“There Are Better Reasons to Be Despised,” 1 Ti 4:10-16

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all
people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for
your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I
come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the
gift you have, which was give you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch
on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so you will save yourself and your hearers.

Intro to Timothy:
• Written by Paul to Timothy between AD 62-66 after being released from his
imprisonment we read about at the end of Acts.
• Timothy is a dear friend of Paul and one Paul considered a son in the faith. Paul had
left him as the lead pastor/elder at the church in Ephesus. Heʼs a younger man,
between 25 and 35.
• Paul is writing to encourage Timothy to deal with some false teaching cropping up in
the church by being committed to the Gospel in firm doctrine and discipline. While this
is written specifically to Timothy, it is important for us today, no matter what our age.

“Let no one despise you for your youth”

• Paul had left Timothy as the leader of the church in Ephesus when he went to
continue his missionary journeys, but Timothy was a younger guy. This was a big point
of contention for Timothyʼs leadership.
• Roman culture placed value on two things regarding age: the beauty of youth and
the wisdom of age.
• Timothy doesnʼt have the age associated with wisdom or the responsibilities of
his office
• Not anything new: 1 Co 16:11
• Paul writes about false teachers at Ephesus who had been spreading their false
teachings within the church, and these guys loved to give Paul a hard time.
• They would attack Paulʼs authority through credentials. They would show how
they had more achievements that Paul that made them more authoritative than
he was and begin to plant doubt about his teaching that way.
• Because Paul was gone and Timothy was the “first among equals” in their
leadership, his age was an easy target for these wicked dudes.
• NIV says “look down on you;” imagine these guys looking down their noses at
Timothy and saying, “Look, son, weʼll take it from here.”
• Both culture and false teachers categorized people and gave them value based
on those categories and Timothy didnʼt fit into their categories.
• We do the same thing in our culture and the church today
• People are separated into categories and given value
• Some came this morning maybe dreading Youth Sunday
• Example of classifications:
• Pastors
• Long-time members
• Other staff
• Children because theyʼre adorable and easier to take care of than teens
• The turkey thatʼs been hanging around the church
“There Are Better Reasons to Be Despised,” 1 Ti 4:10-16

• Teenagers somewhere near the bottom

• 2007 study by LifeWay Research shows that the greatest rate of church dropout
happens between 18 and 22
• 70% drop out, the greatest number of those happening around age 19
• 50% said they would come back if someone would invite them
• We definitely see it happening and we mourn over the fact, but do you mourn over
the person who has left? Do you even know their name?
• Why does this happen?
• Our pride in our credentials (how long weʼve been alive, length of membership,
number of degrees, etc); our categories get in the way; culture has influenced our
values; at the root, itʼs sin, trusting in ourselves
• We want to think we can achieve the favor of other people, even God
• Iʼm not immune - turning 25; Jess asked me what I wanted; I said, “I donʼt
know” but really my mind thought “Respect!” like turning 25 would magically
make it happen
• We need the Gospel
• Galatians 3:26-29; I would add “there is neither old nor young”
• Jesus, the God-man, came to rescue us from our sin regardless of our ethnicity,
social status, gender, or age. Our great King hung broken and bloody on the
cross for ALL of us! He rose from the dead for ALL of us!
• The God who in 1 Samuel chose David, the youngest son, to be king of Israel
and used to continue writing the Story of Redemption over his more qualified,
better-looking, older brothers has chosen you and me and the teenager or child
next to you in the pew as His children because of the great and glorious Cross!

“Set the believers an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity”
• Paul gives Timothy this advice to work against those who might despise him because
of his youth.
• Teens, this is especially good for us “adolescents” because we often give reason to
others to look down on us.
• Not a “do good” moralistic approach. Paul never goes there in any of his letters.
• This encouragement to work towards being the example is a responsibility of
Timothyʼs role as the pastor.
• But it finds its root in v 10 that says, “For this reason we toil and strive, because
our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially those
who believe.”
• This is the Gospel-changed life! It changes everything. It stirs your heart to
work for the Kingdom of God.
• If thereʼs one thing you learn from me, let it be to put your hope and trust in
the Gospel above everything else! Only Jesus is worth your whole self.
• Let your life reflect the Gospel in the world so much, let it be the gravity of your life,
that they have no reason to despise you for your youth.
• LET THEM DESPISE YOU BECAUSE OF THE GOSPEL! There is no better
reason to be despised.
• Paul spends vv 13-16 fleshing this out
“There Are Better Reasons to Be Despised,” 1 Ti 4:10-16

• Be devoted to Scripture, knowing it so you can encourage and teach people the
Story of Redemption that culminates in the Good News of Jesusʼ life, death,
and resurrection
• Practice the gifts God has given you for His glory above your own glory
• For Timothy, this was ministry. It was why Paul left him in charge. God had
specially equipped and called Timothy to the task of pastoral leadership.
• What is your gift? How does the Good News of Jesus intersect with that
gift?
• Immerse yourself in the Gospel so that it changes your life so much you look
and smell like King Jesus to everyone around you
• Watch your life and doctrine closely! The way you live flows out of what you
believe.
• This isnʼt work for the sake of working and doing good things.
• It is the fruit of salvation in Timothyʼs life and the seeds of salvation to those who
hear and see him.

Application:
• Are you trusting in the Good News of Jesus for your worth or have you turned inward,
looking to yourself to make your own value?
• Has it led you to look down on others within Christʼs Body?
• Would you turn from yourself and put your trust in Jesus Christ?
• Are you working to give no one reason to look down on you except by your devotion to
Jesus Christ?