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Thursday, March 10, 2005
The baseball coach at my high school was very big on the concept of "team." It was all very stereotypical, really. Every player knowing his role. Every player covering his responsbilility. Every player using his strengths. Every player understanding the big picture. Everybody doing what's necessary for the team to win.
That all changed after the season in 1984.
That was the year my class graduated.
He asked all the seniors to come to his office. There was plenty of time since the season was over and we still had a class period for baseball built into our school day. Sitting in his office that day...well, the tone changed a bit.
Now it was about us as individuals, he said. Most of us were going off to college and would be living on our own for the first time, and I guess he wanted to dispense advice. Since I didn't have a dad in my teen years, I looked up to this coach a great deal. In fact, I wrote the things he said that day in my journal.
YOU need to keep on eating right.
YOU need to make sure to sleep right. (He said absolutely NOTHING GOOD happens after 2AM, so you definitely need to be in by that time)
YOU need to make going to classes a priority, and when you go to class, pay attention.
If YOU do those three simple things, college will be a snap for YOU.
At the time, we all nodded. Yeah, Coach, we got it. In theory, anyway, we did have it. It was the application that was difficult.
And in retrospect, he was absolutely correct. When I went by those things, my college life was a snap. It was when I'd start violating those simple things that there would be chaos in my life and grades would slip and I'd feel all sorts of pressure. I got serious about them pretty late in my sophomore year, and once I applied them consistently, well, suffice to say that I graduated from university in 3 years. My friends made fun of my "early" bed times (like midnight, but that was early for college) and how much time I spent reading and how dedicated I was about going to class and all that.
He was just giving the best advice he could give knowing what he knew about us.
And that's what Paul, the wise, aged pastor, was giving to Timothy, his understudy at the time when they were going their separate ways. Paul knew he was heading to his death at the hands of the Roman government. Timothy would be taking over. And here's what advice Paul gave to him (from The Message):
"But don't let it [pastors who would exploit the faith for personal gain] faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers--why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed in one way or another--showing us the truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."
It's really some simple little things at first glance. Very simple little edicts. But some terribly sound insights...and they're all PERSONAL to Timothy. It even starts out with something like, "don't let the reality that others are snakes faze YOU." See, it's personal.
Stick with what YOU already learned.
Stick with what YOU came to believe.
YOU learned these from YOUR teachers.
YOU took in the word from YOUR parents.
And this salvation you learned about is what all Scripture points to. I love the reality that Eugene Peterson, prolific author and translator of The Message translates verse 3:16 "God breathed." While he'll often play fast and loose with other bits of translation in that book, in this instance he stays literal. All Scripture is the very breath of God. It's alive! It's the Holy God of the universe TALKING to us!
I often hear teenagers say things like, "Well, I'd believe in God if I only knew how to get in touch with Him. If I knew what He'd say and saw it for myself, then I'd believe."
Paul is making the point that God is speaking to you. Through these sacred writings, it's like He is sitting across the table from you at the local Starbucks, telling you what He wants.
And what He wants is to show us the truth.
He wants to show us our rebellious hearts.
He wants us to correct our mistakes.
He wants to train us like a soldier to live His way.
Why?
So we can be "in shape" for the work He designed for us at the beginning of time.
How do we figure that out?
Through listening to His breath.
It may be words on a page, but they may as well be said out loud to us. Frankly, if we learn the truth, discover our rebellion, correct those areas and allow ourselves to be trained for the work God has for us to do...well, those really are simple edicts. Like the ones my coach gave me, the trick is in applying them.
But they are simple edicts.
And they are PERSONAL.
So, for today, how does this view of Scripture encourage you to want to spend more time in the Word? How can you apply those simple edicts? What practical steps can you use to get in the Word more...to "live there" like John 8:31 says?
Brent 4:39 AM
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