Video: “Slap Her!”
My favorite line in this video is when the child says why he won’t slap the girl. He says “Why? Because I’m a man!”.
What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a man of God?
Ladies, the Bible has plenty to say about what it means to be a lady, and everything I say today applies to the ladies as well. Yet in the passage we’ll take a look at today, Paul is writing to Timothy, whom he calls his son. It is a personal letter from an old man to a young man. Today I’d like to take Paul’s position as an old man (whether I’d like to or not, I increasingly fit the bill). And I’d like to give words of advice to the next generation, you in the audience who are young men, finding and making your way in the world. Let’s read together:
2 Timothy 2: 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
. . . 3 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
What does it mean to be a man? I’d suggest from this passage there are at least three things we can identify that mark the man of God.
1. The Man of God runs away from sin, & runs toward God.
2. The Man of God handles opposition with kindness and gentleness.
3. The Man of God studies the Scriptures continuously.
The Man of God runs away from sin, & runs toward God.
This does not mean that the man of God is, by nature, totally pure and holy. It means the man of God pursues holiness, like a Lover pursues the Beloved.
CS Lewis said
“God's claim is infinite and inexorable. You can refuse it: or you can begin to try to grant it. There is no middle way.” Learning in War
the claim God makes on us is the development of holiness, the pursuit of consistent improvement, the shunning of evil and the embracing of good.
Ben Franklin had a healthy perspective in this regard. Around the beginning of the year, his opinion is often quoted
“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each year find you a better man.” Ben Franklin
He actually established a system to help himself reach his stated goal “to reach moral perfection”. He made charts with a list of 13 virtues he had chosen to pursue. Each day, at the end of the day, he would put a mark next to a virtue he had somehow violated. His goal was to reduce the number of marks in a day over time. He never reached moral perfection, but his pursuit of moral perfection made him a better man.
One key to this pursuit is knowing what to run away from.
Paul tells Timothy to run away.
This may, at first brush, seem to be counter-intuitive advice to a man. Most of the advice we see for young men has something to do with standing your ground, or fighting even impossible odds. Why does Paul tell Timothy a man has to run away?
Paul says “flee the evil desires of youth”.
One of the graduates from New Life College told me his story.
He said when he was younger, before he came here to Bible college, he was caught in the net of pornography. His life was consumed with it. He had begun to fail in school, his social life was dwindling to nothing. He was distracted, always looking forward to the next session he would have in front of his computer. He sank so low he actually began to consider suicide. This young man, full of potential and possibilities, was contemplating taking his own life, because his mind had become dominated by this one sin.
One day the Lord spoke to Him and simply told him “Stop!”
That day he was obedient to the voice of the Lord. Once he stopped his mind began to clear,. He began to contemplate his future, and decided to go to Bible school and prepare for ministry.
All this happened several years ago. He told me recently that he has never again returned to that sin. Once he left it behind there was no turning back. He now heads up a Christian non-profit organization and is thriving in the ministry. God has truly set him free.
The man of God must run away from sin and run toward God.
He must also learn how to face opposition.
The Man of God handles opposition with kindness and gentleness.
This world presents the real, admirable man as the one who knows how to clean house. He knows how to fight with his hands, how to knock his opponent senseless.
This is not the way of the man of God. To be clear, I am not talking here of learning how to defend your loved ones in an emergency, or a man enlisting for military service especially in times of war. Those are extraordinary circumstances. I’m talking about a man’s standard response to opposition. How does a real man, a man of God, respond to opposition from a spouse, or a friend, or an enemy?
This morning we began the message viewing a video. At the end of the video is a quote of a six your old child who says “In the kid’s world, women don’t get hit”.
I should think it goes without saying, but a man of God does not beat his wife. There is simply no place for such behavior in the kingdom of God.
A pastor friend of mine is a very large man. He’s about my height, but has about 50 lbs. more muscle. He was a body builder when he was younger. A lady in his church came for counseling because her husband had been beating her. She loved the man, and didn’t want to press charges with the police. The police at that time couldn’t do anything without a formal complaint. So, my friend went to the man’s home with two similarly large buddies and confronted him. He said “Brother, I love you, and want what’s best for you. And if you ever beat your wife again, my friends and I will come here and teach you what it feels like to be beaten within an inch of your life.” The man never beat his wife again.
I’m not saying that is necessarily the best way to deal with a man who beats his wife. But there is no place in the kingdom of God for such behavior.
A recent news report demonstrates this tendency in our society today:
“In November, according to the deputy police commissioner in Calcutta, India, a group of student doctors at Nilratan Sarkar Medical College cornered, beat, maimed and eventually killed a man they suspected of rummaging through their belongings and stealing their mobile phones. The incident followed a series of phone and laptop thefts, and some of the enraged medical students slashed the man's genitals before leaving him to die. [Agence France-Presse via BBC News, 11-17-2014]
The first rule of medicine is “do no harm”. I guess these medical students haven’t learned that yet.
How do you respond when people oppose you?
Jesus said
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:5, 7, 9, 43-45
In one sermon, Jesus has quite a lot to say about how we should face opposition.
Gandhi said, based on this sermon “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and soon the whole world is blind and toothless”.
How we face those who oppose us defines both our humanity and our maturity.
Only the most mature are able to tempter their responses.
And this brings up something I think all of Scripture teaches about adult behavior vs. immature-we must learn to do what does NOT come naturally. We must be willing to change our nature according to choice, according to what is best, according to reason, according to wisdom, according to the teaching of the Bible.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who drew much of his inspiration from Gandhi’s understanding of the Sermon on the Mount, said
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Paul is teaching this same principle to Timothy.
the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed
Jesus taught that when we respond to opposition with grace and patience and kindness we are imitating God-for He sends the rain on the just and the unjust. So
The Man of God runs away from sin, & runs toward God.
The Man of God handles opposition with kindness and gentleness.
And, finally,
The Man of God studies the Scriptures continuously.
If you want to move from immaturity to maturity, for childhood to adulthood, the key is the pursuit of character and the imbibing of God’s word.
The psalmist said “Your word I’ve hidden in my heart so that I won’t sin against you”. Ps. 119:11.
This one, many have memorized. Just a few lines earlier he says
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word”. (v. 9)
When Joshua first began to take the reigns of leadership after the death of Moses, God himself exhorte him
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8
I’d like to close with the lines of an old hymn that is focused on God’s word. It’s first stanza extolls the value of God’s word, the rest of the Hymn is portions of God’s word set to rhyme.
1. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
2. In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
3. Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
How do we recognize the man of God? Toward what goal should we strive?
1. The Man of God runs away from sin, & runs toward God.
2. The Man of God handles opposition with kindness and gentleness.
3. The Man of God studies the Scriptures continuously.
