Last Days Madness

¹ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. ⁶ For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim 3:1-7).

I don't know about you, but I find this disturbing. It reads like a standard description of Americans in general. It certainly seems to describe our world.

There are some interesting points. That "lovers of self" would be first on the list is telling. That "disobedient to their parents" is on the list at all is surprising ... at least to most. I mean, listing off things like "treacherous" and "brutal" and "lovers of pleasure" ... sure, but disobedient to parents? It appears to be somewhat important to God, yet that's what too many parents today teach their kids. I was interested in the "unloving" there in verse 3. In Greek they have four basic words for "love": agape, philos, eros, and storge. The first two appear quite often in Scripture. The third doesn't, but I don't think it needs additional definition. The last one, on the other hand, doesn't actually appear in the Bible ... sort of. Storge is generally the concept of family affection. The word doesn't appear in the Bible, but astorge does, with the "a" prefix meaning "not". It appears here. The claim is that people will lose what is considered to be natural affection. And when you read the news about mothers abandoning children and father abandoning families and parents murdering their children and ... well, you get the idea. It's jarring. And the Bible called it.

Here's the most disturbing part. We can all sit around, nod our heads, and say, "Oh, how bad that this describes our society." But Paul warns Timothy "Avoid such men as these." Now, Paul was explicit earlier in his letter to the church at Corinth. "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world" (1 Cor 5:9-10). Paul warned them to avoid any "so-called brother" who was like this. He's doing the same here. These people are not "the world". They are inside the church. They are the religious. They ... are us. This warning about the last days is not a description of pagan America. It is a description of Christendom in the last days. And, sadly, it is too close to an appropriate description of many in our churches today. They hold to a form of godliness, but deny its power. They are always learning but never actually come to the knowledge of the truth. They seem to be caring, but are actually weighed down by sin and controlled by impulses. That is what I find disturbing. I expect the world to be sinful, but those who claim the name of "Christian" ought to be different. Are we?