Friday, May 31, 2013

1 Timothy 4 -- Training

"Train yourself to be godly," Paul writes to Timothy.  "Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (v. 7-8)

God wants to train us.  He desires that we come to Him, submit ourselves to His coaching, and cooperate with Him as He makes us into everything we were created to be.  And it doesn't stop with us.  As we are trained we are equipped to lead others.  "Command and teach these things" (v. 11).  "Set an example for the believers in speech, in love, in faith and in purity" (v. 12).

And as we devote ourselves to this training process, we are to be "diligent" and "persevere" (v. 15-16).

Friday, May 24, 2013

1 Timothy 3 - Qualifications for Leadership

After the tempest that was chapter 2, we can catch our breath a little bit on chapter 3.  Not much controversy here.  Overseers (elders) and deacons within the church need to be worthy of respect.  They must have no more than one wife.  They must lead their families well.  Their wives need to be worthy of respect as well (v. 11). 

One point of note: the overseers must have a good reputation with those outside the church.  We know that our character is more important than our reputation, and that what we are in God's eyes is infinitely more critical than who we are to men, and yet Paul writes that it's important for church leaders to have a good reputation with outsiders.  (v. 7).  And there's some connection between having a good rep with outsiders and not falling into disgrace.  There's certainly no shortage of church leaders who have fallen into disgrace.  I don't pretend to know how all that fits together, but for those who lead or are asked to lead, it's worth thinking about.

The chapter ends with an affirmation of Christ's humanity and divinity.  Beautiful.  Praise be to God.

Friday, May 17, 2013

1 Timothy 2 : Controversial No Matter How You Slice It

Paul begins the chapter harmlessly enough.  we are to pray for kings and leaders and seek to live peaceful and quiet lives.  He affirms there is one God and that Christ is the one mediator between God and man.  No argument here.  He wants men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.  Fine.

In verse 9, this chapter gets messy.  And no matter how these verses in 9-15 are interpreted, somebody's going to be bothered by them.  There is a large crowd that insists that common English translations must be taken literally and that because of this passage women may not be pastors or elders in the church.  They must not "teach or have authority over a man".

Many others argue a historical context, stating that this issue of overly ambitious women was unique to the church in Ephesus that Timothy was leading -- Ephesus being a place filled with those who worshiped Artemis, and with women who typically viewed themselves as superior to men.  By speaking out against this, by reminding women that Adam came first, Paul isn't putting women in their place as subordinates to men, but as equals, something that was uncommon among the women of Ephesus.

Still others will tell us that exploration of the original language indicates that Paul's command against a woman holding authority over a man refers to a very specific, graphic, domineering type of authority.  That Paul uses the word "authentin", a word found nowhere else in the New Testament, that has sexual connotations and has nothing to do with preaching and teaching in the early church.

After reading articles coming from all these various viewpoints, my head is spinning.  But I do know this: what I clearly understand in verse 5, "there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" makes it clear that while there will be portions of Scripture we will struggle to grasp, we must always cling to the truths that are abundantly evident.  Mark Twain said something like, "it ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me...it's the parts that I do understand."  Well said, Mr. Langhorne Clemens.

Friday, May 10, 2013

1 Timothy 1 - My True Son In the Faith

How often do I read the intro to one of Paul's letters and just quickly skim it?  Pretty much all the time....grace and peace, blah blah blah, yeah I've got it.  This week it was different.  There was a phrase in the intro to 1 Timothy that grabbed .  I've read it a lot of times before, but this time it got me.

"To Timothy, my true son in the faith:" (v. 2)

What does it mean to have a "true son"?  What does it mean to be a "true father"?  When we look at a faith journey in Christ, clearly there is a generational component when this life is done well.  We are not simply to share the Gospel and make converts to Christianity.  We are called, at some level at least, to birth new believers and parent them in the faith.  This is all really the work of the Holy Spirit, but we are given an important role in this process.  "My true son in the faith".  Do I have any "true sons"?  Who are my "true fathers" in the faith?  Can I have more than one "true father"?  What's the optimal number of "true sons"?  Am I being a "true father" in the faith to my own biological sons?  I pray that I am.  I know that I am not doing it perfectly, but neither did Paul.  Although I bet he was pretty good at what he did nearly all the time.

In the rest of the chapter we see a warning about false teachers and an explanation of Paul's gratitude for the grace and mercy that's been shown to him.  We also see some serious words of encouragement to Timothy about fighting the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (v. 18-19).  Paul is a spiritual father to Timothy and he acts like it.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

2 Thessalonians 3 - Wrapping it Up

The three section headings in this chapter seem to say it all.

"Request for prayer" - Paul understands that the ministry he's doing is powerless without prayer.  So he encourages those prayers, knowing they'll be helpful for him and his work.  Just as importantly, Paul understands that when the Thessalonians pray for him, they are equally blessed as they develop the habit of communicating with their Creator.  When we encourage others to pray, we are helping them grow in intimacy with God.  Everybody wins.

"Warning against idleness" - Not a ton of explanation needed here.  "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."  One item of note, though.  In verse 6 we see Paul's instruction to keep away from "every brother" who is idle.  Those who claim to follow Christ are held to a different standard within the Body of Christ.  Throughout his letters, Paul has harsh words for those who identify with Jesus and who are lazy, immoral, greedy, swindlers, etc. (see 1 Corinthians 5).  For those who are outside of Christ, the command is to love them unconditionally and without judgment.

"Final greetings" - Peace and grace to all in Christ Jesus.