Exemplary

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:9-16)

God has called us to be lights to this world—and our lives, more than our words, teach others what it means to follow Christ.

The Value of a Good Example

I was about ten or eleven years old when a new kid moved into the neighborhood, and instantly there was a disturbance in the force. I wasn't a small kid—I was pretty big and tall—but when he moved in, I was suddenly the fourth man out, and he turned out to be a bit of a bully.

My older brother Alan, who is eight years older than me, watched the whole thing and didn't like it. So Alan did what Alan does. He pulled me aside and said, "You don't let that guy push you around. You're bigger than him, and I'm going to teach you how to fight." For the next twenty or thirty minutes he gave me a talking-to.

That very same night, about two in the morning, Alan came in and woke me up. "Miles, remember that stuff I told you about fighting this morning? Forget all of it. Get up, I need you to come help me." He dragged me into the bathroom to hold a flashlight on his bloodied, bruised face while he stitched his own eye up with a needle-nose pliers, telling me the whole time, "Don't get in fights. Forget everything I told you." I can only imagine what the other guy looked like.

I'll leave it to you to decide whether Alan was a good example in that situation. But it is genuinely important to have good examples in life.

Timothy's Challenge

Timothy was left by Paul in the great city of Ephesus to pastor a church that was off course. He was given the task of helping that church get back to where it needed to be—easily stated, but hard to accomplish. Among the many challenges before him, one of the most significant was his youth.

When we hear "youth," we think of junior high or high school, maybe thirteen to eighteen years old. But Timothy was well beyond that. He was probably in his late twenties or early thirties when called to pastor this church. He'd met Paul as a teenager, and Paul had poured into him for about fourteen years. Still, in first-century Asia Minor, age was a vital factor in leadership, so being in his early thirties would be a real hindrance.

I've thought about this a lot. I'm not quite as young as I was when I started in ministry. About eight months ago I was talking with my friend Pastor David Guzik about young pastors, and he casually said, "You do realize you're not one of those young pastors anymore." This last fall semester at Calvary Chapel Bible College, it hit me that I'm technically old enough to be the dad of the first-semester students. That was shocking enough to occupy my mind the rest of the day.

When I first began pastoring at twenty-eight, this passage was often on my mind—and even before that, when I started leading a youth ministry at nineteen, 1 Timothy 4:12 was something I went back to again and again. I did my first funeral at twenty-one, for a couple who had delivered a stillborn baby, and there were a lot of nerves stepping into that. People ask, "So you've done a lot of these?" and you don't want to admit it's your first. So I kept coming back to this verse.

Even though you may never lead or pastor a group within the church, and even though you may not count yourself as young, these words have great application for us no matter our age or stage of life. Paul says, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance." These words are worthy of our trust, our acceptance, our application.

You Are an Example to Someone

Timothy had a wonderful example in Paul. It was through Paul's church-planting and pastoring that Timothy, his mother, and his grandmother became Christians. When Timothy was somewhere between fourteen and eighteen, Paul came back and said, "Come with me; you're useful in the ministry." For about a decade and a half, Timothy observed Paul's pattern of life—how he planted churches, pastored people, wrote, and preached. Now Timothy is left in Ephesus, and he is called to be the example.

Point one: you are an example to someone at every stage of your faith—whether you like it or not. If you're a follower of Jesus today, people are watching you closely—friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, especially a spouse and your children. They're watching to see what it really means to be a Christian. They notice the church sticker on your car, that you get up early on Sunday and dress to go, that you carry a Bible, that you read it.

That's why Paul reminds Timothy in verse 10:

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach.

If you trust in the living God, if He is your Savior, then you and I need to labor in the exercise of godliness—because people are watching to see how this Jesus-follower thing actually works out. That's why Paul told the Philippians to "work out your salvation." What God has done internally, we need to work out so that people see the transformation.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5:

You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

A couple years ago my dad and I made a frivolous crowdfunding purchase—a laser cutter. I had laser envy. We plopped down twenty-five hundred dollars, and it finally arrived this week. I've been cutting things with lasers all week, and it's awesome. We don't need it, but it reminds me how powerful light is—and how brightly Jesus wants us to shine. This world is in darkness, and it needs to see the goodness of our God. We are the canvas on which God desires to show forth His glory.

Living an Irreproachable Life

These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

The NIV says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young." One commentator wrote, "Give no one any ground by any fault of character for despising your youth." I might adjust it for us today: give no one any ground by any fault of character to despise or disdain your faith. How is our life instructing others about Christ?

Point two: endeavor to live an irreproachable life worthy of imitation. We should give our best effort so that no one has any opportunity to justly criticize the church, Christ, or Christians. That's not easy, especially in a 21st-century American culture that is increasingly hostile toward people of faith. It may be a small minority, but it's a vocal one.

Sadly, Christians and churches have often negatively affected people's perception of who God is. Church history is not the best when it comes to being exemplary. But we should endeavor to live irreproachable lives worthy of imitation.

There's a translation difference here. The King James says "be an example of the believer"; the New King James and others say "be an example to the believer." Both are equally good and important. We should be examples to other Christians and to people who are not yet Christians. Paul told the Corinthians, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." I long to say that with total sincerity—not in arrogance, but as one who, like Paul, is seeking to be an imitator of God as a dear child. What a blessing to be able to say to anyone, Christian or not, "This is what it looks like to be a man or woman of faith seeking to follow Christ."

Exemplary in Word

Paul names six areas. First, in word. There are at least two ways to read this. One is your speech—being an example in how you speak. This lines up with Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification." The New Living Translation says, "Do not use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear you."

We should also be an example in our knowledge and use of the Word of God. As a kid you probably heard, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I've long forgotten the sticks and stones, but I still remember painful words from childhood—so we know that saying is absurd. How we use our words, and how we use God's Word, matters.

One of the greatest encouragements I ever received came when I was twenty-three, taking a biblical counseling class. A man more than twenty years older than me said, "Miles, one thing I really appreciate about you is that you always follow up whatever you say with the Word of God." That wasn't intentional planning—it was simply that the Word was in me and came out. That should be true of all of us. I think of Mike Phillips, who nearly every time I talk with him has Scripture to share, and it's always an encouragement.

Exemplary in Conduct

The word translated "conduct" is the same one Peter uses in 1 Peter 1: "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct." Not just a little of your conduct on Sunday morning when other Christians are around—holy in all your conduct, knowing people are always watching.

I should qualify this: because of our continuing fallen nature, none of us will be perfectly holy in this life. We might only hit the mark five percent of the time, but it should still be our aim. When we fail, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who intercedes for us and gives great forgiveness for our fallenness.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 2 that we should keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles. People who are not Christians should look at us and say, "There's a person of honesty, integrity, self-control, and humility." Even if our culture reproaches us as fools for believing this God thing, they should still see that we have integrity, mercy, grace, and love.

Point three: we aren't saved by our good conduct, but we are certainly saved for good conduct. Your good conduct doesn't make you a Christian, but it shows others that you are one. Paul says in Ephesians 2, "For by grace you have been saved through faith... not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works."

Exemplary in Love

Jesus said in John 13, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you... By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another." Would to God our culture would say, "We may not believe in their God or like the church thing, but those Christians—they love people."

Let's be honest: in the last fifteen to twenty years, the church in America has not been known by its love. That's unfortunate, and we need to work to resolve it, so that people see in us the same love Christ has for us. How did He love us? He laid down His life. In what ways are we laying down our lives, being sacrificial? I could go on all day about how giving and sacrificial this church is, but we should always strive to be more so, because our God spared nothing for us.

Exemplary in Spirit, Faith, and Purity

In verse 14 Paul tells Timothy not to neglect the gift given to him by prophecy. That's an indication of spiritual gifts. When God saved you and came into your life by His Spirit, He gave you spiritual gifts. We should seek to exercise them, not neglect them. But even more importantly, the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control—should be abundant and growing in us, evident as we walk in the Spirit rather than fulfilling the lusts of our fallen nature.

We must also be exemplary in faith—our trust in God and our faithfulness to Him. The more we walk with Jesus, the more implicitly we trust Him: with our finances, our children, our future, everything. And we don't just trust Him; we are faithful to Him in obeying, in prayer, in the Scriptures, in every aspect of life.

Finally, in purity. This word means unmixed, unalloyed—the dross purged away. A raw chunk of gold is full of impurities and must be refined. Ephesians 5 says, "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints... neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks." When we come to Christ we are full of impurities, but through the sanctifying, cleansing process—His grace, His Word, His Spirit, and our seeking to obey—He purges these things and transforms us into the likeness of His Son.

How We Grow to Be Exemplary

Point four: by God's grace we should labor to be exemplary. It's great to say that, but how? Paul says in verse 13: "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine... meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all."

That's exactly what we do when we gather on Sunday morning. We open the Scriptures, we read, and from that passage we give exhortation and doctrine—teaching, instruction, challenge. Churches do many different things, but what we do is allow the Scriptures to inform our understanding of what is true and right, and by God's grace we seek to work those things out.

But notice he says, "Give yourself entirely to them." It is not enough to have forty minutes of reading and doctrine on a Sunday. That doesn't mean we'll start ninety-minute services—I'm saying that on your own tomorrow and Tuesday you should spend time in the Word, letting its teaching challenge and exhort you. Give yourself entirely to it, so that your progress will be evident and people will begin to see that the old you is no longer the you that is you. John writes that those you used to run with think it strange you don't run with them anymore. That's wonderful—it means you're not the same person, for the good.

Exemplary lives are the product of a careful, thoughtful acting out of the things we attentively read and are exhorted to do from the doctrines of Scripture.

Your Life Is Teaching Others

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)

The New Living Translation says, "Keep a close watch on how you live." That's a good exhortation, because a large portion of our lives is lived on autopilot. Think how many times you've driven from work to home and arrived with no memory of the last twenty minutes. People worry about self-driving cars—I guarantee most cars on the freeway are already driving themselves. So much of life is autopilot. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching, "for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."

You may say, "I'm living a life, but I'm not teaching." Point five: remember your life is teaching others how to live and walk with Christ. This is a sobering reality. After almost twenty years of teaching the Bible, I'm convinced that more has been taught—for good or for bad—by my life than by my words. Our lives are teaching every single day. There are people who may never come to this building or hear a Bible study here, but who watch you in your neighborhood, your home, at work, at school, in the community.

It is my hope for myself and for this church that our lives would be exemplary—an example to Christians and non-Christians alike in word, love, faith, the Spirit, and all these things—so people would see the saving power of Christ working in us. But for that to happen, at the very least we need to be aware that our lives are teaching something. And with that sobering reality, we probably need to pray and ask God to help us.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for the promise of the Scriptures—that though we can do nothing of ourselves, we can do all things through You who gives us strength. Lord, I am not sufficient of myself to think anything as being of myself, but my sufficiency is from You, and it is You who enables me to be a good servant of the gospel.

We come before You admitting our inability apart from Your strength and power at work in us. But in admitting that inability, we pray that You would work in us both to will and to do Your good pleasure this week. By Your Spirit, enable us to walk these things out—and quicken us to remember to walk them out when we are frustrated, tempted to be impatient, upset, or irritable. By the quickening grace of Your Holy Spirit, remind us to walk in humility, patience, goodness, and self-control.

By Your grace and power at work in us, give us Your patience and self-control, so that the people who know us would see You at work in us and have to admit that's not us but Christ in us. Do that work in us, we pray. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.