Words from John G. (Part 3)

This month in “Words From John G,” I want to draw attention to a particular word for the youth.  

 The biblical reality is that you young people are valuable: from the Lord’s writing down your days before there was yet one and knitting you together in your mother’s womb, then drawing praise from your infant lips, and even opening the kingdom to such as you, setting you as an example for the faith by which we all must be saved (See Psalm 139, Psalm 8, and Matthew 18).  The reality of our experience within the church, however, is that young people are not always afforded the care and attention that God would have us grant them, and so some of us may end up inadvertently (or even intentionally) despising them for their youthfulness, the very thing that Paul tells Timothy not to let other believers do.

 I think 1 Timothy 4:12 is a well-known verse: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” This verse speaks not only to the inherent value of young people, but also to the value which God in his Word assigns to your actions and your character.  In his youth, John G. Paton set an example for believers in his willingness and resolve to serve the Lord on the mission field of Tanna in the New Hebrides islands.  His example is for all of us, but he gives a particular example of love and wisdom which I want to set especially before the youth.

 Now, who are the youth in question here?  I’m going to be fairly liberal with my use of the term, opening it up generally to the ages of 13 – 33 (sorry 34-year-olds who think you’re still young….). More than thinking about one’s age in terms of years, I am really aiming at anyone who is thinking about their future and is working on planning what to do next, but with an eye to what will happen after that.  The easiest example is perhaps those who are making plans to go to some form of higher education, but with an eye towards what happens after they have completed it, namely the lifework and/or lifestyle which a college degree or training certificate can help enable.

 To be sure, we all should want to plan for our lives carefully, but also be careful in our planning.  After all, Scripture makes it clear that though our heart plans our way, it is God who directs our steps, and that we may even be guilty of great arrogance if we set our hearts on plans without considering if it should be the Lord’s will (Proverbs 16:9, James 4:13-16).  And in case you have been tempted to brush off those biblical warnings and remain stubbornly convinced that your life will work out just as you have planned beforehand, just consider how many life plans have been suddenly put on hold or entirely discarded in a manner of mere months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 This is not to say we should not make plans at all, but that our plans should be made with due consideration for the Lord and his Word, and that our plans should be held loosely, since we do not know what tomorrow holds.  The way you make plans (or don’t make them) can still exert significant control over future consequences from the actions and commitments you make today.  A very significant and common example of this for today’s youth is the debts incurred from going to school.  The advantages of a college degree may indeed be worth the costs of taking out student loans, but you should be mindful that while the education may open any number of doors for you, the debt may close just as many (or possibly even more!).  While I do not have any statistics on this figure, I will just say that I have personally known Christians who earnestly desired to serve on the foreign mission field, but were prohibited from doing so because of the amount of student loan debt they had incurred (missionaries don’t get rich… not in this life, anyway).

 So, what does this have to do with John G. Paton?  Well, before he was old, he was once young, and he, too, was looking for ways and opportunities to better himself and open doors towards gospel ministry abroad.  The Patons were not wealthy, but they were hard working, John being no exception to that family pattern.  So, it is of little surprise that when John had an engagement in the British military with the “sappers and miners” (consider it to be the equivalent of enlisting in the US Army to be an Army Engineer), his work and his character impressed his supervising lieutenant.  

 In Paton’s autobiography, he describes a day in which his lieutenant summoned him to appear before a number of military officials, “and in their presence,” he recalls, “[the lieutenant] promised me promotion in the service, and special training in Woolwich at the government’s expense, on condition that I would sign an engagement for seven years.”[i]  Promotion?  Education?  Government’s expense?  And only in exchange for seven years of service?  Don’t you think it seems obvious what a wise young man like John G. Paton would do in the face of such an offer?

 Thanking him most gratefully for his kind offer, I agreed to bind myself for three years or four, but not for seven.

Excitedly [the lieutenant] said, “Why? Will you refuse an offer that many gentlemen’s sons would be proud of?”

I said, “My life is given to another Master, so I cannot engage for seven years.”

He asked sharply, “To whom?”

I replied, “To the Lord Jesus; and I want to prepare as soon as possible for His service in the proclaiming of the Gospel.”[ii]

Interestingly enough, Paton’s response (and apparently his commitment to the Lord Jesus) angered the lieutenant, who threatened him with removing the offer if he did not accept the seven-year term.  Again, Paton thanked him, essentially saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

I offer this example from Paton’s youth, to encourage the young people to think maturely about their time, their material resources, and their desires.  There can be an immature zeal that says, “I just want to serve Jesus; I don’t need training/education/experience/maturity/etc. to do that.”  But if you ask anyone with wisdom, they’ll likely tell you that yes, you do need some of that.  Even John G. Paton was not passing up the need for preparation; he was only refusing to bind himself and his time to “another master.”  On the other end of the spectrum, there can be an immature sense of priorities which says, “I will get all the training/education/experience/etc. that I can now, and afterwards will figure out what I have left in the way of time and resources with which to serve Jesus.”  I suggest that neither of those approaches are ideal.

There is, however, a godly mean between those extremes, to which I would encourage any of you young people to aim.  This mean was demonstrated by John G. Paton, who did indeed prepare for and serve the Lord Jesus in proclaiming the gospel abroad, but not at the expense of binding himself to “another master,” even though that other master seemed to make some good promises.  This godly mean is also set forth by Jesus, as he calls you, yes even you, the young (perhaps youngish) person reading this blog, who is thinking about where you will go and what you will do this year or next. He instructs with this promise: “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Jonathan H. is the pastor of Manhattan RP Church in Manhattan, KS, where he lives with his wife and two young children. Jonathan sensed his call into pastoral ministry while serving overseas on an RP Missions short-term trip.

[i] John G. Paton, John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides (New York, Fleming H. Revell, 1898), 36-37.

[ii] Ibid., 37.