If you brought your Bible please open them to 2 Timothy Chapter 3. Today we’re going to go completely through that chapter, and today we’re beginning a new topic...Clean Living.
It’s inspired a little bit by David’s words in Psalm 51....Create in me a Clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.
I saw a billboard that said, "If you have an engine, you have sludge." I think it was an ad for oil or oil filters. But it showed a picture of the inside of an engine, one that hadn’t been taken care of properly. One that looked pretty gross. Disgusting actually. But I thought it was pretty effective ad in this respect. It made you think about what’s going on under the hood, in places that are unseen, but nevertheless real and impacting. Parts that are going to have consequences if not addressed.
I wish I could come up with a billboard that got people thinking about the unseen places in their own hearts. Maybe "If you have a soul, you have sludge." Our hearts can end up dirty and disgusting, which is why David’s prayer is so inspirational. There’s a corrosive build up of crud from this world.
Well this stuff is not in the big cities. It’s all around us. A couple months ago I heard a presentation on crime in Skagit County. In 10 years the number of crimes committed in Skagit County has gone from 4800 to 6800 -- an increase of nearly 50%.
The most recent tallies for the last year in our fair county...
Murder 4
Rape 36
Robbery 39
Aggravated Assault 62
Burglary 998
Larceny - theft 4,615
Motor vehicle thefts 317
And a dramatic rise in drug related incidents and gang-related incidents...
Oh, and it could get worse before it gets better. That forecast is not from the sheriff’s department, that’s from the Bible. Listen to these words from Paul:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self‑control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -- having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Let me stop right there and say, it doesn’t have to be like this. Christ calls us to a higher life.
But it’s not just Christianity that calls us to a higher life. There are various wisdom traditions that call us to a higher life. For instance there’s a Tibbetan Monk called the Dalai Lama you may have heard of....(I feel like I’ve heard so much about him I should just call him Lama) Actually, I call him Dalai Lama ding dong.
He’s spreading a message of peace and reconciliation. A message that’s hard to argue with. "Dave, is he a Christian?" No, but other religions are not wrong in every respect. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
As is typical of other wisdom traditions, there are places where they intersect with God’s truth -- all truth is God’s truth.
In fact, there are three areas in which nearly every tradition -- every religion -- every philosophy -- ends up agreeing, and it’s on the makeup of what I’m calling Clean Living.
The three virtues which the wisdom traditions identify are: veracity, humility and charity.
Veracity -- that we are true...that only one of us is showing up
Humility -- that we see ourselves as part of a bigger whole, on the same level as others...not greater than, or less than, but equal
Charity -- that we get outside of ourselves to love others, to bless them.
The first one that we are going to look at from a Christian perspective is Veracity. Here’s a couple definitions to work with.
ve*rac*i*ty n
1. the truth, accuracy, or precision of something
2. the truthfulness or honesty of a person
Clean living means veracity, and Paul sets the context for it in 2 Tim. 3 in the passage that we already read.
There are four characteristics of the opposing culture....
The context of veracity
Self-centered individualism (1-4)
In the verses we read before Paul talks about people who are in love, but not with God, or people.
Verse 2, lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
Verse 4 lovers of pleasure
Three loves: themselves, money, pleasure
I think that pretty much sums it up. (that is dead on!) Don’t worry so much about understanding the Bible, the Bible understands you.
Paul realizes that people are into....
Themselves -- individualistic -- selfish, self-centered
Money -- we have a saying in America- it’s all about the Benjamins
Pleasure -- how do I get my next fix, adrenaline, endorphin, the blood pumping
Surface-level spirituality (v.5)
2 Timothy 3:5
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
It’s popular to be spiritual
- 90% of people in America believe in God
- 150,000 people attending Dali Lama events
A friend emailed me this story and asked me what I thought....
WINSTON-SALEM -- Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in July asking them to "participate in the life of the church" -- or worship elsewhere. "They basically called us freeloaders," says Julie. "We were freeloaders," says Bob. In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked "non-participating members" to stop attending. "No more Mr. Nice Church," says the executive pastor, newly hired from Cingular Wireless. "Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission." "Freeloading" Christians were straining the church’s nursery and facility resources and harming the church’s ability to reach the lost, says the pastor. ....Faith Community sent polite but firm letters to families who attend church services and "freebie events" but never volunteer, never tithe and do not belong to a small group or other ministry. The church estimates that of its ... regular attendees, only half have volunteered in the past 3 years, and a third have never given to the church. A staff member is quoted..."Before now, we made people feel comfortable and welcome, and tried to coax them to give a little something in return. That’s changed. We’re done being the community nanny."
I wrote him back and told him, I didn’t like that approach...I’m not trying to build a church, I’m trying to reach a community. I think growth is a process. The people they were frustrated with and sending away were people that Jesus died for. But I can appreciate the frustration...superficial spirituality bites! And it stands in contrast to spiritual veracity...
The third thing you find in the backdrop, according to Paul
Abuse of others (6)
Paul uses the word abusive in verse 2, but then describes the abuse in verse 6.
2 Timothy 3:6
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak‑willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires.
What part of no didn’t you understand
Dad, you told me you loved me, but now you have hurt me.
Knowledge without truth
2 Timothy 3:7
Always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
Just to summarize, there are two kinds of individuals that are of concern
2 Timothy 3:13
Evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Evil men
There are two kingdom trying to be established on this earth. Light and darkness. These are people who are wrong and they are masquerading as right. Jesus called them wolves in sheeps clothing.
Paul evidently had veracity and clarity in his life because in the middle of the chapter he offers this startling contrast.
The contrast of veracity (10-13)
2 Timothy 3:10-13
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
IN the last days the extremes will be come more extreme. The lines are going to be drawn.
The Charge to Veracity
1. Go Back to Basics
2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and howfrom infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
What do you do as a person who wants to live a clean life, a life with veracity? Go back...go back to what you learned from your parents...what you learned in Sunday School...what you learned in--? Where a Buddhist might say the answers are inside you, Paul says the answers are behind you.
"Create in me a clean heart and renew..." Not going toward something we’ve never had, but going back! And it’s aligning ourselves with the truth we know and the people who represent that truth to us. So it’s not just a what, it’s a who.
2 Timothy 3:10,14
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance....continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.
If you are looking to make progress in your life spiritually, many times the answer is not a what, it’s a who. So when trying to develop a life of veracity, look behind you at what you’ve been taught, look around you for who you can follow, and then look above you....
2. Ground Yourself in Scripture
[drive a stake in the ground]
It’s not just Christianity that recognizes that this world is not heading in a good direction. It’s not just Christianity that recognizes there are better alternatives...there are solutions. But it IS just Christianity that goes back to the creator God for the solutions to the mess we’ve created. The question is not what is the problem and do we need a solution--the question is what is the solution and where does it come from?
In Buddhism the answers are within you. There’s an evolution that can take place. In Christianity all the answers are above you. There’s a transformation that can take place. And it comes by the word of God....
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God‑breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Teaching -- this is the right path
Rebuking -- you’re off the path
Correcting -- this is how you get back on the path
Training -- this is how you stay on the path
If you want a life of veracity, you can have it. Get into the Book. Let the Book get into you.
The chapter closes with v. 17...
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God‑breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The emphasis of veracity is on being instead of doing. Be the change you are looking for in the world.
CTK will never be--and our world will never be--more than what we are.
