In 2 Timothy Paul is preparing Timothy for tough times ahead. Paul would know; he was in prison. Nero was on the rampage. Worse, so was Satan. False teachers in the church and anti-Christians outside. So, he says, "You, therefore, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 2:1). Step 1: "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim 2:2). It's an echo of the Great Commission: make disciples and teach them all (Matt 28:19-20). Step 2: "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 2:3). It's not exactly heartwarming, is it? It's "Here's the plan, Timothy; this is gonna hurt."
Paul's simile here is not trivial. "Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." He goes on to explain his thinking here. "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Tim 2:4). Having served in the military, I get it. Active duty personnel work to secure freedoms that they themselves may not enjoy. They're told what to wear, what to eat, how to cut their hair. They are required to bend their wills to those in authority over them in order to accomplish an important task. If the authorities tell them, "You're going overseas for a year," they're going overseas ... without their spouse. An active duty (that's the term Paul uses) soldier cannot afford to be entangled in "the affairs of everyday life." Instead, he must work to please his or her superior officers.
There is no question what Paul is saying here. Tough times are coming. Make sure you've passed on what you've been given and then expect to suffer hardship. Do it for Christ. Don't get entangled in the affairs of everyday life. Do it for Christ. Sacrifice entanglement in everyday affairs in order to please your Lord. Well, of course, we'll have none of that. Someone is wrong in the Internet. Someone is raising the prices on us. Someone is taking away our constitutional rights. It's not vague. Be a good soldier; suffer hardship ... for Christ.
4 comments:
You're doing it again. You're presuming "suffering hardship for Christ" means to do nothing to deal with the suffering. In other words, if one is to be burned at the stake, one must simply burn.
And you again conflate Paul's words about soldiers not entangling themselves with affairs of everyday life as if that means a soldier must do nothing when the affairs of every day life impact his own. From what I understand, soldiers still vote, do they not? Are elections not an example of "affairs of every day life"? You've insisted to me that you did indeed vote in 2020. How have you then not entangled yourself? I could understand the example of this "debate" between us as a more accurate example, though I would then expect unless you crave agreement that discontinuing comments would prevent such entanglements.
And here again you seem really uncomfortable with the possibility your understanding is in error and worse, that you might be called on it with no way but to concede as your only possible, honest response.
We serve God by dealing with every day affairs in a manner which pleases Him. Yet there are certainly "entanglements" in which we can't hope to serve or please by our engagement. I've been counseled on this with regard to my continued engagement with Dan, though I don't regard blog debate to be much of an entanglement, as I don't put off important things to partake.
So Paul's analogy refers to the basic priorities of a soldier, not a total disregard for that which impacts his life in every single waking moment. As a soldier, I won't be worrying about paying the rent while in the foxhole with bullets flying overhead. But while I still have duties to perform by orders of my superiors, back at the base I can lend some concern to things back home...still acknowledging my duty to my superiors taking precedent. Such is it with the Lord. As a Christian, my duty is first to Him, but it doesn't negate everything in how one lives life. I can't be a good Christian and ignore life and this passage doesn't encourage that. Your message does.
You're presuming that I meant anything at all like that ... when, in fact, I've said the opposite. It's not that we're not supposed to do anything. It's that we're not supposed to get ENTANGLED. I have clearly stated, for instance, that we should vote and, in fact, that it is our moral duty to do so. ENTANGLED is the word, not "detached."
When does one go from dealing with life's issues to being "entangled" in a manner contrary to the passage you haven't really explained as well as is your custom? That might have been a good place to start in the last post on this issue, rather than pretend I'm not seeing "what's clear".
This is, quite frankly, getting exhausting. Try this, Marshal. "...with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition" (2 Tim 2:25). Everything appears to be an angry affront to you and it's not to me.
"Entangled" means to be intertwined, tied up with. It is a primary focus -- a "campaign" or a "crusade" or some such. It is as key focus. It interrupts your worship, your time with God, your peace of mind, your contentment, etc. (the things that Scripture says we're supposed to have in our walk with Christ).
And I would think you would be aware that attempting to answer every possible question that every possible reader would have is nearly impossible. It never occurred to me that "entangled" was confusing or that anyone would think I was saying, "Just take it and do nothing." So it might have been a good place to start from your perspective, but I was pretty sure everyone knows you don't do NOTHING, so I didn't expect anyone to think that's what I was saying ... until you did.
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