Read with Me
1 Timothy 13-7 (HCSB)
As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith. Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.
Listen with Me
Timothy was an astute young man who had grown greatly under Paul’s tutelage. Now he was mature enough in his faith and strong enough in his character for Paul to have left him in Ephesus to rein in some people who were trying to move the Church their direction instead of moving them toward greater spiritual maturity and spiritual power.
The men who were trying to size control of the Church were not trying to do so for noble purposes, but for their own benefit. They wanted honor and respect from others and believed that they could achieve that in the Church.
But they weren’t trying to gain this respect by gaining spiritual maturity through diligent study of God’s word or through humble obedience to His commands. Instead, their methodology was more “political”. They claimed to have gained special spiritual insights and to have discovered “deeper truths”. They had gained followers for themselves by these techniques but had done so at the horrible cost of dividing the Church and causing contention between their “followers” and those who continued to follow the simple faith taught by Paul and his team and contained in the plain words of the Scriptures.
Paul saw nothing wrong with people wanting to be teachers of the truth. But those who had that desire had to achieve their goal not by simply claiming to know something and pushing themselves forward, but by humbling themselves before God. They had to submit to the process of learning from the Scriptures, and from those who had already proven themselves capable of “correctly teaching the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
By making these requirements, Paul was not trying to erect roadblocks in front of those with a legitimate calling to teach. He was simply helping everyone to realize the high stakes involved in teaching God’s people. A good teacher can positively affect the lives of his or her students for generations. But a poor teacher can have the same effect in the opposite direction, moving God’s people away from the truth. That was why James warned away those who wanted to teach, but whose motives were not love for God and His people and a desire to teach His absolute truth (James 3:1).
Pray with Me
Father, thank You for this reminder. Even though being a teacher of Your people can have a certain amount of honor associated with it, it also carries with it a fearful responsibility before You. These people are first and foremost Your people, and You do not take lightly those who mislead them, especially when they do it for their own reputation or gain (Matthew 23). Help me, Lord, to always approach the task of teaching Your people with all the honor of You and Your word that is appropriate. Amen.