
The second letter to Timothy appears to be the last letter Paul wrote. He urges Timothy to come to him quickly, bring his books, and bring his warm cloak. He tells Timothy that he has fought the good fight and kept the faith. He knows his death is close at hand. Nero was the emperor at that time, and was no friend of Christians. In an attempt to clear slums so that he could annex the property for his Golden House, he had fires set to destroy the slums. The fire got out of control and burned the homes of many other citizens, even threatening the homes of several senators. To avert blame from himself, Nero claimed that Rome’s small Christian community was responsible for the fire. To punish the Christians, Nero began to burn them alive, using them as human torches for his garden parties. Persecution broke out not only in the city, but across the empire, resulting in the death of many Christians, including Peter and Paul, presumably in AD 64, the year of the fire. Paul appears to be trying to prepare his younger friend for his own death and for the coming persecution. Timothy will have to find a way to go without his spiritual father and mentor.
But there’s a bigger problem for Timothy than Paul’s death and the coming persecution. That bigger problem is false teachers invading the church, creating doubt and leading people astray with fine-sounding arguments. We know that was problem in Galatia, where Paul had to warn the church against so-called angelic visions. He wrote to them, Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! (Ga. 1:7-8)
It was a problem in Corinth where they were dividing over which preacher to listen to; and in Rome, where some were trying to enforce Jewish law on gentiles. In Colossae, there were those who tried to impose rules and insist that Christians live according to the rules, especially Jewish rules regarding the Sabbath and the festivals. And it was a problem for Timothy in Ephesus. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul told him to command and teach (1 Tim 4:11), to insist on (1 Tim 6:2) sound doctrine. And in this letter he tells his disciple to be a diligent student of God’s word who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). He is to strongly oppose the false teachers, and even rebuke, or silence, them with the truth of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16). He is not to be cowed by those who claim to know more, have more experience, or be “older than” him – don’t let them look down on you because you are younger than they (1 Tim 4:12).
As I was studying the letters to Timothy and the letter to the Ephesian churches, I got the impression that Timothy felt he was in over his head. He was exhausted and wanted to quit. He’s discouraged and feels that he’s just not up to the immensity of the task. He’d got to the place where it just all became too much for him to handle. It may be that he’d even sent to Paul a letter of resignation. I’m done. Get somebody else. I quit.
Now, I want you to understand that Paul is speaking from experience when he answers. He’s reminds Timothy of the opposition he’s faced. He knows the task is immense. He knows the opposition is strong. He knows the times are hard. It is not a time for soft men in soft places, but a time for hard men to rise up and take the courageous stand. Listen carefully: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be narcissistic, greedy, arrogant, mean, angry – Paul gives Timothy a list of what to expect from the surrounding culture in the first verses of chapter 3. They’ll even have a sort of pretense of Christianity, inoculated against the real power of the gospel by their marginal “belief.” They will compromise with sin and compromise with false doctrines. They will say stupid things like, “all roads lead to God,” and “we need to learn to live with” the idolaters. They’ll claim, as I’ve heard, to be Christian Buddhists, or Christian Wiccans, or cultural Christians, wanting the benefits of Christ without surrender to Christ. They’ll believe in a compromised Christ, a powerless prophet, a non-judgmental Jesus. They want an easy Christianity and will oppose the preacher who calls them to repentance and surrender.
In the face of all of that, Paul reminds Timothy of his foundations. He tells Timothy, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures (2 Tim 3:14-15). Hold on to you convictions, first of all. You know what you believe. You have been convinced of the truth. You know who taught you. You have known and been bathed in the Scripture from birth. And here, we know that Paul is not reminding Timothy of what he learned from Paul, but what he learned from his mother.
We know that, also, because Timothy was already a believer when Paul met him. In Acts 16, the beginning of the second missionary journey, Paul returns to Derbe and Lystra, cities in southern Galatia, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek (Acts 16:1). Timothy was the son of a believing woman who had raised her son in the Scriptures. It may have been during Paul’s first visit to Lystra that she came to faith in Christ. But Luke’s first description of Timothy is that he was a disciple. That means that he was already a follower of Christ. And by the time Paul assigns him to lead the churches at Ephesus, Timothy is already a mature Christian.
Now, in the face of his fiercest battles, with his mentor exiting his life, with false teachers rising in influence, facing hardship, discouragement, and feelings of inadequacy, Paul reminds Timothy of his foundation, the bedrock of his mother’s faith. When Paul wrote, I am reminded ... it was his way of reminding Timothy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. You have a heritage of faith. You have a foundation of faith. You are the continuation of generations of faithful believers. Your faith began with your grandmother. Your faith came at your mother’s knee. She held you, rocked you, and sang the psalms to you. You heard the words of Scripture before you even knew what they were.
I have preached about the value of fathers, especially fathers who were men of faith. We sing the song, “Faith of our Fathers.” A father’s faith inspires him to action. He becomes a defender, a warrior. When we sing the song, we think of those great men who gave their lives in the cause of the gospel, who translated the Bible into a language we could read - and paid with their lives for doing it. We sing of Martin Luther, standing against the edifice of the papal institutions. We sing of the Pilgrims who fled persecution to find a place where they could worship freely, “in spite of dungeon, fire, and sword, chained in prisons dark still in heart and conscience free.”
A father’s faith inspires action. A mother’s faith inspires confidence. The father’s faith is a building faith. The mother’s faith is a foundation faith. The father’s faith gives the child wings, but his mother’s faith gives him roots. The father’s faith is adventurous; the mothers faith is steady. Children need both, but if they are going to have wings, they must first have roots. If they are going to be adventurous, they must first have confidence. If he is going to build a life, he must first build the foundation. He needs a home to come back to when life gets hard. He needs a place to land when he falls. Life is hard and we will eventually fall. Our father’s faith may give us courage, but our mother’s faith gives us safety. Both are necessary for a successful life in Christ, but the fact is that sometimes life overwhelms us and the adventure begins to feel dangerous. We need to be reminded of where we came from, of the foundations of our faith. That, then, is the springboard that helps us go on.
In Timothy’s case, we are told nothing about his father except that he was Greek. Was he a man of faith? We don’t know. Was he an inspiration? We don’t know. What we do know is that Timothy had a foundation. He had roots. He had a soft place to land when life got too hard to handle. In this situation, Paul calls the young man back to his home. Remember the faith of your grandmother. Remember the faith of your mother. Remember where you came from. That is the faith that molds you and holds you. Timothy can launch because he has a launching pad.
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. Paul was Timothy’s father in the faith, and addressed him as my dear son. He has been the one to inspire Timothy to adventure, to a place of godly leadership. Paul was the one who ordained Timothy to the ministry and gave him the assignment in Ephesus. Paul was the one who recognized Timothy’s abilities and talents, and through his ordination, and tells the younger man that he has not received a spirit of timidity, but was given power, love and self-discipline. Timothy does not have anything to fear. Through the Holy Spirit, he has been made bold and courageous. Paul is here encouraging Timothy to go forward in faith, to confront the challenges head on. Fan into flame the gifts. Shake loose the discouragement and uncertainty.
But it is because of – for this reason – because of the faith passed from grandmother and mother to son. Because of his mother’s faith, Paul can encourage Timothy into the tasks that lay ahead. Because of his mother’s faith, Paul knows that Timothy will be able to carry on after he is gone. Because of his mother’s faith, Paul knows that Timothy has the will, the courage, and the tools to confront the challenges of false teachers, false doctrine, and worldly opposition. He will face resistance from within the church and from the world around the church. But Paul knows that Timothy’s faith is build on the solid foundation of a praying mother and a faith-filled grandmother.
Women, never underestimate your influence. Never underestimate the power of your prayers. Never underestimate the value of your own faith on the lives of your children. Christian comedian Mike Warnke used to say that if you have a grandma praying for you, you may as well give up. Because she won’t until her prayers are answered. You have a wandering child? You have a challenged child? You have a child in danger? Give them the foundation of a mother’s faith. Give them the strength of a mother’s prayers. Your faith is their home, their roots, their foundation.