Author: Joshua Kansiewicz

“If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed. Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.”

Several years ago, I decided that I wanted to compete in the Cape Cod Half Marathon.  I made the decision six months before the race, starting out with three 5-mile runs each week and increasing from there.  By the end of my training I was running a total of 25-30 miles every week. In the middle of my training, a friend asked me what I was doing to train.  Did I subscribe to Runner’s World Magazine? Had I done a lot of research on the best kind of shoes to run in? Was I current on the major debates about running form?  “No,” I said. “I just run a lot.”

In these verses, Paul compares the life of Jesus’ followers to the life of someone who is training for a race.  His teaching is simple: don’t get distracted by fancy ideas or superstitious nonsense (both of which appear in the life of a runner and the life of a Christian).  Just train hard. There are no shortcuts, no magic secrets. Everyone who starts the spiritual life honestly should feel the way a new runner feels: out of shape. Making the right spiritual decisions will feel unnatural and uncomfortable.  That may seem discouraging, but it’s the best possible news we can get.

Here’s your freedom for today: if making the right decisions doesn’t come naturally yet, that’s because you’re not done training yourself.  It doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. It doesn’t mean that you are worse than everyone else or that you should give up. It means that you – and everyone else – needs a lot of training if  we are to achieve a level of godliness. So keep on training, and then train some more. The more you train, the easier it gets.

 

“They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.”

My family played a trivia game tonight called beat the parents.  The idea is that parents have to answer questions about things that the kids know and love and vice-a-versa.  My kids were so excited about the game that they couldn’t even sit still. By round number three they were leaning on the table with their legs on top of the backs of their chairs.  By the end of round five my daughter was hoping up and down with excitement and my son was doing a little dance. No matter what the game, there is one phrase that always seems to come up at least once when we play games.  When things are going well for the kids, they just shout out “New Rule!” and then make up a rule that will help them win. Oddly, they still expect us to go along with their new rules, even though we never do.

As Paul continues to warn about false teachers, he suggests that they are the sort of people who want to shout out “new rule!”  God has created specific standards and expectations for humanity. The false teachers that Paul is describing want to add new standards, new expectations.  They want to judge people based not on the standards that God has laid out, but on the new standards they made up themselves. They want people to earn their place with God by what they don’t do, by what they say “no” to.

Here’s your freedom for today: assume that God is saying “yes” until proven otherwise.  There are far more things God says “yes” to than there are that he says “no” to. The world is full of opportunities and freedoms that God invites you to embrace.  Receive the things of this life as gifts from God in two ways. First, receive them with an ever deepening knowledge of the giver himself through His Word and prayer.  Second, receive them with gratitude. God is a good Father seeking to give you good gifts from a good world that He himself created. It is a good and godly thing to enjoy them.    

 

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.”

My first job was working for my grandfather installing hardwood floors.  The one thing I remember the most is the early morning drives to the job in the old, rusting blue van.  As the youngest guy on the team, I had the worst seat – the upside-down bucket between the table saw and the nailing guns.  I especially remember one day when we were trying to find a job. We stopped to ask for directions from a guy at a gas station.  I remember that as we drove away, I looked out the back window of the van, and I saw the guy laughing. It didn’t surprise me when his directions took us the wrong direction.

Throughout the entire letter, Paul has been emphasizing a single theme with Timothy: the importance of teaching the truth.  He said that Timothy needed to guard the truth. He encouraged Timothy to be careful who he appointed as leaders, since they would bear the vital role of teaching the truth as well.  Now we find out why Paul thinks this is so important. Some people will hear and know the truth, but they will eventually reject it in their lives. They will become “hypocrites and liars” with “dead” consciences.  What a disturbing thought! Apparently, the entire purpose of building up Timothy and other leaders in the church is to protect people from turning away to false truths.

Here’s your freedom for today: godly leadership protects you from deceptive lies.  Paul tells us that their are evil spirits actively seeking to deceive us, to tempt us away from the truth.  No one should think they can stand up against that kind of trickery alone. The local church was given as a gift to each of us as a means of protection against the pleasant-sounding lies of the enemy.  The local church and its leaders were called to be teachers of the truth in Paul’s day, and that calling hasn’t changed. As long as truth matters (and it always will), the local church is called by God to loving represent that truth to a world that desperately needs it.  

 

“I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.”

I grew up loving mysteries.  I would anxiously save up money five dollars at a time so that I could buy the next Hardy Boys book.  I watched reruns of Scooby-Do on TV. The first adult book I ever read was a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories.  There was always something exciting about trying to solve the mystery along with the characters. So when I think of a mystery, that is what I think of: Sherlock Holmes and the Hardy Boys.  I think of an unsolved crime that will not be solved until the last few pages of the story.

Paul, however, thinks of something quite different.  In a mystery story, the criminal is normally hidden until just the right moment – the moment when the tension is at its height.  It’s often a moment when things seem to have gotten impossibly off track. In Paul’s thinking a mystery was quite different. It wasn’t the criminal that was hidden – it was the hero, specifically the divine hero.  The idea is that God was actively at work in the world, but his work was always behind the scenes, hidden. But every mystery builds up to the big reveal. God’s big reveal of his plan was Jesus. It was in Jesus that we discovered who God is.  It was in Jesus that we discovered how God plans to heal and restore the world. It was in Jesus that we found out how God will finally solve the greatest mystery in the universe: how a rebellious creation could possibly be restored to its loving God.  

Here’s your freedom for today: less depends on you than you think.  God has been at work for centuries unfolding a plan to restore the world.  That plan began long before you were born. It will likely continue long after you die.  In the midst of this grand cosmic plan, however, you are deeply loved. The very goal of God’s cosmic, mysterious plan has been to bring men and women like us back into relationship with Himself.  The key, however, is this: in God’s plan, you are not the savior. Jesus is.

 

“In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well.  Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.“

“Excuse me!” I called. “Waiter!”  My wife and I had taken our kids out to dinner.  We’d had good food, lots of fun, and it all ended with ice cream.  Now it was time for the bill. Except that I hadn’t seen our waiter in what seemed like forever.  My kids (who were three and five), now with nothing to keep them occupied and just past their usual bedtime, were literally bouncing in the booths with boredom.  “Waiter, can we please have the check?” I asked. The check soon came, and another fun family night drew to an end.

The word “deacon” in the Bible is very similar to the modern word “waiter.”  The first deacons in the Bible were chosen in Acts 6. Their assignment was to make sure that all the donations of food that came into the church were given out fairly.  Basically they ran the church’s food pantry. It was a basic role of service. They collected food and passed it out, then collected food and passed it out again. But through their faithful service the influence of those first deacons grew.  They became a living example of what Jesus had taught when he said “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).

Here’s your freedom for today: if you want to be great, learn to serve faithfully.  Deacons became such an integral element of the leadership structure of local churches that Paul had to give directions for how to choose them.  How can you serve faithfully in the local church? Will you serve in the nursery? Or be a greeter? Or volunteer in the food pantry? Finally, are you open to God increasing your influence as you serve faithfully?  In some ways that might be the most important question you can ask.