Rivers Flowing Nowhere: Giving the Gift of Our Life to Others

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me
2 Timothy 3:10-11

Individualism seems to be inescapable in this world. As we are drawn ever closer to each other through the barrage of social media, texts, phone calls, and all this digital age has to offer us, the sad truth is we have drifted further from one another than we ever have been.

When I met with an Iranian pastor, he told me that the greatest danger in the American church was individualism. We are together and yet apart. For many, their view of Christianity is a line with two points: God and Me. You may recognize phrases such as “It is my walk”, “my faith”, “my work”, “my struggles”. We are self-defining and self-determining. That’s why mentorship or, if you prefer another term, discipleship, is such a rarity in the church today.

Individualism turns us inwards (and as many of my friends can attest, I like turning inward more than most), however Christianity was never suppose to be a “me and God” sort of life. Take a look at the relationship between Paul and Timothy:

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings.”

For an article that calls foul play on individualism, that’s quite a lot of “my” in one verse, isn’t it? But what I want you to notice is the direction that the river of possessive pronouns has taken. They all flow into that first word, “you”.

Paul labored for God’s glory. He taught for men to know God and honor Him. He lived a life that was pleasing to God. His aim was to spread the gospel in obedience to God’s calling. His faith was in the Lord’s sufficiency. He waited on the Lord, loved God and others, and was steadfast in serving the Lord even in the face of the most severe persecution and suffering. All of this was for God’s glory. But, it was also to show the way to Timothy.

Think of every life as a river. Just like a river, it constantly flows; there is always new experiences, new actions, new thoughts, and new circumstances. If you stand at the bank of a river, the water you see is never the same as the water you saw a moment before.

The wonderful thing about a river is the water, as it travels, goes somewhere. It might fill an ocean, a lake, an estuary, or it might just end up pouring out of your faucet. But it goes somewhere and it fills something.

A life devoid of mentorship may glorify God, but as time passes on, those experiences, struggles, sins, confessions, prayers, disciplines, moments of pure joy, moments of great sorrow; they all go away. We may call them back as memories, but that is a reflection of what was.

What I am suggesting with all of this, is that Paul lived his life specifically to do two things at once. To glorify God with all that he did through his life and ministry and to allow all of his ups and downs to flow into Timothy. Timothy, after years of mentorship, could confidently say “I have imitated you as you have imitated Christ”.

When Paul fought for holy conduct in his life, he sought to honor God and yet he also taught Timothy what it looks like to live righteously. When Paul got on his knees to pray, his petitions were on his mind, but in that moment Timothy was brought into the school of prayer (note that this is “how to pray” not the “you should pray” we are often content with giving younger Christians).

At the end of your life, who will be closer to God because of your life: your teaching, your conduct, your aim in life, your faith, your patience, your love, your steadfastness, and your persecutions and sufferings? It is not too late to mentor someone. As long as you are still breathing and that river of earthly experiences still flows, you can still direct to flow into someone’s life. Who, in 5-10 years, will thank God for your life?

I’m reminded of Michael Card’s book The Walk. After years of being mentored by Will Lane, his mentor called him to tell him he had cancer. At the end of that phone call, Dr. Lane told him he was moving back to the city where Michael lived. His reason? “I want to show you how a Christian man dies.”

My goal in writing this is not to convince you that we need discipleship in the church. It’s not to convince you need to disciple people. If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, chances are you knew that already. I wrote this so that you would do it. Find a person. Take the initiative. If they say yes, give them your life (and your teaching!) as a lesson on the Christian life. If they say no, pray and find someone else.

Who will thank God for your life when you are gone?