Throughout the world’s history, men have been continually “passing the torch,” although perhaps not always conscious of what they were doing. Ever since sin entered this world through man’s disobedience and “death by sin” (Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)), men have eventually had to give up their responsibilities in this world and pass them on to others. The expression “passing the torch” has come to be associated with this act of relinquishing one’s work, duties, position or information to another. The expression dates a long way back, for its origins are in Grecian idolatry. The original torch was to honor a mythical Greek goddess named Hera, and the flame was to burn continuously on the altar in her temple. More recently the expression has been associated with the Olympic games, where the torch is traditionally lit in Greece, then carried around the world by relays of people until it arrives in the Olympic host country for that particular set of games. The words have also become well-known through the last stanza of the poem, “In Flanders’ Fields,” by Dr. John McRae, written at the end of World War I:
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high;
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders’ fields.
The words of this poem concern human warfare and represent the supposed feelings of those soldiers who gave their lives in the war, as they encouraged others to take their places. As Christians, we know that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Cor. 10:44(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (2 Corinthians 10:4)), yet this allusion to the military is sometimes used in the Word of God. We see it in connection with baptism, which we will look at later in this article.
The Need to Pass on Obligations
We do not find the words “passing the torch” in the Word of God, but we do find this same action all through man’s history, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. As weakness and eventual death overtake all of us, we must give up obligations that we have undertaken in this world and pass them on to others. Most of us have watched a relay race and seen the baton being passed from a spent runner to a fresh one. Does he pass it on to a spectator siting on the sidelines on a bench? No! He passes it on to someone who is on the track beside him and already moving!
Two great questions are connected with this: What do we pass on, and to whom do we pass it? Some have passed on a good torch, and it has been taken up by those who valued it. To use the expression in the poem above, they counted it a great privilege to “hold it high.” Others have passed on the torch, only to have others drop it or disregard it. Still others have passed on a bad torch, and perhaps it too has been held high, to the detriment of the one to whom it was passed. Still others have been passed a bad torch, and thankfully they have recognized that it was not worth taking. They have not carried that wrong torch, but rather taken up one that was good and right, and they have carried it instead. We find examples of all of these in the Word of God.
Baptized for the Dead
In 1 Corinthians 15:2929Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:29), we read, “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not?” When believers are baptized, they take the name of Christ upon them and stand for Him in this world. But death comes in, and some believers are taken home to be with Christ. The illustration here is that of an army that loses some of its men, either from death in battle or from natural death. But the army continues, as new recruits are brought in to replace those who have died. In Christianity, this especially happened when believers were martyred for their faith. Their faithfulness, often under torture and with a cruel death, was used of the Lord to bring others to Christ. In this way the Christian testimony has been maintained for nearly 2,000 years now, and there are probably more Christians alive in the world today than at any other time in the history of the church. The “torch has been passed!”
Paul’s Word to Timothy
We find an even more explicit example in Paul and Timothy. Here was one with a good torch, and he was confident in being able to pass it to one who would value it and “hold it high.” Paul had been faithful, and he could say to the Ephesian elders, “I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-2726Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (Acts 20:26‑27)). It was not merely a matter of the truth of the gospel being passed on, but also the precious truth of the assembly that was specially given to Paul from a risen Christ in glory. But now, in 2 Timothy, several years had passed by, and it had been revealed to Paul that he would not be released from prison this time. He could say, “The time of my departure is at hand” (2 Tim. 4:66For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. (2 Timothy 4:6)). Some of those to whom he might have “passed the torch” had proven themselves to be unworthy of it. Paul had to say, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Tim. 4:1010For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. (2 Timothy 4:10)). But of Timothy he could say, “I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state” (Phil. 2:2020For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. (Philippians 2:20)). It was to Timothy that Paul wrote his last epistle and to whom he said, “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:22And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2)).
We do not hear anything more of Timothy in the Word of God, but we can be confident that he carried out Paul’s injunction to him. Sadly, we know from history that despite the faithfulness of those like Timothy, ruin did come into the church rather quickly, both in doctrine and in practice.
However, what we read here in 2 Timothy 2:22And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2) is God’s way of “passing the torch” today, as it has been all down through the history of the church. Yes, we have the Word of God and are responsible for what it says, even if no one passes the torch to us. However, the godly example and teaching of those who went before is most important, whether we are in a position to pass the torch or whether we are receiving it.
W. J. Prost