Have you ever taken a road trip? I don’t mean an extended day trip, but a road trip that lasted a week or more, maybe crossed several state lines, and required you to live in close quarters with your traveling companions. If you have, you know there is quite a difference between the two trips. My brother is somewhat of an expert in planning and executing these types of adventures. He has made it a pattern to choose a region of the United States, rent an RV or small camper van, and travel from town to town and campsite to campsite, experiencing all of the diverse beauty this county has to offer firsthand. A number of years ago our family had the opportunity and the time to join him on a leg of his family’s West Coast road trip. The personal wishes of nine individuals combined with the tight confines of the RV and the unforeseen challenges of the trip could have caused us to never want to see each other or speak to each other ever again. Thankfully, the road trip had the opposite effect, and we were able to appreciate one another's differences and love one other’s character traits even more.

At the end of Philippians 2, the Apostle Paul introduces us to one of his traveling companions that was familiar to his readers and many of us: Timothy. Timothy was a young man that Paul became acquainted with on his second missionary journey as he traveled through the city of Lystra. Timothy was born to a Jewish mother and a Greek father, making him familiar with both Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures and an ideal protégé for Paul’s cross-cultural ministry to the Gentiles. He became not only a pupil, but a constant traveling companion from city to city, a first-hand witness and participant in his mentor’s ministry successes and setbacks. Here is what Paul writes about his fellow traveler, Timothy, in Philippians 2:19-24:

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

Paul clearly esteems Timothy highly! But why would Paul add this little “travelogue” right in the middle of his letter? Why not wait until the end as he does in many of his other epistles? Taking the entire context of the chapter into consideration, it seems that Paul’s approval of Timothy aims to point this beloved church back to the central idea of the chapter. Previously, Paul wrote: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4). The Philippians were challenged to follow the divine example of Christ, who did not consider all of His glorious privileges to be held onto for His own advantage, but humbly submitted to the Father’s will for the eternal benefit of sinful humanity (Phil 2:5-8). Paul, not to be left out, includes himself in following the Savior’s example, indicating that he is willing to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of the Philippians’ faith (Phil 2:17). Yet, the apostle also recognizes the importance of wise and godly travel companions - spiritual brothers and sisters who walk alongside us on life’s journey. As a matter of fact, in his letter to the believers at Corinth, he writes, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Since it is clearly important for every believer to both follow and model, it should not surprise us that Paul introduces his companion, Timothy, in the middle of the letter.

In Paul’s approval of Timothy, we find another example of what genuine humility and selfless obedience looks like. Paul’s pupil functions as a visible example to the divine pattern set by Jesus (Phil 2:5-8). In short, by lining up these familiar examples - Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus - the apostle is instructing his readers to, “Look for and look like these individuals!” These are wise and helpful traveling companions along life’s journey. Their lives are worth emulating and following. They motivate and train us. In the case of Timothy, we find a model that demonstrates genuine concern for the church, a proven track record of service, and a selfless and sacrificial servant.

It is completely logical that Paul would glowingly commend his traveling companion. Paul sent Timothy to the Philippian church with the highest of commendations, a workman approved by God (2 Tim 2:15). And he commended him, because of his life for Christ and his unflinching work for Christ. Who are the companions on your “road trip” that you would commend for their practice of following and modeling the Savior and His cause?

2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV) - “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”