Are You A Paul? A Timothy? Or Both?

A Note from Clint Harrington

Every Christian needs both a Paul and a Timothy on their spiritual journey.

A “Paul” is likely somebody who has been a Christian longer than you and is helping to train and encourage you. They have probably walked longer with the Lord and are more spiritually mature. Physical age is irrelevant; that person can be older or younger than you, but they are more deeply developed in their faith and can provide you spiritual guidance. They have often gone through intentional training in how to disciple others, or they have some prior experience in it. 

A “Timothy” is somebody who hasn’t been a Christian as long as you, whose faith you are helping to build. You offer that person encouragement and discipleship as he or she grows in the Lord.

So, you can have both a Paul and a Timothy in your life. But, you can also be a Paul and a Timothy to others. In 2 Timothy, Paul says to Timothy:

We see four generations in that verse. Paul says to Timothy that he helped mentor him, meaning Paul guided him to spiritual maturity. Now Timothy must find somebody to mentor, and then that person can find somebody else to mentor.

Don’t be intimidated by the word “mentoring.” Mentoring is as easy as taking someone to breakfast once a month and asking, “How’s it going?” You just need to be a friend. Listen to, encourage, and pray for that person. You don’t have to be a “perfect Christian” to do this. You just have to be willing and let the Holy Spirit lead you. 

Do you see a distinction between mentoring and discipling? I see discipling as going a step further than mentoring by more intentionally speaking into people’s lives. I've had plenty of buddies who were friends and listened, encouraged and prayed for me, but with the “Pauls” in my life, I saw a real difference.  They did those things, but they also spoke very intentionally into my life - guiding and coaching me around spiritual education, growth, maturity.

I have been blessed to have many “Pauls” guide my spiritual journey:  Gary Stroope, Tom Johnson, Ken Harris, Brett Hurst, Sandy Schultz, Terry Looper, Jim Stern, my father – John Harrington, and my older brother – Tom Harrington and several others. Our Father has also blessed me with the opportunity to disciple several “Timothys” through my faith journey the most recent of which have been several guys through FinD.  

Is our Father calling you to be a Paul? a Timothy? Or both? To fully live out God’s calling on your life, you need other people. You will more fully grow as a disciple when you learn from other believers who are more mature than you and when you share your wisdom and experience with believers who are newer to the faith than you.