In keeping with the expositional nature of our weekly sermon format, we are quite predictably in chapter 6 of 1 Timothy verses 6-8. Although a powerful message from beginning to end, most of my thinking before, during and after the sermon centered around the single sentence of verse 6 - "But godliness with contentment is great gain."
The starting point of course is that the Bible is Truth - beginning to end the same, same Holy Spirit inspiring, equally efficacious. Therefore we need look no further than the text itself to derive great benefit. We are told quite simply that great gain is available - it can be had. How? By way of godliness with contentment. Godliness has been Paul's theme throughout 1 Timothy and some of the ways to train to that end have been discussed in previous posts and are equally plain. We have here that godliness with (or alongside, or joined together with, or acting simultaneously with) contentment.
Godliness has been defined as: "A right attitude and response toward the true Creator God."
Contement has been defined as: "Satisfaction with what we have and with what we don't have."
So, we train to be godly and learn to be content - that is to say we train to have a right attitude and response toward the true Creator God and learn to be satisfied with what we have and with what we don't have - and that is great gain. Easy to understand and end of story, right. Well, yes and no. That is definately enough to be of great benefit. At the very least we can strive toward godliness and in being content. But no in that we can see deeper the same Truth without contradicting or losing the plainness of it.
As believers (well, reformed believers at least) we are substance dualists, which are two big words that mean we subsist in two forms - soul and body, spiritual and physical, eternal and temporal. Some additional thought into those two forms will have us agreeing with C.S. Lewis that we are a soul and we have a body. That is to say it would be a mistake for us to misunderstand our nature and believe ourselves to be finite fleshly human beings that happen to have a soul. If that were the case, then we might be dissuaded by fine-sounding arguments relative to abortion (infanticide) and when the physical life actually begins as if that is the real point of concern for disciples of Christ. From Genesis 1 we know that God created man in His image, that He breathed life into man and that man has an eternal destination. We would only entertain notions of life beginning with the physical if we were to neglect or forget that transcendent Truth about mankind. But I digress, as many more misunderstandings besides infanticide stem from the same misunderstanding. The point here is that as created beings created in the image of our Creator and existing forever, we are a soul and we have our temporary fleshly form for a while.
So what does that have to do with godliness and contentment? Well, if we are a soul and have a body, then our focus will be on the eternal, the spritual, the soulish nature first and foremost. Aren't we told over and over in Scripture that this is the case? In Romans 12:1-2 alone that our minds need to be renewed to know God's will and that our bodies should be offered as living sacrifices as spiritual acts of worship. Our manish nature must legitimately be addressed (if we don't eat and drink we will surely die a physical death) but must be made subservient to the soulish nature. We "beat or bodies" and "deny ourselves" such that we live with focus upon, and pursue with delight that which edifies our soulishness, even if it be to the detriment of our manishness (many times intentionally so).
I have been making a case in the positive for this deeper understanding of the same Truth, so let me present a completed negative formulation, then end with the positive formulation to which end we are to strive:
To be discontent with our temporal circumstances is to prioritize our manishness and suppress our soulishness; to prioritize the temporal over and above the eternal; to choose as more important the physical instead of the spiritual; to misunderstand our very nature and to travel down the wide, well traveled path away from Truth and Life and is to lose much.
To pursue godliness with a desire that God be glorified in all things and with a desire that we be transformed into the likeness of Christ, while resting on the knowledge that God is Sovereign and the promises that the One True God has made toward working all things out for our good (whether immediately evident to us or not) according to His will (which may or may not align with our prayers and petitions) and providing for all our needs, and therefore being satisfied with whatever material things that may be credited to our earthly account whether great or small and seeing those material things as blessings given to us to manage well and to bless others in abundance is to rightly understand our nature and to walk the narrow Way, in Truth and Life and is to gain much.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Men of Action and Politics
When last we left the book of Ezra, the discussion was focused on several men that were instrumental in the re-building of the temple of God upon return of the exiles from their Babylonian captivity. In particular, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak began the work under the order from Cyrus king of Persia; stopped the work under orders from King Xerxes and Artaxerxes (based on the complaint of the enemies of Judah and Benjamin); and began the work afresh on the order of God through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah which was later ratified and endorsed by King Darius.
In this post I want to look at the political aspect of this account and what we can and cannot take from it in terms of application in contemporary culture. Firstly, the return of the exiles and re-building of the temple was ordered by official proclamation. In the last post we discussed the reason behind this return and how it was nothing short of the miraculous change of heart of the King of Persia, Cyrus himself, by which God brought the return to pass. This point bears further emphasis here, that God detemined in His Sovereignty and timing that the re-building should take place and so He changed the heart of the King to bring that about. So, generally speaking God used those in power to bring about His plan for His people. Can we then make a specific rule then that God works this way all the time? Obviously not. Cyrus was King of Persia, not a Jewish leader. God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to carry away His people into captivity. God also sent Moses to Pharoh and in that case his heart was hardened such that plagues and death forced a ruler whose heart was hardened to relent and release those under his rule albeit reluctantly and who he later determined to seek to re-acquire only to lead his army to ultimate destruction. So what we can say without making errors in specifically limited application is that God Sovereignly works all things according to His own good purposes to accomplish His own ends, which are by definition right and good.
Politically speaking God used a king to release His people so that they could re-build His temple. So what of the stoppage ordered by Xerxes and Artaxerxes? Was God unable to see that one coming? God had brought his people from captivity with orders and supplies so why did His people stop when orders came down from governing authorities? Were God's plans thwarted by a simple decree and disruptive behavior by a small group? Obviously that would be an error in thinking since that sort of description of God does not comport with the rest of Scripture, nor does it acknowledge the many accounts of God Himself fighting the battle for His people, turning opposing forces against themselves and routing whole armies without the loss of even one of His people. Again, we don't want to make a mistake in the particular case, rather we want to see the Truth that is applicable across circumstances. Again, God is Sovereign - it may not seem to make sense to have the work stop, but whether it is obvious to man or not, God is most capable of knowing how things must work such that He receives maximum glory. In this case, the work stoppage brought about two prophets who spoke for the Lord about not only the continued re-building in the absence of permission from ruling authorities, but also regarding the coming Messiah - all of which came to pass!
Finally, and again politically, why didn't Zerubbabel and Jeshua stage a rebellion when word came down that they had been ordered to cease and dissist in their efforts. Why didn't they organize and declare that they were building the temple of the Lord (which He had directed by means of a heart change of previous leadership) and no human king was going to stop the Lord's work and fight to the death to continue working? It seems best to always consider the context and the Truth. In this time, God spoke to the people through the prophets. Cyrus decrees the Israelites be given materials and released to re-build the temple - no problem there. No prophet has spoken, but returning to their land and re-building the temple is a great blessing, so praise God for moving on Cyrus's heart to bring this about. The stop work order comes down from the same authority that decreed the work start. Perhaps confusing and disappointing, but God made a way before and He will do so again. Then the prophets speak. God has said re-build. Now, there is no waiting and no fear of retribution from government. The men immediately begin re-building. Later the records are checked and the re-building is not hindered by government or others, praise God for working this out in His timing. God's people are not called to political activism as a pursuit in order to bring about justice in this world. God's people are called to love God with all their hearts and to love others as themselves, with this love manifested in the bearing of the fruits of the Spirit. This is not to say belivers should not be politically active, but great care should be taken, as with everything else in the life of the believer, that motivations remain focused and pure and that we do not behave as though God is not Sovereign or somehow needs our help to make sure the problems of this world get solved, whether by sit-in, occupation, or armed rebellion. Where the sacred is being profaned, believers must be in opposition even unto personal persecution, without fear, but in much prayer and knowing that God is Sovereign and will bring about all things according to His own good pleasure and for His ultimate glory.
What is the one main idea to take away - God is Sovereign over all things and He knows best how things must come to pass such that His glory is maximized. Let us not presume to need to help out or know better than God. Love and obedience is a great place for us to start, and i'm thankful we can see that even in a book like Ezra written so long ago.
In this post I want to look at the political aspect of this account and what we can and cannot take from it in terms of application in contemporary culture. Firstly, the return of the exiles and re-building of the temple was ordered by official proclamation. In the last post we discussed the reason behind this return and how it was nothing short of the miraculous change of heart of the King of Persia, Cyrus himself, by which God brought the return to pass. This point bears further emphasis here, that God detemined in His Sovereignty and timing that the re-building should take place and so He changed the heart of the King to bring that about. So, generally speaking God used those in power to bring about His plan for His people. Can we then make a specific rule then that God works this way all the time? Obviously not. Cyrus was King of Persia, not a Jewish leader. God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to carry away His people into captivity. God also sent Moses to Pharoh and in that case his heart was hardened such that plagues and death forced a ruler whose heart was hardened to relent and release those under his rule albeit reluctantly and who he later determined to seek to re-acquire only to lead his army to ultimate destruction. So what we can say without making errors in specifically limited application is that God Sovereignly works all things according to His own good purposes to accomplish His own ends, which are by definition right and good.
Politically speaking God used a king to release His people so that they could re-build His temple. So what of the stoppage ordered by Xerxes and Artaxerxes? Was God unable to see that one coming? God had brought his people from captivity with orders and supplies so why did His people stop when orders came down from governing authorities? Were God's plans thwarted by a simple decree and disruptive behavior by a small group? Obviously that would be an error in thinking since that sort of description of God does not comport with the rest of Scripture, nor does it acknowledge the many accounts of God Himself fighting the battle for His people, turning opposing forces against themselves and routing whole armies without the loss of even one of His people. Again, we don't want to make a mistake in the particular case, rather we want to see the Truth that is applicable across circumstances. Again, God is Sovereign - it may not seem to make sense to have the work stop, but whether it is obvious to man or not, God is most capable of knowing how things must work such that He receives maximum glory. In this case, the work stoppage brought about two prophets who spoke for the Lord about not only the continued re-building in the absence of permission from ruling authorities, but also regarding the coming Messiah - all of which came to pass!
Finally, and again politically, why didn't Zerubbabel and Jeshua stage a rebellion when word came down that they had been ordered to cease and dissist in their efforts. Why didn't they organize and declare that they were building the temple of the Lord (which He had directed by means of a heart change of previous leadership) and no human king was going to stop the Lord's work and fight to the death to continue working? It seems best to always consider the context and the Truth. In this time, God spoke to the people through the prophets. Cyrus decrees the Israelites be given materials and released to re-build the temple - no problem there. No prophet has spoken, but returning to their land and re-building the temple is a great blessing, so praise God for moving on Cyrus's heart to bring this about. The stop work order comes down from the same authority that decreed the work start. Perhaps confusing and disappointing, but God made a way before and He will do so again. Then the prophets speak. God has said re-build. Now, there is no waiting and no fear of retribution from government. The men immediately begin re-building. Later the records are checked and the re-building is not hindered by government or others, praise God for working this out in His timing. God's people are not called to political activism as a pursuit in order to bring about justice in this world. God's people are called to love God with all their hearts and to love others as themselves, with this love manifested in the bearing of the fruits of the Spirit. This is not to say belivers should not be politically active, but great care should be taken, as with everything else in the life of the believer, that motivations remain focused and pure and that we do not behave as though God is not Sovereign or somehow needs our help to make sure the problems of this world get solved, whether by sit-in, occupation, or armed rebellion. Where the sacred is being profaned, believers must be in opposition even unto personal persecution, without fear, but in much prayer and knowing that God is Sovereign and will bring about all things according to His own good pleasure and for His ultimate glory.
What is the one main idea to take away - God is Sovereign over all things and He knows best how things must come to pass such that His glory is maximized. Let us not presume to need to help out or know better than God. Love and obedience is a great place for us to start, and i'm thankful we can see that even in a book like Ezra written so long ago.
Timothy Update
Things have been busy. That is probably quite common to all and a common refrain in our lives as there are many responsibilities tugging at our time. It has been several weeks since the last post on 1 Timothy. Quite a lot of ground has been covered in that time, from verse 20 in chapter 5 through chapter 6 and verse 2. Again, due to time constraints this post will cover these passages briefly, and possible the discussions spurred on from them is where more considerable time can be taken.
Entertaining an accusation against an elder provoked a discussion that was quite possibly entertaining in iteself. Ultimately the context of the passage and principle presented is for the protection of the elder against slanderous accusations. Also in the comments following the previous post, additional clarification to the word "entertain" brought more light to the imperative not to take to heart accusations brought against elders without witnesses. Obviously the Bible, in this passage which is specifically dealing with eldership, is not advocating a "gag order" on all reports of abuse. In the 1 Timothy church the current elders and membership have a responsibility to look carefully at the man being presented for eldership and his meeting of the clearly written qualifications (both things he must exhibit in his character and things that must be absent in his character) so that such cases would be a great exception. Also in the 1 Timothy church there will be a plurality of elders, such that if a report of abuse did arise the member to whom the accusation was brought can present the accuser to the other elder(s) so that the abuse is not neglected but also not entertained. Verse 20 then moves to what action is taken in the case of legitimately discovered sin in the life of the elder. Public rebuke. That seems harsh in today's moral economy. Think about how many times in your lifetime an elder has been publicly rebuked for sin. What did you come up with? 10 times? 5 times? 2 times? Never? Personally I cannot recall ever having experienced such a public rebuke. Now, I must also explain that until my current 5 year membership I have also never been in a church that was established according to the 1 Timothy church. So it stands to reason that since the leadership was not arranged according to 1 Timothy that church discipline would not be handled according to 1 Timothy. So what? What is missed if sin in not publicly addressed, even among the eldership? Just read verse 20 again - so that the others may take warning. No warnings to the membership regarding discipline and consequences for sin in the church, this is a huge loss. If part of the responsibility of the church is to watch their life and doctrine closely, then what good does it do the body to make things so lax with respect to discipline that there is no encouragement from the church to watch their life and doctrine closely? If relationship with Christ is the most important thing in an individual believers' life how could the church not address through discipline issues that hinder or block altogether growth, worship, adoration of God with those who are living in active disobedience? The church should love them enough to seek reconciliation through discipline, in this case public rebuke even for elders.
Chapter 6 references masters and servants, and in today's common scenario in the United States employers and employees. Very briefly here, everyone for whom God shines the light of Truth into his/her heart lives a certain life in a certain place. Those temporal circumstances may or may not change immediately or over time, but what is significant is that the miracle of a change of heart has taken place. So, one person may have 200 people in his employ when she becomes a believer. The question before her is how will the love of Christ and the change of heart effect her life as an employer (her treatment, her expectations, her demands, her compensation, her attitude toward her employees). Another person may be employed by a great boss, a terrible boss or something in between. The question before him is how will the love of Christ and the change of heart effect his life as an employee (his treatment, his expectations, his thoughts, his attitude, his appreciation toward his employer). Much can be said regarding slavery, the yoke placed on others, and the outworking in a culture with the understanding of the equality of all mankind as image bearers. However, suffice it to say for this post that each person who is brought to a saving knowledge of Christ will be responsible for how he/she worships God in whatever situation they are in or transition into for the remainder of their lives. We are all responsible individually to God for how we behave as disciples of Christ and striving to live in contentment with godliness, which is great gain. Whatever any of our current situation, we can all find something to change so that we can do better at being content and godly right where we are, for His glory.
Entertaining an accusation against an elder provoked a discussion that was quite possibly entertaining in iteself. Ultimately the context of the passage and principle presented is for the protection of the elder against slanderous accusations. Also in the comments following the previous post, additional clarification to the word "entertain" brought more light to the imperative not to take to heart accusations brought against elders without witnesses. Obviously the Bible, in this passage which is specifically dealing with eldership, is not advocating a "gag order" on all reports of abuse. In the 1 Timothy church the current elders and membership have a responsibility to look carefully at the man being presented for eldership and his meeting of the clearly written qualifications (both things he must exhibit in his character and things that must be absent in his character) so that such cases would be a great exception. Also in the 1 Timothy church there will be a plurality of elders, such that if a report of abuse did arise the member to whom the accusation was brought can present the accuser to the other elder(s) so that the abuse is not neglected but also not entertained. Verse 20 then moves to what action is taken in the case of legitimately discovered sin in the life of the elder. Public rebuke. That seems harsh in today's moral economy. Think about how many times in your lifetime an elder has been publicly rebuked for sin. What did you come up with? 10 times? 5 times? 2 times? Never? Personally I cannot recall ever having experienced such a public rebuke. Now, I must also explain that until my current 5 year membership I have also never been in a church that was established according to the 1 Timothy church. So it stands to reason that since the leadership was not arranged according to 1 Timothy that church discipline would not be handled according to 1 Timothy. So what? What is missed if sin in not publicly addressed, even among the eldership? Just read verse 20 again - so that the others may take warning. No warnings to the membership regarding discipline and consequences for sin in the church, this is a huge loss. If part of the responsibility of the church is to watch their life and doctrine closely, then what good does it do the body to make things so lax with respect to discipline that there is no encouragement from the church to watch their life and doctrine closely? If relationship with Christ is the most important thing in an individual believers' life how could the church not address through discipline issues that hinder or block altogether growth, worship, adoration of God with those who are living in active disobedience? The church should love them enough to seek reconciliation through discipline, in this case public rebuke even for elders.
Chapter 6 references masters and servants, and in today's common scenario in the United States employers and employees. Very briefly here, everyone for whom God shines the light of Truth into his/her heart lives a certain life in a certain place. Those temporal circumstances may or may not change immediately or over time, but what is significant is that the miracle of a change of heart has taken place. So, one person may have 200 people in his employ when she becomes a believer. The question before her is how will the love of Christ and the change of heart effect her life as an employer (her treatment, her expectations, her demands, her compensation, her attitude toward her employees). Another person may be employed by a great boss, a terrible boss or something in between. The question before him is how will the love of Christ and the change of heart effect his life as an employee (his treatment, his expectations, his thoughts, his attitude, his appreciation toward his employer). Much can be said regarding slavery, the yoke placed on others, and the outworking in a culture with the understanding of the equality of all mankind as image bearers. However, suffice it to say for this post that each person who is brought to a saving knowledge of Christ will be responsible for how he/she worships God in whatever situation they are in or transition into for the remainder of their lives. We are all responsible individually to God for how we behave as disciples of Christ and striving to live in contentment with godliness, which is great gain. Whatever any of our current situation, we can all find something to change so that we can do better at being content and godly right where we are, for His glory.
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