Jesus Junkies

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1Tim 4:13).

A bong. A crack pipe. A Bible. One of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same. But they’re all indicators of possible addiction. Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, you should NOT own either of those first two items. If you’re hooked on anything, there’s nothing better than the third.

In his letter to the lead pastor in Ephesus, Paul says all ministers ought to have a monkey for God’s message on their backs. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (v13). Every pastor should be a Jesus junkie in possession of God’s grace with intent to distribute in three ways. Proclaiming the Gospel. Explaining the Gospel. Applying the Gospel.

As with any passage, context is key. So what exactly led to Paul grabbing a pen in the first place? We see in the opening lines that this is a letter and that the apostle is writing to his spiritual son Timothy (1Tim 1:1-2). Apparently Paul had a pressing matter in Macedonia needing immediate attention. So he leaves Tim in charge of the church in Ephesus (1Tim 1:3), a massive port city on the west coast of what we know today as Turkey. A few years back, Paul spent three years in E City spreading telling people about Jesus and getting this new church off the ground (Acts 19:1-41; 20:31). As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us more about the church in Ephesus than any other congregation.

But things are anything but unicorns and rainbows in the Ephesian church. A team of religious hucksters weaseled its way inside the fellowship. They’ve distracted folks from following Jesus with a false gospel that’s really no Gospel at all. False teachers been dealing a destructive message of self-salvation through subtraction (1Tim 4:1-3). As a result, the church is in desperate need of rehab. Tim’s assignment is clear. Kick out the con artists cold turkey (1Tim 1:3-7). Find new godly leaders (1Tim 3:1-12). 

By the time we hit chapter four, Paul has some important instructions for his young protege as well as every other pastor. Hit the spiritual gym and get CrossFit in Jesus’ message of grace (1Tim 4:6-8). While we don’t save ourselves by our own performance, we need to leave it all on the field for others since Christ gave max effort to rescue you and me (1Tim 4:9-10). Let God use each of us to make a dent that really makes a difference by how we live (1Tim 4:11-12). The Good News is going to leave a mark!

At this point, the apostle reminds Tim that help is on the way. “Until I come” (v13), he writes. Hang on, my friend. The calvary’s coming! A closer look at the original language and grammar sure seems to indicate Paul may well be on the road and heading back to Ephesus. The New Living Bible nails that idea with its translation “Until I get there” (v13 NLT). It’s not the first time the mentor has told Tim he hopes to be there ASAP (1Tim 3:14). A great reminder that we don’t do ministry alone. We look out for each other. We don’t leave our brothers and sisters swinging in the ministerial breeze.

In the meantime, the man from Tarsus tells the Ephesian pastor to make a habit of three particular practices. “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (v13). Proclaim God’s message. Explain God’s message. Apply God’s message. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The word behind “devote” is Greek verb prosecho. It literally means to hold onto. It’s basically the idea of turning toward something in order to grab it. Get your hands on your Bible, Tim. Latch on to God’s Word and don’t let go. As golfers like to say, “Grip it and rip it, baby!”

Writers of the New Testament use prosecho in a couple of ways. It can mean to be alert to, be intent, or watch out for something. Several times in the Gospels Jesus uses it to sound the warning siren to His followers (Mt 6:1; 7:15; 10:17; 16:6, 11, 12; Lk 12:1; 17:3; 20:46; 21:34). The other meaning is to give yourself completely to or be totally captivated by something. Paul uses it four times in 1 Timothy. Three of those are negative. Think addiction. Believers need to stop getting their fix on urban myths and family trees (1Tim 1:4). Deacons can’t have substance abuse problems (1Tim 3:8). The Spirit correctly predicted how folks would get hooked on godless spirituality and demon doctrine (1Tim 4:1).

On the other hand, Paul tells Tim that if you’re going to be addicted to anything let it be proclaiming, explaining, and applying the grace of Jesus. Addicted? Really? Check out one dictionary’s definition of addiction: a conscious and persistent action characterized by repetition and obsession. Ministers of the Gospel must be conscious and persistent as they dig into God’s amazing message. Be intentional. Be tenacious. Repeatedly and obsessively dive into Scripture. Be relentless. Be compulsive. Get hooked on God’s Word and what He says about the Good News.

This goes not just for pastors but every follower of Christ. Make a point of getting addicted to His grace. Let Him captivate you. Let Him fascinate you. Let Him compel you. Let Him absolutely and totally overwhelm you. Let “the Founder and Perfecter of our faith” completely consume your thoughts (Heb 12:2). Feed your addiction by sacrificially loving others just as He did (Jn 13:34-35). Be devoted. Be a Jesus junkie. 

Many addicts try to kick the habit using twelve steps. Paul instructs Tim to actually insure that he’s hooked on God’s message of salvation using three steps. Be addicted “to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (v13). Proclaiming the Gospel. Explaining the Gospel. Applying the Gospel. Step one, announce the Good news. The original text here is interesting. Paul instructs the young pastor to simply “the public reading” (v13). Exactly what he is to read out loud is simply assumed by the translators. It’s not there in the Greek. It’s simply the word anagnosis. 

The term describes reading out loud something previously written down. There’s a long tradition of rabbis publicly reading from the Hebrew Bible in the synagogue. Dr. Luke uses a VERY similar word (Gr. anaginosko) and gives us a front row seat for Jesus’ reading from Isaiah in a worship service (Lk 4:16). The good doctor also writes about the time folks in Antioch asked Paul and his buddy Barnabas to speak “after the reading (Gr. anagnosis) from Law and the Prophets” (Acts 13:15). 

While Paul doesn’t specifically tell Tim what is to be read out loud, every other time we see this idea in the NT, it’s always God’s Word. There is unspeakable value is the public reading of Scripture. God inspired these books to be read out loud to His people. The apostle wrote his letters to be communicated in one sitting to entire churches. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). We read the Bible out loud so we can live it out loud. Be a junkie when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel.

The second step is “exhortation” (v13) or explaining the message of Jesus. The Greek word here is paraklesis, which literally describes a calling near to you or a summons to something. Translators often render it with the idea of encouragement, but in certain passages like this one it means interpretation. It’s providing context and clarification. Jesus regularly used everyday illustrations called parables to unpack big theological ideas. When he was in Athens, Paul creatively explained the Gospel using elements of first century pop culture like poems and public art. I’m pretty confident he would have used movies, TV shows, and social media if they would’ve been around at the time. It’s important to explain and illustrate God’s Word, especially to those of us who didn’t grow up hearing all the Bible stories much less speaking Christianese.

Here are a few examples. After folks at the home office in Jerusalem sent a letter to Antioch announcing that Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism in order to follow Jesus, “when they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement (Gr. paraklesis)” (Acts 15:31). In other words, once they explained it to them. Paul writes to his friends in Rome about how we have hope through the interpretation and “encouragement (Gr. paraklesis) of the Scriptures” (Rom 15:5). Jesus is the “Consolation (Gr. paraklesis) of Israel” (Lk 2:25) as the perfect explanation and embodiment of God’s grace. 

Preachers and teachers of God’s Word must do more than simply proclaim Scripture. They must unpack it. They must give it context. How does what was just read fit into the big picture of the God’s story of redemption? Interpret. Expound. Use illustrations. Don’t be afraid to say you’re not sure what a passage means. Get hooked on creatively teaching the truth of God’s Word. Be a junkie when it comes to explaining the Gospel.

The third and often overlooked step is “teaching” (v13). But hold your horses! Aren’t the steps one and two nothing but teaching? Yes, but this final idea is telling how we apply God’s Word once it’s proclaimed and explained. “Teaching (Gr. didaskalia)” describes instruction, doctrine, or precepts.  In other words, these general rules that can applied to any situation we face in life. Broad principles we can put in our hip pockets and use at other times than Sunday morning. 

Pastors should give us examples of how to respond to what we’ve heard. How do we apply the truth to our daily lives? Let’s be clear. Passages of Scripture have ONE key truth but they have LIMITLESS applications. Think of it like an iPhone commercial. Love? There’s an app for that. Forgiveness? There’s an app for that. Generosity? There’s an app for that. 

Preachers often drop the application ball. Why is this such a big deal. Check it out. When you by an over-the-counter med, you should read the instructions. Okay, I realize I’ve already lost a large percentage folks. Yes, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! Because we need to know how to use the ointment, lotion, or pills so we get their max effectiveness. As the label says, “Apply as directed.” When we teach God’s Word, let’s be addicted to giving folks directions on how to apply. 

Addicts in recovery like to say that the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem. The big problem is sin. The big problem is looking back at me in the mirror every morning. The only answer is found in the Gospel. Ministers ought to have a monkey for God’s message on their backs. Be a Jesus junkie in possession of God’s grace with intent to distribute in three ways. Proclaim His Gospel. Explain His Gospel. Apply His Gospel.