“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people” (2Tim 3:2-5).
Self-centered. Self-absorbed. Self-promoting. Self-obsessed. Their Facebook feed is a never-ending series of selfies. Know somebody like that? Let’s face it. We ALL do.
Conversations with them always center on a single topic. What is it? Well, you get two guesses and the first two don’t count. If you’re lucky, your friendly neighborhood narcissist will eventually come up for air and ask you a question. But it’s usually something along the lines of, “Enough about me. What do YOU think about ME?” NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens wasn’t afraid to admit, “I love me some me!"
Self-centered. Self-absorbed. Self-promoting. Self-obsessed. Their Facebook feed is a never-ending series of selfies. Know somebody like that? Let’s face it. We ALL do.
Conversations with them always center on a single topic. What is it? Well, you get two guesses and the first two don’t count. If you’re lucky, your friendly neighborhood narcissist will eventually come up for air and ask you a question. But it’s usually something along the lines of, “Enough about me. What do YOU think about ME?” NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens wasn’t afraid to admit, “I love me some me!"
While you may think the world has never been more full of folks who are full of themselves like T.O., it’s really nothing new. Two thousand years ago before a Kardashian walked the planet, Paul warned a young pastor named Timothy this was going to happen. It’s all part of his last day’s forecast. There’s a 100% chance of danger (2Tim 3:1). The apostle then gives us a detailed scouting report of just exactly whom to dodge.
“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people” (v2-5).
Stop. Read it again. Read it again SLOWLY. It’s way too easy to put the pedal to the metal about after the first few and fly to the end. Take your time. Pause after each comma. Let it sink in. Let it soak in. It’s okay. We’ll wait for you. Nobody’s going anywhere.
Reading the apostle’s list makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Don’t you squirm just a little bit? Is it possible that something he said hits just a little close to home? Well, it does for me. More on that in a moment.
Paul didn’t have a clue about the selfie stick and the duck face (lucky him!), but certainly he saw where things were headed. Folks may look good on the outside. We put up a great front. We manage our image. Our social media feeds are more like our personally crafted highlight reel. Oops! Did I say “we” and “our”? But it’s just a thin veneer that barely covers the black hole of our ego sucking in anyone who gets to close. The apostle tells Tim to make a quick U-turn when meeting somebody like that before it’s too late.
Before we make a deep dive into this bottomless pit of self-absorption, let’s back up a bit for context. Paul is writing to Tim from behind bars (2Tim 1:16; 2:9). He’s been locked up in the joint before but this is different. This time he’s in his final days on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). The apostle hopes his buddy can get to Rome in time for one final visit (2Tim 4:9, 21). Just in case that doesn’t happen, he furiously scribbles down essential info for ministry in the last letter of his life (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
The apostle writes to a young man that he’s left as lead pastor at the church he himself planted a few years back in Ephesus (Acts 19; 1Tim 1:3). E City is a major crossroads of trade and culture on the west coast of what we know today as Turkey. We probably know more about this specific church than any other in the entire Bible. In addition to what we read in Acts and the two letters to Timothy, Paul writes his Ephesian friends an entire letter. He mentions this church to the folks in Corinth (1Cor 15:32; 16:8). Even the resurrected Jesus tells His best friend John to pass along His instructions to His people in Ephesus (Rev 1:11; 2:1-7).
This is all part of Paul’s repeated warnings about a team of spiritual hucksters who have weaseled their way into the church and their impact on the followers of Jesus. They’ve infiltrated the congregation and are tearing it apart inside out. He first sounded the alarm to the Ephesians in his letter to the church there and pointed them back to who our Savior is, what He has done, and who He says we are. The apostle continues waving the caution flag in his first letter to Pastor Tim (1Tim 1:3-11, 19-20 4:1-3, 7; 6:3-10, 20-21). This list is his latest in his long list of warnings.
There’s really no reason to drill down and dissect each of the disgusting qualities that Paul describes to Timothy, is there? You DO realize that, don’t you? These nasty traits pretty stinking obvious, aren’t they? I like what Alan Nute writes in the International Bible Commentary. This is “a list of vices which constitutes a frightful picture of a world which has turned its back upon God.” Instead of making a priority of God first, others second, me third, this list flips the script.
They love me some me.
Paul clearly makes the point that these folks have misplaced priorities when it comes to love. They’ve turned their love back on themselves. They’re “lovers of self, lovers of money” (v2). According Nute, these two are the mom and dad and who go on to raise an entire family of self-centered siblings. Man, talk about putting the funk into the ultimate dysfunctional family!
We see that they’ve earned a rep for what they DON’T love. They are “not loving good” (v3) and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (v4). In other words, selfie-centered people don’t love good and don’t love God. They’re on a relentless hunt for whatever feels good. As personal pleasure seekers, they’ve elevated themselves to the place of worship reserved only for God. The irony is that no one in the universe is more dedicated to our joy than our Creator.
While they may be self-centered, self-absorbed, self-promoting, but there’s one quality of self they’re missing. These spiritual con artists and their customers are “without self-control” (v3). Their self-obsession is totally out of control. The original language uses a single word here (Gr. ακρατης/akrates). Let’s just say a couple of the translations render this as “incontinent” (KJV, YLT). I’m just gonna leave that right there.
They love me some me.
Self-absorbed folks continually pump themselves up. Paul calls them “proud, arrogant” (v2). The phrase translated “swollen with conceit” (v4) literally describes something filled with smoke. They’re full of hot air and blow a lot of smoke!
They use that in combination with tearing others down by being “abusive” (v2), “heartless…slanderous…brutal” (v3), “treacherous, reckless” (v4). The word “slanderous” speaks volumes. This is the Greek term διαβολος (diabolos). It paints the picture of an accuser or someone who is always tearing down others verbally. It’s should come as no surprise that this is the same word used for the Devil (Mt 4:1, 5, 8, 11). The word actually comes from a root word that describes throwing…as in throwing someone under the bus!
Most of us would take one look at this list and want nothing to do with anyone like this. There’s just one problem. They’re undercover. They’re incognito. Paul tips us off that they have “the appearance of godliness, but denying it’s power” (v5). The apostle wants us to know these are closer than you think. Chances are they are sitting right next to you in church or small group. They look good and godly from the outside.
From the outside, these folks appear to really get their worship on. You see, “godliness” (Gr. ευσεβια/eusebia) literally means “good (ευ-/eu-) worship (-σεβια/-sebia).” This may come as a shock to some of you, but worship isn’t just singing songs on Sunday. It’s a lot more than putting your hands in the air like you really do care.
Worship flows from a grateful heart and results in a lifestyle of grace. We worship well when we put into practice God’s truth. We worship well when we live what we say we believe. We worship well when we put others ahead of ourselves. We don’t just know God’s commands, we DO God’s commands! The big idea here? We may know all the words and sing louder than anybody without a mic, but that’s only the “appearance of godliness” (v5). We must be very careful that we haven’t made the deity in the morning mirror the REAL object of our praise.
They love me some me.
Oh, these snake oil salesmen put up a decent front but they actually have no real proof of God’s power in their lives. These people are “denying its power” (v5). A peak behind their hypocritical curtain shows there’s no real holiness, perseverance, or effectiveness when it comes to God’s kingdom.The Message knocks this out of the park when it says, “They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals” (v5 The Message).
At then end of this loathsome list, we come to the only command in it. “Avoid such people” (v5). It’s clear from the previous verses that Paul has high hopes for their repentance and restoration (2Tim 2:23-26). But he clearly knows desperate times call for desperate measures. He’s probably talking about kicking them to the curb and out of the congregation as a last resort.
The apostle drops a word here (Gr. αποτρεπω/apotrepo) that means to have nothing to do with or purposely avoid associating with someone. It literally means to turn yourself around. Put your whole self in, take your whole self out…and stay there! Does this mean the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about? When you find yourself around folks with a phony faith who refuse to change, give them your best spin move and get out of there. Turn before you get burned.
This is where things get hard. They may be people we love dearly. It can be hard to give someone a stiff arm after they’ve become close to you. I think the best way to understand the apostle’s command here is to limit their emotional access in your life. Be careful what you share. We don’t want to cut them off completely (unless they’re a threat to your safety or the ones you love).
I would suggest we treat them as unbelievers. Continue to love them. Continue to reach out to them. Continue to shower them with the grace of Jesus. The idea is repentance and restoration, not punishment and abandonment. Heartbreaking as it might be, God can use our strategic avoidance as a means to get someone’s attention. We need to be careful but we must keep in contact.
Mind if I ask you a question? Are people avoiding YOU? Could WE be the people Paul’s warning Tim about? Let’s face facts. If we’re not now, we used to be. This is EXACTLY the kind of folks we were before Jesus got His holy hands on us. That smacked me right in the throat when I read this list. Self-centered. Check. Self-absorbed. Check. Self-promoting. Check. Self-obsessed. Check.
I loved me some me.
There’s no doubt that I put up a good front back in the day. To be honest, there are times that I still do. But there’s one thing I couldn’t escape. God doesn’t see me the same way the world does. He sees my heart (1Sam 16:7). Better yet, He gives me a new heart (Ezek 36:26-27)!
“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people” (v2-5).
Stop. Read it again. Read it again SLOWLY. It’s way too easy to put the pedal to the metal about after the first few and fly to the end. Take your time. Pause after each comma. Let it sink in. Let it soak in. It’s okay. We’ll wait for you. Nobody’s going anywhere.
Reading the apostle’s list makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it? Don’t you squirm just a little bit? Is it possible that something he said hits just a little close to home? Well, it does for me. More on that in a moment.
Paul didn’t have a clue about the selfie stick and the duck face (lucky him!), but certainly he saw where things were headed. Folks may look good on the outside. We put up a great front. We manage our image. Our social media feeds are more like our personally crafted highlight reel. Oops! Did I say “we” and “our”? But it’s just a thin veneer that barely covers the black hole of our ego sucking in anyone who gets to close. The apostle tells Tim to make a quick U-turn when meeting somebody like that before it’s too late.
Before we make a deep dive into this bottomless pit of self-absorption, let’s back up a bit for context. Paul is writing to Tim from behind bars (2Tim 1:16; 2:9). He’s been locked up in the joint before but this is different. This time he’s in his final days on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). The apostle hopes his buddy can get to Rome in time for one final visit (2Tim 4:9, 21). Just in case that doesn’t happen, he furiously scribbles down essential info for ministry in the last letter of his life (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
The apostle writes to a young man that he’s left as lead pastor at the church he himself planted a few years back in Ephesus (Acts 19; 1Tim 1:3). E City is a major crossroads of trade and culture on the west coast of what we know today as Turkey. We probably know more about this specific church than any other in the entire Bible. In addition to what we read in Acts and the two letters to Timothy, Paul writes his Ephesian friends an entire letter. He mentions this church to the folks in Corinth (1Cor 15:32; 16:8). Even the resurrected Jesus tells His best friend John to pass along His instructions to His people in Ephesus (Rev 1:11; 2:1-7).
This is all part of Paul’s repeated warnings about a team of spiritual hucksters who have weaseled their way into the church and their impact on the followers of Jesus. They’ve infiltrated the congregation and are tearing it apart inside out. He first sounded the alarm to the Ephesians in his letter to the church there and pointed them back to who our Savior is, what He has done, and who He says we are. The apostle continues waving the caution flag in his first letter to Pastor Tim (1Tim 1:3-11, 19-20 4:1-3, 7; 6:3-10, 20-21). This list is his latest in his long list of warnings.
There’s really no reason to drill down and dissect each of the disgusting qualities that Paul describes to Timothy, is there? You DO realize that, don’t you? These nasty traits pretty stinking obvious, aren’t they? I like what Alan Nute writes in the International Bible Commentary. This is “a list of vices which constitutes a frightful picture of a world which has turned its back upon God.” Instead of making a priority of God first, others second, me third, this list flips the script.
They love me some me.
Paul clearly makes the point that these folks have misplaced priorities when it comes to love. They’ve turned their love back on themselves. They’re “lovers of self, lovers of money” (v2). According Nute, these two are the mom and dad and who go on to raise an entire family of self-centered siblings. Man, talk about putting the funk into the ultimate dysfunctional family!
We see that they’ve earned a rep for what they DON’T love. They are “not loving good” (v3) and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (v4). In other words, selfie-centered people don’t love good and don’t love God. They’re on a relentless hunt for whatever feels good. As personal pleasure seekers, they’ve elevated themselves to the place of worship reserved only for God. The irony is that no one in the universe is more dedicated to our joy than our Creator.
While they may be self-centered, self-absorbed, self-promoting, but there’s one quality of self they’re missing. These spiritual con artists and their customers are “without self-control” (v3). Their self-obsession is totally out of control. The original language uses a single word here (Gr. ακρατης/akrates). Let’s just say a couple of the translations render this as “incontinent” (KJV, YLT). I’m just gonna leave that right there.
They love me some me.
Self-absorbed folks continually pump themselves up. Paul calls them “proud, arrogant” (v2). The phrase translated “swollen with conceit” (v4) literally describes something filled with smoke. They’re full of hot air and blow a lot of smoke!
They use that in combination with tearing others down by being “abusive” (v2), “heartless…slanderous…brutal” (v3), “treacherous, reckless” (v4). The word “slanderous” speaks volumes. This is the Greek term διαβολος (diabolos). It paints the picture of an accuser or someone who is always tearing down others verbally. It’s should come as no surprise that this is the same word used for the Devil (Mt 4:1, 5, 8, 11). The word actually comes from a root word that describes throwing…as in throwing someone under the bus!
Most of us would take one look at this list and want nothing to do with anyone like this. There’s just one problem. They’re undercover. They’re incognito. Paul tips us off that they have “the appearance of godliness, but denying it’s power” (v5). The apostle wants us to know these are closer than you think. Chances are they are sitting right next to you in church or small group. They look good and godly from the outside.
From the outside, these folks appear to really get their worship on. You see, “godliness” (Gr. ευσεβια/eusebia) literally means “good (ευ-/eu-) worship (-σεβια/-sebia).” This may come as a shock to some of you, but worship isn’t just singing songs on Sunday. It’s a lot more than putting your hands in the air like you really do care.
Worship flows from a grateful heart and results in a lifestyle of grace. We worship well when we put into practice God’s truth. We worship well when we live what we say we believe. We worship well when we put others ahead of ourselves. We don’t just know God’s commands, we DO God’s commands! The big idea here? We may know all the words and sing louder than anybody without a mic, but that’s only the “appearance of godliness” (v5). We must be very careful that we haven’t made the deity in the morning mirror the REAL object of our praise.
They love me some me.
Oh, these snake oil salesmen put up a decent front but they actually have no real proof of God’s power in their lives. These people are “denying its power” (v5). A peak behind their hypocritical curtain shows there’s no real holiness, perseverance, or effectiveness when it comes to God’s kingdom.The Message knocks this out of the park when it says, “They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals” (v5 The Message).
At then end of this loathsome list, we come to the only command in it. “Avoid such people” (v5). It’s clear from the previous verses that Paul has high hopes for their repentance and restoration (2Tim 2:23-26). But he clearly knows desperate times call for desperate measures. He’s probably talking about kicking them to the curb and out of the congregation as a last resort.
The apostle drops a word here (Gr. αποτρεπω/apotrepo) that means to have nothing to do with or purposely avoid associating with someone. It literally means to turn yourself around. Put your whole self in, take your whole self out…and stay there! Does this mean the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about? When you find yourself around folks with a phony faith who refuse to change, give them your best spin move and get out of there. Turn before you get burned.
This is where things get hard. They may be people we love dearly. It can be hard to give someone a stiff arm after they’ve become close to you. I think the best way to understand the apostle’s command here is to limit their emotional access in your life. Be careful what you share. We don’t want to cut them off completely (unless they’re a threat to your safety or the ones you love).
I would suggest we treat them as unbelievers. Continue to love them. Continue to reach out to them. Continue to shower them with the grace of Jesus. The idea is repentance and restoration, not punishment and abandonment. Heartbreaking as it might be, God can use our strategic avoidance as a means to get someone’s attention. We need to be careful but we must keep in contact.
Mind if I ask you a question? Are people avoiding YOU? Could WE be the people Paul’s warning Tim about? Let’s face facts. If we’re not now, we used to be. This is EXACTLY the kind of folks we were before Jesus got His holy hands on us. That smacked me right in the throat when I read this list. Self-centered. Check. Self-absorbed. Check. Self-promoting. Check. Self-obsessed. Check.
I loved me some me.
There’s no doubt that I put up a good front back in the day. To be honest, there are times that I still do. But there’s one thing I couldn’t escape. God doesn’t see me the same way the world does. He sees my heart (1Sam 16:7). Better yet, He gives me a new heart (Ezek 36:26-27)!
Like Terrell Owens, I may love me some me but get this. Jesus loves me more than that. A whole lot more. And He loves you and me too much to let us stay that way.
Good morning Jay
ReplyDeleteGreat reminder of the facts on the ground. I had not read this scripture in some time but it is a reminder to me that some of the people in my life fit this category. That explains precisely why I have had a hard time 'figuring them out'.
Keep up the great work.
Good morning Jay
ReplyDeleteGreat reminder of the facts on the ground. I had not read this scripture in some time but it is a reminder to me that some of the people in my life fit this category. That explains precisely why I have had a hard time 'figuring them out'.
Keep up the great work.
Great to hear from you, Steve. Always appreciate your encouragement!
ReplyDelete