No Alternative! (1 Tim. 4)

This message was delivered to the seminarians and faculty at RTS Charlotte at the first chapel service of the spring semester.

A Crisis or a Test?

The picture: Tiger Woods clearly with a bad lie in the rough. The legendary golfer gazes down through the thicket of weeds. And we are drawn to the words: A crisis? or A test? Those were the words that one ad agency used to convey its call to courageous confrontation of the times we are in. No other words were needed. We know what they were talking about.

Last year one analyst predicted, as the Dow soared at 12,000, that it would eventually climb to 18,000. Now, a year later powerful companies like Microsoft are laying off workers and once powerful Bank of America stock is around $5.00. I know. I own it! We live in one of those times. But in a way every generation has times. It may be the Great Depression or World War II or Vietnam. But each generation seems to face times of crises: of the economy, or of war, or of civil unrest.

There is a biblical word for times. It is the word kairos. Kairos is a good word to describe the times, or a particular season within time. Paul wrote to Timothy about a season, a husteros kairos, a later, or latter season, which would contain not only threats but also a call for Timothy to take his stand. I believe that this Scripture speaks powerfully to our lives today, to our kairos. We see Timothy in the rough: with a young congregation, a movement of the Gospel in the first century, facing a really bad lie. Paul is writing the words over the picture of Timothy in the rough. A crisis? or A test? This is God’s Word to you and me. Here is the inerrant and infallible Word of the Living God:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim. 4:1-11)