Who are Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy? People you need in your life.
Who first came up with the idea that these guys are important? I don’t know, but the first person who told me was Terri Smith.
These people are in the Bible (I’m talking about Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy. Terri’s not in the Bible, she just reads it. Well, she lives by it, too, but this isn’t really about Terri.)
Anyway, the idea is that Paul is a wise, older mentor, and everyone needs that influence in their life. I heard a young man in my church say recently that people can look up any fact on their phone thanks to Google, but we can’t find wisdom there.
We all need someone we can trust and learn from, and we need to invest ourselves in that relationship.
We also need a Barnabas–he was a friend and co-worker of Paul. A Barnabas is someone who goes alongside you in life. This is not just a friend who hangs out with you and has a good time. A true Barnabas will help you reach your potential, and hold you accountable, and you will do the same for him or her. Who is that person who pats you on the back when you are doing right, points you in the direction of opportunities that might help you, and confronts you (in a caring way) when you are out of line? Do you need to try and find that person?
Finally, we all need a Timothy. Of course, my name is Timothy, and I would like to think that everybody needs me, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Timothy in the Bible was a young man with a bright future who was mentored by Paul. We all have a responsibility to reach out to somebody else and be a mentor.
If you feel that you aren’t qualified to be a mentor to a Timothy then, how shall I put this?…Oh, I know how to say it–stop messing around, get your act together, and reach out to somebody who needs you. Yeah, that’s the phrase I was looking for.
You need a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy. And you need to be those guys for somebody else.