”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...!
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