1Timothy 6:18-19 - Wait, Our Goal IS To Get Rich?

”...[Instruct them] to be working good, to being rich in beautiful works, to being generous, sharing...laying up to themselves a beautiful foundation unto the [time] being about to, in order that they should take hold of the indeed life.”

(looks like we need to take these two verses together, since they are pretty inseparable)

-As we are fixing our hope on the God Who richly supplies us will all good things, which we gratefully enjoy with gratitude, our Source AND our Destination, we pass it on.  We are not Dead Sea people, everything flowing in and nothing flowing out.  We are not termini - we are conduits.  All the good and beautiful things which God does for us and has given to us - we are His means of passing those on to those around us.  To our neighbors and to the nations.

-And yes, our goal is to get rich - but not that way.  The account we’re looking to grow doesn’t exist at some bank or brokerage.  It is a heavenly account, one which stores up these beautiful works - but it is not some sealed vault.  We are not saving them for a rainy day - no, these get credited to our account when we give them away.  Yes, I know that’s counter-intuitive, isn’t it?  What account grows as we actually give away that which we are trying to accumulate?  Nevertheless, this is the economy of heaven.  Give it away - and you get to keep it.  Forever.  Isn’t that precisely what Jesus taught?  Give it away, give it all away, give your life away - and you’ll get to keep it forever.  Give away these beautiful works, slather them on extra thick, cup overflowing and running over.  Give away so many of these beautiful works to those around you that you spoil them rotten.

-It is the abundance mentality.  Generous and ready to share.  What’s mine is yours.  Sharing.  One of the lessons of earliest youth - whatever God has entrusted to me is meant to be shared.  In this game, the real life game of life, we win not by getting more than the other poor chap next to me, but by sharing.  Again, it is counter-intuitive.  But we are thinking of a world which is not of this world.  A kingdom where things operate differently.  Where me-first doesn’t fly - it doesn’t even exist.  Yet this is our destiny.  This is life indeed, life as it was always meant to be.  Not living for me, trying to make myself rich with the perishable baubles and trinkets of this fallen temporal frame.  No, we are all the time laying a foundation, building a portfolio which will survive not just into the future but beyond the future.  Life indeed.  The Indeed Life, Paul calls is.  Life eternal.  That which we were always meant to live.  Entrance into golden streets of that glorious realm is not gained by scrimping and saving up for me-myself-and-I.  Give it away.  Whatever I have - I hold with an open hand.  Ready to share.  Ready to meet needs.  That’s the heavenly way.  The way to the heavenlies. 

1Timothy 6:17 - The Double-dip Downer

”To the rich [ones] in the now age be commanding not to being conceited nor to have hoped upon uncertainty of riches but rather upon God the [One] providing to us all things richly unto enjoyment.”

-What gives me hope for the future?  Where is my hope?  Wealth?  Material prosperity, while affording the ability to afford greater quantities of temporal enjoyment (as it were), brings with it two native downsides.  A double-dip downer.  Two pitfalls, if you will.  Conceit, and misplaced hope.

-This word for conceit in the Greek refers to a mind which has been exalted to a height above were it should be.  Self-exalted, really.  I am more important, I am better somehow, I am more deserving (whether because I managed to acquire said wealth or because I simply now possess more than the poor chap next to me).  It elevates the ego, to where I am thinking more of myself than I ought.  I can lose sight of reality, who/what I really am apart from the grace of God.  Because God Himself shows no partiality.  Not an ounce.  Wealth does not commend me to Him, neither does it offend Him.  It can be useful, and it can be destructive, but with the Lord mostly it is a non-starter.  He doesn’t care how much wealth I have - He cares about what I do with all however much He has entrusted to me, whether much or a mite.  But this is precisely what I am prone to forget when my proverbial cup doth runneth over.  I forget who I really am.  When I am in a place of having no physical needs (or fewer of them), and feeling less needy, I forget my need for Him.  And I forget Him.  Not always, of course.  But the danger exists, lurking in the shadows, tucked away somewhere in my fat, bloated wallet.  The destruction of my soul lurks, frequenting that dark back alley right around the corner of Wall St and Madison Ave.

-The other pitfall which can accompany material prosperity is misplaced hope.  And in the end, hope is about joy.  That on which I set my hope is what I have decided will make me happy and ultimately satisfied.  I am willing to wait for it - but hopefully not too long.  Hope deferred makes the heart sick.  But hope realized is totally what makes my heart happy.  So the question then becomes, what is promising to make me happy?  Fame and fortune?  Truly, are not they not fleeting at best?  They are fickle masters - and they will never satisfy.  They will never provide lasting happiness.  Riches allow me greater access to the stuff of this world, to those things which are nicer.  And we begin to think, I enjoy this.  And gosh-darn-it, I deserve this.  Happiness and high-mindedness.  I could get used to this - and we do.  We feel less needy - and we like it that way.  We don’t want to feel needy - not in our flesh.  No one likes to feel needy - UNLESS that neediness is a direct re-direct to the Source.  THE Source.  God - the One Who richly supplies with all things to enjoy.  Beginning (and ending) with Himself.  All these things we think we want, all these things we think we need in order to make us happy - He is the Source.  They come from the Source, and (should) point us back to the Source.  Which of course points out that He is both the Source and the Destination.  We come back to Him in gratitude, certainly.  But also in dependence.  And in perspective.  When I am keeping in mind that God is the Source, it keeps my mind at the proper height.  Keeps me in my place.  It levels the playing field.  We’re all what we are by the grace of God, and whatever we have He has freely given to us to be enjoyed with grateful - and humble - hearts.  But wait - there’s more.  Next verse...

1Timothy 6:16 - Death gone, darkness gone.

”...the [One] only having immortality, light inhabiting unapproachable, Who no man saw nor is able to see, to Whom [be] honor and eternal power, amen.”

-Immortality.  It is the lifelong wish of every soul, isn’t it?  The quest for immortality.  The fountain of youth.  And as we age, as our own mortality encroaches, the relentless creep of death, we long for the days of our youth.  When our vigor and our faculties were at their zenith.  But oh, to be able to bottle that, a precious elixir which would somehow release us from the cold grip of death.  That would be divine.  But no, there is only One Who is truly divine, Who has immortality.  Just One.  Just One over Whom death has no power - because truly, what is death but the absence of life?  The power of life - to give life and to destroy life (truly destroy it forever) - as well as to RE-store it - that is the purview of blessed and only Sovereign God, the King of the universe.  He is the Author of life, the one and only Life-Giver - and the life He gives through Jesus is life forever.  Death - gone.  But this Living Water is sourced from just one place.  Him.

-And you can just walk up to Him and get some.  Well, sort of.  It’s not like stopping by the nearest Dollar General, or walking over to the neighbor to get a cup of sugar.  He doesn’t live next door per se.  He inhabits what Paul describes as inapproachable light.  Now let’s think about that - what would make light inapproachable?  This would have to be light so bright, so blazingly blindingly bright that we couldn’t stand to look at it, much less come close to it.  It would blind us for sure - or worse.  Isn’t this what God has told us about Himself?  God is light.  Think of how He appears to His people - a burning bush, a pillar of fire, flashes of lightning (with attendant thunder), luminous glory which no man can look at and live (not the front side at least) - we ARE talking about a source of light (THE Source) so bright and hot and blazingly intense as to consume any and all who would come near.  Isn’t that just what the Scriptures say?  Our God is an all-consuming fire.  So technically we can’t just walk up to Him.  You can’t see Him or look at Him, even if you knew where to look.  At least not this side of glory.  For one day His blazing inapproachable light will actually replace the need for the sun itself.  The people walking in darkness will see a Great Light, incomparable, inapproachable, yet sublimely-so through Jesus.  Through Jesus, and with the eyes of faith, we actually can see and approach, right now, right on up to His throne of grace.  And then in that day, we will see Him as He truly is, this One Who alone possesses (and is worthy of) all honor and eternal power.  Darkness gone.  Death gone.  Life forever.  With Him.  From Him and through Him and for Him.  Let it be so!

1Timothy 6:15 - Two Times: All In Good Time, My Pretties...

”...which in its own appointed time He will show, the [One] blessed and only Sovereign, the [One] King of kings and Lord of lords...”

-Jesus Christ is Lord, yes, and He is coming back.  He said so Himself, repeatedly (Matthew 24.27, 24.46, 25.31; Mark 8.38; Luke 12.43, 18.8; John 14.3, 14.18, 14.28)!  Paul talked about it a ton (cf 2Timothy 1.10, 4.1, 8; Titus 2.13).  He is coming back!  There are myriad ways this return is understood, so many interpretations of the various Scriptures, prophecies, mentions of our Savior coming back for His church - His bride - not to mention to inaugurate and consummate His righteous rule, the kingdom of God, on earth.  So many questions - questions of when, questions of how, what will it look like, what will be the events leading up to His return (if any).  And with all these questions, there are suggestions.  Positions staked out.  Differing interpretations and conjectures about all these things - sincere Christ-followers who disagree and even divide from one another over all these questions.  And at the end of the day, not one of these questions (or answers) are necessary in order for a person to be saved, to make it to heaven.  They are not salvific in the least.  They do not change the message of the Gospel one bit.  Jesus Christ died for your sins - make sure you are trusting in Him.  Oh, and He rose from the dead, and He is coming back.  Some day soon.  Soon-ish.  That’s what we know for sure.  This much is fairly clear.  Not much disagreement on these points, not among true evangelical Christ-followers.  He IS coming back!  To the praise of His glory!

-When is He coming back?  When will He appear?  That is the question.  That’s what we all want to know.  This is precisely what the disciples were asking at the Ascension?  Lord, when are You coming back?  When are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?  And Jesus’ answer to them was pretty much the same thing that Paul says here: It is not for you to know (Acts 1.6-8).  In fact, no one knows (Matthew 24.36)!  Not even Jesus, apparently.  The timing is all up to the One Who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King eternal, King of kings and Lord of Lords.  He's the One and only One Who is in charge of ALL this stuff.  He is the One Who has determined all these times.  And this is a kairos time as opposed to a chronos time, so we are dealing not really with a clock time but rather a divinely appointed time of opportunity.  Which means we are really talking about two times here - the proper time, and the meantime.  Jesus will return at the Proper Time, THE appointed time, just in time and on time, just the right time - a time which the almighty all-knowing Sovereign Father Himself has determined, which you DO NOT know, and with which you do not need to excessively concern yourselves.  But in the Meantime - concern yourselves with this.  In the meantime, be My witnesses.  My Holy-Spirit empowered martyrs!  In the meantime, keep the commandment.  Love the Lord.  Run the race, with your eyes fixed on Jesus, and the finish line will get here soon enough... All in good time, my pretties, all in good time.  God’s good time, the proper time... And His timing is perfect!  

1Timothy 6:14 - The One Thing

”...[I am commanding] you to keep the commandment spotless [and] blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

-A serious charge, a sober command to keep the command, the commandment.  Just one, you ask?  We’re technically looking at at least two, since this is also a command.  Not to mention, Paul has just dropped a busload of commands in these last few verses alone - flee all those bad things, pursue these good things, fight the good fight, take hold of eternal life.  Obviously, Paul’s vision is that of a unified whole.  Our is not a massive hodgepodge of disparate commands, a jumbled assortment of divine imperatives.  Nope - it all actually does boil down to one command.  Just one.  Love the Lord with all your heart.  One Lord, one love, one heart.  It all goes back to Him.  It’s all about Him.  We were created and designed to bear His image, to be like Him, to show off His breathtaking goodness, to celebrate that and to increase the celebration of His goodness to the ends of the earth.  In all that we do, whatever we do, we do this one thing - we love Him.  We glorify Him by loving Him fully and unreservedly.  We show off His goodness by enjoying and spreading the knowledge of His goodness.

-And we do this without spot or blame.  We endeavor to do this in such a way that inasmuch as our Savior has clothed us in His white robes of righteousness that there is not even one spot of dirt, not even a single stain anywhere to be seen.  Not even a single thing which anyone could say against us - apart from our devotion to our Savior.  It’s like Daniel - the only thing his would-be detractors could find against him was in relation to his relationship with God [Daniel 6.5].  Spotless.  Blameless.  But not perfection, this.  We are not talking about some rosy-eyed delusion of being perfect in everything we do or say.  Chasing some phantom of religious performance which is nothing more than an exhausting pipedream.  Nope.  Nobody is perfect.  Not this side of heaven.  But we can do two things as we pursue the One Thing - we can always (according to His power which mightily works within us) strive to do it right, and when we mess up (not if, but when), we can own it and make it right.  A walk of honesty and humility.  We’re not better than anyone else, we’re not perfect - but our Savior is, and by golly and by His grace and power we wanna be like Him.  We’re gonna give it our all.  Bar set high, aiming high, running to win, the best race we know how.  And when we fall, when we try and don’t succeed, we will try try again.  Until He comes again.  Until He appears (He is coming back!).  Until the end, in other words.  We will finish.  Finish!  Finish the race!  We will keep on running to win...

-But Jesus IS coming back as Lord - next verse...!

1Timothy 6:13 - The Supreme Life-Giver and the Beautiful Life-Liver

”I am commanding [you] in the face of the God the [One] giving life to all things, and of Jesus Christ the [One] witnessing upon Pontius Pilate the beautiful confession...”

-Paul is about to leave Timothy with a sober charge, and extremely serious command.  He couldn’t be more serious about it.  And so he invokes the presence of two witnesses.  In the face of God and Jesus.  They are watching.  They see the whole thing.  The very fact that these two are witness to the giving of this command, and will also be watching its implementation, should be sobering enough.  But what Paul reminds us about who they are, summarizes their palmarès for us, their notable achievements and qualifications as expert witnesses - this ratchets up the seriousness with which Timothy (and we) should respond to this command a hundred-fold.

-God is the One giving life to all things.  Including me and you and Timothy.  He is the Source, the Source of life.  Formed out of dust and breathed into each one of us the breath of life.  The breath of life.  My every next breath comes from Him.  My very last breath will come from Him, until He takes me home.  The Giver of life - all things owe their very existence to Him.  All of us are indebted to Him - He has given us life.  This life we live, these breaths we breathe - they are gifts.  Time is indeed life measured out to us.  We owe God a debt of gratitude - but more than that.  This life, this precious gift, ought to be stewarded.  Taken care of.  These are the Care Instructions that came in the box.  There are very specific instructions for how to take proper care of our life, that which our Life-Giver has made and given to us.  He has explicit ideas about how He wants us to steward the life He has given to us - and He is watching.  In the face of God.  The Supreme Life-Giver.  He is one of the ones who is watching.  But there is Another...

-Jesus Christ.  Jesus of Nazareth - the One Who stood before Pontius Pilate and of Whom Pilate declared, “What evil has He done?  I find no guilt in this man.”  Repeatedly (Matthew 27.23, Luke 23.4, 14, 22, John 18.38, 19.4).  In Him there was found no sin.  Not even a hint.  Not one stain or blemish.  His was a beautiful confession, an exemplary witness, a life well-lived, to the max.  He was tempted in all things, yet without sin (Hebrews 4.15).  Never once slipped up.  Never once missed the mark.  Our bestest big Brother.  He did it.  Whatever it is that God is asking us to do (or not do), Jesus did it.  He went before us, a shining example, the Author and Perfector of our faith - and the One Who now lives inside us to carry us through whatever it is we are facing (cf Hebrews 2.18).  The Beautiful Life-Liver.  He is also watching us now - He sees.  He knows what we know, knows that we know what is right.  He has finished His race - and now He is helping us finish as well (cf Hebrews 12.1-2)!

-On to the command itself.  Next verse...!

1Timothy 6:12 - Of course you realize, this means war...

”Be fighting the beautiful fight of the faith, seize the eternal life, unto which you were called and you confessed the good confession in the face of many witnesses.”

-Put ‘em up, put ‘em up!  Who wants to fight?!  The beautiful fight of the faith.  Be fighting.  Seize the eternal life.  This is very active language on Paul’s part.  Extremely aggressive even.  No easy believe-ism here.  No $3-worth-of-Jesus-please here.  No pray-a-prayer and 18-inches-of-pew-once-a-week going on here.  That is not what it looks like to truly follow Christ.  Sure, there is a call and a confession - that’s the beginning (and Paul doesn’t seem to care if you prefer more the call side of that or the confession side of that, and if you do have a preference you might want to note that Paul here validates both the passive call and the active confession).  But what Paul is urging is, don’t bring it in weak!  Don’t stop short.  It’s not about how you begin the race, it’s how you finish!  Finish!  Finish the race.  Fight all the way to the finish!  Fight for the forward progress of the Gospel in your life and in the lives of those around you!  This is not some lazy Sunday stroll along the shores of the sea of tranquility (altho there is surpassing peace in the offing, to be sure).  This is not a little dollop of Jesus on my plate, some little-dab’ll-do-ya.  This is all-in, all-out, full-on, full-out pursuit of the One Who goes before us, pursuit of that which He has laid up for us in heaven, and pursuit of those around us who He so loves, to bring them along with us.  And in the words of Bugs Bunny, of course you realize, this means war.

-What does it look like then to fight beautifully?  To win the prize?  It begins with surrender.  Yes, winning here begins with surrender.  I can’t win.  I can’t run.  I can’t fight - not in my own strength.  Not by my own devices.  Not on my terms, using my own impotent weapons (whatever I may think they are).  This battle is unseen.  It’s fought on the inside, and in the heavenlies.  It is a battle of the soul, and for souls, spiritual battle, best waged using heavenly power and heavenly tech.  No, this is not Stark tech.  This is not SHIELD tech derived from some infinity stone.  It’s not Wakanda vibranium tech either.  All that stuff is the stuff of hopeful Hollywood fiction, the creative fruit of Stan Lee’s imagination.  No, this stuff is real.  The battle is real.  The struggle is real.  The enemy is real (as is his defiant rebellion against the God of heaven and his desperate attempt to destroy the beautiful world and souls He created).  The weapons are real (Paul unpacks them in Ephesians 6.10-18).  The stakes could be no higher.  The eternal destiny of precious priceless souls is what hangs in the balance - beginning with my own.  And my own impotence is real.  Apart from Him there is nothing, not one thing I can do (John 15.5).  So I must fight according to the power of Christ which mightily works in me.  I can (and do) do all things through His strength.  And as we follow and depend on Him, He leads us on to victory!  And a triumphal procession, a victory celebration, a ticker-tape parade to end all ticker-tape parades!

-And in this context, the seizing of the prize is not a question of if.  Paul is not questioning the veracity of Timothy’s faith.  There is no questioning his call or his confession.  The prize is indeed laid up for him in heaven, on reserve.  He has a reservation - that is not in question.  No, it is not so much a question of if as it is a question of how.  How is it that you will disembark on that heavenly shore?  Will you be crawling across the finish?  Head down, as you finally glimpse our God and Savior and contemplate a life of missed opportunities and tepid devotion?  Or will you be sprinting down the finishing chute, leaping for joy and into His arms in a victory embrace, celebrating a race well run, a fight fought beautifully?  Will you hear the words, well done?  Well done - what does that look like?

-Well, all these things about which Paul has been exhorting Timothy in this letter, holding on to the truth of the Gospel of Christ, pursuing love, keeping a good conscience, diligent in prayer, living above reproach and training up servant-leaders who do the same, respecting elders and caring for widows - all of these things must be pursued with the same diligence as that of an elite marathon runner, or some top rank boxer, of the drill sergeant leading his troops (and himself) into the fray.  It doesn’t mean there is no place for fun, or that there is no time for rest and relaxation - these are all important for the health and well-being of any ardent athlete.  Or soldier.  But we've got our marching orders.  Fight now.  Celebrate later.

1Timothy 6:11 - How To Counteract Kryptonite

”But you, o man of God, these be fleeing!  But be pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness.”

-Flee!  Fly, you fools!  Run with the quickness!  That’s right - Paul’s advice to Timothy is to flee.  Be fleeing these things.  Run away!  Run away as fast as you can.  Get out.  Get out of there as quickly as possible.  Don’t get caught in the vicinity, and as soon as you are aware that you are in the vicinity, run away.  This is not the time to cowboy up and hunker down and muster up your best grimace as you grin and bear it and try to withstand the temptation.  Nope.  Paul says flee from these things.  Cuz there are some things which are too dangerous.  Too powerful to resist, at least on a consistent basis.  It is the proverbial Achilles Heel, the chink in your armor, where you are vulnerable and the precise point where the enemy will try to take you down.  Spiritual kryptonite.  And do you know that there are two ways for citizens of Krypton to counteract the effects of kryptonite - avoid it altogether, OR, exposure to the sun.  Apparently, the sun has qualities that mitigate the effects of kryptonite.  And in a spiritual sense, that's exactly what Paul has in mind for those who follow Christ: avoiding the spiritual kryptonite, and maximizing exposure to the beneficial qualities imparted by the Son of God to the citizens of heaven.

-So, as it relates to fleeing, we must speculate somewhat as to what Paul is actually referring, but it likely includes fleeing from things like advocating different doctrine, disputes, constant friction, and then wanting to get rich and the love of money.  So be on the lookout at it relates to your doctrine (and arguing over that), and then for greed in all its pernicious forms.  Wanting what you don’t have, obsessed with more.

-Instead, the qualities which should be ours and increasing - because as we are fleeing those other things we are pursuing these, acquiring these, cultivating these - are righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

-Righteousness.  Pursuing and maintaining that right relationship with God, where in His eyes I’ve done everything right.  This comes first and foremost by faith, by fully trusting in Christ and His sacrifice.  But then doing it right also involves making it right when I do mess up, cuz this side of heaven even the most godly righteous mature believer is going to mess up.  So there is a commitment to keeping short accounts, apologizing, confessing, making things right when they came out wrong somehow.

-Godliness.  We saw this in 1Timothy 6.5-6.  This is not about how God sees me - it’s how others see Him in me (or not).  When they look at me, what/Who do they see?  Do they see the image of God - that’s the original intent.  Like Jesus.  Christ in me.  Forming Christ in me, no longer I who live.  That’s the plan.  As I live in surrender to the power and plan of Christ in me, He is increasingly formed in my heart and I come to more and more resemble Him.  His attributes more and more are on display in and through my life.

-Faith.  Trust.  Assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11.1).   It is where we begin in our relationship with God, and it’s how we continue (John 3.16).  It is trust in God - in Who He is, His attributes, and in His promises.  It is being willing to wait on those promises, even when we have yet to receive them (this of course ties to the perseverance).  It is a heart and a life which takes hold of these things, which does indeed take God at His Word and which trusts Him to show up and show off His wonderful impossibles.  Exceedingly greater than anything we can ask or even imagine.  Which certainly means that there is asking - and then believing.  He said it, I believe it.  A heart and mind which are not racked by doubts and questions and skepticism and cynicism.  Faith.  Which is most likely paired with a whole lot of hope.  And love...

-Love.  Pursue love.  This is the goal of all our instruction, all of our much-ado-about-something (1Timothy 1.5).  If I don’t have love, I am nothing.  Because love is what confirms that God (Who is love) is at work in me, that He is present in my life.  A heart that is at the ready to give itself away for the sake of the beloved.  Pursuing the good of another, of others.  Others-first (and others-better of course).  Willingness to give, to sacrifice.  It is what parents (most of them) do for their kids.  It is not about me.  It is quite literally the gift which keeps on giving.  Love keeps on giving.  Next word....

-Perseverance.  A long obedience, this.  Not some brief sprint, but aptly described as more of a marathon.  A long obedience in the same direction.  Towards Jesus, eyes fixed on Him.  We run with endurance.  We keep going.  We get up each morning and put one foot in front of the other (in the strength which He supplies of course), jogging/running towards Jesus, running to win the prize for which He has called us heavenward.  And tomorrow we get up and do it again.  And if life knocks us down, we channel our inner Eric Liddell and get back up (in the strength which He supplies) and keep going.  Come what may.  There are no off-ramps, no short-cuts in this race.  Nothing, not ever anything which is too much for us to endure (in His strength).  Yes, there is abundant attendant brokenness, your brokenness and my brokenness and that of our neighbor(s) as well as that of the world to contend with.  Everybody has a story.  But in the strength which He so richly supplies, each of us can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4.13).  I can keep going - all the way to the finish.  Look at Him - He’s standing there at the finish - waiting for us...

-Gentleness.  This is how Jesus described Himself in fact.  Gentle (Matthew 11.29).  Our coming King is, in fact, gentle (Matthew 21.5).  Not some ruthless tyrant, given to fits of violence and anger.  He is not some fairy tale beast who can’t even handle a bruised reed or a dimly burning candle (Isaiah 42.3).  His strength is indeed well under control.  He is a good-but-not-safe lion.  Power channeled in appropriate amounts at the appropriate times in the appropriate direction.  It is the forbearing and easygoing friendliness you display to a friend (as opposed to the stern harshness of an enemy or a stranger).  Benevolence, the benevolence of a king - THE King in fact, on display and manifested in my life.

-Each of these qualities which I am to pursue are of course divinely-sourced.  They will be produced in me as I pursue the Lord with a dependent and surrendered heart, as I look to Him for the strength to live into these things.  God is the One Who is working all these things in us.  And we can be sure that He is faithful and will indeed continue the good work which He has begun in us and will bring it to completion...!

1Timothy 6:10 - Livin' in Philarguria. Or Jonesville...

”For a root of all the evil is the money-love, which some longing were led astray from the faith and pierced through themselves by many pains.”

-Money-love.  Money-love.  Philarguria.  Not Philadelphia - which is brotherly love.  Nope.  This is Philarguria.  A much nastier place.  A far more heinous place to live.  When you’re living in Philarguria, it’s all about money.  Sho me the money!  The mighty dollar.  Just one dollar more.  Gotta get me as much as possible, while the gettin’s good, cuz I gotta fill me some heart hole, and this stuff just doesn’t seem to do the trick.  It’s more like cotton candy - looks promising, but then it still leaves me feeling empty.  AND in the neighborhood of evil.  Cuz this stuff really doesn’t just grow on trees, and I am most likely going to have to shuffle some priorities in order to acquire mass quantities of it.

-That’s right, this hood has all kinds of evil coming out of it.  Evil - as the antithesis of good - is that which gives rise to man’s inhumanity to man in all its manifestations.  And even as I use that term, I am aware that that which we describe as inhuman, unhumane, is actually MORE human than it is divine.  It would be more akin to animal, more dog-eat-dog and living on base instinct, survival of the fittest, anything goes and all that.  So, sub-human, no doubt, but entirely human.  Fallen humanity.  And you’ve got that in spades in Philarguria.

-But here’s the point, when I love money, when I am longing for money, I will prioritze and value that over people, and (more importantly) over God.  I am going all in for money.  I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.  I become the personification of greed, and like Gordon Gekko, I declare that greed is good.  Greed - intense selfish desire for more, usually money - is good, because I love money, money is good, and I can’t get enough of it.  Literally.  You will never have enough.  This is how those who live in Philarguria wander away from devotion to Christ and pierce themselves through with much grief.  Because you will devote yourself to accumulating more and more, as much as possible, you will cut corners, you will devalue the worth of people as well as the Lord in the process, relegating them to the realm of the afterthought.  Money will come first in your heart and first in your pursuits and yet still you will never have enough.  You will never know the feeling of really being full, of having enough.  A grievous pursuit.

-And think about it, think about all the evil in the world, man’s sub-humanity to man, to his brother or sister.  Isn’t so much of it related to greed?  When not driven by revenge, greed is what drives people to injustice and corruption and theft more than just about anything else.

-Philarguria may as well be called Jonesville - cuz all those Joneses live there, with whom I’m always trying to keep up.  And the strange thing is that when I am moving to Philarguria, I think it is an oasis, this place of plenty in the desert wasteland of life, but in the end it turns out to be a mirage.  But it’s a mirage which never dissipates.  Usually a mirage on the horizon vanishes as you get closer, and you can never really get to it.  But you can move to Philarguria all right - only you will never see it for the mirage that it is.  You will wind up wandering its streets, wandering further and further away from the Lord, never able to recognize it for the phantasm that it is.  And only the Lord can get you out of that place.  He will need to open your eyes to the empty ghost town that it is, give you a divine dissatisfaction with the futility of living there, in Philarguria.  The home of money-love.  And when your eyes are opened, don’t just stand there.  Run.  Fly, you fools!  Flee.  Next verse...

1Timothy 6:9 - Questions of Definitions and the Pursuit of Kindling

”But the ones wanting to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which are plunging these men into ruin and destruction.” 

-For some, this is the main course on the menu.  To be rich.  Constantly having much in terms of material resources.  An abundance of earthly possessions of every kind.  This can mean one is wanting to BE rich or to BECOME rich - but does it really make much difference?  More, and much.  Much and more - if someone is wanting to be rich, regardless of how achievable this end may be, this is what drives them.  Greed.  Much and more.  And I will never be satisfied.  I think these earthly possessions will bring me satisfaction, but they always leave me wanting.

-Instead, in my pursuit of much and more, I find a host of things I did not expect.  Temptation.  A trap.  Foolish and harmful desires - many of them.  As well as ruin and destruction.  A deep dive down into ruin and destruction, like a ship sinking and all the cargo is lost.  And I’m like, whoa - I just set out to be rich, to get much stuff and more stuff.  I didn’t expect to wind up with these things!  But instead of gain I get loss.  And ultimate loss - the loss of eternal life.  But why is this?  Why do I wind up in such a pickle, such an awful contrary predicament, in a completely opposite place than where I set out?  It is a question... of definition.  How do I define happiness?  What do I need in order to be happy in life?  When I define life in material, temporal terms, when I let much and more be both my compass and my rudder, then greed becomes good.  And the values of eternity and of right and wrong cen get relegated.  I will cut corners and compromise because what God values is not the utmost of my highest.  See, I’m not thinking about eternity.  I’m not thinking about the fact that I can’t take it with me.  And I am sure not focused in the least on the breathtaking goodness of the One Who made me.  I choose then to either live in denial - denying His supreme goodness and supremacy - or in short-sightedness.  And the reason my eternal destiny hangs in the balance is that when I prioritize wealth and abundance and make it my goal it can then become my god.  I put it in God’s rightful place in my heart and that is precisely what separates me from Him, and will separate me from Him eternally.  In essence what I am doing is relegating the question of what  God wants behind what I want, and relegating the value of the Creator to below that of the created.  And asking God what He wants is a risky proposition if I think I need much and more to make me happy because there is a distinct possibility that if I were to defer to the Lord and ask what must I do to obtain eternal life, He might answer me the way He answered in Matthew 19.21-22.  Sell all you have.  Which is not a ledger question, a matter of how much I do or do not have.  It is a treasure question.  Again - a question of definition.  What do I treasure?  What do I define as treasure?  Fundamentally, what is treasure to my heart?  My Precious?  Is it the stuff of heaven, the Lord of heaven?  The Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them, including my heart?  Is He my Precious?  Or is it some ring of power, some earthly trinket?  Something(s) created, something other-than?  Is mine the earthly pursuit of much?  Much stuff?  Is it so much kindling, something destined for the great bonfire to end all bonfires?  The sell-all question is only a risky proposition if my great desire is to be rich, to acquire and accumulate the created.  

-If you would like to be rich, I suggest that you ask the Lord to show you if perhaps you have skewed the definition of happiness.  It goes back to a question of what do I seek first?  Matthew 6.33 - if I get THAT order right, then everything else - including eternity - falls right into place.

1Timothy 6:8 - The Mantra of The Jerk

”But having food and clothing, by these we will be content.”

-Food and clothing.  Food and clothing.  That’s all I need.  And this lamp...  The mantra of the Jerk (1979 comedy starring Steve Martin...).  That’s all I need - that and something else.  More.  Living in the land of AND.  AND this.  AND that.  Something else, something more.  That’s what I need - and we redefine needs in terms of wants.  Often, it is not at all that I NEED this lamp.  It’s, I WANT this lamp.  I don’t really need it - but I want it.  I want it so much it feels like I need it.  I need it in order to be happy.  And being happy is what matters most.  My happiness, that’s what’s most important.

-But is it?  Is it really?  Is my ultimate happiness ultimate?  I think not.  Only one thing is necessary.  Only One is ultimate.  That is the Good Part which Mary found.  She chose the Good Part - Jesus.  And we do have a choice - it is up to me and you.  Happiness is a choice.  We can choose Jesus.  Or not.  We can choose to be content with what we have, and really, if we have something to eat, and clothes to wear, what more do we really need in order to make it through the day?  Paul suggests that this is all we really need - and technically, he is correct.  Daily bread, and raiment.  Obviously, the realities of life expand the boundaries of legitimate need somewhat, especially in the 21st century.  We need a job and a place to live (true, the Son of Man had no place to lay His head, but for most of us, and esp if we are raising kids, homelessness is not a good long term solution).  We could amend the list still further - some form of transportation, access to health care - these come to mind.  Those are more needs than wants.  Altho it is safe to say that need-based transportation solutions and those which are more want-based vary greatly.  Luxury cars by their very definition are luxuries - i.e. that which is beyond necessary.

-But we digress somewhat.  Paul’s point has been that real profit in this life - where I can’t take anything with me except my soul and the souls of those around me - is to be found in cultivating souls to become more like the God Who made us.  More like Him.  Godliness.  And the secret to being able to go all-in for godliness is to pair that with needs-based living.  Learning to live not above the level of my needs in the realm of luxury but rather cultivating a needs-based approach to life.  If I don’t need it, I don’t set my heart on it.  I don’t pursue it or invest mass quantities of time and money into it.  But it takes looking up and beyond the baubles and trinkets of this life, and gazing out into eternity and at our Savior.  Fixing our eyes on Jesus.  He is the real prize.  Gaining Him is what life is really all about.  AND Jesus - that was Paul's mantra.  May God give us eyes to see this truth before it is too late, before we squander this life on the unnecessary...

1Timothy 6:7 - The Ultimate Take-out Menu

”For nothing we brought into the world, so neither  are we able to take out anything.”

-You can’t take it with you.  This life has nothing on the take out menu.  Nothing.  No thing.  This is the essence of our lives - even when we have an abundance, no matter how much we have, our life does not consist of any thing we may possess.  Our life is what we bring - or rather are given to bring - into it.  Just one thing - our soul.  The breath in our lungs and our spirit.  That part which animates the paltry $4.50 worth of chemicals which constitute our physical body.  Even the smart outfit the mortician may dress you in for your entombment - that’s not on the take out menu either.  No, it is the spirit which gives life - and nothing else we add in this life amounts to anything in the economy of heaven.  We arrive in this life just lke the terminator - buck-naked.  The ol’ birthday suit.  And Paul is reminding us that this is a fundamental principle of life, a key to contentment.  All those things on which we set our hearts, all those things we would acquire in our pursuit of temporal happiness - not one of them is on the take out menu.  Ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack, nope.  This - and the law of entropy - is why nothing lasts forever.  Even if it somehow outlasts our dying body - which in and of itself would be impressive, since many of even the best products don’t last a lifetime (not a lot of lifetime guarantees out there) - but even IF it outlasts us, it’s not getting on the ship.  When our ship sails off into the eternal wide blue yonder and we go to be with the Lord (or that other place), we leave it all behind.  Forever.  Buh-bye.  Every thing.  All the things which make dying difficult.

-One corrolary of course is that we don’t leave family and friends behind.  Not forever.  These, these precious souls - they actually are on the take out menu.  They can go into eternity with us.  Which is why it makes total sense - especially in the simple economic terms which Paul is here laying out - it makes total sense to invest in bringing people with us, in populating heaven with loved ones.  Ones who God so loves.  These may not set sail at the precise time that we do, but they can go with us!  But all these other things, they’re staying.  Left behind indeed.  Every thing.  Everything ain’t come back.  You can’t take it with you, that thing, so it makes no sense to set your heart on it so.  Hold it loosely - or let it go.  Especially if you don’t need it.  Cuz you for sure won’t need it where you’re going...

1Timothy 6:6 - On Good-N-Plenty and Wants Gone Wild

”But it is great profit - the good-worship - with contentment.”

-Contentment.  That place of being satisfied within yourself.  I have enough.  No more for me, thank you very much.  I’m good.  I have plenty.  Good and plenty.  I have all I need.  I have received everything in full and have an abundance - I am amply supplied (Philippians 4.8).  Paul wrote that from a Roman jail cell.  Well, it was probably house arrest - but he was in chains (2Timothy 1.16)!  If anyone had reason to complain about not having enough, not having all their needs and wants fully supplied, it could have been Paul.  So here he is, a prisoner, what he wants is out of the question, and he is talking up contentment.

-Think about it for a second - being in the place where you can say no.  Not straining to do so out of some form of ascetic denial, but rather from being at this place where you simply don’t want it because you truly have enough already.  I’m good.  No, I really am good, good to go.  I’ve had enough.  Probably more than enough.  Because usually discontent is bred in the petri dish of excess (and ingratitude).  I want more - not because I need more, but because my wants are craving more.

-But this is precisely the point - for most of us in the affluent west, getting to the place of contentment is about my wants, about reining them in and bringing them under control.  Contentment.  Satisfaction.  The secret to finding satisfaction in life is learning to live at the level of what you actually need, and not overly indulging the wants, which are really the cravings of my flesh.  Sure, God gives us all good things to enjoy, and is glad for us to enjoy His good gifts with a thankful heart.  There is nothing at all wrong with that.  But what we see so often in the affluent west, where we have the ability to go after so much more than we need - what we see is wants gone wild.  Out of control.  Excess out the wazoo.  To the point where wants actually become redefined as needs.  But this is the infinite abyss, a hole in my heart which is never satisfied, like Sheol itself, never full, always looking for more (Proverbs 27.20).  This is the haughty, spiritually proud man who casts God out of mind but then is left to try and fill the God-shaped hole in his heart with something else.  That something else is often alcohol (cf Habakkuk 2.5), but we then see that he will try and fill that hole with anything and everything the world may offer.  Never satisfied.

-Learning to let the Lord fill that hole in my heart is the key both to contentment AND to a life of good worship.  I have Jesus, and I’m good.  He is all I need.  It is Mary, sitting at the feet of her Savior, focused on Him, enjoying Him - she had found the good part (Luke 10.42).  The Good Stuff!  Only one thing is really necessary, and I can get along splendidly, just fine, as long as I have Jesus.  When He is filling my grand-canyon-of-a-heart hole, it is easier by far to be able to assess life in terms of what I really need.  When my spirit is topped off, then I am able to be kept at the place of saying no to the excess.  I’m good.  I don’t need that.  I may indulge and enjoy it (gratefully!) from time to time, but I don’t have to have it.  And thus I enter in to this place of great wealth, true wealth, not mammon but soul wealth, this place where I am fully full and not needing anything else.  John Rockefeller when asked how much money was enough, famously replied, “one dollar more.”  Thus it is with those who have yet to learn the secret of contentment.  They are never satisfied.  They are never filled up, never enough, never good to go.  They are always desperate for more - because their gaping heart hole is never full.  They could have all the money in the world, yet still want for more, because that yawning chasm in their heart is God-shaped and cannot be filled by all the riches in the universe or any created thing.  Only by God Himself.  Paul had learned the secret (Philippians 4.12) - it was Christ!  He could do and go through all things as long as He had Christ (Philippians 4.13), Who fully supplied all his needs (Philippians 4.19).  Paul was fully supplied, at all times, whatever his circumstances, whether in good-n-plenty or not, as long as he had Jesus.  May we each learn that same secret...!

1Timothy 6:5 - Termites in the brain and gold on pigs

”...constant arguings of men being depraved [of] the mind and having been defrauded of the truth, supposing to being profit good-worship.”

-Constant arguing.  Bickering.  Our heart-sickness stemming from spiritual malnourishment has us constantly at each other’s throats.  Constant friction.  At least for those who have lifted up their hearts in pride and have walked out from under a humble submission to the authority of God and His Word.  They are in fact depraved.  Depraved of mind, and defrauded of truth - and in truth, they are depraved of mind BECAUSE they are defrauded of the truth.  Once you start down that path, once you begin to question, did God really say that?, then all bets are off.  You have laid the groundwork for depravity, a fertile seedbed for interpersonal friction.

-Depraved.  It refers to something which is spoiled, corrupted.  A decided change for the worse.  It is the endgame of moths and worms and termites. Termites in the brain - that’s what’s happening.  And yes, it is terminal.  There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is death.  Men (and women) of a depraved mind.  It is completely tied to being defrauded of the truth, deprived of the truth.  And it is largely self-inflicted.  They cast God out of mind, and He gives them an outcast mind (Romans 1.28).  Literally, they test (and fail) God and His truth in their mind, and they receive back a mind which fails the test.  A mind and a life which necessarily results in doing things which are improper.  Unable to not sin.  God gave them over.  When we kick God out, He gives us exactly what we (think we) want.  When we change Him out for something-other-than, when we exchange Him and His truth for that which is not, He totally gives us over.  And there is no coming back, my friend.  There is no coming back from total depravity - apart from the grace of God.  There is no hope of rescue apart from His divine intervention in Christ His Son.

-So we see people who can’t get along.  Constant friction.  Easily offended.  Rage monsters.  Intolerant and impatient.  Straining out gnats and dividing at the drop of a hat.  Or less than that even - the drop of a visor, or a beanie.  And we see something else.  Sadly, another symptom of this depravity is greed.  The ol’ profit motive.  Paul is about to tell us that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil (1Timothy 6.10).  Well, Paul here mentions that some of these depraveds are actually expressing an interest in religion.  They are going thru the motions of devotion.  But they’re in it for the money.  They love money.  They’re in it for what they can get out of it.  What does it profit me?  Their heart isn’t right towards God, it’s not at all surrendered to Him, but hey, if there’s money to be made, then count me in.  This affects even those in the pulpit.  Decades of greedy preachers and televangelists who are getting rich off the backs of the faithful have created an entire generation of skeptics, disenchanted with the charlatans and shenanigans they have seen or heard about on tv and in the news, guys (mostly all guys) who pad their wallets and bank accounts and uglify our fair religion and Founder like gold on pigs.  It might be interesting to see how many preachers would still do it as a lifestyle if they couldn’t do it for a living.  I.e. if they weren’t getting paid.  Or if their income was something less than six figures.

-Paul shows us in these verses what the unsurrendered life looks like.  The essence of depravity is me-first.  Conceit.  Spiritual arrogance and pride.  Whereas the humble heart, the surrendered heart, puts me in my proper place.  It is the proper perspective on Who God is, and who I am in relation to Him.  Ranking Him first, above me-and-mine, and above all else.  It all begins here.  This is the jumping-off point - get this right, and everything else falls into place.  Good worship.  Godly God-like-ness.  Well-oiled relationships.  Contentment.  And what we see next, is that there is actually great profit to be found in losing it all...

1Timothy 6:4 - Sick people

”...[anyone different teaching and not agreeing to healthy words] he is proud, understanding nothing, but rather being sick about debates and disputes, out of which are coming to be envy, strife, blasphemies, suspicions, evils...”

-Sick.  Sick people.  They didn’t take their medicine today.  They are off their meds, in fact - not getting their recommended daily allowance of the healthy healing Words of Scripture - and that can’t be good.  Nope - vital signs are down, things are actually trending down, trending away from godliness.  Pride.  Lack of understanding.  And then we have all forms of interpersonal conflict.  This is where it all begins.  The fountainhead of man’s inhumanity to man, of our pervasive inability to simply get along.  To be a good neighbor.  It’s not about State Farm not being there - it is God’s Word not being there and being embraced in a humble teachable heart.  Pride.  Me-first, me-better.  Uh-gly.  As ugly as it gets, way more than skin deep, ugliness towards my neighbor flowing out of my nasty ugly heart.

-And pride would thus be not only the first symptom but also the first cause.  It is the consummate act of pride to question what God said - an illness as old as the Garden, yea older than that.  Did God really say ________?  The willingness, the brazen instinct to question what God has said, the readiness to take the wide and oft-traveled highway away from what God has said is the essence of pride, and we see it in the serpent in the earliest pages of Scripture.  The whole creation thing had barely gotten off the ground, and here he comes, all proud and haughty, the prince of the power of the air, cast down to earth on account of his pride, more than ready to ensnare and enslave the masses of would-be image-bearers into thumbing their collective noses at the loving God Who fashioned them to bear His glorious image forever.  Questioning God’s Word.  Did God really say that?  And pride now induces them to even question the truth of that creation account.  Did God really make all that?  Did God really make me?  No strings on me...!, we insist, as we stumble down the path of ignorance.  Understanding nothing, Paul says.  Professing to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1.22).  Sick, broken, hurting people.

-And it is in the garden where we see this heart-sickness begin to infect our relationships.  Not only are we hiding from God and His scrutinying gaze, the searing heat of His Truth, but we are hurling at one another.  Passing on our hurt.  Instead of peace and harmony and love, we have debates and disputes, envy and strife, blasphemies and abusive language in place of healthy life-giving words, suspicions (we find it oh-so-hard to trust one another).  And evils.  All kinds of nasty evils.  The exact opposite of godliness.  Sick people.  Friends, we were made for so much more.  We were never made for this.  But wait - (sadly) there’s more...  :(

1Timothy 6:3 - On Designer Wallpaper and Cure-what-ails-ya...

”These [things] be teaching and urging.  If any is different-teaching and not agreeing to words being healthy, to the [ones] of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the teaching according to good-worship...”

-Good worship.  Good worship.  This is the goal of all our instruction.  All our much ado about something, about Someone.  This is our thing.  AKA  godliness.  Being like God.  Holy conduct and godliness (2Peter 3.11).  Life and godliness - God’s divine power poured out towards that end. (2Peter 1.3).  This word appears more in this letter than anywhere else in all of Scripture.  We are to pursue it (1Timothy 6.11), practice it (1Timothy 5.4), train ourselves for it (1Timothy 4.7), embrace the great mystery of it (1Timothy 3.16) - it is to be the wall paper, the background color of our entire life (1Timothy 2.2).  The word is eusebia, or eu-sebo, meaning good worship.  We call these people pious.  Godly.  Devout.  They are devoted to God, obsessively so, and their devotion determines their demeanor.  It colors their conduct, like so much wallpaper.  It is the background of how they live and act.  But we’re not talking about some gaudy old paisley pattern you’re going to want to strip off at first chance.  Not gaudy - but godly.  No, this is heavenly designer wallpaper of the finest kind, designed and installed by the Master Designer Himself.  That’s right - this One towards Whom we direct our devotion is the One Whom then colors our life with the many shades of Himself.

-Now the key, however, is that this devotion must be in accordance with sound words, words which are healthy.  Now, what does that mean?  These are the Words of Jesus Christ, Paul says.  For starters, we certainly look at the words which Jesus spoke and which His apostles recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  The RED ones.  And not just those, of course - all the God-breathed words which are contained in His Word.  But really all the words which are true as they relate to Jesus.  Not some different doctrine, some different teaching about God and Jesus, not some different teaching about what He is like.  Such words are not healthy - in fact, they are quite the opposite.  Quite unhealthy.  Sick.  Sick, sick sick.  Sick people.  Our deep abiding soul sickness is that we change the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1.25).  We desperately supress the truth (Romans 1.18), desperate to deny our guilt.  We readily jettison the truths about what God has said and what He is like for half-truths and lies and dismissals and denials.  So-called worldly wisdom, the platitudes of fools.  Worldy fables and old wives' tales (which we looked at in 1Timothy 4.7).  No, no - we are to be pursuing a life which is characterized by moral excellence which is grounded in true knowledge (2Peter 1.5), one which shows off what God is truly like because it is based on true understanding of Him and what He is like.  Which comes straight from what God has revealed about Himself - in His Word.  In the words of Jesus and in the words of Paul and the other apostles and prophets, as collected in the Bible.  These teachings we hold to be God’s authoritative revelation about Himself and how He wants us to live.  Sound, healthy words.  And they make for healthy living.  They are in fact God’s prescription for healthy living.  They are both the antidote and the immunity-booster.  The vaccine and the cure.  Timothy is to be taking great pains to be absorbed in teaching these words of health, in urging people to take this immune-boosting, cure-what-ails-ya soul medicine into their hearts and lives.  But there are those who are teaching something different...

1Timothy 6:2 - A Family Discount?

”But the [ones] having believers [as] masters, let them not be despising, because brothers they are, but rather more let them be serving, because they are believers and beloved, the [ones] partaking of the benefit...”

-The context here of course is Paul talking about slaves and masters, but in our modern world of freedom and independence the terms are modified (for most in the west at least).  Those words don't mean what we think they mean.  Not what they used to mean.  In fact they barely exist anymore.  But we could easily extend this principle of serving and not disrespecting to any believer who has [been placed in] some kind of authority over us.  Supervisor.  Boss.  Teacher.  Coach.  Parent.  Pastor.  Youth leader.  Even a substitute.  Substitute teacher.  Substitute parent [aka babysitter].  Obviously, Paul is thinking about non-blood-relatives, those who are related instead through the blood of Jesus Christ and through faith in His name.  Spiritual family.  But could not these principles also be extended to physical family?  I say yes...!

-Just because someone is family doesn’t give you the freedom or permission to be able to disrespect them.  It doesn’t give you the right to be able to take some moral shortcut, some spiritual offramp or detour off the highway of holiness.  Do not deviate from doing what is right just because your brother or sister is in charge.  In fact, you should respect them and serve and support and submit to them all the more BECAUSE they are family, Paul says.  Because they get the benefit, our brother or sister in Christ, this one who is family.

-It is hard to lead.  Leadership is a hard job.  Those who don’t lead often fail to realize this.  More is required of a leader - there is more responsibility, more pressure, more at stake - more accountability.  And the job is made more difficult when the sheep go astray.  When they get lost.  Or worse, when they get all uppity, when they resist going where you are trying to lead them.  When they are lazy.  When you get more bleating than following.  And isn’t this what we are tempted to do, when someone we know is in charge?  If we have a close relationship with them, the more familial our relationship is to them, the more we are prone to take exception.  We feel that we somehow get a pass, an exemption from whatever regulations and rules or decorum may be incumbent upon anyone else unfortunate enough to not have the same familial standing which we enjoy with the leader.  With the one in charge.  We get a pass, a family discount as it were.  We are exempt from normal expectations or respect, of compliance.  We have a backstage pass - we can take a shortcut.  All that other stuff doesn’t apply to us.  Plus - we know this person.  We hang out with this person.  We maybe even live with this person.  We know the ghosts in their closet - makes us more prone to disrespect.  Or we presume upon our relationship with them and expect that they will forbear with our disrespect.  We will get a longer leash.  Or so we think.

-Uh no, Paul says.  Uh uh.  Don't’ you go there, family.  If a family member is in charge and trying to lead, all the more reason we should do our level best to lighten their load, to listen to them and support them and do whatever it is they are asking us to do.  They are beloved, beloved by our Savior Himself - and should be so by us as well.  We are to demonstrate this love by NOT disrespecting them, and rather by serving them.  This is our good and beautiful worship which shows off the breathtaking goodness of God. 

1Timothy 6:1 - Don't be dissin' that...

”As many as are under a yoke as slaves, their own masters worthy of all honor let them be ruling, in order that NOT the name of God and the teaching may be being blasphemed.”

-Blasphemy.  Blasphemy.  It is speaking evily or even lightly about something sacred.  Disrespect.  It is a capital crime.  Or was.  In a theocracy, at least.  In those places where the regard and reverence for the sacred is held in the strictest and highest esteem, speaking against that object of reverence can get you killed.  Don't be dissin' that.  This happened to be the case in Israel, where the devoutest of Hebrews dared not even pronounce the sacred name of Jehovah - Yahweh - lest they somehow contaminate Him with their own residual spiritual filth.  Specifically, if you were one of His people, one of His chosen ones, you were charged with protecting His reputation.  Your words and your very conduct reflected back on Him.  Thus, speaking against Him, doing something contrary to His character or revealed will in some instances was even punishable by death (Leviticus 24.16).  That was - on the surface at least - the crime of which Jesus was accused (Matthew 26.65-66).  That’s how seriously the nation Israel regarded the importance of guarding the reputation of the one true God, the thrice-holy Lord of hosts, most high King of the Universe.  Not only did Israel consider this a sacred trust, but so does the God of Israel Himself, the One Who chose them, Who reveals Himself in His Word and in all He has made.  AND in the people He has chosen and  (re)made!   Always putting Himself out there, His reputation on the line and out there for all to see.  He takes His reputation with the utmost regard.  And the words and conduct of His people reflect back on Him.

-Thus does Paul invoke the serious charge of blasphemy against those slaves who would disrespect their masters.  Not that they are blaspheming per se.  But their dishonorable conduct towards their masters dishonors God all the same.  And it incites their masters (some of whom are unbelievers) to speak against both them AND against their God.  Even unbelievers understand the way of the universe, the moral law which God has written on their hearts.  Though veiled and obscured from their understanding, and though their consciences are often seared and scarred and hardened, they nevertheless still instinctively know right from wrong.  God has put this knowledge in them (Romans 2.15).  All people understand that disrespecting a superior is wrong - whether by my actions or my attitude.  Failure to respect a superior calls into question both my heart and values, along with whatever religious standard or deity might inform them.  And so Paul says, masters are worthy of ALL honor.  He uses the word, despot.  Not kyrios, which means Lord.  No, this word can refer to both reasonable and unreasonable masters, and is used of Jesus (Luke 2.29, 2Timothy 2.21, Jude 4), but it certainly gave rise to that word which in English conjures up those who wield absolute power in abominable ways.  Despicable.  Peter goes so far as to insist that even unreasonable masters are to be afforded all respect.  Honor.  When those of us who follow Christ honor the ones whom God Himself has put in authority over us (cf John 19.11, Romans 13.1, 1Peter 2.13-14), we show off the beauty of the Name and the teaching of the Lord Jesus.  We make Him look good.  He IS good, of course - all the time.  But we can show this off by how we treat those in authority over us.  Or not.  We can detract from that, we can uglify the Name of God when we act or speak ugly towards our superiors (cf 2Peter 2.9-12).  When we be dissin' them.  We could very well be giving an unbelieving, unreasonable master another reason NOT to believe in Jesus.  But it can feel good to do that, can’t it?  To give air to our grievances and complaints against someone in authority over us?  It feels good, doesn’t it?  Cathartic, somehow.  They deserve it, don’t they?  They certainly don’t deserve my respect.  I suggest that this disrespect is a fleshy indulgence.  That’s what Peter is saying.  And we ought not do it.  We ought to be very careful before we go there.  Seriously careful.  How we relate to and regard our surperiors is serious business.  God takes it very seriously (cf Numbers 12.8-10).  So should we.

1Timothy 5:25 - The Mother of all Jumbotrons

”Likewise, also the beautiful works [are] very evident, and the [ones] having otherwise - they are not able to be hidden.”

-There is nothing hidden which will not come to light.  Sooner or later - and even now, the quality of our work and our works speaks for itself.  Our lives are the real big screen, on display for all to see, whether we see it or not.

-And that’s usually the case, isn’t it?  We don’t see it.  We miss it.  We either have blind spots, or we think we’re going unnoticed.  Maybe it’s our good deeds, those which are beautiful and exemplary, those which show off the beauty of the Lord and which bring Him great pleasure.  Truth is, He sees.  He sees.  He notices.  He will never forget a single act of kindness or of service or of anything done in His Name (Hebrews 6.10).  And people notice as well.  They notice.  It’s about the heart.  The heart which overflows in beautiful works is plain for all to see.  As plain as the nose on your face.  Any and all who cross your path will catch a glimpse of Christ in your countenance.  They get a whiff of His fragrance at every encounter.  A sweet aroma, a life-giving perfume, Paul calls it (2Corinthians 2.14-16).  Either that or a death-dealing drug.  Depends on where their heart is.  But there’s no mistaking it.  Even if they don’t say a word - it’s out there.  We’re out there.  Everything we do.  All our works - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Yes, sometimes their appearance can be delayed, or disguised somehow.  We do try to hide our junk.  And some of us, we even manage to conceal it - for a season.  But it cannot be hidden forever.  Sooner or later, we get found out.  It’s who we are - who we are always shows itself (Proverbs 10.9).  And someday, one day - the truth will come out.  The books will be opened, and all God’s people (as well as those who are not) will see it.  We’ll have a front-row seat for the grand reveal.  On that jumbotron of heaven, the mother of all jumbotrons, don't you think (or however it plays out)?  But all we concealed will be revealed.  Every last bit of it.  Hopefully, that’s all been covered by the blood of Jesus - if not, there’s a lake of fire in somebody’s future (Revelation 20.12-15).  Even some of what’s covered will be burned up, tested for the quality of the work.  And what’s left will be all that which was done through Jesus and for Him (1Corinthians 3.12-15).  There’s no hiding it.  No hiding.

1Timothy 5:24 - More Brake-tapping!

”Of some men the sins very evident they are, going before unto judgment, but some also they are following.” 

-Prior to his detour in the previous verse to care for Timothy’s health, Paul had been coaching him on the challenges of leadership and of addressing the problem of sin in the body.  He was either cautioning Timothy about putting someone into leadership to hastily, someone who may possibly not quite be ready for that responsibility, or someone who could possibly be (still?) struggling with some kind of hidden sin; OR, Paul could have been concerned about receiving a potentially unjust accusation of sin against a current leader.

-His point here is that sometimes you can see quite clearly when someone is engaged in disobedience, and then other times you cannot see their sin.  Perhaps they are hiding it.  Perhaps their struggle will emerge if they are thrust into a position of leadership before they are ready.  But caution, patience, wise counsel, taking time to seek the Lord and His wisdom and what He wants in prayer - these are things which help to make sure that we make informed decisions with regards to leadership and discipline within the local church.  Again - a bit of brake-tapping is in order.  The well-being of the body and of the forward-progress of the mission are at stake!

1Timothy 5:23 - On issues and programs...

”No longer be drinking water, but rather wine a little be using because of the stomach and your frequent strengthlessnesses.”

-Paul jumps here from directives regarding leadership in the church to very specific personal exhortation for Timothy regarding his health.  Or lack thereof.  In fact, this verse is so far out of the context of what Paul has been saying throughout this letter.  Timothy apparently, in sport-terms, was a bit injury-prone.  He had some physical issues which challenged his effectiveness and even availability in ministry.  Would these have contributed to some of his timidity (to which Paul alludes in 2Timothy 1.7)?

-Clearly, Paul knows Timothy very well, and he cares about Timothy.  Timothy was more important than the program - and he felt this from Paul.  He knew Paul cared about him.  And Paul takes time out from his lengthy tome on church leadership to inject a word of advice for Timothy re his health.

-Apparently, Timothy dealt with some stomach issues.  And it was related to water intake.  It is hard to imagine that water in and of itself would pose any kind of health challenge to any normal healthy person.  Assuming the water is clean.  That is no longer an assumption one can make in most parts of the world.  Water almost everywhere needs to be purified, or you and I and all God’s people will likewise have “issues”.  Now it is not unheard of for locals to build up tolerances to some of the impurities found in their water, such that a visitor could drink the same water which causes no problems for the locals but which would give that visitor some “issues”.  It is possible that Timothy was having issues with the drinking water there in Ephesus, and wine would have been a safe alternative for him.  It is common advice for travelers in our day to not drink anything but what comes in bottled form.

-It is also possible that there was something else in play, and Dr. Paul was prescribing a little wine in a medicinal sense.  The word is oinos - no grape juice here.  Paul is definitely talking about an alcoholic beverage.  Abuse of oinos leads to drunkenness (cf Luke 7.33-34, Ephesians 5.18, 1Peter 4.3).  Wine - as in fermented grape juice - was an integral part of Jewish culture.  It was enjoyed in homes and during feasts and festivals and at weddings.  It was abstained from temporarily as part of the Nazirite tradition (cf Numbers 6.1-4, 10, 20).  There are traditions that try to make a case for this word referring to unfermented grape juice, but this writer believes that position is influenced more by cultural tradition (or family history or even personal taste) than on an honest consideration of the word as used throughout Scripture.  What we don’t have here from Paul is a green light for consuming mass quantities of alcohol.  Paul is telling Timothy to use a little wine.  How much is a little?  A glass at dinner?  Once a week?  Every night?  Is there a broader health case to be made here for the masses to observe a modest intake of wine?  Quite possibly.  But we all must beware the slippery slope.  A little here, and a little there, and if you’re not careful, before you know it you have more serious issues.  You can be abusing and addicted to a dangerous substance.  A danger to yourself as well as to those around you.  And now you've come to NEED a program.  There is no arguing against that.  Some understandably conclude it is best not to mess around with it at all.  Wisdom could suggest that.  One thing we don’t have here is any blanket prohibition against drinking wine.  Is it possible that there was a prevailing culture of abstinence within the Christian church at that time?  Yes, although that is uncertain.  Is it possible that Paul here is simply granting Timothy an exception?  Yes.  But it is equally possible that it was Timothy who had chosen to be abstaining from wine (a la the rite of the Nazirite), and Paul here is telling him to stop refraining from it altogether, because, for Timothy at least, there was some health benefit to be gained by drinking a little wine.  Not prohibition, but permission.  Though not permissiveness, either.  Moderation.  Liberty, but not license.

-Moderation - in all things.  Knowing when to say when (or no) - AND the demonstrated ability to do so.  Self-control (a fruit of the Spirit!).  Maturity.  It is approaching things in a way that keeps first things first and anything else from usurping primary devotion and affection away from the Lord.  Certainly, that applies to many things.  So many things to which we can give our hearts and for which we can go overboard.  Loving and enjoying the thing created - to the minimization of our love for and enjoyment of the Lord.  We desire these things more than Him - that’s the greater danger here.  For those things which can tend to grab too much of our heart - along with our time and attention - to do just that.  Distraction.  So, moderation in all things - it helps prevent distraction, the kind of spiritual waywardness which can become a form of idolatry.  Spiritual adultery.  Ezekiel calls it prostitution.  Any time we are aware of an area of weakness - and even when we don’t think we are weak in that area - we need to keep a constant vigilant watch on our souls and do whatever we can (or need to do) in order to make sure that a little wine (or anything else) doesn’t ever become anything more than that.

1Timothy 5:22 - On gun-jumping and brake-tapping...

”Hands hastily be laying upon no one, nor sharing sins of others. Yourself free be keeping.”

-Jumping the gun.  Jumping to conclusions.  Simply jump to it.  It does appear that our culture is quite fond of jumping.  But here Paul cautions his protege to actually not jump the gun.  There are several possibilities as to what Paul could be referring here.  One is hastily laying hands on someone in ordaining them to be an elder.  And this would certainly fit with the previous verse.  Timothy, you can’t just jump the gun on installing one of your buds an elder or a deacon or some other leader in the church (cf Acts 6.6, 13.3; 1Timothy 4.14; 2Timothy 1.6).  They need to meet the qualifications.  They need to be exemplary in both their character and their conduct as well as in the content of their doctrine.  Given that this is exactly the language Paul uses in reference to what He did for Timothy, this is most likely the best explanation.  Another possibility which Paul might have in mind is that of hastily restoring a previously disgraced and disciplined elder (from verse 20).  He could be saying, Timothy, you don’t want to hastily restore into fellowship (much less leadership) one of your buddies.  You want to make sure that they have truly repented of their sins and are finding victory over them.  In either case, in either one of these two possibilities, if you jump the gun on someone you may wind up putting someone into a place for which they are not yet suited.  If you endorse someone for fellowship or leadership when in fact they are (still) struggling with some area of hidden sin, then you essentially wind up sharing in that sin as well.  Timothy, as the Shepherd/Overseer, you are responsible for those you ordain as well as those you restore.  You share some responsibility for whatever sin they may (still) be dealing with if you lay hands on them (as in, an official act of ordination or restoration).  So let's give them a measure of protection (and ourselves as well) and do our due diligence.

-(We see examples of laying on hands for healing - Matthew 9.18, 19.13, 19.15; Mark 6.5, 7.32, 8.23, 8.25, 16.18; Luke 4.40, 13.13, 28.8.  Also for receiving the Holy Spirit - Acts 8.17, 19.6.  Both (?) in Acts 9.17.  Hands are also thrown at - Luke 20.19, 21.12; John 7.44; Acts 4.3, 5.18,  or stretched out - Luke 22.53 - in order to seize someone - different verb in the Greek but translated into English as laying hands on that person.  But the sense of laying on hands as a form of commissioning for ministry is found throughout Scripture - Numbers 8.10, 27.8; Acts 6.6, 13.3 - and that is what would be under consideration in the two scenarios mentioned above).

-Now there is another possibility, one which uses this phrase as it often occurs in modern English, but not so much in the Greek.  And while this may not be the most likely given the Greek, it can bring up a point which could be helpful, and that is that Paul might be cautioning Timothy against hastily laying hands on an elder vis a vis receiving an accusation of sin against them.  It would simply be a repeat and an expansion of the admonition he just gave in verse 19.  You don’t want to give hasty credence to what could be a sinful false accusation against an elder, Timothy.  

-Regardless, in either of these two (two-ish) scenarios, let's tap the brakes.  Find witnesses.  Do our research.  Seek the Lord and His wisdom, His leading.  Leadership in God's Church is a serious business, a high calling.  'Cuz it's God's business.  Let's get it right.  Fools rush in - we don't need to be in a hurry when it comes to leaders.  Patience.  We are free to take our time to get it right.