Have you ever ridden a horse? What was your experience like? If you haven’t ridden a horse, would you ever? Why, or why not?

 A horse is a large, powerful animal with its own will that doesn’t always align with the will of its rider. So, horse riders, cowboys especially, use specific tools to help get horse and rider on the same page. Cowboys’ spurs are one of those tools that help them guide the horse where they’d like them to go.

Similarly, in this session, Joby will show us how Paul is “spurring” Timothy along in the direction he needs to go. And we all, like Timothy, need to be spurred along from time to time.

Watch RightNowMedia Session 6: 2 Timothy 4:1–4 (15 minutes).

Joby opened by saying this session centers around the idea of “gospel centrality”—you may have heard it called “gospel-centeredness.” How familiar are you with the term “gospel centrality” or “gospel-centeredness”? Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term, what do you think it means? How would you define gospel centrality?

Paul opens chapter 4 with a strong statement: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.” Paul is giving Timothy a responsibility. Has anyone ever entrusted you with a large responsibility? How did it make you feel to be “charged” by them to carry that responsibility? How did you do?

Timothy, as Paul makes clear in verse 1, is being charged before God with a specific task. As Joby said, Paul reminds Timothy “who [Timothy] works for.” In what ways does knowing “who we work for” change the way we act?

How does the knowledge that God is present with you affect the way you perform your own responsibilities? What can you do to remind yourself that God is with you as you go about your day?

The charge that Paul gives to Timothy is an important one. Joby said that “the eternities of men and women hang in the balance” of God’s message being shared and received. How often do you think about the significance of the gospel message we’ve received? Having received the gospel yourself, to what degree do you feel “charged,” like Timothy, to share the good news with others?

Beginning in verse 2, Paul gives his charge. He tells Timothy to preach the Word and pastor his people. What is to be the content of Timothy’s preaching? Why is it the Word that we should preach and teach instead of something else?

Remembering our last session, what makes God’s Word trustworthy and authoritative?

Joby highlighted that the entire Bible is about Jesus, his gospel, and the glory of God. And he went on to contrast the gospel with common assumptions about religion, namely that religion is ultimately about sin management, about proving ourselves righteous before God. He likened this to trying to hold a beach ball under the water—eventually, we tire out and the beach ball comes storming to the surface. Before coming to Christ, what did your religious efforts look like? What did it take for you to realize your efforts weren’t enough? What and who did God use to awaken you to the goodness of his gospel?

In verse 2, Paul also exhorts Timothy to always be ready, as Joby said, whether “you feel like it or not.” Have you ever been caught unprepared to speak about God and his Word? How did that interaction go?

Paul concludes his exhortation by telling Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” Reproving, rebuking, and exhorting others is not easy, especially doing so with “complete patience.” How would you describe your ability and comfort level with the things Paul lists in this verse? How can we grow in our ability to reprove, rebuke, and exhort others? Why do we need patience as we do these things?

Paul’s instruction is rooted, of course, in the gospel, but it’s being given because of what follows in verses 3–4. Because “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.” In what ways does Paul’s statement describe the time in which we live? What are some examples of people not enduring sound teaching today?

He goes on: “Having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” Paul is saying these people will surround themselves with those who tell them what they want to hear. Why are we so prone to surround ourselves with people who tell us what we want to hear rather than those who tell us the truth? How does our unprecedented access to information help us “accumulate for ourselves teachers to suit our own passions”?

How do you actively seek to fight against the temptation to listen only to teachers who tell you what you want to hear?

Finally, Paul ends verse 4 by saying these people reject the truth and welcome false beliefs. What relationship is there between failing to listen to the truth and slipping into falsehoods?

Instead of believing Paul’s warning only applies to others, we would be wise to survey our own hearts. How easy do you find it personally to stray from what’s true simply by failing to listen to the truth of God’s Word? What is the surest way to keep yourself tethered to the truth?

How can you cultivate compassion for people who have turned away from the truth?

Joby closed this session by reciting the message of the gospel we encounter in God’s Word, walking us from Genesis to the birth of the church to the future return of Jesus. What stood out from Joby’s rendition of the gospel? How would you summarize the gospel with someone you’d just met?

What could you do to become so fluent in God’s Word and his gospel that you become “ready in season and out of season” to share it? Is there someone in your life you could talk to about the gospel this week? If so, who?

To be gospel-centered is to recognize God’s story and his gospel as the truth upon which all of reality depends. And while the world today regularly declines to receive the gospel, it still compels us to “preach the word with complete patience and teaching.”

So, surround yourself not with “teachers to suit your own passions,” but with men and women who, like Paul, will spur you on—who will charge you—to persist in sharing the message of God’s good news “in season and out of season” with those you encounter.