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1 Timothy 2-3 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 2:1-3:16.

“I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling…” (I Timothy 2:8).

Well, I know I’m going to get in trouble for this one. But I just can’t help but think about this in my reading today.

I am all about scriptural authority. I think the basis for everything we do as congregations and individual Christians should be anchored in Scripture. I want book, chapter, and verse preaching. I don’t want think-sos, I-feels, or I-just-can’t-believes. And I am part of a spiritual fellowship that feels the same way.

Of course, the big trouble with all this is consistency. I’ll be clear. I’m sure I’m inconsistent in places. I don’t think inconsistency means the basis of my plea is wrong. It just means I get it wrong in places. However, some inconsistencies are obvious. When they are, they cause a severe chink in the armor.

I think this passage represents one of those. Like it or not, this passage says that lifting our hands while praying is absolutely, unequivocally, and undeniably scripturally authorized. I don’t care what you say about this text. I don’t care if you point out that Paul’s main point was about keeping our hands pure from wrath and quarreling. I don’t care if you hone in on the fact that it mentions men. I don’t care if you want to highlight the emphasis on prayer. No matter how you slice it, dice it, spin it, or flip it, this text says holding hands up during prayer is authorized.

Why then do we conservative Christians buck against what is so clearly authorized? Why am I going to get private e-mails about this post sharing the fear from some that I’m slipping? Why will some even make public comments about it below? Why will someone call my shepherds and suggest they give me a talking to? Because we fear what people will do with this. No, this passage does not authorize worship that is governed by emotionalism. No, this passage doesn’t authorize much of what goes on in charismatic and Pentecostal churches. No, this passage does not authorize jumping, shouting, dancing in the aisles, speaking in tongues. Yet some of us are scared that if we start letting people lift holy hands while praying it will lead to that. Apparently Paul wasn’t afraid of that. Maybe we shouldn’t be.

I suggest that instead of trying to manipulate outcomes by twisting what the Scripture says or neglecting it, we learn to be honest with the text. Will people abuse things in the text? Sure. But that is their problem, not mine. All I know is if we are going to be people of the book, speaking where it speaks and silent where it is silent, then let’s go ahead and speak where it speaks. Let’s not rebuke what the Scripture itself authorizes explicitly. Let’s be honest with ourselves, with the Bible, and with our motives, even if that leads us some place we didn’t want to go.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a comment.

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Today’s illustrations are provided by the wordle tool at Wordle.net. You can find my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Matthew 19:1-20:34.

“They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so’ ” (Matthew 19:7-8).

This reminds me how easy it is to twist what is written to get what I want to out of it. Notice the Pharisees asked, “Why did Moses command…” and Jesus responded, “…Moses allowed…” Do you see the difference? Moses did not command Jewish husbands to give their wives certificates of divorce and send them away. Rather, Moses commanded that if they were going to put their wives away they needed to give a certificate of divorce. He also gave some other restrictions about this divorce. That is not God commanding divorce. Rather, it is allowing it and governing it when it did happen.

How easy it is to shore up our own positions and ideas by using various colors and shades of words to subtly shift meanings. How easily we can make ourselves look good by shading our words with various meanings. How easily we can justify what we want to do by twisting the intent and meaning of God’s Word.

This just reminds me that today I need to be careful to understand God’s Word and use it accurately. I must not twist it to produce a command that isn’t there or find permission that isn’t granted or condemn something that is authorized. I need to be completely, utterly, and 100% honest with the text and just let that govern my teaching.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a comment.

Today’s reading is John 11:1-12:50.

“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment–what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).

Imagine that. Jesus, God in the flesh, God the Son, incarnate deity, would not speak on His own authority. That is,  unless He had authority from the Father, He did not speak. He did not go out on a limb saying, “The Father is silent about this, I will speak.” He did not cross the Father saying, “The Father has spoken against this, but I will speak for it.” He did not say, “The Father has spoken for this, but I will speak against it.” He spoke only what the Father authorized.

How much more should we?

But why?

Because what the Father has authorized is eternal life. Jesus was not trying to be legalistic here. He was simply recognizing that what the Father had taught and said was the way that worked for those who wanted eternal life. When we go out on our own authority that won’t lead to life. That way leads to death. God’s way works. Ours does not.

Today, I want to simply speak where God speaks and be silent where God is silent. I don’t want to step out on my own authority. I want to be like Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 5:1-6:71.

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).

When I follow my own path, pursuing what God has condemned or even pursuing what God has not permitted, I am seeking my own will. I am not following in the footsteps of Jesus. When I recognize the true impact of “I can do nothing on my own” my life has peace. In those moments, I know I am with God and He is with me. I know what I’m doing has the full weight of His authority and power behind it. No matter what happens to me because of seeking His will, I know I am abiding in Him and He will get me through.

I want to be like Jesus. I want to be in Jesus. I want the eternal life that comes from Jesus. I want that more than all the other things that I want. Therefore,  today, instead of going my own way or branching out under my own authority, I need to simply pray for the wisdom to know the Father’s will and the courage and strength to carry it out. Today, I need to place highest priority on drawing near to Jesus that I may have life in Him.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 7:1-8:59.

Once again, the Scripture humbles me and plots a correction course for me. Jesus said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:16-18).

I love to preach. I love to teach. I love teaching classes. I love teaching one on one. I love to write. I enjoy this blog, my personal blog, and the blog for the congregation with which I work. I love to write articles when asked. I love writing books or participating in the books others are putting together. The problem is with all this teaching, whether verbal or written, there is a huge temptation. I want to say something new. I want to say something profound. I want to say something for which others will look at me and say, “Wow, Edwin, you are amazing.” Jesus explains that when my motivation is glorifying me, I’m not helping anyone. When I’m glorifying God, I avoid falsehood. 

Today’s reading reminds me of my job in Christ’s kingdom. It is not my job to be a profound preacher, a witty writer, a talented teacher. My job is to learn God’s will and pass it on. Why? Because God’s way works and mine doesn’t.

Please forgive me for the arrogant pride that sometimes creeps in as I try to be of help. Hold me accountable and let’s work together to glorify God instead of ourselves.

***Question: What do you do to get rid of pride and instead glorify God?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is I Corinthians 8:1-9:27.

We know the scripture equips us for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17), but even that verse leaves us wondering how it does it. Today, a great deal of the religious bickering I hear about and am even involved in centers around this very question. Most of the disagreements are not really about whatever issue is discussed but about how we can tell what the Bible permits. Perhaps the most hotly contested aspect of finding authorization through the New Testament is the use of Necessary Inference. That is, whether the Scripture provides permission for some action even when that action is not specifically stated but is a necessary conclusion from all that is stated. I often hear people say, “I understand if something is commanded, stated, or exemplified it is authorized, but I don’t get this idea of Necessary Inference. I think you’re making that up. I don’t think it’s in the Bible.”

Imagine my surprise when my reading today demonstrated Paul himself used Necessary Inference to claim an evangelist, apostle, or some other worker in the church could be provided material support from the congregation. I’ve read this passage numerous times and not even thought about it. But there it is.

In I Corinthians 9:7, Paul wrote, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?” What was his point? His point is not that everything soldiers, planters, or shepherds do is somehow authorized for a worker in Christ’s church. His point is that it is natural and necessary to see that someone who has given their lives to some kind of work receives material support from the work. Everyone recognizes it with every walk of life. Why would it be different for soldiers, planters, and shepherds in Christ’s church as well.

Of course, some get a little confused with I Corinthians 9:9, in which Paul wrote, “For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.’” Is Paul claiming the Old Law is our law and provides actual authorization for us as New Testament Christians? I don’t think so. Rather, Paul is simply demonstrating God Himself recognized this very same Necessary Inference. Someone who was devoted to some work naturally gains material support from that work. If God Himself recognizes this as a necessary conclusion and inference, we are pretty safe in recognizing it as well.

There it is. Perhaps this Necessary Inference concept is not so far out in left field as some act. Keep in mind. If we are going to claim we need authorization, removing Necessary Inference from the table doesn’t increase the number of actions Christians and congregations are allowed to do, it decreases them. Claiming Necessary Inference is not a valid principle does not provide more freedom to act as most who make the claim go on to say. It provides more limitation.

Anyway, it’s something to think about in this passage.

And now for something completely different.

I have a question about today’s reading. I usually do, but don’t always bring them up. Today’s kind of shocked me. I don’t know if it is an issue of using the ESV now and so it just hit me or if I’ve just overlooked this point. Or maybe I’m just super tired this morning so it’s not making sense to me (Trina hardly slept last night). However, I Corinthians 8:4-7 took me by surprise. Paul said “we know” there is only one God. However, then he said not everyone has that knowledge. He then talked about those with “former association with idols” who are weak. Thus, some of those who do not recognize there is only one God were weak Christians. Am I missing something or is this saying some of these early Christians still believed the gods behind the idols were real? Did they just agree that Jehovah was the supreme God? Could polytheists be Christians as long as they did not honor those other “gods”? Help me out on this one.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?