“Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (2Tim 2:14).
I had a love/hate relationship with sci-fi as a kid. On one hand, I couldn’t get enough of it. But on the other, I couldn’t keep my eyes open! Whether it was TV shows like “The Outer Limits” or movies like “Frankenstein,” I wanted to watch but I couldn’t.
There was no better example than “War of the Worlds.” Not Spielberg’s remake (which IS pretty good). I’m talking about the original made in 1953 starring Gene Barry, based on the novel by H.G. Wells. The storyline is really no surprise. Martians unleash an unrelenting assault on unsuspecting earthlings.
The aliens scorch the planet and its people by firing an assortment of killer ray guns from their spaceships. The people of Earth drop a nuke hoping it put an end to the invasion (Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t!). The resulting “War of the Worlds” destroys anything and everything. Before you can say “little green men,” the battle will totally devastate the third rock from the sun. The war over the planet could eventually destroy the planet they’re warring over.
I don’t know if Paul was a fan of sci-fi, but he certainly knew all about doctrinal collateral damage. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle warns against the danger of the War of the Words. “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (v14).
He tells Tim to remind folks to keep their eyes on Jesus and His Gospel. Warn the followers of Christ too keep cool heads when it comes to words and language. Don’t take the bait. Avoid arguments over theological terminology. It only results in catastrophic ruin for God’s people. The fight will eventually leave them nothing to fight over. There’s no reason for a War of the Words.
Paul is writing anything but fiction in this epistle. He’s behind bars and in chains (2Tim 1:16; 2:8). The man from Tarsus has been locked up before but this time it’s different. He’s on Death Row and he knows it (2Tim 4:6-7). The apostle writes to his protege named Timothy with two purposes. One, please come for a visit before his date with the executioner (2Tim 4:9, 21). Two, encourage the young pastor as he passes the baton of ministry (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
Here in verse 14, the former Pharisee looks back before looking ahead. When writing “remind them of these things,” he’s referring to what he’s just told Tim. Paul has just used the lyrics of a first century worship tune to teach the truth of the Good News (2Tim 2:11-13). Remind folks that following Jesus is a matter of life THROUGH death. Remind them that there’s no easy button when it comes to walking with Christ but it promises to deliver the ultimate in delayed gratification. Remind them that a lifetime of rejecting the Lord’s offer of salvation will only result in God giving us exactly what we want. Remind them that while our faith may wobble wildly at times, Jesus never wavers.
This Gospel refresher course in verses 11-13 isn’t a one-and-done deal. A closer look at the tense of “remind” tells us it’s in the present imperative form. An imperative simply means it’s a command. Not a suggestion. Not a recommendation. Not just a good idea. “Remind” is also in the present tense. That means Tim is to continually be reminding folks. Just as Paul orders the young pastor to make this a regular diet of his teaching, so should anyone who’s passing along God’s truth.
Now the apostle looks forward and writes “charge them before God” (v14). The verb here (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) means to declare solemnly and emphatically, warn strongly, or urge insistently. Again, this isn’t simply a suggestion or “hey, you might wanna try this.” It’s the idea of grabbing someone by the shoulders, looking them right in the eye, making sure you get your point across.
When Jesus tells the story of a billionaire’s death and descent into Hell, He describes how the dead rich dude begs to go back and tell his family they want no part of where he is. He desperately wants “to warn (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Lk 16:28). Let’s just say he’s unable to post a review on Yelp for Hades.
Paul drops this term three times in his two notes to Timothy. Other than here, we see it when he writes, “I charge (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) you” to not play favorites when it comes to protecting leaders from discipline (1Tim 5:21). Later in his second letter, the apostle cuts to the chase when he tells Tim, “I charge (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) you in the presence of God and of Christ” to be locked and loaded to preach God’s Word and pull no punches when he does it (2Tim 4:1-2).
Now that Paul has undivided attention, here’s his warning: “not to quarrel about words” (v14). Sadly we miss something very cool when we translate this phrase from the original language into English. The apostle isn’t just using an unusual term (Gr. λογομαχεω), he’s making up a whole new word! Most NT scholars believe he manufactured a hot-off-the-shelf, never-seen-before verb. We only see this word one time and one time only in the Bible. And it’s found NOWHERE in ancient Greek literature.
Long before anybody uttered mashed up words like “frenemy” and “bromance,” the apostle comes up with λογομαχεω. It’s compound word that literally means “word (λογο-) war (-μαχεω).” He slams two terms together to describe anytime we argue over language and terminology or wrangle about the meaning of terms. In other words, a War of the Words.
The big idea here is to avoid getting sucked into pointless arguments over stuff that really doesn’t matter in the end. Sure, we need to be accurate in our language and word choices. It is important to dot our doctrinal i’s an cross theological t’s. But keeping the main thing the main is the main thing. The big idea is Jesus and His Gospel. Focus on the essentials of our faith. Who Christ is. What He’s done. How much we need Him. And don’t forget to flip to the end of the book to see how everything all turns out (Spoiler Alert number two: Jesus WINS!).
The enemy tempts us and taunts us to duke it out over meaningless matters. Helps explain the expression: “The devil is in the details.” And make no doubt, Satan is behind it all. He loves to turn God’s people on themselves and divert us from our real mission. The result is destruction WITHIN the church. Don’t believe me? Let’s face it, people leave in a huff over carpet color, music, preaching style, altar calls, and how to celebrate the Lord’s supper. I’m sure you’ve never been dragged into that kind of trash talk.
This is going to be the first of three successive warnings against fights over language here in the next few sentences. We need steer clear of empty chatter which spreads like gangrene among the church (2Tim 2:16-17). And we must not go anywhere near ridiculous controversies that are, in the words of Admiral Ackbar, “It’s a TRAP!” (2Tim 2:23-24).
Here in verse 14, Paul says this War of the Words “does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (v14). the result is nothing positive. Only negative. You can translate “does no good” as “no profit” (KJV, NKJV), “useless” (NASB), “nothing profitable” (YLT), or “no benefit” (NET). Just as going to war comes with a heavy cost for any country, word wars take their terrible toll on God’s people. Nothing good comes out of it.
Instead these one of these quarrels “only ruins the hearers” (v14). It doesn’t just ruffle a few feathers. It doesn’t just bruise some egos. Paul says it’s catastrophic. That’s exactly the meaning of the Greek term translated as “ruins (Gr. καταστροφη).” It’s exactly the source of our word catastrophe. It literally describes something overthrown or overturned. Peter uses it when talking about smoldering rubble of Sodom and Gomorrah (2Pet 2:6). We’re talking total destruction. A War of the Words is absolutely catastrophic.
Let’s be clear. Paul is more than ready to fight for the right things. Remember the time he got all up in Pete’s grill in Antioch over his two-faced treatment of Gentiles (Gal 2:11-14)? But he’s warning us to pick our battles carefully. VERY carefully. There’s too much at stake. Instead of being always ready to throw, let’s be quick to spread God’s grace. We’ve gotta stop our “pious nitpicking” (v14 The Message). Build each other up and stop tearing each other down.
Once a stupid fight over language breaks out, it’s like one of those barroom brawls in a western movie. Tables trashed. Bottles broken. Chairs smashed. And you know somebody’s going out the front window and into the street. When it’s all over, the place is nothing but rubble.
How many times have you seen great teams torn apart from the inside out? Fights in the locker room and shoving matches on the sidelines distract from the real opponent. That’s exactly why Jesus commands us to love one another. That’s how the world will recognize we’re His followers (Jn 13:34-35). If we’re followers of Christ, we’re all wearing the same jersey. It says Team Jesus. Start playing together. Start serving each other.
There was no better example than “War of the Worlds.” Not Spielberg’s remake (which IS pretty good). I’m talking about the original made in 1953 starring Gene Barry, based on the novel by H.G. Wells. The storyline is really no surprise. Martians unleash an unrelenting assault on unsuspecting earthlings.
The aliens scorch the planet and its people by firing an assortment of killer ray guns from their spaceships. The people of Earth drop a nuke hoping it put an end to the invasion (Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t!). The resulting “War of the Worlds” destroys anything and everything. Before you can say “little green men,” the battle will totally devastate the third rock from the sun. The war over the planet could eventually destroy the planet they’re warring over.
I don’t know if Paul was a fan of sci-fi, but he certainly knew all about doctrinal collateral damage. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle warns against the danger of the War of the Words. “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (v14).
He tells Tim to remind folks to keep their eyes on Jesus and His Gospel. Warn the followers of Christ too keep cool heads when it comes to words and language. Don’t take the bait. Avoid arguments over theological terminology. It only results in catastrophic ruin for God’s people. The fight will eventually leave them nothing to fight over. There’s no reason for a War of the Words.
Paul is writing anything but fiction in this epistle. He’s behind bars and in chains (2Tim 1:16; 2:8). The man from Tarsus has been locked up before but this time it’s different. He’s on Death Row and he knows it (2Tim 4:6-7). The apostle writes to his protege named Timothy with two purposes. One, please come for a visit before his date with the executioner (2Tim 4:9, 21). Two, encourage the young pastor as he passes the baton of ministry (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
Here in verse 14, the former Pharisee looks back before looking ahead. When writing “remind them of these things,” he’s referring to what he’s just told Tim. Paul has just used the lyrics of a first century worship tune to teach the truth of the Good News (2Tim 2:11-13). Remind folks that following Jesus is a matter of life THROUGH death. Remind them that there’s no easy button when it comes to walking with Christ but it promises to deliver the ultimate in delayed gratification. Remind them that a lifetime of rejecting the Lord’s offer of salvation will only result in God giving us exactly what we want. Remind them that while our faith may wobble wildly at times, Jesus never wavers.
This Gospel refresher course in verses 11-13 isn’t a one-and-done deal. A closer look at the tense of “remind” tells us it’s in the present imperative form. An imperative simply means it’s a command. Not a suggestion. Not a recommendation. Not just a good idea. “Remind” is also in the present tense. That means Tim is to continually be reminding folks. Just as Paul orders the young pastor to make this a regular diet of his teaching, so should anyone who’s passing along God’s truth.
Now the apostle looks forward and writes “charge them before God” (v14). The verb here (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) means to declare solemnly and emphatically, warn strongly, or urge insistently. Again, this isn’t simply a suggestion or “hey, you might wanna try this.” It’s the idea of grabbing someone by the shoulders, looking them right in the eye, making sure you get your point across.
When Jesus tells the story of a billionaire’s death and descent into Hell, He describes how the dead rich dude begs to go back and tell his family they want no part of where he is. He desperately wants “to warn (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Lk 16:28). Let’s just say he’s unable to post a review on Yelp for Hades.
Paul drops this term three times in his two notes to Timothy. Other than here, we see it when he writes, “I charge (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) you” to not play favorites when it comes to protecting leaders from discipline (1Tim 5:21). Later in his second letter, the apostle cuts to the chase when he tells Tim, “I charge (Gr. διαμαρτυρομαι) you in the presence of God and of Christ” to be locked and loaded to preach God’s Word and pull no punches when he does it (2Tim 4:1-2).
Now that Paul has undivided attention, here’s his warning: “not to quarrel about words” (v14). Sadly we miss something very cool when we translate this phrase from the original language into English. The apostle isn’t just using an unusual term (Gr. λογομαχεω), he’s making up a whole new word! Most NT scholars believe he manufactured a hot-off-the-shelf, never-seen-before verb. We only see this word one time and one time only in the Bible. And it’s found NOWHERE in ancient Greek literature.
Long before anybody uttered mashed up words like “frenemy” and “bromance,” the apostle comes up with λογομαχεω. It’s compound word that literally means “word (λογο-) war (-μαχεω).” He slams two terms together to describe anytime we argue over language and terminology or wrangle about the meaning of terms. In other words, a War of the Words.
The big idea here is to avoid getting sucked into pointless arguments over stuff that really doesn’t matter in the end. Sure, we need to be accurate in our language and word choices. It is important to dot our doctrinal i’s an cross theological t’s. But keeping the main thing the main is the main thing. The big idea is Jesus and His Gospel. Focus on the essentials of our faith. Who Christ is. What He’s done. How much we need Him. And don’t forget to flip to the end of the book to see how everything all turns out (Spoiler Alert number two: Jesus WINS!).
The enemy tempts us and taunts us to duke it out over meaningless matters. Helps explain the expression: “The devil is in the details.” And make no doubt, Satan is behind it all. He loves to turn God’s people on themselves and divert us from our real mission. The result is destruction WITHIN the church. Don’t believe me? Let’s face it, people leave in a huff over carpet color, music, preaching style, altar calls, and how to celebrate the Lord’s supper. I’m sure you’ve never been dragged into that kind of trash talk.
This is going to be the first of three successive warnings against fights over language here in the next few sentences. We need steer clear of empty chatter which spreads like gangrene among the church (2Tim 2:16-17). And we must not go anywhere near ridiculous controversies that are, in the words of Admiral Ackbar, “It’s a TRAP!” (2Tim 2:23-24).
Here in verse 14, Paul says this War of the Words “does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (v14). the result is nothing positive. Only negative. You can translate “does no good” as “no profit” (KJV, NKJV), “useless” (NASB), “nothing profitable” (YLT), or “no benefit” (NET). Just as going to war comes with a heavy cost for any country, word wars take their terrible toll on God’s people. Nothing good comes out of it.
Instead these one of these quarrels “only ruins the hearers” (v14). It doesn’t just ruffle a few feathers. It doesn’t just bruise some egos. Paul says it’s catastrophic. That’s exactly the meaning of the Greek term translated as “ruins (Gr. καταστροφη).” It’s exactly the source of our word catastrophe. It literally describes something overthrown or overturned. Peter uses it when talking about smoldering rubble of Sodom and Gomorrah (2Pet 2:6). We’re talking total destruction. A War of the Words is absolutely catastrophic.
Let’s be clear. Paul is more than ready to fight for the right things. Remember the time he got all up in Pete’s grill in Antioch over his two-faced treatment of Gentiles (Gal 2:11-14)? But he’s warning us to pick our battles carefully. VERY carefully. There’s too much at stake. Instead of being always ready to throw, let’s be quick to spread God’s grace. We’ve gotta stop our “pious nitpicking” (v14 The Message). Build each other up and stop tearing each other down.
Once a stupid fight over language breaks out, it’s like one of those barroom brawls in a western movie. Tables trashed. Bottles broken. Chairs smashed. And you know somebody’s going out the front window and into the street. When it’s all over, the place is nothing but rubble.
How many times have you seen great teams torn apart from the inside out? Fights in the locker room and shoving matches on the sidelines distract from the real opponent. That’s exactly why Jesus commands us to love one another. That’s how the world will recognize we’re His followers (Jn 13:34-35). If we’re followers of Christ, we’re all wearing the same jersey. It says Team Jesus. Start playing together. Start serving each other.
We ARE in a war. Let’s just make sure we're not fighting each other and focusing on the real enemy. If you think Martian death rays are bad news, just wait until you see the catastrophic destruction of a War of Words.
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