Category Archives: Christianity

Arts, Christianity, Culture

1 & 2 Timothy: The Pastoral Letters

NEW TESTAMENT

IF you read only Acts, you might think that the early church was one big happy family (once they had sorted out a bit of racial tension, Acts 6:1-8, 15:1-6). Generous sharing, daily praying, hundreds being converted, miracles of healing and deliverance, with only the odd arrest to hinder the flow of the Spirit at revival level.

Well, it wasn’t like that all the time; Acts is like a newspaper, it focuses on “news”: the unusual rather than the normal. And it certainly didn’t last. The sensual excesses of Corinth (Paul’s letters to them spare no blushes) highlighted the fact that the church was made up of human beings who, by biblical definition, are prone to more errors than a crashing computer.

And so by the mid-60s the first generation of Christians was being superseded by the next, and familiar problems were sprouting everywhere like weeds after a rain shower. The three “pastoral letters” (two to Timothy and one to Titus) are effectively manuals for the pair of troubleshooters to use as they sort out problems in Ephesus (Timothy) and Crete (Titus).

In laying down the law, Paul has given us a timeless set of guidelines for church leadership. He expects leaders to have exemplary lives and orthodox beliefs; and he expects his own colleagues to labour tirelessly and sacrificially. Along the way he gives some valuable truths memorably expressed about God and the Scriptures.

They apply especially to anyone in church leadership today. But it isn’t just aimed at the pastorate, there are clear guidelines for everyone in what they should be praying and looking for.

DON’T GET SIDETRACKED

– A narrative on 1 Timothy 1,4,6

THE human mind has a huge capacity for learning and remembering. Most of us only use a fraction of it, yet the world is an infinite source of information. However, what can be known is far greater than anyone can take in.

Theology – the knowledge of God revealed through the Scriptures, interpreted by successive generations of believers and applied to our lives by the Spirit – is no exception to the rule. There is always more to discover, and more than one mind can take in.

Paul encouraged his readers to learn the Scriptures and be mindful of healthy, right-minded doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6, 5:7, 6:3; 2 Timothy 3:14) but warns against fruitless speculation which leads us away from the gospel.

The false teachers in Ephesus had done just that. Some scribes have associated them with later heresies and thus questioned Paul’s authorship. But there are hints of similar problems elsewhere (Colossae, for example). The details are vague which makes them widely applicable. We should avoid excessive interest in legends (1:4), not to be fascinated by genealogies for theological reasons or personal status, not delighting in controversies arguing for the fun of it, and to avoid an interest in the occult (4:1-2).

The net effect is “envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction” (6:4,5). All this destroys fellowship. We are to be wise and to remain so.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 10

GOD WALKS OUT ON A LOVER

– A narrative on Ezekiel 10

THE DIVINE PROMISE “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20) recurs in various forms throughout Scripture. But just occasionally, it is revoked. God is patient. God is love. Sometimes, however, his people become so insufferable that like an exasperated lover he walks out.

In Ezekiel’s vision he leaves his “house”, the temple in Jerusalem, before it is destroyed. The symbolism is powerful. It says to the Judeans that God is leaving them to their own devices. His holiness cannot co-exist with their sinfulness.

It wasn’t the first time he had walked out like that. When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines in Samuel’s day, it was said that the glory of the Lord had departed (1 Samuel 4:21,22).

It won’t be the last time, either. Churches, like ancient castles, can become empty shells from which the Spirit of life has departed. Those that survive the invasion of property developers may echo with liturgy but do not vibrate with life. There were some like that even in New Testament times (Revelation 3:1,2).

And people once zealous for God became shipwrecked on the reefs of materialism; no longer able to catch the wind of the Spirit they drift on the tide (1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 4:10) while God sails on without them. He will stay as long as you want him to, but he never outstays his welcome.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Book of Esther

OLD TESTAMENT

ESTHER is a gripping story with tension, subterfuge, danger – and a happy ending. Why it is in the Bible has been long debated; it doesn’t mention God, nor attempt to teach anything overtly. Yet it is a moral tale in which good eventually triumphs over evil. This is not a book for bit-by-bit study. It is revealing and its spiritual treasures emerge best if you read it in one sitting.

Set in Susa, the capital of Persia during the reign of Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) about 480 BCE, before Ezra returned to Jerusalem in 445 BCE, it records an otherwise unknown incident. The pompous courtier Haman plots the destruction of the Jews (by tricking the king into signing a bogus decree) because Mordecai refuses to bow to him. Esther, Mordecai’s cousin and surrogate daughter, groomed in the royal harem, catches Xerxes’ eye after he expels his wife Vashti for insolence. In a second sub-plot, Mordecai saves the king’s life.

Hearing of Haman’s planned genocide, Mordecai and Esther conspire to tell the king the truth behind the decree he has just signed. Very annoyed, he issues another decree which annuls the first, executes Haman and promotes Mordecai.

Today, at the Jewish feast of Purim, the story is read and the audience boo every mention of Haman and cheer every mention of Mordecai.

Esther shows how God is sovereign in human affairs. The eye of faith can see him putting characters in place on the stage. They have no prophet to tell them God’s word, and no priest to intercede for them. God is apparently silent and distant. There are just some coincidences which add up to a remarkable deliverance through the human agency of two people who risk all.

Esther is the ordinary Christian’s book. Most of us live with problems for which solutions do not come easily. Yet looking back we see God’s ordering of events which aid us through the troubles. Esther’s message is, ‘don’t forget such signs’, look back with thanks and gratitude, and trust that God will show himself sovereign again. It is through circumstance and coincidence that this sovereignty works.

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