The question now is, who is your Timothy? Can you name him or her? In your training, are you being intentional about the future impact of this disciple and others?
If you don’t yet have a Timothy, ask the Lord to guide you to him or her. Such a person may be one you convert or may be someone converted already whom the Lord brings into your care. Timothy himself had come to Christ before Paul met him. Paul saw Timothy’s potential and adopted him as his own son in the faith, his special trainee and partner in the mission (Acts 16:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:2). By God’s grace, Timothy proved faithful (1 Corinthians 4:17). Another of Paul’s co-workers was Demas (Colossians 4:4; Philemon 1:24). At a critical time, he proved unfaithful (2 Timothy 4:10). If you experience such disappointments, do as Paul did. Keep moving forward undeterred and focus your maturing efforts on those who remain faithful.
Remember, in personal work your goal goes beyond initial faith, repentance and baptism. The goal of effective evangelism is this: “We proclaim [Christ], warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). Yes, the first goal is to sow Gospel seed. Yes, a related goal is to bring about obedience to the Gospel (Romans 1:5; 16:26). These lead to the greater goal, which is spiritual maturity. When a plant is mature, what does it do? It flowers and bears fruit. In the same way, the mature disciple grows the beauty and fruitfulness of Christlikeness. So, even in the early stages, keep in mind evangelism’s longer goal of maturity and fruitfulness. Aim, not just for immediate response, but for long-term responses. Aim, not just to add disciples, but to multiply disciples.