Greetings in the Name Above All Names!
NOT A PRETTY SIGHT… It was not a pretty sight. My hair was disheveled; my shirt was soaked and clinging to my chest. I even had sweat on my arms and running down my legs. If someone were to see me, they might conclude that this guy had an accident or maybe he is deathly ill. In reality, I just got off my elliptical. I pushed myself fairly hard… ok, not really, but I did put in the time. While on the elliptical, I argued with myself. There are better things I could be doing with my time, and besides, scripture says physical exercise profits little. I want my time spent on things that profit much. After all, I am a red-blooded American… profit matters. This is where I am glad my self-talk and poor interpretation of scripture did not get the best of me.
TRAINING… Let’s look at the text I referred to above. “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) It does not say exercise has no value. In fact, the Greco/Roman world prided itself on physical conditioning. Paul is making a comparison to emphasize a type of training that is overlooked but yields more than physical training.
GODLINESS… I love the New Living Translation’s wording: “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” You receive not only benefits now but in the life to come. Bonus! Have you ever thought of godliness as something we can train for? Over the next several weeks, I would like for you and me to talk about training for godliness.
Paul prefaced training with this comment, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (I Timothy 4:1). Paul describes several other things that will be challenging, and he wants Timothy in shape and not intimidated.
There are 3 Challenges Facing Every Believer as we draw closer to Christ’s return:
1. Christians abandoning their faith. Some believers may choose to become preoccupied with other pursuits. There will be those who drift and those who take a hard turn and become proponents of a secular gospel. Paul clarifies that this is the enemy’s work. It will be deceptive and possibly undetectable to the human eye.
2. False teachings by perceived authorities. Christian teachers will mingle extra-biblical content and misdirect believers from their mission and purpose in life. It is happening today as the new religion of politics is being sprinkled in the Church, and Christ Followers are being sucked into a hard left or hard right take on the world.
3. Petty arguments will not go away. Paul says in verse seven, “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.” We live in a time where everyone has an opinion. Paul is saying do not get sucked into these conversations that have little to do with eternity. You can make a point, even win an argument but miss the opportunity to make a difference.
Here is the thing… we need each other to remind ourselves of these challenges. Listen to Paul, “If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed.” (1 Timothy 1:6) Furthermore, we need the accountability for training in godliness. In the coming weeks, we will dive more into this. Our own personal crossfit challenge (no pun intended).
Know this…I am praying for you and you are not alone!
Rick Lorimer
Lead Pastor
Christ Place Church
