2 Timothy 3:5

Summary retelling of 2 Timothy 3:5

Paul continues to talk about humanity: having only an appearance of godliness, refusing to consider the true power of godliness.  Then Paul gives a hard command.  Timothy is to avoid people who display these characteristics.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul mentions that human beings are fully capable of putting on the display of godliness.  We can act any way we want.  We can make a show for a time about anything.  We can give an appearance of faith, belief, and humbleness before God.  I know, because I’ve been there and done that.  I’ve had people fooled about thinking that there was a deep faith within me when really I was living a rather spiritually stagnant life.  Above all else, human beings are masterful deceivers.  We can appear however we want – even if it is different than what we really are on the inside.

Have you ever been fake?  Have you ever been fake about your faith?  Have you ever given people the idea that you really care about God and His ways when in reality you were more interested in your life and your agenda?  What does that process feel like in the end?

Second Thought:

The last thing on Paul’s list is “refusing to consider the true power of godliness.”  The verb there is pretty neat. It can mean everything from “refusing to consider,” to “refusing to think about,” to “refusing to value,” to “disregard.”  The danger of people is that while we can appear godly, it is easy to deny the true power of godliness.  What is the true power of godliness?  Is it the ability to call down lightning from heaven and smite one’s enemies?  Certainly not – although that might occasionally be cool.  No, the true power of the Gospel and the true power of godliness is evoking change in who we are.  The true power of godliness is to move us from chasing our own dreams to chasing God’s agenda.  That is the very thing that many people in this world absolutely deny – even many people in the church.  People say that they believe God exists.  They say that they believe Jesus died on the cross.  But do they actually care what difference it makes in their life?  The true followers of God do; the fake ones don’t.

Are you a true follower?  Is God actively taking your life and changing your life from the pursuit of your own desires to the pursuit of God’s desires?  Do you disregard this power in your life?  What steps can you take to ensure that you don’t disregard what God wants to do in your life?

Third Thought:

Timothy is to avoid such people.  At first, it might sound like Paul is telling Timothy to avoid all people.  After all, as we’ve studied this list of the bad traits of humanity, can’t we all say that we embody most of these traits to some extent?  Thus, Paul must not really be saying to avoid everyone who has these traits.  Rather, what Paul is saying is that Timothy should avoid people who display these traits and don’t seem to care about it.  In a sense, this point is directly connected to the second thought of this blog post.  It’s one thing to struggle with our humanity.  That is what God asks us to do!  But we should avoid people who are not interested in struggle against their humanity.

Who do you know in your life that is actively struggling against their humanity?  Who do you know in your life that is not struggling against their humanity?  Do you know any people who should be struggling against their humanity because they claim to know God but they aren’t actually letting God have any impact upon their life?

Passage for Tomorrow: 2 Timothy 3:6-7