Quite A Mark

“I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:” 1 Timothy 6:13-14 (KJV)

Easier said than done.  But we should try nonetheless.  Paul is challenging his young protegee.  Timothy, Paul’s son in the LORD, is pastoring his first church.  Timothy was the first pastor at Ephesus.  Paul won Timothy and then trained him to serve in the ministry.  This young man was special to Paul.  More so than John Mark, Barnabas, and even Silas.  The standard is set very high here.  As it should be.  Paul has very high expectations for Timothy.  Expectations that came to pass.  Setting the bar high while encouraging him to succeed even when he failed was the key to this young man’s success.  Without spot and unrebukable is difficult to accomplish.  For anyone.  But especially for someone so young.  It takes a great man to live in the word of God, striving for Christlikeness, and having a testimony of doing such a thing.  It is the above standard of spotlessness and without rebuke that strikes at my heart.

I am into a show called The Repair Shop.  This show is a BBC production.  It takes place at an old homestead/workshop.  The skilled tradespeople fix family heirlooms.  The mantra that makes this program attractive is highlighting the history and emotional attachment placed on the item.  It could be great grandmother’s first teddy bear, an old WWI helmet used by a long-deceased relative, or a satchel used by a well-known patriarch.  For the most part, the owners want the object repaired to a useable form.  Rarely do they want the item restored to a like-new condition.  The idea is to preserve some of the history appearing on the item that tells the story of a people's life.  I get it.  But in reality, the first owner of the item received it brand new.  Some things cannot be fully restored.  They are one of a kind.  Usually, pieces of art or crafts are repaired as best they can be.  But there remain marks of history imbedded on its surface.  Perfection is not the objective here.  Memories are.  However, every once in a while, an item is restored to its original condition.  The original paint is applied.  An old pair of WWI field binoculars, a carnival machine, or a pedal car are a few of those items.  They looked like the day they came out of the factory.

When Paul is referring to the character of Timothy as without spot and unrebukable, he is not speaking of preserving the history of his past sinful life.  Timothy is a new creature.  He is made in the image of Jesus Christ.  Paul is challenging Timothy to continue that process.  Just as we should.  We will fail.  Sin will happen.  We will disappoint the LORD.  I am sure that Timothy did as well.  Paul failed to heed the counsel of God and went to Rome in shackles rather than a free man.  His pride got the better of him in his later years.  But failure is not an excuse.  Failure is not a way out.  Failure is merely a road bump on our journey of Christlikeness.  As long as the standards of spotlessness and without rebuke are the standards before us, then we will always be marching forward.  We may stub our toes.  We may trip over temptation.  But we will journey in the right direction toward holiness and Christlikeness.