What do Marilyn Monroe, Eddie Murphy, author Dave Pelzer, Olympic athlete Reese Hoffa, Cher, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer have in common? All of them spent time growing up in foster care. There have been a great many famous foster parents, too. My parents were involved in foster care for several years during my childhood. Several good brethren today continue to provide a home, if temporarily, to those whose own homes are strained or broken.
There is a man in Acts, an Ephesian, whose time upon the inspired stage is brief. His name, Trophimus, literally means "foster child." Though there is no particular significance attached to his name, it is one of the more interesting names in the New Testament. It seems that adoption was very common in the Greco-Roman life. Ryrie says, "Childless couples could often adopt a son who then became their heir. Even if the adopted son had living biological parents, they had no more claim over him after the adoption had taken place. Often parents were willing to let their sons be adopted by another family if it meant a better lot in life" (Basic Theology, 306; see rules of adoption in Women's Life in Greece and Rome, Lefkowtitz and Fant, 99-100). A foster child would have been essentially the same as an adoptee in that society,
It is not far-fetched to think that Trophimus was converted through Paul's efforts (cf. Acts 20:4; Easton considers him to have literally been a foster child). Paul once called Timothy his "true child in the faith" (1 Tim. 1:2) and his influence over many others, among them Titus, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, Jesus Justus, Clement, may have had a paternal flair. Once, he told the Thessalonians that he was as gentle as a "nursing mother" caring for her own children (1 Th. 2:7; the word for "nurse" there is in the same word family as Trophimus).
Trophimus was certainly nurtured and tutored in discipleship under Paul's capable guidance. The Ephesian was with Paul when he was arrested in Jerusalem, mistakenly assumed to have entered the temple with Paul (Acts 21:29). Trophimus had come to Jerusalem on Paul's last recorded visit to that city (Acts 20:4). At the end of Paul's life, Trophimus was unable to accompany the apostle due to illness (2 Tim. 4:20). Some have supposed that he was one of the brothers who accompanied Titus in delivering the second epistle to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 8:16-24 (cf. Elwell and Comfort, 1275). "Legend suggests that Trophimus was ultimately beheaded by the order of Nero" (ibid.).
That is all we know of Trophimus, but we know he was in the sphere of Paul's influence. Paul adopted him, as he no doubt did others. What an example Paul provides for us of the power of mentoring and influence. Leadership training, church growth, and elder, preacher, deacon, or other working enlisting is a valuable, but too seldom practiced, work. We need to foster our own Timothys, Tituses, and Trophimuses. Who are you helping grow in the service of the Lord?
There is a man in Acts, an Ephesian, whose time upon the inspired stage is brief. His name, Trophimus, literally means "foster child." Though there is no particular significance attached to his name, it is one of the more interesting names in the New Testament. It seems that adoption was very common in the Greco-Roman life. Ryrie says, "Childless couples could often adopt a son who then became their heir. Even if the adopted son had living biological parents, they had no more claim over him after the adoption had taken place. Often parents were willing to let their sons be adopted by another family if it meant a better lot in life" (Basic Theology, 306; see rules of adoption in Women's Life in Greece and Rome, Lefkowtitz and Fant, 99-100). A foster child would have been essentially the same as an adoptee in that society,
It is not far-fetched to think that Trophimus was converted through Paul's efforts (cf. Acts 20:4; Easton considers him to have literally been a foster child). Paul once called Timothy his "true child in the faith" (1 Tim. 1:2) and his influence over many others, among them Titus, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, Jesus Justus, Clement, may have had a paternal flair. Once, he told the Thessalonians that he was as gentle as a "nursing mother" caring for her own children (1 Th. 2:7; the word for "nurse" there is in the same word family as Trophimus).
Trophimus was certainly nurtured and tutored in discipleship under Paul's capable guidance. The Ephesian was with Paul when he was arrested in Jerusalem, mistakenly assumed to have entered the temple with Paul (Acts 21:29). Trophimus had come to Jerusalem on Paul's last recorded visit to that city (Acts 20:4). At the end of Paul's life, Trophimus was unable to accompany the apostle due to illness (2 Tim. 4:20). Some have supposed that he was one of the brothers who accompanied Titus in delivering the second epistle to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 8:16-24 (cf. Elwell and Comfort, 1275). "Legend suggests that Trophimus was ultimately beheaded by the order of Nero" (ibid.).
That is all we know of Trophimus, but we know he was in the sphere of Paul's influence. Paul adopted him, as he no doubt did others. What an example Paul provides for us of the power of mentoring and influence. Leadership training, church growth, and elder, preacher, deacon, or other working enlisting is a valuable, but too seldom practiced, work. We need to foster our own Timothys, Tituses, and Trophimuses. Who are you helping grow in the service of the Lord?
-Neal Pollard
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