If we judged success by worldly standards, some might be
inclined to assess Paul's leadership career as an abject
failure and a bitter disappointment. In the closing days
of his life, when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Luke was
virtually his only contact with the outside world
(4:11). Paul was confined in a Roman dungeon, dreading
the savage cold of coming winter (vv. 13, 21), and
without any hope of deliverance from the death sentence
that had been imposed on him. He suffered because of the
sadistic contempt of his enemies. He was even abandoned
or disavowed by some of his closest friends. He wrote,
"This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away
from me" (2 Timothy 1:15).
"Asia" refers to Asia Minor, where Paul had focused his
missionary work. Ephesus, where Timothy pastored, was
the capital of that region. So Paul wasn't telling
Timothy anything Timothy didn't already know firsthand.
In that time of fierce persecution, association with
Paul had become so costly that all but a few of the
apostle's own spiritual children had in effect disowned
and abandoned him.
That's why people who see things superficially might
think the end of Paul's life was tragic. At first
glance, it might even seem as if his enemies had finally
defeated him.
A failure? Actually, the apostle Paul was not a failure
as a leader by any measure. His influence continues
worldwide even today. By contrast, Nero, the corrupt but
powerful Roman emperor who ordered Paul's death, is one
of history's most despised figures. This is yet another
reminder that influence is the true test of a person's
leadership, not power or position per se. In fact, a
careful look at how Paul's life and ministry came to an
end can teach us a lot about how to gauge the success or
failure of a leader.
Paul's first long imprisonment and trial before Nero
apparently ended in the apostle's release sometime
before AD 64, because he wrote the epistles of 1 Timothy
and Titus as a free man (1 Timothy 3:14-15; 4:13; Titus
3:12). But that liberty was short-lived. In July of the
year 64, seven of Rome's fourteen districts burned. When
the original fire was nearly extinguished, another fire,
fanned by fierce winds, broke out in another district.
Rumors circulated that Nero himself had ordered the
burning of the city to make room for some ambitious
building projects, including a golden palace for
himself.
Trying desperately to deflect suspicion, Nero blamed
Christians for starting the fires. That began the first
of several major, aggressive campaigns by the Roman
government to destroy the church. Christians in Rome
were rounded up and executed in unspeakably cruel ways.
Some were sewn into animal skins and ripped to death by
dogs. Others were impaled on stakes, covered with pitch,
and burned as human torches to light Nero's garden
parties. Many were beheaded, fed to lions, or otherwise
disposed of at Nero's command in equally ruthless ways.
During that persecution, Paul was again taken prisoner
by the Roman authorities, brought to Rome, subjected to
persecution and torment (2 Timothy 4:17), and finally
executed as a traitor because of his relentless devotion
to the lordship of Christ.
Throughout his first imprisonment at Rome, Paul had been
kept under house arrest (Acts 28:16, 30). He was allowed
freedom to preach and teach those who visited him (v.
23). He was under the constant guard of a Roman soldier
but was treated with respect. The influence of his
ministry had therefore reached right into the household
of Caesar (Philippians 4:22).
Paul's second imprisonment, however, was markedly
different. He was virtually cut off from all outside
contact and kept chained in a dungeon (2 Timothy 1:16).
He was probably held underground in the Mamertine
Prison, adjacent to the Roman forum, in a small, dark,
bare stone dungeon whose only entrance was a hole in the
ceiling scarcely large enough for one person to pass
through. The dungeon itself is not large; about half the
size of a small one-car garage. Yet it was sometimes
used to hold as many as forty prisoners. The discomfort,
the dark, the stench, and the misery were almost
unbearable.
That dungeon still exists, and I have been in it. The
stifling, claustrophobic confines of that dark hole are
eerie and depressing even today. It was there (or in a
dungeon just like it) that Paul spent the final days of
his life.
There is no reliable record of Paul's execution, but he
obviously knew the end of his life was imminent when he
wrote his second epistle to Timothy. Evidently he had
already been tried, convicted, and condemned for
preaching Christ, and perhaps the day of his execution
was already scheduled. He wrote to Timothy, "I am
already being poured out as a drink offering, and the
time of my departure is at hand" (2 Timothy 4:6).
Naturally, there are notes of profound sadness in Paul's
final epistle. But its dominant theme is triumph, not
defeat. Paul wrote that last letter to Timothy to
encourage the young pastor to be bold and courageous and
to continue following the example he had learned from
his apostolic mentor. Far from writing a concession of
failure, Paul sounds a clarion note of victory: "I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only
but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy
4:7-8).
Facing his own imminent martyrdom, Paul had no fear, no
despondency, and no desire to stay in this world. He
longed to be with Christ and eagerly anticipated the
reward He would receive in the next world. Therefore, as
he reviewed the course of his life, he expressed no
regret, no sense of unfulfillment, and no feeling of
incompleteness. There was not the smallest duty left
undone. He had finished the work the Lord gave him to
do, just as in Acts 20:24 he had hoped and prayed he
would do: "so that I may finish my race with joy."
Paul measured his own success as a leader, as an
apostle, and as a Christian by a single criterion: He
had "kept the faith"-meaning both that he had remained
faithful to Christ and that he had kept the message of
Christ's gospel intact, just as he had received it. He
had proclaimed the Word of God faithfully and
fearlessly. And now he was passing the baton to Timothy
and to others, who would be "able to teach others also"
(2 Timothy 2:2).
Therefore, Paul faced his own death with a triumphant
spirit and with a deep sense of joy. He had seen the
grace of God accomplish all that God designed in him and
through him, and now he was ready to meet Christ
face-to-face.
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