The Balance of a Godly Example

Hello everyone my name is Matt Martinez and I am the new location pastor here at Renovation Church. I have been here almost two months, and it has been great. I, of course, love all the staff, but I have also enjoyed getting to know some of you. Meeting you in the lobby, and then hanging out with people at House Church. And so because we are getting to know one another now, I was wondering if you could help me out?

My wife and I have an ongoing discussion, and I was wondering if you could help me settle it.

Whenever our kids are behaving, listening, getting along, they clearly get that from my side of the family. When they are fighting, not going to bed or eating, they get that from their mother’s side. My wife says the opposite(shrug shoulder here) . I think the answer is obvious, but let me give you an example.

Our family will be here at church, and my son loves it here. So he is laughing, smiling, having a good time until- we announce it’s time to go home. He will fall to the ground, and let out the highest pitch scream you have ever heard- my face contorts because of the pitch. My wife will just look at me and say, “Like father, like son.” Which is just not true, my screams never get that high.

In this fun discussion with my wife, we both like to claim the kids' good behavior is because of us, when they are bad… that’s someone else’s fault.

The thing is, we are always setting an example- good or bad- to the people around us. What kind of example are you? What kind of example do you tend to follow?

Grab a Bible at your seats or open your own Bible to 1 Timothy 4:11-16. If you are using a Renovation Church Bible, our passage will be on page 812. The Bibles at your seat are for you to use and then take home if you would like.

Alright, the writer of our passage today is the apostle Paul- he is the older, wiser mentor and example to a young Timothy- who is a pastor at a church in the city of Ephesus. Throughout this letter, Paul talks about these “false teachers” who are in Timothy’s church. They are teaching weird stuff and setting a bad example to everyone who listens to them. Paul wants Timothy to step up and set a good example for people to see and follow. We will read about that now in 1 Timothy 4:11-16.

Our passage begins at the top of page 812, we will start reading at the small number 11.

Scripture Reading

1 Timothy 4:11–16

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Main Points

As I was studying this passage, ‘watch your life and doctrine’ in verse 16 stood out to me. Instead of doctrine, you could say, “the basic truths of the Bible- God’s word”. And this phrase reminded me of a seesaw (put up a picture of the seesaw- no words here). Do you remember these things? I loved playing on them as a kid, but now that I am a parent, I totally get nervous when my kids play on them. But for a young Matt, they were fun. My friends and I would play a game where we would try to balance the two sides perfectly.

And I think that throughout our Bible passage today, Paul is trying to get Timothy to understand that godly character requires a balance between what we think about on the inside and how we act on the outside. Watch your life and doctrine closely.

So let’s start with the first side:

(switch the slide to the picture of the seesaw with the words- ‘Inward preparation’)

1. A Christian example prepares inwardly

Take a look at our passage again, see in verse 11, Paul writes, “command and teach these things”, skip a verse, in verse 13, he writes, “devote yourself to the reading, teaching and preaching of scripture”, in verse 15, “be diligent in these things and give yourself wholly to them.”

So let’s zoom out for a second, everything is coming all at once at Timothy. He was trying to deal with these teachers influencing his people in the wrong ways, he’s a timid guy so it was hard to stand up to people, he’s got his mentor Paul reminding him to watch out, and do this and do that- it’s good stuff, but it’s stressful because you don’t want to mess up. Ephesus is a secular city, so the truth is hard to discern, there are a lot of opinions, tons of distractions, and lots and lots and lots of options. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can relate with Tim. I am trying to do my best, what’s right for my kids, I’m just trying to make my way, but it’s hard and confusing.

Paul, in our passage, understands the gravity of this moment. The church and culture was being shaped by who they were watching and what they were listening to.

John Mark Comer in his book Practicing the Way writes, “We are always being formed. It is not a question of if we are being formed, but rather, who or what is forming us.”

Over a number of pages after this quote, John Mark begins to talk about all the ways we can be formed:

1- If we are rooted in social media, it will likely form us into people who are angry, anxious, arrogant, simplistic and distracted.

2- If we are rooted in our streaming platforms, we will be formed into bored, consumeristic and never present people.

3- Perhaps you are like Timothy and everything is coming at you, and you just want a moment’s peace- so you grab another drink,

have another hookup to just take the edge off. That forms you too.

4- But John Mark also talks about being formed by the word of God. And if we are rooted in the Bible, the fruit of the Holy Spirit begin to take shape within us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Mark Clark, a pastor serving at Bayside Church in CA summarizes it well this way, “When you are born you look like your parents, when you die, you look like your decisions.

Where do you go in the quiet/private/inner moments of your life? Because those moments are forming you and consequently, forming your example to others.

Christians who want to set a good example (which should be all of us) must prepare inwardly by allowing God’s Word and truths to form us.

That means paying close attention to God’s Word when it is being read, and doing what it says. It means spending time in God’s word regularly. Take a bible at your seat, grab a reading plan at the welcome table. Practice the spiritual disciplines. Pastor David gave a message about this last week- go listen to it if you were not here.

Spiritual disciplines develop godliness in us, these disciplines are Sabbath, prayer, fasting, silence/solitude, Bible reading. Let me comment on this, spiritual disciplines are an incredible way to develop your inner life and connection with God, but they are not what saves you. They are just tried and true ways to make room for the God that does save you and form you.

Let me caution you, it’s really easy to get out of balance on this side of the seesaw because we love to learn, we love to know the Bible verses and all of the original language. But there are some people here who prefer insight to change. They would rather learn all they can, take all the notes and then walk out of here and never do any of it, much less open their notebook again.

What we believe doesn’t mean anything unless it shapes how we live. We get out of balance unless we turn out attention outward.

(picture of the third seesaw- with the words ‘outward practice’ added to the graphic)

We have put a good amount of weight on the inner life part of the seesaw, and so now we come to the other side of the safety hazard… the outward example of the Christian.

2. A Christian example practices outwardly

Go back to our passage, verse 12, Paul writes, “don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example…”.

I have some of my favorite pictures of football fans (put up a collage of all of the pictures of the football fans).

• Take a look, is there any doubt as to who these fans are cheering for? Is there any doubt as to who this person and this person and this person are cheering for?
• Paul writes to Timothy of five ares in his life that should directly reflect Christ, so there is no doubt as to who Timothy serves: (we should wear these like you wear you jersey):

Set and example in:

Speech, Conduct, Love, Faith, Purity

I was talking with one of the guys in the House Church I attend, and he had such a great framework for how he thinks about this stuff: he asks himself if we would feel comfortable watching whatever he is watching in the privacy of his home on the big screen at church on a Sunday morning. He asks himself. Would I listen to this song with my small group at House Church. If I was with God, would I do this activity. This quick check of his actions helps him stay accountable.

Let’s go back to our five areas in life that Paul says set an example to those around us. Paul has specific and intentional language he uses when he wrote this letter, and I want to explain them a little bit more:

Speech- Here, Paul is saying to pay attention to the words you say, but also watch out for the spirit in which you say them. Do you truly mean what you say?

Conduct- do our actions match our words? My kids always get me on this one, “don’t walk in the house with your shoes”, “but you did it that one time you forgot the keys…” Or how about we tell our friends to pay attention to all the red flags before dating someone, but then when it comes to our dating life, we’re like red is my favorite color. Do you practice what you preach?

Love- The kind of love Paul is writing about is no just emotional love, or physical love, or sentimental love, but sacrificial love. Do we love our enemies with this kind of love?

Faith- this is just just a belief in God, but a commitment to that belief. Will you stay the course on the journey with Jesus even when it is difficult? Some of you are walking through something really hard, and you are wondering where God is. God wouldn’t do this to me. And so maybe he has abandoned me? Does God care about you? Maybe God isn’t actually real. Your faithfulness to God when it gets hard is an example to others walking through difficulty.

Purity- Do you have integrity in what you consume, in what you post, in what you watch, in how you work. If we could see your phone, your computer or your bank account, what would it tell us really about who you are and who you serve.

Looking at a list like this can be convicting or challenging, but Paul wants Timothy and us to show on the outside what God has done for us on the inside.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

I have some woods in my backyard, and every year, deer have forged a pathway through the branches and the ground. Every season, we will see deer walking the pathway with their new babies- showing them the way. When we see them, we all run to the window and watch- it’s so cute. But then I began to realize this pathway, led down from the woods into my yard and past all of my flowers, tomatoes and plants. And I watched all of those cute demons eat everything. The deer were like, “this pathway leads right by this person’s yard who spends time, energy and money to feed us!”

Our example is a pathway for others to follow.

We cannot save people or heal people; we cannot change or transform them, but our example can point them to the God that does. The God who generously offers us life through Jesus. Who actually wants us to walk through his garden and enjoy his blessings.

For those of you who have never taken God up on his offer of eternal life through Jesus, we are going to have an opportunity for you to do that at the end of my message today.

Just as with the inward side, there are people who put too much of an emphasis on the outward part of their lives. They care about how they are perceived by others, and so they switch up

what they say and how they say it depending on their context. They discover what is currently good and what is currently bad and just follow along that pathway. But people change, culture changes, so we have to keep changing in order to keep up. We are always off balance.

So as we work back and forth between the inward and outward sides of the seesaw, there is a third part that allows us to have the balance of a godly example- the center piece, the fulcrum. (put up the final picture of the seesaw- with ‘Jesus as out Center’ added)

3. A Christian example keeps Jesus at their center.

You can’t balance it yourself, but Jesus can.

Most scholars believe Timothy struggled with a naturally timid character and a sensitivity to his age. He felt he was too young to lead, too inexperienced to counteract these false teachers.

Many commentaries put Timothy at the young age of 40 years old at the time of this letter. Being 40 years old was still considered youth at this time and place.

To some this is good news because you are around 40 and have started to sigh every time you sit down or get up. The Bible says you are young. To others, this could be bad news because it’s not your age you feel disqualifies you, but your upbringing, or your personality, or your education. Maybe you think your lack of knowledge of the Bible disqualifies you. Maybe you’ve made mistakes and there is no way God could accept you and what you have done.

If we follow what the world says or what we think, and not what God says, we get out of balance.

If we were to go back to the beginning of 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul writes that he is the worst of sinners. Paul was a disaster before he met God. So was Timothy. I’m a disaster without God, so are you… (clip that). We cannot do this on our own.

It is God who saves, it is God who overcomes the sin in our lives, it is God who calls us to pursue a life devoted to Him. It is Jesus who qualifies us- that is our center. And through him, we can find direction on how to be a godly example and have strength to live as that example to the people around us.

We have a value at Renovation Church to not rest until everyone in our city knows Jesus. We also have a vision to start two new locations in 2026. When we announce where the second location is- which will be in a very special place- some of you will feel the Lord calling you to go and be a part of it. As the second location pastor, I think that would be an excellent decision. People in the city where we are headed need Jesus! Let’s go!

Go back to our passage, check out verse 16: “persevere in these things, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Meaning, our example points toward or away from the God who saves.

Maybe you are here today and you want to know the God who saves. Perhaps someone in your life has been an example of God, and you just felt like you needed to check out church today.

Perhaps someone’s bad example drove you away from church long ago, but now you thought you would just try it again.

Conclusion/Salvation Invitation

• The truth is, we are all born into sin- our lives are not centered around Jesus. It separates us from God, and because God is holy, He cannot ignore sin—it requires judgment.
• But God’s love is greater than our sin. Instead of leaving us under judgment, God sent His Son, Jesus, who lived the perfect life we never could. And when He died on the cross, He took the judgment we deserved on Himself.
• If we repent of our sins and believe in Jesus, we are forgiven and restored into a relationship with God.
• Jesus not only saves us and changes us from the inside out so we can become living examples of His love and truth to the world.
• So today, if you have heard this message and believe in the saving work of Jesus—that He died for your sins and rose again to give you new life—I want to invite you to respond.
• Could everyone bow their heads and close their eyes. If you are ready to repent, believe, and follow Jesus, I invite you to stand right where you are. This is your moment to receive forgiveness and freedom, to begin a new life in Christ.
• (give some time for people to respond here)
• Whether you are standing or not, whether you have prayed this prayer before or not, I invite everyone to pray this with me (repeat after me):
• Dear God, Thank You for sending your son Jesus. To die on the cross for my sins. I confess I have not lived Your way, but today I turn to You. I receive Your forgiveness, and I commit to follow Jesus. Thank You for saving me.
• While everyone has their eyes closed, for those of you who are standing…

If you stood today, or if you didn’t and wish you had, please don’t leave without talking with someone from our follow up team. We want to walk with you, pray with you, and help you take your next step in following Jesus. Our follow up team is standing at the worship center doors. If you are standing, or even if you didn’t stand but wished you did, walk over to them right now, and they will take you out and talk you through the next steps.