1st Timothy, chapter 1: Fables, longsuffering, warfare, hope, charity, and shipwrecks

So, reading through Timothy 1, I hear Paul speak of Jesus as “our hope”.  And he speaks of Timothy’s responsibility in Ephesus: to “charge” members who teach things that are not doctrine, but who instead teach “fables” and complicated genealogies which generally just serve to make people start digging for answers to questions that are based upon stories, or conjecture or tradition and who feel like they are accessing higher understanding. when, actually, they are being seriously sidetracked.

And he then, in verse 5, gives a way to be able to recognize this error.  Does what is being taught create a desire to be more full of charity, simply for the sake of the virtue of charity, without guile, and motivated by faith?  If so, it is good.  If not, it may well fall into the “fables” category.

And then later, in verse 12, Paul talks about the time in his life when he, himself, was involved in the kind of teaching he is warning against.  Like most who do that, he did it because he thought it was a good thing to do.  It felt energizing and right. And he talks of the great grace of God that came to him to change and enlighten and heal and forgive him.

And then this: “that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”.

Some might think that this could be a message to those of us who are fable teachers that, when we realize what we’ve been doing, we need not fear wrath, but instead be grateful for God’s longsuffering with our erroneous assumptions and find hope in His forgiveness.

I am struck that it is also a message for those of us who recognize those fables or false beliefs taught by members of our faith, that we should also remember God’s longsuffering and knowledge of purveyors of “fables”, and refrain from abandoning charity towards those who teach such, and not lose hope due to our dismay, sorrow or pain over the results of the spread of those fables and the neglect of charity that it entices people to engage in.

So my question to myself is this: Is my truth-speaking, my “good warfare” (verse 18) response to “fable teaching” as full of longsuffering, charity, and grace as the Father’s is?  Is that charity, longsuffering and grace what enables us to connect with God in such a way that we do not lose hope?

Because, for sure, sometimes that fable preaching can feel like it creates a veritable “shipwreck” (verse 19) among us.

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
"They honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices."

Henry David Thoreau, Waldon

Living the Word, Seasoned by the Salt of Wit

Colossians 4:5-6

Behave yourselves wisely to those who are outside the church, using your time wisely and helpfully.

Let your speech always be with gracious charm, seasoned with the salt of wit, so that you will know the right answer to be given in every case.

William Barclay on Colossians 4:6.

“The Christian must behave himself with wisdom and with tact...He must of necessity be a missionary;, but he must know when and when not to speak to others about his religion and theirs. He must never give the impression of superiority and of censorious criticism. Few people have ever been argued into Christianity. The Christian, therefore, must remember that it not so much by his words as by his life that he will attract people to, or repel them from Christianity. On the Christian there is laid the great responsibility of showing men Christ in his daily life.”

Seasoned with the salt of wit. Good to remember.

Strength: a team effort

"Be strong!", they say. "Stay strong", we tell ourselves.

But for each of us there are or will be times when we find that, in spite of it all, we are not as strong as we desire to be, or that our efforts to stay strong are, in reality, actually wearing our souls thin. 

Not being as strong as we desire to be is not failure. It is to be expected. It is to be human. That is life.  For we are created to find and develop strength not just in our own souls, by ourselves as we seek to do good, but also to find strength in the good lives that others share with us, and, most reliably, to find strength in our God,

"...the source of all true strength--the Savior.  Come unto him. He loves you...Make him your strength, your daily companion, your rod and your staff... There is no burden we need bear alone." **

Being strong enough to deal with all that our life entails is not a solo performance.  It is divinely created to be a team effort.  Welcome to the team.

**quote: Cheiko Okazaki, Ensign, Nov. 1993, p. 96