Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy from prison, near the end of his life, to a young man he was leaving behind in hard times. His order here is short and military, and it raises an obvious question: what suffering is meant, and why should a Christian expect any at all?
Older translations render the verb here as "endure hardness." That is army language. One reference work gives its plain sense, and adds the soldier's other mark:
The New Testament says two things about the Christian soldier. He must "endure hardness," that is, share in the suffering that comes with warfare. And he must not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, "that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier." That is, he must be quite free to obey his Captain in all things… The Christian servant is under authority. Unquestioning obedience should mark the soldier of Jesus Christ: he must be ready to endure hardships, and to suffer with his Captain.
Why should a Christian expect suffering at all? One writer answers by pointing to the ground the Christian stands on:
In an enemy's land who could wonder that Timothy was called to take his share in suffering?
When faithfulness to the truth is rare, the cost comes in ordinary and painful forms. It can also come from people you would never expect:
We shrink from suffering by nature. So the call goes out to Timothy — and to everyone who wants to be true to Christ — "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Compared with Paul, the "share" of suffering we may be called to take will be small. But wherever a believer today refuses error and stands for the truth, he must be ready in some measure to face opposition, persecution, desertion, and malice. As with the Apostle, these things may come even from his fellow believers.
The verse does not just say suffer. It says suffer as a good soldier of Christ, and that rules out hitting back. The same writer points to Stephen as the picture of what the Lord gives:
We therefore need, not power to crush our enemies, but grace to take our share in suffering… Though Jesus is Lord in the place of supreme power, He does not usually act in power to crush the enemies of His servants. He did not give Stephen power to crush his enemies… He gave grace. Stephen was so strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus that he could take his share in suffering. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he did not threaten or insult his persecutors. Instead, he prayed for them and committed his spirit to the Lord.
The instruction carries weight because Paul was not sending Timothy anywhere he had not gone himself:
So when he urged Timothy to take his share in suffering, he had already walked that path himself. He only encourages him to follow in the same steps. And where is the servant, we may ask, who does not need this reminder? Avoiding the cross is a common temptation. Only when the love of Christ constrains us, and our eye is fixed on His glory alone, are we moved to take a glad share in the sorrows and sufferings of His interests here on earth.
One writer names a comfortable assumption and corrects it:
In lands where religious freedom is granted, the conflict side of Christian life is easy to overlook. People think that our journey to a joyous heaven will be happy and calm. But that is not the prospect Scripture holds out. We are not only pilgrims but also disciples. We are called to take up our cross and follow our rejected Lord. And because we are identified with Him, conflict is certain.
Everything turns on who the Captain is. One writer points to the path Christ Himself took:
A good soldier will obey his Captain and act as he does. Christ is the great Captain of our salvation. He has reached His place of glory through sufferings, and He has left us the perfect example of suffering in patience… To act in a way so contrary to nature will indeed demand that we should be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- Enlisted. The Captain chooses His soldier, and the soldier's business is to stay free enough to obey Him in everything.
- Share. You take your portion of the hardship that war brings: opposition, persecution, desertion and malice, sometimes from fellow believers.
- Grace, not force. The Lord rarely gives power to crush enemies. He gives grace to suffer without hitting back, as Stephen did.
- Followed, not sent. Paul asked nothing of Timothy that he had not already borne, so the call is an invitation to walk behind him.
- Supplied. The Captain Himself reached glory through sufferings, and the strength to follow Him is the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
No one going as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please him who has enlisted him as a soldier.
Paul tells Timothy to serve like a soldier on active duty. Two questions follow: what counts as an entanglement, and who is the soldier meant to please?
Kelly draws one demand out of the soldier image:
Here the apostle calls him to take his share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. What else, inside or outside, demands more self-denial or brings greater trials? ... The servant must make up his mind to refuse all distraction.
The Greek word behind "civilian pursuits" is bios. One reference work traces where else it appears:
Bios is the way a person lives, or what he lives on in this world. The poor widow put in all her living. Mark 12:44. We pray for those in authority "that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life." 1 Tim. 2:2. "No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits." 2 Tim. 2:4. "The pride of life is not from the Father." 1 John 2:16.
Hamilton Smith marks the limit of the verse:
The Apostle is not suggesting that we should neglect the affairs of this life, or that we are necessarily called to give up our everyday business. In other Scriptures he rules that thought out. He tells us to work with our hands to provide what is honest, and he can say of himself, "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities." But he warns us against letting the affairs of this life fill our time, drain our energy and take over our minds. That way we become entangled as in a net, no longer free to carry out the Lord's will.
The line falls on the heart, not on the possessions. Mackintosh shows what sets a heart free:
The grand point is to keep the heart disentangled. God's warriors must have free hearts, and the only way to be free is to cast all our care on Him who cares for us. I can stand on the battlefield with a free heart when I have placed my house, my vineyard and my wife in the divine keeping.
Being tangled up does not put anyone outside the family of God. It puts them outside effective service:
He demands on the part of God's warriors a disentangled heart. It is not a question of salvation, of being a child of God, of being a true Israelite. It is a question of being able to fight an effective war. A man cannot fight well if his heart is tangled up with "a house," "a vineyard" or "a wife."
Dennett follows the comparison through to two kinds of servants:
Instead, he arranges to lay aside all his business responsibilities. He wants to be free from every other claim and completely at his commander's disposal. Are the soldiers of Christ to be on any lower level? ... It is a most blessed thing when busy men give their spare time to the Lord's work, putting His interests before their own ease and comfort. But the Apostle speaks here of another kind of servant. In the power of the Holy Spirit these servants free themselves from every human claim, because they want to please the Captain of their salvation and to be under His complete control.
Smith names the one whose approval decides everything:
The good soldier of Jesus Christ seeks to please, not himself or even others, but first and foremost the One who has chosen him to be a soldier.
Whoever hires a servant is the one that servant must please. Campbell asks where that leaves a servant of Christ:
Suppose one is called to be the Lord's servant. How then can he hire himself out as the servant of a denomination or a congregation, and do what man tells him to do? When a man is hired, he becomes a servant to those who hire him and must please them. Should he not stay free as the servant of Christ alone, and serve Him wherever and however his Master directs, day by day?
Westcott names the everyday pressures that crowd Christ out:
One of the first things we have to watch is the way the affairs of life take up our attention and shut out the Lord's interest. Whatever shape the Lord's interest takes in your life, and whatever service you are to give, be on your guard. Do not let the affairs of life fill your mind and crowd out the claims of Christ. It is very hard. The world is in such a state that we feel these distractions — uncertain work, difficulties in trade and business.
- Enrolled. Christ enlisted you. From that moment His pleasure sets the agenda — not your comfort, and not other people's approval.
- Engaged. Enlistment does not cancel your job. Paul never forbids the affairs of life; he forbids being caught in them like a net.
- Entangled. The danger is time, energy and mind so absorbed that you are no longer free to do the Lord's will.
- Effective. Entanglement does not touch your salvation. It touches your fitness to fight: a divided heart cannot fight well.
- Enabled. Cast every care on God. He keeps your house, your work and your family, and your heart goes free.