Share in Suffering as a Good Soldier

For the third part of our series on Paul's letters to Timothy, we moved onto 2 Timothy this week. I read the following quote from John Stott to introduce 2 Timothy:

"The church of our day urgently needs to heed the message of this second letter of Paul to Timothy. For all around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp of the gospel, fumbling it, in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether. A new generation of young Timothys is needed, who will guard the sacred deposit of the gospel, who are determined to proclaim it and are prepared to suffer for it, and who will pass it on pure and uncorrupted to the generation which in due course will rise up to follow them."

Our discussion centered around 2 Timothy 2:1-7:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.


Here are some points that guided our discussion:

• This passage contains 3 analogies that all highlight different aspects of being faithful to the Gospel and suffering for it. All three require higher levels of discipline.
• The solider analogy focuses on single-mindedness; the athlete analogy focuses on obedience; the farmer analogy focuses on hard work, perseverance, and looking toward the reward.
• The passage also contains a promise - though the content of this passage may seem confusing at first, we are promised that God will give us understanding if we study it. (The same concept should be applied to studying all of God's Word.)

 The Soldier Analogy

• Getting entangled in civilian pursuits may look like focusing on worries outside of our mission, focusing on the cares of this life, and going through our daily routines without having a sense of higher purpose in them. These things distract us from our "battle" and cause us to forget that our lives aren't about just this life.
• If we want to please God, we cannot afford to live like civilians. We must live differently, and therefore we must be strengthened by God's grace (verse 1).
• Soldiers are called to suffer (verse 3). Suffering is all over Paul's letters; in fact, it seems he had greatest intimacy with Christ when he was suffering. James also calls us to rejoice in suffering (James 1:2), yet it seems that we avoid suffering for the most part. 
• Should we be praying to share in Christ's sufferings? And shouldn't we be living our lives in ways that we will suffer for our faith?
• When we look at the New Testament and read about other saints (like Mother Theresa, for example), we see them model this kind of suffering and single-mindedness for the Gospel. 
• Has our faith really been tested that much?
• Have we had Gospel living accurately modeled for us? Furthermore, are we sure that we've been taught by what Paul would call faithful men who have guarded the Gospel (verse 2) that he's fighting for in 1 & 2 Timothy? (Or, conversely, have we been taught a Gospel that isn't faithful to the Biblical picture? We have to remember that the false teachings Paul is combating in these letters are false teachings that have risen up from WITHIN the church, not from the outside.)

 In closing, here are a few more thoughts:

• I purposely left a lot of what we talked about in question form, because I don't think we brought everything to a conclusion last night. And that's good - because I don't think we can tie this up with a neat bow. The picture we see in the New Testament contrasts from the picture of our lives. So what do we do now? Continue working through that.
• We focused a lot on the soldier analogy, but ran out of time before we moved onto much else in the passage. At the beginning of the passage, we see a one-on-one discipleship/teaching model that Paul is instructing Timothy to use. Then we also have two other analogies, an exhortation to study God's Word, and an accompanying promise that God will give us understanding when we do so. Don't miss those parts of the passage.
• I wanted to offer this quote I found in a commentary: "The three images here reinforce the main command to persevere in suffering. But Paul's teaching does not apply only to unusual circumstances. He portrays the normal Christian life. In fact, to judge from the New Testament, it is not the presence of struggle and suffering in the life of the Christian that ought to be questioned, but rather the absence of them." 
• Do you question the absence of suffering and struggle in your life? Shouldn't it bother us that our lives don't match up with what we see in the New Testament?

Fighting the Good Fight

Continuing our series on Paul's letters to Timothy, our discussion this week came from 1 Timothy 6:11-12:

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.


Here are some questions and points that guided our discussion:

• Feel the weight of Paul's vocabulary: he charges Timothy to flee rather than just avoid, to pursue rather than just hope for, to fight rather than remain passive, and to take hold rather than just touch. Following this charge will require a lot of action.
• In light of this, you must not have the attitude that you're okay where you're at spiritually. Keep fighting to progress.
• The fleeing and pursuing happen simultaneously; the fight consists of both of these elements.

What is the "good fight of the faith"?

• It's a fight for God's kingdom, a fight to know Christ and to please Him.
• It's a good fight because it's for the benefit of God, the benefit of you, and the benefit of others.
• It's a fight to maintain your faith and ultimately to glorify God by doing so. God's glory is something worth our fight.
• It's a fight we engage in by relying on God's Spirit and standing on God's truth. 
• In this passage, Paul is instructing Timothy to flee things that result from false understanding of truth - so having a right understanding of the truth is one way we must fight and flee.
• We must continually seek to have deeper application of the truths we already know, rather than just more advanced knowledge. Don't just move on from something because you've heard it over and over. Know the Gospel; know it well; make it the center of your life.

Here are some other questions you might think about:

• What does the fleeing, pursuing, and fighting that Paul is talking about look like practically? 
• Paul used really weighty language in these verses - does your life demonstrate that you value these things as much as Paul does?
• Look at each of the things Paul tells Timothy to pursue. Why are each of them here in this passage? Which ones do you need to work on pursuing more actively?

As always, feel free to leave comments and questions. If you want to start preparing for next week, go ahead and start reading through 2 Timothy to get a feel for that letter. I'm 90% sure we'll be studying 2 Timothy 2:1-7 next week, so you can focus in on that section particularly.

Training for Godliness

This week we began our series on Paul's letters to Timothy. In 1 Timothy we see a constant interplay between doctrine/understanding of the gospel and conduct/behavior. Do you tend to be better at doctrine or action, and what can you do to make sure you don't neglect the other?

Our discussion centered on 1 Timothy 4:6-10:

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.

Questions and points that guided our discussion:

• Many things have some value, but only godliness has value in every way.
• Feel the weight of these verses - the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. They toil and strive to this end, and have hope on a living God.
• In regards to the hope of verse 10, refer to 1 Timothy 1:1 - Christ is our hope. Our hope is certain.

How do we train for godliness?

• It requires self-discipline, just like athletic training. We have to "toil and strive."
• Like athletic training, we need a plan which should become progressively more rigorous. 
• The motivation is key: we train because of our hope, not just because we're trying to prove our thankfulness.
• Connect this with the following verses and the rest of 1 Timothy: training involves commitment to good teaching/doctrine and living out the implications of those teachings.

How can you better live out this picture in your life? 

• Have perseverance and faith, because it won't be easy.
• Think about the analogy of athletic training - we sweat and get sore muscles. Training for godliness isn't necessarily going to be pretty and will require sacrifice.

 In closing, here are some questions to challenge you:

Can your pursuit of godliness be described as toiling and striving?
What kind of plan do you have to train for godliness? Does it need to be developed more? How much does it require you to sacrifice and "sweat"?

As always, feel free to post questions or comments.