Thursday, June 24

Spiritual champions

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 7-8, Psalm 74, 1 Timothy 4

1 Timothy 4:7–8 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Observation

Paul instructs Timothy to have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales—“myths fit only for the godless and gullible” (NET).  Evidently, then as now, untrue stories were being passed along and believed.  Have nothing to do with this nonsense.

Instead, Paul wanted Timothy (and us) to “train yourself to be godly.”  Paul was fond of using athletic images, as were the church fathers after him.  He wanted “athletes for Christ,” spiritual champions.  To achieve this, one must train.  Spiritual training, like physical training, involves a set of practices, exercises that produce strength and stamina.  Just like one must work out to be physically fit, one must work out or exercise spiritually to be godly.

Application

Two things.

First, I am stunned and ashamed at how many Christians are swept up in myths, conspiracy theories, and “old wives tales.”  Q-anon, vaccine conspiracies, political myths (like Trump will be “reinstated”)—nonsense.  How I wish that Christians would spend as much time in their Bibles, in prayer, in spiritual exercises as they did online, listening to talk radio, or watching TV.  Better yet, let’s abandon those sources of myths altogether and let’s spend more time in God’s word, more time in spiritual exercises such as prayer, solitude, silence, fasting, worship, and service.  I’m praying for God’s people to become godly, the spiritual champions Paul dreamed of, rather than the gullible purveyors of godless myths.  

Second, for that prayer to be answered, for God’s people to become spiritual champions, there are no shortcuts.  We must train.  The Greek word is gumnazo.  We get “gymnasium” from it.  It was the word for athletic training or practice or exercise.  We must inspire believers to championship performance and this can only happen by training like champions!  You won’t run a marathon without training.  You won’t make 100 free throws in a row without practice.  And you won’t be godly, a spiritual champion, without spiritual training.  I mentioned some of the exercises above: prayer, solitude, silence, fasting, worship, and service.  There are many others.  If you want to learn more, here are few helpful books:

      • Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster
      • The Life You’ve Always Wanted, by John Ortberg
      • Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, by Pete Scazzero
      • Sacred Rhythms, by Ruth Haley Barton
      • The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard

Prayer: Lord, help us to take seriously our spiritual training and become the champions You dreamed we could be!