FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF THE FAITH
1 Timothy 6
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF THE FAITH
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
It is easy to be distracted by the issues we face, the desires that drive us, the people that irritate us, even the practices that we do weekly as expressions of our faith and worship. Paul tells us that we must not be distracted, or let ourselves be distracted, and instead we must be absolutely clear in our mind and heart that which is truly important to God and therefore to us.
It is interesting that Paul does not mention bible study, theology, prayer meetings, worship meetings and worship songs; yet in the best of times, when we are encouraging one another to pursue God, these are the things we focus on.
What does Paul think is the core of the Christian life? Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness, and, may I add from chapter 5, to be consonant with the laws of life and nature.
How often do we use these words of Paul when encouraging one another to walk in the faith? Rarely, if ever. But Paul is very clear that Christian concerns are not about controversies (and I would include theology, bible study, church attendance and the like, not because they are wrong or bad but because the church focuses so much on these matters). He is also very clear about what drives the non-Christian—money, power and success—and these are also not what should drive us as Christians.
Ultimately, the Christian must be focused on the kind of person they become: righteous, godly, full of faith and love that is expressed in endurance and gentleness. Everything else must be evaluated in this light.
In other words, “bible study, theology, prayer meetings, worship meetings and worship songs” must be understood in terms of how they help us to become righteous, godly, and full of faith and love. They are the means to an end, not the ends in themselves. Seen in this light, there is no need for quarrels or controversies; there is no need for jealousy or malice or anger, there is no need to be upset over the issues and problems we face in the church community.
Let us take the time to deepen our understanding of what it means to be “righteous, godly, and full of faith and love” and to think through our priorities so that we stay away from the things that will distract us but embrace the things that will help us. These are not basics that we graduate from to pursue higher pursuits. These are the substance of the eternal life to which we were called when we became Christians.
Paul describes this as a fight because it is truly difficult to become “righteous, godly, and full of faith and love” while we are in the world; the world is a distraction that we must overcome. But we must fight because our Lord sacrificed himself so we are in a position to fight. And we must fight because we know we are on the side of God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.
“In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”