2 Timothy 3:14-17 (1)

How can we live faithfully as Christians?  To be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ we must not turn away from His word to us.  Notice how Paul first encouraged Timothy for carefully following his (Paul’s) doctrine, lifestyle and so forth (3:10).  But that is not the end of the story.  Paul also says: But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of.  

We humans, and perhaps especially those of us in the West, and I can certainly point to Americans, get bored with the same thing all the time.  Variety is the spice of life.  It is that existential philosophy that tells us life is made up of our experiences.  The happiest life is one that has the broadest set of experiences.  It is a philosophy that tends to minimize tradition or even absolutes.  For those who know not God the rule is: we only go around once in life; go for the gusto!

Sadly this philosophy has found its way into the Church.  For many, worship music that is not cutting edge has no place in the going and growing church.  It’s not just that Fanny Crosby or Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley have been laid aside (or contemporized); it is that in 2017 anything composed more than ten years ago is considered outdated.  

I am not ranting about contemporary music per se; truth is there are some old hymns I prefer not to sing because they are doctrinally weak or false.  Some of the older songs can be dressed up in a tune designed just to whip up our emotions.  And before you remind me that there’s nothing wrong with emotions, that God made us emotional, let me point out to you that the question is: How can we live faithfully as Christians?  Paul’s answer to Timothy is continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of.  He takes him to his spiritual roots. He does not try to give him some new thing that will amaze him and charge him up and convince him to stay with Jesus a little longer.  

Can we also point out that one of the dangers introduced by the Pentecostal/ Charismatic/Finney doctrines is this very problem?  Each placed a strong emphasis on emotions and left us thinking that if we had been to church and something new and exciting had not happened or we had not cried or shouted that we really had not been blessed.  The result of this way of thinking has been the conclusion that strange things, such as loud hyena-type laughter or barking like a dog or falling flat on the floor is in some way the height of spirituality.  

Don’t get upset at these things.  I am not your judge.  But think about it.  We are calling attention to what the Bible says, and the Bible says that faithfulness is dependent on holding fast the pattern of sound words (1:13), carefully following and continuing in sound doctrine (3:10,14).  If I think my life in Christ must be one excitement after another then I am setting myself up for major discouragements.  It is not a prescription for faithfulness!