November 7: Thoughts on 1 Timothy 4:12-13

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching."
~1 Timothy 4:12-13

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young

People grow in wisdom as they age because experience teaches them how things work. However, it's a mistake to say that young people are necessarily unwise in spiritual matters. We are all guided by the same Holy Spirit, after all, aren't we? That's not to say that we shouldn't look to our elders for their spiritual wisdom. Of course we should. 1 Timothy 5 and Titus 2 lay out for us the way God wants our elders to pass their wisdom down to us.

However, there is a tendency, at least for some people, to feel uncomfortable in leadership roles because of their age. These people are often afraid that they don't have enough life experience or wisdom to teach others. The part of the picture they're missing, though, is that God calls the people He calls for a reason. Just as Moses was worried about his speech impediment, so many of us are worried that our young age will prevent us from being good teachers or preachers or leaders or whatever. And just as Moses was wrong, we're wrong too.

When God calls us to do something, He calls us for the here and now, and He calls us knowing our abilities and limitations even more clearly than we do. God knows what He is doing, and if God has told you to do something, you shouldn't let your age disqualify you. If God puts you somewhere, He will equip you for service, so don't be afraid.

set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity

This is the other half of the coin. Here, Paul's saying, don't let anybody look down on you for being young and inexperienced, but also don't try to use your youth as an excuse for bad behavior. He's saying if you want other people to take you seriously as he outlined above, you have to also set a good example.

If we want people (elders or not) to see us as serious Christians who are worth listening to on spiritual matters, we have to be careful of the way we speak (not just the things we say but how we say them), the way we live our lives (in a way that is pleasing to the Lord), in love (love is an identifying characteristic of a Christian – John 13:35), in faith (faith is what saves us - Ephesians 2:8-9), and in purity (which is often an issue for young adult Christians, but very important if we expect to be taken seriously).

And elders aren't the only ones who won't take us seriously if we aren't careful in these areas. In fact, I think the biggest impact of slipping in one of these areas is actually on your Christian witness. If we aren't careful of the way we speak, the way we live our lives, the way we love one another (holy love, not lust), the way we live out our faith, and the way we guard our purity (sexual and otherwise), the world looks at us and thinks, "Hey, they're no different than anybody else. Why would I want to be a part of that?"

It's very important, especially because we're young, to be careful about our behavior because it has a significant impact on how others view us, in the church. Outside the church, our behavior can even have an impact on how people see Christianity and even Christ Himself. We can't forget we're supposed to look different from the world so that no one can find fault with the ministry (2 Corinthians 6:3-18). We have to live in such a way that people won't think badly of the Lord or our church or ministry. But here's the good news: the Lord never allows us to be tempted beyond what we're capable of resisting, and He always helps us resist by providing a way our and helping us stand against sin (1 Corinthians 10:13). He's with us all the way!