Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Equipping people of God
Young Timothy was serving the church at
Ephesus where a dangerous heresy was on the surface, the Gnosticism. The
Gnostics taught that the matter is essentially evil and so when God created
this world he had sent out a series of emanations in order to avoid touching
the flawed matter, and those emanations were known as aeons. Between human and
God there stretched a series of these emanations, each with its name and
genealogies. So Gnosticism literally had endless fables and endless
genealogies. If a man/woman wanted to get to God he/she must ascend this ladder
of emanations, and for which the necessary thing was knowledge. So knowledge
became very important, intellectualism and intellectual arrogance and pride
became prevalent.
In such a context Paul was appealing to
the church at Ephesus and the young minister Timothy to be nourished on the
words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which they have been
following(V:16).
Nourished in the Word of God (v.6,7)
To confront the false teachers, Timothy
was told that he must be nourished in the word of God. Timothy was
instructed not to pursue silly myths and profitless tales like those which old
women tell to children, but to fix his hope on the living God, who is the
savior of all, especially of believers. The church could be protected from
dangers especially from false teaching with the soundness of its leaders.
Lead an exemplary Christian lifestyle (v.
12)
One of the difficulties Timothy had to
overcome was that he was young. There would be many who would watch him with a
critical eye. Timothy was asked to silence criticism not by verbal defences,
but by conduct, love, faith and purity (V: 12).
Give importance to the scripture (v 13)
The word of God had to be explained
because many of the believers in Ephesus were in difficulty to understand the
depth of the gospel. Christian doctrine is not easy to understand, so Timothy
was urged to exhort the believers. It is not enough to present the Christian
message as something to be studied and understood; it has to be presented as
something to be done. It is living the gospel and the truth in action.
Exercise of spiritual gifts and calling
(v. 14)
An effective ministry is possible only
when we exercise our spiritual gifts faithfully. Paul’s instruction to Timothy
in verse 14 is logically connected with the reference to preaching and
teaching. Timothy has a gift (charisma) for ministry. The source of power is
Holy Spirit. The minister’s responsibility is to exercise those gifts to
empower the believers. The gifts do not operate independently but find its
release into the church and into the lives of other people through one’s
service. No doubt failure to use the gifts given by Holy Spirit does not affect
just the individual, but the whole church and thereby diminishing the
importance of the Holy Spirit into a selfish realm.
Prayer: Lord, help me not to be too busy
to hear your voice when you speak to me; to listen to anyone who is in trouble;
and to help anyone who is in difficulty.
Thought for the day: Many believers have,
like uncut diamonds, shining qualities beneath a rough exterior.
Rev Binu C Samuel, Ascension
MTC Philadelphia
