“How To Become An Effective Christian”
AVOID THE CULTURE OF GODLESSNESS!
II Timothy 3:1-9
Introduction
We live in a culture that is constantly changing. The majority of religious people in our country would stand before you and tell you that our culture and society is 100% corrupt and evil. I don’t believe that. I love different aspects of our culture. I love the technological side of it. I love the blending of different histories and traditions of people groups and nations from all over the world at our front door in America. I love the religious freedom of our culture. We are free to worship our God without the fear of being killed or jailed because of it. But there is a very different aspect to our culture that I don’t like. We live in a culture that is becoming more and more a godless culture, dominated by lawless and godless people.
In order to enhance our effectiveness as Christians, we must avoid the pitfalls of a godless culture. The emergence of a godless culture is not something new. Paul writes to Timothy in his second letter to him warning him to avoid the culture of godlessness.
“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. Have nothing to do with them. 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, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth- men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” II Timothy 3:1-9
Paul gives a vivid, accurate description of a godless culture living in the last days between Christ’s first and second comings. Paul goes on to describe the culture of the last days in I Timothy 4:1, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” Peter also addresses the culture of the last days in II Peter 3:3, “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.”
Paul is very clear to Timothy and to us that our effectiveness as a Christian lies in avoiding the pitfalls of a godless culture. So the question tonight is, “What are the marks of a godless culture?” Paul gives us a few characteristics.
I. A MISPLACED LOVE. (vs. 1-4)
It’s interesting to note that the word “lovers” is used 5 times in the first four verses of chapter 3. One of the images that the Bible paints for us describing our relationship to God is that of a lover. Because of the sin in our lives, we have cheated on God and He is now a scorned lover.
In the Old Testament, Israel had scorned God and He was no longer their love. God uses a man by the name of Hosea to illustrate the pain, sadness and love that God has for Israel even though they have a misplaced love. God commands Hosea to marry a woman by the name of Gomer. When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in the departing from the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.” Hosea 1:2-3 The story continues and as Gomer is repeatedly unfaithful to Hosea the Lord continues to tell Hosea to be faithful and love Gomer. “The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” Hosea 3:1
Just as Gomer placed her love in other men instead of her husband, Hosea; the godless culture places its love in other things such as themselves, money and pleasure rather than in God.
The people of a godless culture attempt to place themselves in the position of God. The fastest growing religion in the United States is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as Mormons. What you don’t see on their family friendly commercials or through the dynamic Mormon Tabernacle Choir is that the goal of every Mormon man is to one day ascend to the height of becoming a god. That is what this religion teaches.
For over a week, people in the Washington D.C. area and surrounding suburbs have been terrorized by sniper attacks as people have been shot and killed doing normal things like cutting their grass, pumping gas in their car or walking into school. At one of the recent shootings a tarot card was found with a note on it from the sniper saying, “Dear Policemen, I am God.”
The godless culture is defined above all else by a love for self. The problem of misplaced love is something that the church is not immune from either. Many a Christian and many a Church has fallen prey to misplacing their love for God and instead becoming lovers of their own traditions, their own personal likes and dislikes, programs and buildings. Jesus’ words to the Church in Ephesus ring true to many a Church today. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Revelation 2:4
We need to remember that God loves us so dearly and unconditionally. That type of love is so hard to find in our world today. God wants us to love Him back. He won’t force us. I remember growing up that my aunt used to want to hug and kiss all on me. Whenever I saw her, she would grab me before I had a chance to run and kiss me all over the face. She wore a bright red lipstick and I would have two or three lip prints on my cheeks and face. Maybe you had a relative like that? God is not like that. He doesn’t force His love on us and doesn’t force us to love Him. But He does love us and He wants us to love Him.
The second mark of a godless culture is:
II. A DEFORMED FAITH. (vs. 5)
In verse 5, Paul describes the people of a godless culture as “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” II Timothy 3:5
This is extremely dangerous! The people that Paul is primarily referring to are false teachers. I used the word “deformed” to describe their faith and it’s a pretty strong word. Something that is deformed has the same make-up as something that is perfect. Take for instance, if you were to go shopping and you were looking for a pair of jeans. You found two pair that you were considering. One was a normal pair of jeans and the other had a tag on them that said “irregular”. What does that mean? It means that the jeans have imperfections in them. They weren’t made correctly. They have flaws. They are still jeans, just like the other pair of normal jeans, but they are not quite right.
What’s so dangerous about a person and a culture with a deformed faith is that like the jeans, the normal faith and deformed faith both have a belief in God but the deformed faith is “irregular”. The deformed faith may believe in God but not in Christ. It may believe in God, but see no need for salvation. It may believe in God but it may also believe in multiple gods. It’s a deformed faith, a flawed faith.
This is what Peter meant in that verse from II Peter 3:3 when he mentioned the “scoffers” that would be prevalent in the last days. This area of deformed faith is where the majority of all cults in our society come from. If you study any cult, you will see at least a kernel of biblical truth in them. That’s what makes them appealing. There is a kernel of biblical truth but then it is twisted and perverted and becomes deformed.
We would be wise to heed the advice that Paul gives to Timothy and “have nothing to do” with people with a deformed faith. Know your Bible. Study it. Don’t get deceived by a deformed faith.
The third mark of a godless culture is:
III. A REJECTED TRUTH. (vs. 6-9)
Statistics have shown that over 50% of Americans don’t believe in absolute truth. There is no right and wrong. It’s all situational. Paul described the godless culture as “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” and says, “these men oppose the truth” II Timothy 3:7,8
A godless culture rejects the truth about God and who He is and instead chooses to worship themselves, material items or false gods. In London, a group called CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) has, after surveying 1,000 people in Britain this past year, decided to adopt the goddess Ninkasi as patron in a bid to attract more women to drink beer. In an article titled, “Women To Worship Goddess of Beer” Mike Benner of CAMRA spoke of how Ninkasi would change beer drinking from a men’s activity to women as well. Ninkasi was worshipped as one of the world’s earliest civilizations around 3500 B.C.
We live in a time when education is stressed as vitally important and rightly so but as Paul pointed out that the godless culture is “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth”. My small group is currently going through a study on the book, “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer. Tozer writes that about the distinction between scribes and prophets in one of the chapters. He says that a scribe is one who studies and recites to others what he is reading. He may not understand it, acknowledge the truth of it or allow it to transform his life. A prophet on the other hand is telling others of his first hand encounter of experiencing God and being in His presence. It’s life changing and leads others into that same experience and acknowledgement of the truth.
We live in a time where people won’t allow themselves to truly experience God and come into His presence. This is why there is a rejection of truth. This is not a problem only for the godless culture, but for Christians as well. We have too many scribes and not enough prophets. We need to turn ourselves completely over to God, spend time before Him in prayer and study and allow ourselves to come into His presence.
Paul gives a warning that those who reject the truth can do so for only so long. The truth that they reject will ultimately win out and they will be found out. Paul gives the example of Jannes and Jambres. These two men whose names were not mentioned earlier in the Bible are the magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. They rejected the truth and their magic was defeated and they were exposed.
Conclusion
The pitfalls of a godless society are hard to avoid and easy to fall into. If we are to be effective as Christians we must avoid them. Here are the marks of a godless culture:
1. A misplaced love.
2. A deformed faith.
3. A rejected truth.
