week of 5/31/11 3rd recorded HighQuest 1 Timothy 4:6-12

The passage I read was 1 Timothy 4:6-12

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%204:6-12&version=NIV

The verses that most stood out to me are:

7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For 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.

As I reflect:

Well the passage starts out in verse 6 stating, “If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,”. So I read the verses proceeding this to find out specifically what “these things” are. In verse 1 – 5 the concept of our spiritual leaders having abandoned the faith and fallen victim to the lies of deceiving spirits is discussed. These verses speak of things like leaders that forbid people to marry and forbid people to eat certain foods. They also discuss that what God created is good to be consumed in thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. So that suggests that the “these things” being spoken of are the general false teachings/non-Biblical beliefs that are being believed, taught, spread abroad both in and out of the church. We are being called throughout our lives to point these things out to the brothers and sisters (believers) that we would be “good ministers of Christ Jesus” (v6).

I have tried this and been met with a lot of resistance to the Word. I believe the majority of the resistance I have received from other believers is due greatly to my age and thus comes off as perhaps pride or arrogance because I speak these things as easily to an elder or pastor as I would to a new believer. Simply put and bottom line, the truth of the Word of God remains regardless of your age and regardless of whether or not you chose to accept it. There are a great many traditions in the local churches that go directly against what the Bible teaches. I have yet to find any pastor who when faced with these issues, shows a truly repentive heart and desires to immediately change the practices so that the church can get back to the root of following Jesus in the correct methods given throughout the Word. Thankfully, I have also found a few believers who do accept reproof and desire truth. When these believers hear that they have been deceived, their reaction is quite different from the common church leader today. They are immediately concerned with the person who spread the lie to them and their beliefs are immediately changed to place the word of God as true above and beyond traditions taught by the “man on stage”. As my heart has many times been when I also have learned of lies taught on stage that are in direct contradiction to the Word of God.

The passage not only says that we ought to bring these lies to light among our fellow believers, but also among the unsaved. Verse 11 says to, “Command and teach these things.” “Command”, that’s a pretty strong word. I have approached these matters in love and I have done so in a rather passive manner. But the Lord is commanding that we should not take part in certain celebrations that the church has taken part in. Why am I any less commanding in bringing this to light? What about those that say, “we don’t have an evangelist department because we believe that the most effective witness is just playing softball with people once a month instead”? Should I be as commanding as Jesus in telling them that we are commanded by God to share the Gospel with every nation tongue and tribe…. Not just those that find out about your softball game? Things like this tend to convict me that I have never done “enough” to spread the word and the love that it conveys. I am not here to train for a one time event. No, I am training for eternity and I want to bring as many people with me as I can. “That is why we labor and strive”, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” It is verses like these strewn throughout the entire Bible that encourage me during those times in which I feel as though I were not commanding enough. Verses like this remind me that I need not push a believer or unbeliever away from God due to their lack of obedience to the word. I can simply continue to be an example and leave the rest up to God.

And though verse 16 is out of the scope of today’s passage for reflection, I believe it should be included, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” I believe this is just as easily said for the opposite. Hey church leaders, “if you don’t persevere in the doctrine and if your life doesn’t directly reflect the truths taught in the Word of God, you may not only lead yourself down the path of destruction, but the many who look to you for leadership as well… and your accountability will be great!”

My response to the Lord:

Thank you Father. You have spoken to me directly through this passage and I hear you. I have received and am edified by your Word. Thank you. May you continue the work begun in me that I would continually be filled with more courage to approach these matters but with the discernment to do so in the right way. May I never fail in setting the example for those that may be watching, that your word is true and that I desire to be obedient to it, even unto death. Lord work in the hearts of those that I would speak to that your Holy Spirit may convict them of the truth and that they might be enlightened to the meaning found in your word. Holy Spirit empower me as I train and as I apply that which is learned. In Jesus’ name.