“holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith” (1Tim 1:19).
It’s a familiar tune with legendary lyrics. Let’s all sing along…
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip,
that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.
Now that I’ve got that ear worm crammed deep into your consciousness, you may be wondering what in the wide world of sports does the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island” have to do with our faith in Jesus and Paul’s letter to Timothy? So glad you asked.
One is a cheesy 60s sitcom and the other a first century tragedy of epic proportions. But they both tell the story of tragedy that could have been avoided. The Skipper and his little buddy thought they were taking folks for a three-hour tour but clearly failed to check the forecast. Meanwhile, the apostle tells his sidekick the importance of listening to warnings. He encourages Timothy to continue “holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made a shipwreck of their faith” (v19). Paul describes the inevitable result of hurtling toward disaster while ignoring the alarms going off in our conscience. (That song is still running through head, isn’t it? For that, I’m sorry. Well, sort of.)
There’s quite a mess in Ephesus. While God has given Paul his next assignment somewhere in Macedonia, the apostle has left his protege to pastor the megachurch in the big port city. His assignment: to stuff a sock in team of false teachers who are distracting believers from the message of Jesus with a counterfeit gospel (1Tim 1:3-7). Paul reminds Tim that this is exactly the kind of confrontation people prophesied to be in his future back home in Lystra (1Tim 1:18). Apparently God has this showdown circled on His divine calendar for quite some time.
Before we compare the Minnow with the Ephesian spiritual shipwreck, Paul points out just how critical it is for Timothy to be “holding faith and a good conscience” (v19). We must do the same. Let’s be clear about what sort of faith we’re talking about here. This is NOT gritting your teeth, clinching your fists, and working up some sort of I-believe-this-will-happen-with-all-my-heart kind of wishful thinking. No matter how strongly you believe in something, it doesn’t mean it’s trustworthy. Faith is all about the object. It’s ALL about what or whom you’re placing your trust.
When the writers of the Bible talk about faith, they’re talking about trusting in the goodness of God. In the New Testament, the specific object of our trust is Jesus Christ. We believe in Him when we place our trust in who He is and what He’s done for us. We’ve completely failed to live up to God’s perfect standard. Jesus nailed it. We totally deserve divine punishment for our rebellion and disobedience. Jesus took the full brunt of that for us. And there’s no way we earned resurrection life. But once again, Jesus handled that for us. He’s the ultimate object of faith. He did for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. We can’t buy our way of our situation just like Mr. and Mrs. Howell couldn’t buy their way off the island.
That’s the reason Paul tells Tim to hold onto his faith in Christ. Never forget who He is. Never forget what He’s done. Never forget where we would be without Him. “Holding faith” (v19) is putting a death grip on “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6). One of the subtle tricks spiritual con artists have up their sleeves is making folks put their faith in themselves. We mistakenly believe it’s up to us to keep ourselves in God’s kingdom by following a list of religious rules.
Here’s the big idea. Once Jesus saves you, you’re saved. Future failure does NOT disqualify you and me from salvation. Jesus died for ALL our sin. Past, present, and future. That’s the whole reason He shouted from the cross, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). There’s nothing left to do but trust in what He’s done. That’s what it means to be “holding faith” (v19). We’re NOT trusting in the Professor’s ability to turn a coconut into a shortwave radio.
Once you’ve placed our faith in Jesus, it’s important to pay close attention to your “good conscience” (v19). Throughout the Bible, we see the conscience serving as a sort of God-given warning system (Acts 23:1; 24:16; Rom 2:15; 9:1; 13:5). Combined with the supernatural guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God enables us to look out for trouble through our conscience. We’re to help out our friends who have what Paul calls a weak or malfunctioning conscience (1Cor 8:7-12). Paul instructs the followers of Jesus in Corinth to use this internal radar to determine what foods to eat (1Cor 10:25-29). Just to be clear, this had more to do with whether to eat meat used in idolatry than to going gluten-free.
A properly functioning conscience is key to keep us from slamming our faith on the rocks. So how do we make sure our warning system is tuned up and ready to go? That happens through simple the two-step process of confession and repentance. Notice that I said it was “simple” and not “easy.” First, we need to run TO Jesus and not away from Him when we sin. Go to God and admit your failure. There’s no reason to run and hide. Remember, He’s God. He already knows. And if you’re a follower of Jesus, He’s already forgiven you.
Step two is just as important. I must repent from what I’ve done. That’s more than just “I’m sorry I got caught.” This is doing a 180 away from my sin and heading back to my Savior. When we regularly confess and repent, we’re much more likely to pay attention to the blaring siren of our conscience. John MacArthur provides a powerful illustration, saying, “A good conscience serves as the rudder that steers the believer through the rocks and reefs of sin and error.” If only the Titanic’s captain wasn’t so cocky. If only the fearless crew of the Minnow had been paying attention.
Paul says ignoring the warning lights on the dashboard of their conscience got certain folks into what was certainly an avoidable accident. “By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith” (v19). Apparently, all the alarm bells were going off. These people simply ignored them. That’s the meaning of the Greek word behind “rejecting” (Gr. apotheomai). It means to push aside, use force to thrust off, or shove away. In Stephen’s sermon just before he was stoned, he told his killers about the time their ancestors rejected Moses and the Ten Commandments and “thrust him aside (Gr. apotheomai)” (Acts 7:39). Paul knows personally the pain of a spiritual stiff arm. During his first world Gospel tour, the Jews living in Pisidia totally freaked out when he and Barnabas told everyone that Jesus is Messiah. The apostle responds to them, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside (Gr. apotheomai) and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). Don’t make the same mistake and give your conscience the Heisman.
The result of shaking off these obvious warnings was spiritual carnage. They’ve “made shipwreck of their faith” (v19). Paul uses the same Greek verb here (Gr. nauageo) that he does when describing his rather sketchy seafaring history. “Three times I was shipwrecked (Gr. nauageo); a night and a day I was adrift at sea” (2Cor 11:25). So if anybody knows about shipwrecks, it’s Paul! I’ll be honest, if I saw the apostle walking up the gang plank to board my ship, you can bet I’m getting off! Ancient Greek authors outside the New Testament also use this term to describe a nasty chariot accident. Think plane crash. Train wreck. This is no little fender bender. When we ignore our God-given warning system, it’s going to be bad. Very bad.
This is a self-inflicted wound. When I reject what Jesus has done for me and stop listening to the alarms, I’m headed for the rocks. It’s not a question of if I’ll crash but when I’ll crash. But just because we’ve driven our faith off a cliff, it’s NOT fatal. Jesus will NEVER let you go if you’re truly His. There’s absolutely NOTHING that cuts us off from His love (Rom 8:31-39), including our own mistakes! Now that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences and terrible damage. I’m not sure about Ginger and Mary Ann, but we can be sure our Savior will come to our rescue.
Take it from Paul and Gilligan. There's a big difference between a three-hour tour and a lifetime of pain. In the meantime, let's all sing a long...
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