The Sword and the Scalpel

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worked who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2Tim 2:15).

Chain saw. Samurai sword. Meat cleaver. There are certain tools so sharp and powerful that you can do a lot of harm when you don’t use them carefully. They are finely honed blades which give someone with a steady hand the ability to cut closely and accurately (please note: “with a steady hand”!). That’s exactly why your mom told you not to run with scissors.

That’s basically the same warning Paul gives his protege Tim here. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (v15). God’s Word is razor sharp. It can slice and dice better than the best Cutco knife or Ronco’s Veg-O-Matic. Scripture can do the most delicate of spiritual surgery. But in the wrong hands, it can amputate and mutilate. Maybe you have the scars to prove it. When it comes to God’s Word, we must handle with extreme care.

What would lead Paul to slap a warning label on Scripture? Good question. Let’s rewind his story just a bit for a little better perspective. The man from Tarsus spent most of his adult life carrying and cutting people down to size with his biblical Bowie knife. Before Jesus jumped him outside of Damascus, the apostle formerly known as Saul was among the best and brightest among the Jewish religious elite (Phil 3:5-6; Acts 22:3). We’re talking top of his class. Five-star recruit. First round draft pick.

One look at Saul’s LinkedIn profile tells you this dude is going places. Oh, he went places all right. He went to places looking to arrest, torture, and kill the followers of Christ (Acts 22:4-5; Gal 1:13). He was a fully loaded Pharisee wielding God’s Word like a weapon. That all changed when the resurrected Jesus blindsided Saul on one of his notorious black ops missions. The next thing you know, the Son of God transforms this assassin into His spokesman.

Let’s cut to the chase. The Lord turned murderer Saul into missionary Paul. In the process, the apostle learns how to properly use Scripture. As a sword to protect. As a scalpel to help and heal. He begins a lifetime on the road around the Mediterranean Rim telling everybody who will listen about Jesus. That eventually puts him on the opposite side of his old team the Pharisees. If that’s not dangerous enough, Nero has had enough of this Jesus talk, tossed him jail and given him a death sentence.

As a result, he writes to Timothy from Death Row. He’s locked up in the incredibly nasty Mamertine Prison waiting for his date with the executioner (2Tim 1:16; 2:9; 4:6-7). Paul begs his young buddy to hightail it to Rome before it’s too late (2Tim 4:9, 21). He spends the rest of his last letter frantically scribbling down important instructions for making sure the message of Jesus keeps rolling (2Tim 2:1-4:5).

A huge part of what he has to say is about using the Bible carefully and accurately. God holds all the teachers of Scripture to a higher standard. If that’s you, are you ready for the day when He asks you about how you used His Word? Will He give you His stamp of approval? Or will you be embarrassed by how thrown His truth around willy nilly? Paul desperately wants both Tim and the rest of us to always treat God’s Word with great care. The same sharp blade that will can cut out our your heart is also capable of healing your soul. It’s both a sword and a scalpel.

The apostle begins by telling his spiritual son, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved” (v15). A closer look at the original language here is a whole lot stronger than a parent encouraging their child before a little league game. The Greek word here is σπουδαζω, which means to not only give it everything you’ve got but to do it in a big hurry. Drop everything and drop the accelerator. Do your best and do it fast!

It’s the same word Paul uses when he pleads with Tim to immediately stop what he’s doing and get his rear to Rome (2Tim 4:9, 21). He drops it again when wanting Titus to make a beeline to Nicopolis for a visit (Titus 3:12). It’s the idea of making something a top priority and doing it with maximum effort. Trekkies know all about Captain Kirk’s constant plea for more power for the Starship Enterprise right here, right now. Scotty would always respond, “I’m giving her all she’s got, Captain!”

That’s the kind of effort Paul is talking about when it comes to teaching and preaching God’s Word. It’s not a half-hearted, I’ll-get-to-it-when-I-have-a-free-moment deal. We’re talking urgent. Immediate. Total focus. Pedal to the metal. All the gauges on the dashboard in the red. God’s truth requires an urgent max effort. There’s simply too much at stake for anything less.

God raises the bar for those who teach and preach. Take it from Jesus’ kid brother James who was a leader in the early church. He went out of his way to tell any prospective preachers to pump their brakes and think twice about what they’re about to do. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1).

Great Googly moogly! As someone who has a passion for teaching God’s truth, this scares the pants off me! My passion is to shine a light on Scripture with creativity and context. The last thing I want to do is teach it inaccurately or dishonor the rep of our Savior. The thought of having to look Jesus in the eye to answer for what I’ve said about Him reminds me of the seriousness of what I say and write.

It’s a powerful reminder to do my best to present myself to God as one approved. I can’t be haphazard. I can’t be careless. Let me give her all she’s got! If we do, there will be no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed when He meets me with us for the ultimate performance review.

Paul wants Tim to make sure he’s always “rightly handling the word of truth” (v15). Translators have a heck of a time getting across what the apostle writes here in the original langugage. “Rightly handling” is actually the Greek verb ορθοτομεω, which is a compound word that literally means “straight (ορθο-) cutting (-τομεω).” It’s the idea of cutting or slicing evenly and accurately in a single stroke.

Like the Blues Brothers comeback concert at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, this word appears one time and one time only in the New Testament. A few big time Bible scholars take a shot at explaining it. According to Theodoret, it describes a farmer plowing a straight furrow in his field. Parry likes to picture a stonemason deftly cutting stones with great accuracy. I like how Robertson sees it. Since Paul is a tentmaker, he knows all about cutting cloth with care.

In the same way, the apostle wants the young preacher to carefully and accurately teach the truth found in God’s Word. We must be meticulous in how we use Scripture. It is sharpest blade we’ll ever experience. It has the power to heal. It has the power to harm. Paul tells his Ephesian friends how it’s the “sword of the Spirit” is only weapon listed in the inventory of the armor of God (Eph 6:17).

The Lord trains you and me in effectively using our Bible as a blade to defend ourselves from the attacks of the enemy as we read, study, and memorize Scripture. Just what does that look like? Check out how Jesus swings His sword to fend off Satan’s triple temptation in a way that would make Zorro jealous (Lk 4:1-13). A great way to keep our saber sharp is by doing life with other followers of Jesus. Solomon compares it to iron sharpening iron (Prov 27:17).

But as the writer of Hebrews points out, God also uses His Word like a scalpel to do spiritual surgery. “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). God delicately and skillfully extracts our sin like a supernatural neurosurgeon. He also removes lies we come to believe which grow like malignant tumors.

Paul encourages Pastor Tim as well as every other teacher and preacher to handle Scripture with great care. It’s incredibly sharp. If I misuse it by taking His truth out of context somebody’s going to get hurt. I can injure others as well as myself. Think of a careless knife thrower. He’s not winning America’s Got Talent if he’s missing a couple of fingers and his lovely assistant is covered in stitches and bandaids.

We also need to be very cautious not to bully others with the Bible. Sadly it happens far too often. You can usually recognize those religious thugs who use Scripture like a switchblade. They’re the ones who have a 2x4 sticking out of their own eye while pointing out the splinter in yours. Don’t be a 21st century Pharisee. There’s no reason to get cocky. We’re simply beggars who’ve figured out where to get the bread.

Use God’s Word skillfully and delicately on those who need healing. If Jesus has called you to teach His truth, give it everything you’ve got. If you do, there’s no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed. Handling His Word rightly means cutting carefully. We meet so many hurting people each day. They desperately need the therapy found only in the Gospel. Allow the Great Physician to use us to share His very Good News of grace.

Scripture can be an amazing spiritual scalpel. But in the wrong hands, it can butcher, slash, and maim. Sadly too many of us have been on the wrong end of their gruesome attacks. God has given us His Word in order to reveal the Word, His Son Jesus. Knowing who He is and what He’s done protects us from attacks but also provides the healing we desperately need. God give us His Word to love people where they are and encourage them in their walk with Christ.

It’s both a sword and a scalpel. So when it comes to God’s truth, please handle with maximum care.