Paul the Mentor
While Paul preached the gospel everywhere he went and planted numerous churches, perhaps his most important contribution was mentoring men such as Timothy and Titus. Many believe Timothy and Titus were pastors of local congregations. More likely these men served, however, as Paul’s apostolic delegates who were temporarily assigned to their locations (Ephesus and the island of Crete, respectively) so they could deal with problems in those respective churches. Having trained these men, Paul trusted them to deal effectively with sticky ministry challenges, whether confronting, and if needed removing, sinning elders (Timothy’s assignment) or appointing qualified leaders (Titus’s task).
Note: This is an excerpt from my article, “Paul the Mentor,” in the Spring 2018 edition of Biblical Illustrator. For a pdf of the complete article, click here.
