Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he works the work of the Lord, even as I.
Paul is sending a young helper to Corinth in his place. Near the end of his letter he tells this proud, divided church how to treat him. The order is short, but it lays a duty on a whole church. They are responsible for how a servant of Christ feels among them.
Paul had decided not to visit Corinth himself. The state of the church there was the reason. He sent Timothy into a situation that would have tested anyone.
Paul would not go to Corinth because of their low spiritual condition. If he had gone, he would have had to use divine discipline. Instead, Paul sent Timothy to them. Timothy was Paul's dear and faithful child in the Lord, his companion and fellow worker. So he could remind the Corinthians of Paul's ways and teaching. How different those ways were from much that the Corinthians saw and taught in their own assembly! This was not an easy task. There were those there who strongly opposed Paul.
Timothy had already been travelling for Paul. Corinth lay further along the same road.
In Acts 19:22 we see that he had sent Timothy into Macedonia. In this letter he thinks Timothy might go on as far as Corinth. If he came, the Corinthians were to receive him as they would have received Paul.
The charge falls on the church, not on the servant. Paul does not tell Timothy to be brave. He tells them to make sure nothing in their welcome frightens him.
But his heart could not rest without commending Timothy, and the more as he was timid. He wants him to be free from fear among them. He even lowers himself to put Timothy on common ground with himself, as a workman of the Lord. He is anxious that no one should despise him. That danger is real among the saints: self-seeking men can fool them just as easily as they can slight true servants of Christ.
Commentators differ on whose fear the verse means. Most read it as Timothy's own. One writer reads it the other way round.
He commends Timothy to them. They need not have any fear about him.
The pressure came from the mood of the church itself. A confident church can make little of a man who does not match its confidence.
In chapter 4:17 Paul had spoken of sending Timothy to Corinth. Now he urges them not to intimidate the young man in any way. Timothy was clearly timid by nature. Even so, Paul does not hesitate to commend him as a true servant of God, and he is glad to link Timothy's work for the Lord with his own. The Corinthians were self-confident, and they would tend to look down on a man who did not share that confidence. Some in Corinth had treated Paul himself that way, and this fleshly spirit would likely take even more advantage of the younger man.
Paul's reason is Timothy's work, and the spirit in which he does it.
Timothy plainly had a timid nature. So they were to be careful to act in a way that left him free from fear among them. He was also young, but they were not to despise him for that. Could there be a greater commendation? He not only did the work of the Lord; he did it in the same spirit as the Apostle. He lived out the appeal Paul had already made to the Corinthian assembly: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
Paul leaves the visit itself in the Lord's hands, and hands Timothy's youth and nerves to the church to care for. (Older translations read "if Timothy comes," and these writers work from that wording.)
The uncertainty here about his arrival is no more than what Paul says in the previous verse about the length of his own planned visit. The Lord might or might not have allowed Timothy to come. Paul commends his youth and natural timidity to their sympathy. At the same time he makes a large claim on his behalf: the whole Church owes him obedience. As the apostle's chosen fellow worker, he would bring full authority with him. Paul also trusted that Timothy, as an example of true godliness, would bring no disgrace on the place he held.
- Sent — Paul stayed away from Corinth. Their condition would have forced him to use discipline. So he sent Timothy in his place, and the church was to welcome him as they would welcome Paul.
- Feared — Timothy was young and timid by nature. The confident spirit at Corinth would look down on a man who did not share it.
- Charged — the command falls on the church, not the servant: they are to see to it that he is among them without fear.
- Commended — Paul's ground is Timothy's work. He lowers himself to place his young companion on the same footing as himself, as a workman of the Lord.
- Warned — a church can slight a true servant of Christ as quickly as it falls for a self-seeking one.
Let not therefore any one despise him; but set him forward in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren.
This verse reads like a travel note. In fact Paul is shielding a young worker from a church that had already treated Paul himself with contempt. So two questions sit behind it. What makes a servant worth respecting? And what does that respect look like in practice?
Timothy was not bold by nature. The church he was heading toward was full of confidence in itself. Grant ties the warning to that mismatch, and fills in where Timothy was travelling.
In chapter 4:17 Paul had spoken of sending Timothy to Corinth. Now he urges them not to intimidate the young man in any way. Timothy was clearly of a timid nature. Even so, Paul does not hesitate to commend him as a true servant of God, and he is glad to link Timothy's work for the Lord with his own. The self-confidence of the Corinthians would no doubt tend to belittle a man who did not show that same self-confidence. Acts 19:22 gives the history of Paul sending Timothy (and Erastus) to Macedonia, apparently on their way to Corinth. The visit was not meant to be a long one, for Paul looked for Timothy to meet him afterward.
The danger was not imaginary. Some at Corinth had already looked down on Paul himself:
Some at Corinth held Paul in contempt because his "bodily presence" was "weak." He did not have an impressive "outward appearance" (see 1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Cor. 10:7), and even the disciples at Corinth were drawn away from him.
Paul does not defend Timothy by his age. He points to the work Timothy does and the spirit he does it in.
He was also young, but that was no reason to despise him. Could there be higher praise than this? He not only did the work of the Lord; he did it in the same spirit as the Apostle. He was carrying out the call already given to the church at Corinth: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).
Kelly sees a double danger in the way believers weigh up those who serve them.
But his heart could not rest without commending Timothy, all the more because Timothy was timid. Paul wanted him to be among them without fear. He is anxious that no one should despise him. This is a danger among believers, who are as ready to be deceived by self-seeking men as they are to slight true servants of Christ.
The verse asks for more than holding back contempt. It calls for something active.
So no one was to despise him. His youth might well have tempted them to do just that. Instead they were to help him on his way in peace, so that he could go to the apostle who was waiting for him. That waiting was one more proof of the apostle's esteem for a man who lived up to his name as one who honored God.
Pridham points to the letter itself as Timothy's protection. He also leaves one detail open.
They must not, then, despise his younger representative. That warning was far from needless, for some at Corinth had looked on Paul's own presence among them with contempt. By the power of his letter, however, he will secure a worthy welcome for his fellow worker. Which of his other fellow workers are in view here is uncertain.
One writer turns the warning on older believers and how they treat the young.
Dear older believers, an old man of long and wide experience is speaking to you. Do not discourage young men. Do not snub the Josiahs of twenty years old… Yes, young men can be pushy and troublesome in the churches; but so can men who are far from young… Young men should never despise the counsel of the aged, and the aged should never discourage the zeal of the young.
But youth on its own is not a qualification. Another writer sets the limit:
The call of God and the gift of Christ can rest on a young man like Timothy… and "Let no one despise you for your youth" would apply to any such man today, just as it did to Timothy long ago. But it was to Timothy that the words quoted, "he must not be a recent convert," were addressed. His youth was no encouragement for others to act when they had neither the gift nor the grace God had given him.
- Fear first. Timothy was young and timid. Paul feared that a self-confident church would look down on a servant who did not match its manner.
- Work, not age. The reason no one may look down on him is the work he does and the spirit he does it in — the same work, in the same spirit, as Paul.
- A real danger. Believers can fall for men who push themselves forward, and slight Christ's true servants at the same time.
- Peace, not just silence. Not despising is only half of it. They must help him on his way, and send him off in peace.
- Expected. Paul is waiting for him. That is one more mark of his esteem for a man whose name means honouring God.