We Must Never Break the Chain

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

I always find Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 2:2 both challenging and motivating.

Two thousand years and a few thousand miles from here Paul taught Timothy the Christian message. Timothy went on to teach others, who taught others, who taught others and so it went on till eventually, my brother, Phil, explained the message to me and I came to Christ.

I don’t know how many people were involved in that chain; I don’t even know if it really started with Paul – perhaps it was one of the other apostles. What I do know, is that from the Eastern Mediterranean, to the North of England, the message was passed from person to person until it reached me. Perhaps some of the people in the chain were super-saints; a Wesley or a Luther, I don’t know. However, most of them were probably just ordinary people, the sort of people who make up most of history, but who never get into the history books. Some of them probably struggled to fully understand the Christian message, while others would be trained clergy and theologians. Some people believed as soon as they heard the message, while others needed numerous people to explain it to them over many years.

Through all that time and across all that distance, the message was passed on from person to person; sometimes in quiet conversations and sometimes in stirring preaching from the pulpit. The chain wasn’t broken, the message got to me.

Our generation is not the end point; it isn’t all about us. We are links in the chain to the next generation and to the one after that and after that. Paul’s command is as relevant to us as it was to Timothy.

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

Or to quote another source:

You will still here me saying, we must never break the chain.

I have a suspicion that I’ve already written a post along these lines, but I’ve been doing this so long that some repetition is inevitable and it still needs saying!