Here’s the setting of Paul’s second letter to Timothy.
Paul was in prison awaiting execution. Apparently, the congregations from the Roman province of Asia were against him (2 Timothy 1:15). Demas had left for Thessalonica because he ‘loved the world’ more than the gospel; Crescens and Titus were ministering elsewhere (2 Timothy 4:10). To add insult to injury, Alexander the coppersmith had ‘done him great harm’ (2 Timothy 4:14). It’s been rough road on the way to execution.
So, he writes to Timothy. Paul and Timothy first met while Paul was on his second missionary journey. Paul adopted Timothy as a spiritual son (Timothy’s father was a non-believer); it’s clear Paul cares deeply about him, and there is every reason to believe Timothy felt the same.
This is the letter of a man who does not have much time left. The hum in the background is a sense of urgency to build and guide Timothy in the brief time he has left.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy, you are constantly in my prayers. Day and night I remember you before God and give thanks to Him whom I serve with a clean conscience, as did my ancestors. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
God had given to Timothy a charisma, a spiritual gift.[1] Paul tells him to fan it into flame, a metaphor drawn from the fanning of the embers of a fire.
The gift comes as an ember from the Holy Spirit; we must respond by making the right decisions and taking the right actions to fan it into flame.
The Spirit enables us for ministry – perhaps we think not only of the gift, but the pneuma (spirit), the wind, fanning the ember from God’s side, as it has done since Genesis 1. But God’s gifts require a response if we want to experience them in their fullness:
1) First we are filled (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:10 make clear that when we become part of the temple, the Holy Spirit lives in us. We need to commit our lives to Christ and experience His salvation. See Romans 8:9-11; 2 Timothy 1:14; Galatians 4:6)
2) Second, don’t quench the influence of the Holy Spirit in you (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
3) Third, we fan it into flame.[2] The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), expelled (Psalm 51:11), neglected (1Timothy 4:14). Instead, fan it so the embers become a fire.[3]
What are spiritual gifts?
There are different manifestations of the Spirit to build up the body and bring glory to God (Isaiah 11:5; I Corinthians 12:1-11). The Holy Spirit “gives gifts as He will” (I Corinthians 12:7-11), yet we are also instructed to diligently seek the gifts (I Corinthians 12:31, 14:1) We are recipients of gifts because of God’s good grace. Because they are freely given, they cannot be earned, but they must be ‘fanned’.
The gifts must be expressed in love, sincerity, and in an orderly and understandable way (I Corinthians 14:26-33) which honors others above ourselves (I Corinthians 13:1-13; Romans 12:1-10), lest our expression cause others to stumble (1 Corinthians 8). Every attempt should be made to use the gifts in humility and service, so that we may share the desire of Jesus: that God must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30;15:26; 16:13-14).
These gifts are given to the church to build up, encourage, and comfort the church. They are also far more varied than we often realize. It’s easy to think that there are kind of super gifts that people on pedestals have, but if we look at the entirety of the scriptural presentation, there is a remarkable variety of gifts attributed to God’s good grace.
o Prophecy (boldly proclaiming God’s mind and purpose) 1 Corinthians 12, 14; Micah 3:8
o Serving (a wide variety of ministries that “make the dust fly”) – 1 Peter 4; 1 Corinthians 12:5
o Teaching (explaining God’s truth) - Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4
o Working (bringing energy to a project) - 1 Corinthians 12:6
o Exhortation (motivational skills; encouragement) – Romans 12
o Giving (joyful, sacrificial generosity) - Romans 12
o Mercy (compassion) – Romans 12
o Intercession (prayer) - Romans 8:26, 27
o Wisdom (knowledge rightly applied to situations) - James 1:5; Numbers 27
o Words of Wisdom (giving insightful, practical knowledge) – 1 Corinthians 12
o Words of Knowledge (giving insight into doctrine/spiritual truth) – 1 Corinthians 12
o Faith (unwavering commitment and trust that God works beyond human capabilities; good at encouraging others to trust in God in the face of apparently insurmountable odds)– 1 Corinthians 12
o Healing (miraculous interventions for sickness) - 1 Corinthians 12
o Miracles – (supernatural acts) - 1 Corinthians 12
o Discerning spirits (insight into the “spirit” of a situation) – 1 Corinthians 12
o Tongues (gifted in human or heavenly languages) – 1 Corinthians 12, 14
o Interpretation of Tongues – (translating those languages) 1 Corinthians 12, 14
o Apostle (in one sense, unique to the founding of the church; the ‘apostolic gift’ is probably best understood now as ‘church planting’) – 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4
o Leadership (church planters and church sustainers) – Romans 12
o Pastor (“shepherds” who guide and lead) – Ephesians 4
o Evangelist/Missionary (boldness in sharing the gospel) - Acts 1:8; 5:32; 26:22; 1 John 5:6; Ephesians 4
o Helps (helping/serving the poor and downtrodden) - 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Timothy 3:8-13; Romans 16:1-4; 12
o Administration (the ability to give oversight) - 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Samuel 11 and 16
o Celibacy (refraining from sex with purity) - 1 Corinthians 7:7
o Marriage (committing to a covenant with integrity) - 1 Corinthians 7:7
o Hospitality (openness and friendliness) - 1 Peter 4:9-10
o Craftsmanship (building, construction) - Exodus 31:3; 35:30-35
o The Arts (music, poetry, prose, painting…) – Exodus 31:2-6; Exodus 35:25-26; Psalm 150:3-5 Luke 1:1-3
o Voluntary Poverty (forgoing wealth without envy, jealousy or judgment of others) - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
o Business Sense (reward from hard work and investment) -Ecclesiastes 3,5
o Courage (as seen in Gideon) - Judges 6
o Strength (as seen in Samson) - Judges 13
o Architectural Engineering (planning; constructing; building) - 1 Chronicles 28
Like many lists in the Bible, I suspect this is giving us example after example while not necessarily being exhaustive. Every worked with elementary age students? It’s a gift. If you are a counselor, that’s a gift. If you can raise a large family and keep your sanity, that’s a gift. If you can keep cheering for the Lions… making a house feel like a home…being able to see people on the margins and draw them in….knowing how to diffuse tense situations… I suspect that the Holy Spirit takes virtually everything about life and “give gifts” of extraordinary ability to make that part of life an outpost of the Kingdom of God.
“Fan these embers into flame.” How do we do this?
Identify them. Start with https://spiritualgiftstest.com/spiritual-gifts-test/#gf_7, which also has a personality test. Or https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/. Or
https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/women-leadership-spiritual-gifts-growth-service. This isn’t everything on the above list of gifts , but it’s a start.
Build them. Study, learn, observe in others.
Use them. Like, do stuff! Where do your desires, skills and opportunities intersect?
To the glory of God. How does this build the church or make God’s name great in the community?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
My recommendation: take one of the spiritual gifts quizzes. As noted earlier, these aren't exhaustive. Feel free to identify other areas of your life where you believe the Holy Spirit has gifted you to do something really well. Then, talk about what it looks like in your life to “fan into flame” the gifts that you have.
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[1] ‘God never commissions anyone to a task without imparting a special gift appropriate to it’ (Guthrie).
[2] “We know that St. Paul frequently uses for his illustrations of Christian life scenes well known among the Greek heathen nations of the Old World, such as the Greek athletic games. Is it not possible (the suggestion is Wordsworth’s) that the Apostle while here charging Timothy to take care that the sacred fire of the Holy Ghost did not languish in his heart, while urging him to watch the flame, to keep it burning brightly, to fan the flame if burning dimly—is it not possible that St. Paul had in mind the solemn words of the Roman law, “Let them watch the eternal flame of the public hearth”? (Cicero, de Legibus, xi. 8.) The failure of the flame was regarded as an omen of dire misfortune, and the watchers, if they neglected the duty, were punished with the severest penalties.” (Ellicott’s Commentary)
[3] “O quench it not, damp it not, in yourself or others, by giving way to any lust or passion, any affection or disposition, contrary to holiness, either by neglecting to do good, or by doing evil. See note on Ephesians 4:30. It is easy to observe that the qualities and effects of the Spirit’s influences are here compared to those of fire. See note on Matthew 3:11. And as fire may be quenched, not only by pouring water upon it, or heaping upon it earth and ashes, but by withholding fuel from it, or even by neglecting to stir it up; so the enlightening, quickening, renewing, purifying, and comforting operations of the Spirit may be quenched, not only by the commission of known and wilful sin, and by immersing our minds too deeply in worldly business, and burdening them with worldly cares, but by omitting to use the private or public means of grace, the fuel provided to nourish this sacred fire, and by neglecting to stir up the gifts and graces which are in us.” Benson Commentary
“In a similar manner the apostle gives this direction to Timothy, "I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up ἀναζωπυρεῖν anazōpurein, kindle up, cause to burn) the gift of God;" 2 Timothy 1:6. Anything that will tend to damp the ardor of piety in the soul; to chill our feelings; to render us cold and lifeless in the service of God, may be regarded as "quenching the Spirit." Neglect of cultivating the Christian graces, or of prayer, of the Bible, of the sanctuary, of a careful watchfulness over the heart, will do it. Worldliness, vanity, levity, ambition, pride, the love of dress, or indulgence in an improper train of thought, will do it. It is a great rule in religion that all the piety which there is in the soul is the fair result of culture. A man has no more religion than he intends to have; he has no graces of the Spirit which he does not seek; he has no deadness to the world which is not the object of his sincere desire, and which he does not aim to have. Any one, if he will, may make elevated attainments in the divine life; or he may make his religion merely a religion of form, and know little of its power and its consolations.” – Barne’s Notes On The Bible