I Thessalonians 3-II Thessalonians-I Timothy 2
Listening to this early (ok WAY too early) this morning, with a very busy day at church, made me keenly aware of how much we are now moving into scriptures that deal with how we do church. But first, there is an interesting note where the Paul tells the people in Thessalonica that he warned them about affliction. I wondered what he told them. Was it about persecution? Did he talk about the ways in which following Christ would make them different from the society in which they lived and how that might affect the way they were seen? Did he talk about the ways in which there would be conflict between what they wanted and how they were called to live?
I also wondered how often we/I give that warning today. Or are we just too concerned with building our attendance, making people happy, making sure the budget is met? Hmmmmm.
You can see some issues are beginning to arise as the church "grows up." There are theological issues that are in search of answers. "Brother Isaac was a believer, and we knew he would see the Lord when he returns, but he has died. What will happen to him?" I can just see Brother Paul scratching his head, trying to come up with an answer. So we get this concept that God will raise them first--which just fed the future rapture folks!
Questions about heaven and eternity continue. You might want to see some current ideas about heaven and compare them to what you think/believe. An interesting article.
We need to understand that theology isn't biology. We can't put eternity, God under a microscope and say, "This is THE answer." A lot of it is made up on the spot as situations occur. (Remember yesterday--work out your salvation-and maybe your theological answers--with fear and trembling.) Maybe that is why Paul reminds his readers to test every prophecy. See if it holds up. (Not his, of course, but everyone else! :) )
As we move into Timothy we can definitely see the passage of time and the "institutionalization" of the church. Remember that the Bible wasn't written in a couple years--more like a hundred years. Imagine someone in 1900 telling us how we should do church. As time has passed, the writer (and I don't personally think it was the same Paul from Romans, and definitely not the one from Corinthians--but we will get to that in a minute) is trying to help churches know how they should be organized. Think of it like someone from the Convention/Diocese/Conference saying, "This is how WE do things." This is how we act as ministers, how we behave, how members of our church live.
It is easy to get caught up in the specifics--but here again we do pick and choose, don't we? Too often we hold up scripture about who can be a minister/deacon (husband of one wife--what about polygamy) but carefully leave out the part that the church isn't going to take care of widows under 60. Younger ones should get married. (So what about the Paul of "Remain in your state, don't get married" of earlier books??? Hmmmmmm!)
Without mounting a defense of the book of Timothy (this is one of the sections that I have dreaded since the "responders" have turned out to be female!) let me suggest that what we have here is an admonition for the church to have the highest ethical, moral, practical standing in the community. Which raises a lot of questions about how we do things. Why isn't the church at the forefront of the most creative ideas? Why do we continue to lag several decades in technology and creativity and finances? As one person put it, "too often we are the thermometer rather than the thermostat."
I am trying not to get caught up in the details, but hear the spirit speak. What are you hearing? Sure this will be interesting!
1 comment:
I've been dreading this passage, too, Don. I knew it was coming, but 1 Tim. 2 especially was still really hard to hear. It angers and hurts me that this stuff is in the Bible, and I guess it always will. I think you're right that the purpose of a lot of Paul's letters was to hold the churches to a higher standard, to call them to live differently than their culture so as to draw people to God. But if that's the case, then they missed two MAJOR opportunities in my book by not standing up and being radically different when it comes to treatment of women and the issue of slavery! I cannot get past those two things, and especially the one that affects me most personally! When I was 20 years old and felt called to ministry, these verses had me in tears, and I would pray so hard for God to help me get rid of this "unbiblical" desire I had to be a minister. Helpful friends prayed with me, and we hoped that God would soon bring my husband instead so that my energies could be spent as God intended, in child bearing through which "women will be saved." Seriously, Paul?!?! This letter, and its interpretation by certain segments of Christianity, still wounds people. I have a friend who is my age and single who was heartbroken by a sermon she heard recently informing her that women of our age who don't have children yet, other than for medical reasons that prevent them, are selfish and sinful and willfully disobeying God's purpose for them. That enfuriates me and breaks my heart, and makes me just want to shake Paul (or whoever wrote this letter) by the shoulders and ask, "Don't you realize what these words will do to more than half the population of the church?!" Sigh. Must remain calm.
I just keep reminding myself that, a. this is one of the so-called "disputed" letters that may not even be written by the real Paul, like you said, and b. as Paul says, we have to test every word to see if it really comes from God. I already said yesterday that my test is love, and there is no question for me that these verses do not promote love of God, self, and neighbor. I'll admit that my feelings got the better of me today and it was very hard to hear the Spirit speak. I'm pretty glad that tomorrow is our last day with Paul.
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