Training Trainers – 2 Timothy 2:2

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

What would happen if we suddenly lost the ability to learn from the past? Each new generation would have to reinvent everything about daily life. We would have to learn how a washing machine worked in order to repair it, without the use of a Repair Manual.

One of the great values that we do possess is the ability to learn from the past. Not that we are very successful at avoiding the mistakes of the past! We seem to fall into them repeatedly as a whole. Having the ability and applying that ability are two entirely different things. I wish they came in one package, like the dual hypodermic needle packs of epoxy resin. One push and both come out.

Paul, in writing to his young protege, wanted to help Timothy stay on the course of growth, both personal spiritual growth, and growth as an emissary of the Gospel. Growth is central to the Gospel, both personal and collective growth. Without growth, we stagnate and die.

Paul points out one of the keys to continued growth: transferral. Growth requires that the truth of the Gospel be passed on to future spiritual generations. It is not enough for us to know the LORD. This knowledge must be perpetuated.

Notice Paul spoke and Timothy heard. The message must then be passed along to reliable people. But it doesn’t end there. Three iterations of growth are not enough. People heard Timothy speak what Paul had spoken. If it ends there, then it ends.

Paul teaches a four iteration teaching program. Paul taught Timothy who taught other people, people who were qualified to teach others. It is not enough to just teach the next generation. We must teach the next generation of teachers! If those that follow can’t teach, then it comes to a grinding halt.

There is a place for higher education in this process. But it is fundamentally something that happens more organically at the local level. We should be grooming new believers and seeking out those who have the ability to teach, so as to begin to train them for the task at hand. We need to replace ourselves!

The US Military does a great job at training the next generation of trainers. We were always training those under us to become our replacements. That was an essential task. We equip equippers.

So what does your local church have in place to train the next generation of trainers? How well are we doing at letting go of the training reins and passing them along to the next generation? Are we holding too tightly to the control panel?

Paul’s focus for Timothy was on the next generation of trainers. Timothy was adept himself at ministry, but needed to refocus on the coming generations. Paul gives three examples, soldier, athlete, and farmer, all of whom must stay focused on the future goal in order to accomplish their tasks well. They can’t allow themselves to be sidetracked.

We can’t allow ourselves to get sidetracked either. We need to be training trainers.