Things to run away from.

In 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 11 Paul outlines some of the things that a Christian should be doing in their life. He talks about things that Christians should flee from. Now when he talks about fleeing he doesn’t just mean avoid he means to run away from.

Often Christians have a tendency to avoid things that they feel might give them a problem but rarely do we go the extent of actually fleeing from them.

What then are these things we should be running away from?

The first is really interesting because Paul talks about ‘an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words’. Anyone who has spent any time in a church will have seen an abundance of this very problem. Yet it’s not just in church committees because this is the very thing that theologians often seem to spend their whole lives on. I’m all for searching for the truth and being prepared to defend your faith (it’s part of our faith) but spending time arguing about things is just wrong.

It seems to me there are some people who just get off on having a good argument. They don’t care who wins (although they always believe they do) but they just like being controversial.

I have had several conversations with some pretty determined atheists but in the end we always have to agree to disagree or the argument would rage forever. Many of these, I’ve concluded, just like being awkward and controversial.

It’s reached the point where I refuse to argue with any atheist over their position. I’m happy to state why I believe something but I won’t get sucked into the angry nonsense where we just fire off counter arguments to each other with no one gaining any ground.

I believe this is just the kind of thing that Paul is talking about here. You think you are doing the world a great service by trying to convince an unbeliever but in reality you are just getting angry and frustrated. There are plenty of people open to talking about God without wasting effort on those who have already made up their mind. Of course an atheist who is willing to listen (a rare and wonderful thing) then by all means tell them what you believe and why.

But it’s not just atheists who get involved in this kind of argument. Christians have spent centuries of good mission time arguing about the smallest of things. Paul urges Timothy to not only avoid such things but to run away from them.

The next thing Paul mentions that we should flee from is thinking that godliness is a means to financial gain. Now I’m sure God can help people get rich if God wants it (more on that in a minute) but this does not seem to be God’s normal way of dealing with things. In truth the person who tries to be godly because they believe this will bring them great financial reward is doing something fundementally wrong. Read 1 Timothy 6:5 if you doubt me. Godliness is about loving God and not for any reward.

The third thing Paul mentions is to flee from wanting to get rich. Ouch! Who hasn’t spent at least some of their life trying to find a way to get rich. The whole of western society is based on this idea yet Paul says we should flee from it! Of course if we read what he actually says its the wanting to get rich that is the problem not actually getting rich. Money is not the issue its what is in our heart that is the issue. Wanting to get rich distracts the Christian from the main purposes of life e.g. love God and neighbour. You can’t be striving to get rich and at the same time striving to love God. The reason being that getting rich is all consuming (I know because I’ve tried myself in the past). So how can a Christian be a business person? By putting God and love for neighbour first in everything – even business.

So Paul tells Timothy some important things. In Paul’s mind these things apply in particular to the Christian leader (this is the context in which Paul addresses Timothy). However these principals apply to any Christian – we see them throughout the Bible.

There are some things that we should not just avoid we should actively run away from them:

1. An unhealthy interest in controversies (do you ever get a buzz from a good argument?). Sometimes an argument is valid but lets not argue for the sake of it.

2. Thinking that godliness is a way to wealth. Do you ever do anything for God on the sole basis that by doing so God will reward you financially? Do it for love of God not for personal gain.

3. Wanting to get rich. This is not just getting rich – although that has enough of its own problems – but wanting to get rich above anything else. Put God first always.

Holiness is top of the list

For any Christian – but especially those who have chosen to not attend a regular church – personal holiness is the key to thriving as a Christian.

When I talk about personal holiness I’m thinking about those things that you do each day that are directly related to your walk with Christ. This will include: prayer, bible reading, contemplation about God, deliberately using your gifts, searching your heart for sin and removing it. I guess you could say its anything to do with being a righteous person. In a nutshell it’s following Christ.

Now one of the mistakes a great number of people make is to confuse holiness with doing certain things. God does not hold back His support waiting for us to do certain things. Christianity has nothing to do with earning our place in God’s heart. God loves us as we are. We can no more earn a place in heaven than we could create a universe from nothing. When we undertake personal holiness we should do not because we love God and not out of any concept of earning rewards.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no-one dared ask him any more questions.
Matt 12:33ff

Also we don’t become holy because we do more stuff we become holier because we have contact with the one holy thing that exists e.g. God. The more we have contact with God the more His radience fills our lives and the more radience fills our lives the more holy we are.

If you find yourself without Christian fellowship make sure you get more time for your own personal devotions. Living as a Christian without fellowship is very tough the only way I know of making sure you don’t suffer as a result is to give priority to personal holiness (although perhaps we should all be doing this anyway).