<p>2:4 <em>No soldier in service entangles himself in the affairs of this life, so that he may please whoever enrolled him as a soldier</em>- There is nothing morally wrong with the pragmatic things of this life; but they can so easily entangle us and take us away from our focus on the Lord Jesus and His service. This is to be paramount. Problems with a leaking roof can take us far away from the Lord's service... The one who enrolled Timothy as a soldier could refer to God who called him to the service of His Son. But we suspect Paul has himself in view, as the one who introduced Timothy to ministry. And again we see Paul's tendency to over personalize things, as noted on 1:15. Personal loyalty to Paul meant, it seems, far too much for him. Much of his <em>angst</em> in dealing with the Corinthians, especially in 2 Corinthians, hinged around this issue of expecting personal loyalty.</p>