Second Timothy, part 4

"Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." (2 Timothy 2:14-16, NKJV)

The last time we looked at Paul's second letter to Timothy, Paul had just encouraged Timothy to begin the process of spiritual reproduction; i.e., to pass on the truth of the gospel to faithful men who will then pass it on to others. We also talked about the primary role of the pastor which was the training up of the congregation to do the work of the ministry. Paul continues in his letter to give further advice to Timothy.

"Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers." The "them" in this verse refers back to the "faithful men" Timothy was to entrust the gospel to earlier in the chapter. What is Timothy to remind them of? "Not to strive about words to no profit." In other words, endless arguments about minutiae that distract from the main point of discussion. This is a constant theme in Paul's two letters to Timothy. Timothy, as the pastor at the church at Ephesus, was not to engage in meaningless debates that serve no purpose. Timothy was also to remind his congregation to avoid these meaningless discussions as well. Now what kinds of meaningless debates am I referring to? These are the types of discussions you will have with people (usually non-Christians, but sometimes Christians as well) that focus on minor details while missing the big picture; missing the forest for the trees. For example, have you ever engaged a nonbeliever in a spiritual discussion about Christianity and have them bring up the question, "what about all the innocent Australian aborigines who have died without hearing the gospel, what happens to them? do they go to hell?" What happens at this point with the inexperienced Christian is that they now get bogged down into a debate about "innocent Australian aborigines." This is a classic "shift the focus" tactic in debate. The nonbeliever attempts to shift the focus from themselves and their response to the gospel to some hypothetical Australian aborigines. Paul's instruction to Timothy is don't let this happen! Such discussions rarely have any benefit, and usually result in the nonbeliever being further alienated from the saving gospel because of our "inability" to answer this question to their satisfaction.

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." OK, we've seen what Paul warned Timothy not to do. What does Paul tell Timothy to do? "Be diligent!" Timothy is to be diligent. What does it mean to be diligent? The Greek word behind "diligent" (spoudazo) has the sense of zealously striving toward something, or hastening toward something, to exert oneself toward some goal. What is Timothy to be diligent toward? Timothy is to be diligent toward God's approval ("present yourself approved to God"). Instead of wasting time in endless debates that serve no purpose, Timothy was to strive for God's approval. This is a valuable lesson for us! As Paul continues, we are to strive for God's approval so we won't be ashamed. Now how do we strive toward this goal? What means do we employ to be "approved to God?" We are to "rightly divide the word of truth." The phrase, "rightly divide" literally means "to cut it straight." Paul spent some time as a leatherworker making tents, and it was very important to cut the fabric straight or it wouldn't fit well together. That analogy applies here as well. In order to be approved to God, we must correctly handle His word; and we must do so diligently, not haphazardly.

There is so much falsehood masquerading as truth, and it is able to do so because each falsehood contains a grain of truth in it; enough of a grain of truth to fool those who aren't diligent to "rightly divide the word of truth." We are to compare everything we read or hear with God's word to determine its truth value. Men can err; they can make mistakes. Even well-meaning pastors can make mistakes. Which is why we need to check everything they say with the Bible for accuracy. Even the Apostle Paul was checked for accuracy. The very man who wrote most of the inspired New Testament had his sermons checked with the Scriptures to insure accuracy: "Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." (Acts 17:10-11, NKJV). This was not meant as a slight to Paul, and I believe that Paul wouldn't take it as such. The more you study your Bible, the more you will be in tune with the truths therein. The more in tune with truths of Scripture you are, the more easily you will recognize falsehood; you'll just know when something isn't right. That's what it means to be diligent to rightly divide the word of truth.

"But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." Paul close this passage by reiterating his previous warning to avoid "profane and idle babblings." Now, don't confuse "profane" with how we use the word nowadays. Paul is not warning against profanity. Profane basically means common, unhallowed, nonreligious. Avoid profane and idle babblings. Why? Because they only result in ungodliness.

So, as Christians, we are to zealously strive to be approved by God by correctly handling His word. Furthermore, we are to stay away from useless discussions that only serve to divide people. As Paul says in his Ephesian letter, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29, NKJV). Our speech ought to be gracious and uplifting--that which builds up the hearers. This doesn't mean we avoid pointing out error or sin. Paul says a little earlier in Ephesians that we are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We speak truth, we expose sin and unrighteousness, but we do so with love and graciousness with the goal of building up the hearer.

One last thing on correctly handling God's word. The only way we'll rightly divide the word of truth is if we engage in serious Bible study. Reading daily devotionals is good, but it doesn't plum the depths of God's word that serious Bible study does. Also, we shouldn't limit our exposure to God's word to the weekly Scripture reading in the worship service. Finally, those "read the Bible in a year" plans are also very good, but we shouldn't think that accomplishing the goal of getting through the entire Bible in 365 days is an end unto itself. Serious Bible study requires prayer and meditation. It requires reading a passage multiple times in order to get most of the nuance out of it. It requires referencing secondary resources such as commentaries to get us deeper into the passage. There is no short cut! God left His word behind as a beacon for us to navigate in this dark world. When we read the Bible, the God of the universe is speaking to us, and we should make every effort to understand what He is saying to us.

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