Friday Faithfuls 2 - 1 Timothy

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

After a spontaneous out of town trip last week, Friday Faithfuls is back and we have come to 1 Timothy in our weekly skim through a book of the Bible, just to see what Holy Spirit highlights at that point.

Not a terribly disciplined way to study the Bible, I'll admit, but we have found some unexpected lessons along the way.

1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon are a different sort of letter than we've been reading; so far, the epistles of Paul have been letters to churches...corporate bodies.  But  these four letters are to individuals. 1 Timothy and Titus are written to give guidance and advice to young men that are leading congregations.  The other two are written for more personal reasons, as we'll see when we get there.

1 Timothy was written to Timothy, whom Paul had mentored and sent to Ephesus to lead the church there.  Timothy was a young man; this may have been his first appointment as a leader, so Paul writes a letter full of instruction on church government, order of service, and how Timothy should conduct himself as a leader.  And it's one of the 'how to conduct yourself' moments that caught my eye today.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness -- 1 Tim 6:11, NIV 84.

What caught my eye first was the emphatic title that Paul used for Timothy -- you, man of God  That's an identity statement.  Of course, Timothy was in a pastoral role.  He was clearly the 'man of God' for his position.  But...how would each of us be different if we really took on that identity...man of God/ woman of God.  If we believed that the most fundamental aspect of who we are begins with being 'of God'...belonging to him, a representative of him?  Not just something to be put on when we are doing churchy things.  

The next thing I saw was the use of the word 'flee'.  Believers are not instructed to flee from very many things.  The concordance in the back of my Scofield lists only 4 verses with instructions to a believer to flee from something.  The other three are:

1 Corinthians 6:18  ('flee from sexual immorality); 1 Corinthians 10:14 (idolatry); and 2 Timothy 2:22 (evil desires of youth).

But for this verse, we have to go to preceding verses to see what constitutes the 'all this' from which he is instructed to flee.  It turns out to be...drum roll...the love of money and desire for wealth (1 Tim 8 - 10).  Paul emphasizes contentment; satisfaction with having our needs met rather than pursuing wealth.

Contentment is a challenge in a world that is always pushing something newer, something better, something flashier, something more exciting (what number iPhone are we up to now? And how long before the next one is marketed?)...something that will Make Your Life Complete If You Get It. Our  our contentment is not related to the stuff we can accumulate.  It is related to righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  The true versions, not the caricatures. If we flee from the desire to possess and accumulate...we'll be running towards those things..