Getting Started

The journey brings the maturity. There are no shortcuts, no substitutes, and no way to buy or earn a better position along the path. Maturity takes time, commitment, and sacrifice.

The Big Picture

  1. You cannot teach the reality of Christ if He is not a reality to you. You must have a strong relationship with Christ and abide in His Word in order to help Timothy grow in Christ.
  2. The goal is for Timothy to take up the Great Commission and make disciples himself. He will have competence in God’s Word, be forming spiritual disciplines, have a developing godly character, and be engaged in his community.

Finding a Timothy

We can’t disciple everyone. The time and commitment required by both the discipler (Paul) and the disciple (Timothy) force us to focus on a few. With all the powers of the universe at Christ’s command, He chose to pour his life into a few, ragged disciples. He knew that a few dedicated people would in time shake the world for God. Victory is never won by multitudes. The principle applies today—if we build quality leadership the multitudes will be reached and won.

If we can work successfully with only a few, we can be successful by choosing and challenging these few to become a critical part of the discipleship process. Who are the people we are looking for, and how do we challenge them to become involved in Operation Timothy?

The first step is to be able to recognize a potential disciple. What are the qualities we are looking for in a Timothy?

F.A.T. Man

  1. Faithful
  2. Available
  3. Teachable

What would this look like practically?

As you ask, consider: “Teachability is a person’s capacity for growth. You show me a person who is teachable, and I’ll show you a person in whom there is no limit in terms of potential.” Dr. Howard Hendricks

So Where Do I Find a Timothy?

  1. Ask
    Prayerfully make a list of men you believe have these qualities or potential to develop them. Prayer is a key element in the selection process because these are qualities of the heart. You need God’s mind in this for only He can discern the hearts of men and see their potential. “…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
  2. Seek

    Your Timothy will come from one of three sources. First, he may be a man you have had the privilege of leading to Christ. In this case, as his spiritual father, you have the same responsibilities as any parent. Second, in your day-to-day activities, God may bring a young, immature Christian into your life and place him into your teaching stewardship. A third source may be a man who is not a Christian, but wants to explore God’s Word and investigate the possibility of making Christ his Lord and Savior.

    • New Christian
    • Immature Christian
    • Seeker

  3. Knock
    When the Lord brings a potential Timothy across your path, take the initiative. In Luke 6:13 we see that after prayer the Lord called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them. How you qualify and challenge your Timtohy is vital to your overall success.

Take the initiative.

How do I invite a Timothy to do Operation Timothy?

Ask general questions about Timothy’s background, including spiritual, emotional, and physical areas of life as you spend time together. Ask God to give you discernment to recognize when he has prepared a Timothy. Ask Him for wisdom to encourage a prospective Timothy to investigate the Scriptures with you. Reflect on the Spiritual Awareness Chart, asking God to give you insight into where Timothy is in his spiritual journey.

Take some time and begin to pray about who would be a person with whom you could begin to meet in this kind of relationship.

Where and When to Meet?

Try to meet somewhere comfortable for 90 minutes a week. You’ll want to be able to talk about personal matters, pray uninterrupted, and not have many distractions. Breakfast may be better than lunch for this length of time. If Timothy is single, dinner may be your best option. Be flexible.

What Do We Do in a Meeting?

A typical 90 minute OT session will look something like this:

  1. Arrival and welcome (0:00-0:05)
  2. Fellowship and sharing (0:05-0:20)
  3. Scripture memory, begins in Life Foundations (0:20-0:30)
  4. Review of previous lessons (0:30-0:45)
  5. Discuss major topic (0:45-1:15)
  6. Assignment (1:15-1:20)
  7. Prayer (1:20-1:30)

During the week you will have completed and studied the major concept using the material in the chapter of the Operation Timothy book. Your “Timothy” will have worked through the Bible study in his workbook and memorized the verse for that week. Each week you will meet to study and discuss the material.

When you pray, remember that you are modeling prayer to Timothy every time. Avoid punctuational prayer, that is bookending your meeting with simple prayers of thanks and blessing.

Be sure you do some of the sharing, rather than simply asking all the questions. Be open and transparent. Balance personal sharing with discussion of the Scriptural truths in the lessons.

Take the time you need. While you don’t want to get sidetracked on various “rabbit trails,” you also don’t want to rush through your own agenda, covering the pages just to cover them.

As we said, be flexible. Avoid the temptation to let fellowship stretch out too long, unless Timothy is in a crisis and needs time to talk.

How do I ask questions?

Study the way Jesus uses questions and how He guided people toward the truth through them. A good question compels the listener to discover the truth himself. Let's look at some different types of questions:

Leading question: "Isn't God good?" This type predetermines response and is a dead end to meaningful discussion and education.

Limiting question: "In what three ways is God good, according to this passage?" There are good uses for this type. It focuses direction, but the questioner seems to take the role of an examiner rather than that of a co-explorer.

Open question: "What can we learn about God in this passage?" Now there is room for Timothy to do some of the work and provide interpretation. The question provokes interest and compels a thoughtful response.

Wide-open question: "Any other interesting truths in this passage?" This is a good concluding question, which allows Timothy to add something new from his own observation.

How should I prepare for a session?

  1. Pray every day during the week.
  2. Keep up with Timothy. Avoid letting your weekly meeting be your only contact.
  3. Study the Operation Timothy lessons and look into the optional applications. You may find something in an unfamiliar movie, CD message or song that touches Timothy more deeply than you would have guessed.
  4. Expect God to do great things. Just when we feel most inadequate, or have questions about whether Timothy is really "getting it," God will prove that He is at work.

Not all of Timothy's growth will be visible. Remember: growth depends not on your weakness or strength, but His strength.