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Warning: The following is a bit of a downer, but it is the next passage on righteousness.  I cannot help what the scripture says, but I cannot skip it just because it makes me uncomfortable…

 ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

I was just listening to a radio show about this last night, describing several myths we now teach in our universities, our schools, and in the news.  These myths are increasingly reflected in our laws, making Christians out to be more and more weird when the reality is that people simply do not want to put up with sound doctrine.  As Paul wrote to Timothy, mankind has turned aside to myths.  Here some myths the West has turned aside to:

1. Women, the people God entrusted to bring life into the world, should be ashamed if they stay home to raise a family.
2. Even though God knew us before we were born, we do not deserve His protection unless mere people decide to let us be born.
3. Those who consider themselves of higher morality find it more important to speak against evil than to stop it.
4. Though parents are put here for the children (not vice versa!), it’s okay to have other adults do the parenting for them, as long as someone does it.

And as verse 3 says, people do this “to suit their own desires”.  In this case, the desire is to be independent of restraints, free to pursue a career and vacations, free of the responsibility of truly raising a family, free to condemn without taking action, and free to enjoy God’s children without emotionally investing in them. I know I cannot write this without appearing to judge the individuals in my life whom this describes, but I mean no judgement of them, but of the society that put them in a position of making such choices.  In kind, I observe that they accept my religiosity without judgement, while simultaneously critical of the Church, and often with unfortunate justification.

This state of the world simply breaks my heart.  It makes verse 5 a challenge, to be sure, especially because the only viable choice for many otherwise godly people is to structure their lives in accordance with society’s chosen morality.  For example, you often cannot provide your children a home in a safe neighborhood without both parents working.  This sacrifices precious time that a mother may otherwise spend with her children as they wait for her at day-care.  Others crunch the numbers and realize that having children is something they simply cannot afford, and so make difficult decisions that others find abhorrent and selfish.  Still others want to support the wars they see our country participate in, but after getting a college education cannot see how we’re any different than those whom we fight.  It often takes a college degree to cease understanding life.

And it is for that reason that I am not judging you if you must live according the myths above… but I do believe that the leaders who hold these myths to be truths, and teach you as such, are surely wrong for doing so, and have done you and your family a disservice.  And yet in this day and age, simply expressing this opinion can frequently alienate a Christian from others, as if we mean to ruin people’s lives and simply want to mold people’s lives to look like ours.  When did the debate on right and wrong stop being a debate?  Debates are to help clarify our differences, to help us appreciate each other, and to help us decide whether we are on the right track or not.  But, somewhere along the way, mere debate became suggestive of hatred… hatred that is not there, and judgement… that is not there. 

Again I ask… when did this happen? Well regardless, I will continue to believe what God says, and obey what He commands me… hopefully more today than yesterday, but always seeking His righteousness.  And surely this will be seen as my own stubbornness by those do not believe as I.  Big sigh.  And so I come to verses 6 through 8, which I believe I understand, though my departure is not likely near, nor is my race quite yet finished…

 ⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Hmmm… let me rephrase a bit for myself…

Until my departure, while there is still something left of me, I will fight the good fight, endure on in the race, and I will keep the faith, until the end. 

Better… and now I can pick up with Paul in agreement that…

⁸ …there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

While I am in this world, I have plans, goals, and desires, but sometimes I just long for His appearing.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 8:13 am and is filed under Whatever, Word Studies, Bible Commentary, Devotional Notes, Walking with God, Righteousness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.