As an evangelist, Timothy had a wonderful teacher, who instructed him in the gospel of Christ. The great apostle Paul took a personal interest in the young man, and called upon Timothy to “Guard what was committed to your trust” (1 Timothy 6:20).
The Greek word translated “Guard,” (or “Keep” in the KJV), means to guard or preserve. An evangelist is certainly not to guard the faith in the sense of keeping it from others. Rather, he is to guard or preserve the integrity of the faith that is committed to his trust.
In fact, the phrase “committed to your trust” indicated that Timothy had a responsibility to pass on to others the exact message of truth that he himself had received. As we consider the extant dangers listed by Paul in the context, “profane and idle babblings”, “contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge”, we see that such corruptions of the truth lead to a disciple straying.
One of the primary responsibilities of the child of God is to, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Jude speaks of “certain men”, “ungodly men”, who corrupt the truth of God, and in so doing defile themselves, and those who hear them.
As an evangelist, Timothy had a special burden in defending the truth. No man who claims to be an evangelist is worth his salt if he does not stand up to the error that is present in every generation. Not only is a preacher to be a proclaimer, he is to be a guardian of the truth!
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