By: Dale Weckbacher
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But understand this,
that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For
people will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy,3 heartless, unappeasable,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous,
reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers
of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness,
but denying its power. Avoid such people.
(ESV)
Perhaps one of the major obstacles of people becoming a
believer and follower of Jesus Christ in their lives is the erroneous
perception that becoming a Christian means they will have no fun or pleasure in
their lives. However, many passages of
scripture attest to the benefits of joy and pleasure in one’s life (Psalm 16,Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 15:13). God
also takes pleasure in things (Zephaniah 3:17) and is desirous of us enjoying
abundance in our lives, the opposite of what our enemy the Devil desires (John 10:10). However, we must strive to
insure our pursuit of pleasure does not become an idol in our lives, taking the
place of God, which should be our greatest pleasure. (1)
(2)
2 Timothy 3:1-5 provides a snapshot of the world’s culture
in the last days. Even a casual look at
the news in our society today would indicate that according to this list we are
living in the last days but what I find puzzling about this passage is that it
tells Timothy to avoid people participating in these things. The reason I find this puzzling is that as
one that believes the purpose of the church, which consists of each one of us
that professes faith in Jesus as our savior, is reaching out to the lost in our
world, how can we reach out to these people we have no contact with?
Clarification of this dilemma in scripture is found by
determining who the ones to avoid are.
This is easy in this instance for in the first part of 2 Timothy 3:5
Paul speaks of them as people having the appearance of godliness but denying
its power. In other words, Paul is not
speaking of avoidance of unbelievers from whom such behaviors are expected but
people engaged in these behaviors while professing a belief in Jesus as their
savoir.
Unfortunately, however, as we live in the last days and the
second coming of Jesus nears, we are witnessing the idol of selfish pleasure-seeking
seep into the church. Instead of
churches being change agents in culture leading their congregations into a
deeper relationship with God their creator and reaching out to the lost of
their communities, we are witnessing churches that are reshaped by the culture
around them. Churches are taking on the
characteristics of
1)
Narcissism – Narcissism is defined as excessive self-love. (3) Many come to church after a hard week of
working in the world seeking spiritual refreshment. While this is the main reason we gather
regularly, our refreshment is often a glitzy program with a feel-good message
not unlike self-help seminars we see in the corporate world. Jesus told the Samaritan Woman at the well
that the true worshipers of God worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). When we come to church we should
find our refreshment in a genuine worship of our Lord in spirit, usually in
song, and not some professional performance by professional musicians with the
purpose of entertaining us, coupled with a teaching of truth from God’s Word
which may not necessarily make us feel good.
When we leave church services we should feel refreshed knowing who God
is and not how great we are.
2)
Consumerism – Consumerism is a preoccupation
with society of acquiring consumer, or worldly goods. (3)
Scripture teaches us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also
(Luke 12:34). Unfortunately, however,
churches and congregations in our time are caught up in a form of Christian
consumerism. Consumers of Christianity
flock to churches expecting to receive some nicely packaged program making them
feel good about themselves while the leaders of churches, not unlike businesses
in the corporate world, seek to package Christianity in a form acceptable to
these consumers seeking something to make them feel good.
3)
Therapeutic – All the narcissism and consumerism
in our culture comes with a price, stress.
(3)
While stress is a part of ordinary life, excessive stress in our lives can have
dangerous health consequences. (4) Learning to manage stress, especially
excessive stress in our lives, is crucial to maintaining both physical and
mental health. A glitzy musical
performance coupled with a feel-good self-help message on Sunday may offer
temporary relief but it is more like taking a drug or drinking to overcome
stress, once the effect of the pill or alcohol wears off, the root cause of the
stress remains. As Christians, we have a
personal relationship with God our creator.
We have His Word, the Bible. As
such, we have the only thing that can get to the root cause of excessive stress
in our lives. Instead of putting a
self-help bandage on the stress in people’s lives, we must help people enter
into a personal relationship with God their creator through the shed blood of
Jesus Christ. We then must encourage
them to grow in their relationship through regular study of the Word of God
allowing it to both encourage and at times cut to the heart of what is truly
causing the stress in their lives (Hebrews 4:12).
Perhaps you are reading this and have never entered into a
personal relationship with Jesus as your savior. Or perhaps you are reading this and once had
a strong personal relationship with God but have drifted away. If that is you I invite you to pray with me
now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned
(Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).
I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
As Christians, we must not allow worldly pleasure to become
an idol in our lives and instead make our relationship with God our greatest
pleasure. As church organizations, we
must make our priority helping people enter into a relationship with God
through acceptance of Jesus as their savior and then help them grow in that
relationship by engaging in true worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23). This is worship glorifying God and not the
performers on the stage and truth from the Word of God. My prayer is that in the last days the world
would see the church engaged in this manner.
1. Gotquestions.org. Is God opposed to
pleasure? www.gotquestions.org. [Online] Gotquestions.org. [Cited:
September 2, 2017.] https://www.gotquestions.org/God-pleasure.html.
2. Wegman, Hannah.
Modern Day Idolatry: Putting Anything Before God. www.christianpost.com. [Online]
The Christian Post, May 27, 2015. [Cited: August 26, 2017.]
http://www.christianpost.com/news/modern-day-idolatry-putting-anything-before-god-139630/.
3. 5Point7 Community
Church. It’s not about us. www.5point7.org. [Online] 5point7
Community Church. [Cited: September 2, 2017.]
http://www.5point7.org/its-not-about-us/.
4. Melissa Conrad
Stoppler, MD. Stress. www.medicinenet.com. [Online] Medicinenet.com.
[Cited: September 2, 2017.] http://www.medicinenet.com/stress/article.htm.
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