May It Not Be Counted Against Them

I just happened upon a sermon on YouTube the other day that literally rocked my entire world.  For me, I think it was twofold.  For one, it confirmed a scripture passage I had already been wrestling with, and it also gave such clarity to personal experiences I have had as of late.

But God always invites me in deeper, and on this day it was an unsuspecting verse that caught my attention and pierced my very soul.

Second Timothy is filled with all kinds of encouragement.
Paul is giving instructions to his spiritual son, Timothy, and in chapter 4 is issuing some “final words” as he was preparing to die.

It’s sobering text and yet challenging at the same time.

Paul, who is still imprisoned at the time and being held in chains for a crime in which he holds no guilt, is appealing to Timothy to come.  You can read the entire story unfold between verses 9 and 22.

Paul says this, “Timothy, please come as soon as you can.”  (verse 9).  He goes on to explain the abandonment he has experienced from friends and once-comrades of the faith, and expresses his concern for one who fought against everything they had preached. (verse 14, 15)

He tells Timothy to bring Mark with him when he comes, because right up till the end, his main concern is helpfulness in this ministry of winning souls for Christ.  (verse 11).  And he makes a request for three practical things… his coat, his books, and his papers.  (verse 13)

After all of it, and nearing the end of his life, he says once more in verse 16, “The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me.  Everyone abandoned me.”
And I am brought to absolute tears.  Because in some small way I get it.
I, too, have lost one along life’s path.
And if you’re in full pursuit of Jesus, I imagine you have as well.

But it’s what he says next that brings me to my knees.
He says these words at the close of verse 16, “May it not be counted against them.”

Those 7 words bring a flood of emotion that I almost find hard to express in words.

And I wonder how much our world would change if we, like Paul, bravely learned the sincerity of these words.  I wonder how radically impactful the people of God would be on a hurting and hate-filled world, if we learned to remove the course of harsh judgement on those who’s guilt is not our job to track.

Abandonment, though painfully uncomfortable to experience, is not a sin.
Sometimes others simply cannot go where God is taking you.
Sometimes they are limited by their own personal pain.
Sometimes they simply don’t understand, and in their inability to live stretched, they become unwilling to move forward with the same level of faith you’ve attained.

And it’s okay.
Let’s stop holding them accountable for unnecessary expectations of perfection.

Let it go.
And sometimes it means letting them go.
Not because we don’t care… but in fact because we do.

And let us say it with confidence and love, “May it not be counted against them.”

Give them space to work out their own salvation in their own timing.
And in the middle of the mess, pray for them continuously.

But don’t hold their abandonment against them.
Count it all joy… that you were given the opportunity to love them well, serve them graciously… and now, to hand them over to the One who offers forgiveness that brings eternal life.