2 Tim 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

  

There is very simple progression here in this verse in which Paul seeks to ensure the Gospel is passed on. Today we would print it, send it by e-mails and so on, but in those days it was mostly conveyed by word of mouth, until the time when the original twelve apostles were dying off and heretics started spreading false teaching, at which point the Gospel writers started putting together in writing that which, up until then had only been conveyed by word of mouth.

 

So note the progression: first it is Paul passing it to Timothy. Paul was Timothy's mentor and teacher and so Timothy learnt from Paul. Now, says Paul, it's your turn! You need to find those who you consider will be reliable men, men who are Christians and who you can trust to remain faithful to the truth. You are to pass the truth on to them as I have passed it on to you. Once you have done that then they are to do the same, and pass it on to others to ensure that the truth is passed from one generation to another. In this way the Gospel will be preserved and continually passed on.

 

I wonder do we think about these things in our churches? Do we who are in leadership seek to find those who will be faithful to God's word, and convey it to them so that they will, in turn, be able to teach it. Even though we have it written in the Bible, it still needs passing on! We may or may not be in a leadership role but that should not stop up being those who are sufficiently well versed in the Scriptures that we can pass it on - to our families at the very least. The family unit is the starting place for passing on the truth of the Gospel, first by personal testimony and then by sharing what the Bible says. This has many implications; it is easy to pass it on in the church context, but to our families or friends, it requires that we earn their respect by the way we live out our Christian faith. There should be no contradiction between our testimony and our teaching. May that be so.