An Urgent Message Does Not Require an Impatient Messenger
First Published Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - Revised Sunday, August 16, 2026
...with the utmost patience in teaching.
— 2 Timothy 4
Paul gives Timothy an assignment that sounds urgent. Preach the word. Be persistent. Convince, rebuke, encourage and teach. There is no suggestion that Timothy should wait around for some more convenient time.
The message matters now.
I've always been interested in the word urge. When we urge someone to do something, there is urgency behind it. We believe something matters enough that it should not simply be put off indefinitely.
That makes sense to me when it comes to the Gospel. The urgency isn't dependent upon predicting when Christ will return, or convincing ourselves that some particular event must happen next week. The day of salvation is today because today is the only day in which we can actually respond to anything.
The Kingdom of God is eternal, but we always encounter it in the present moment.
Now.
And now is always right now.
You cannot postpone the present moment. Tomorrow, if it comes, will arrive as another now. So there is something appropriate about Paul's urgency. If there is good news to proclaim, love to extend, forgiveness to offer, truth to teach, or someone who needs to hear about Christ, why would we indefinitely put it off?
But then Paul adds something that stopped me when I first reflected on this passage ten years ago.
He tells Timothy to teach “with the utmost patience.”
Not merely patience.
The utmost patience.
That seems almost contradictory. If the message is urgent, shouldn't we press harder? Shouldn't we become more forceful when people don't understand? If we are convinced that something is true and important, isn't impatience almost evidence that we care?
Apparently not. Paul places the burden on the teacher to remain patient, and that may be particularly important for Christians to remember when we are convinced that somebody else is wrong. We can become so concerned about correcting the error that we stop seeing the person. We repeat ourselves more loudly, become sarcastic, question motives and assign labels. Eventually we may find ourselves talking about the person to people who already agree with us, rather than continuing patiently to talk with the person. Then we tell ourselves that our harshness was necessary because the truth was urgent.
But urgency and impatience are not the same thing. In fact, perhaps the more important the message is, the more patiently it should be delivered. If I genuinely hope another person will understand something, I need to listen long enough to understand what is preventing them from hearing me. I may need to explain myself differently, or admit where I am wrong. I may need to demonstrate the truth through years of friendship and service rather than winning an argument this afternoon. And sometimes I may simply need to wait.
This applies to evangelism, certainly, but it also applies inside the Church, in politics, in families, and anywhere else we find ourselves thinking, If these people would just listen to me. Maybe they should. But before I decide that their stubbornness is the entire problem, Paul gives me something to examine in myself. Have I taught patiently? Have I listened patiently? Have I corrected patiently? Have I loved patiently? And have I really demonstrated the utmost patience, rather than merely enough patience to satisfy myself that I tried?
The message is still urgent. The truth still matters. There are things worth teaching, defending and proclaiming without embarrassment. But ten years later, I think the observation I made the first time remains true: an urgent message can be ruined by an impatient messenger. So yes, preach, teach, encourage and urge. But if we want anyone to hear us, we had better take the time to do it right—with the utmost patience.
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