"Myths and Endless Genealogies"

SPECULATION, DEBATE, AND DISTRACTION: 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (part 4)

At first glance, this warning would seem to be as far away from our experience as the world of late classical Asia Minor, where Timothy lived and served Christ, is from modern America.

But that would be a way too facile conclusion!

We may not labor under the polytheistic tales (that we call "myths") of the ancients -- which many of them didn't believe, either, for various reasons, one of which is that they were often offensive to reason. (This was important to folks even before the Enlightenment, though we often forget it!) Or the myths of the Jewish people about various kinds of odd creatures and spiritual forces that would also seem alien to us. We also don't find it imperative to trace our ancestry back to remote times in order to establish our links with Abraham or other "greats" of old. (DAR/CAR members and others with similar noteworthy ancestry may be an exception here, too.)

Still, we have our own chimeras which distract us from the faith. The myth that God really doesn't care very much about my petty and fully understandable lapses, but is very concerned about my neighbor's. The myth that it doesn't really matter what I believe, as long as I'm sincere (or what I do, so long as I mean well and my intention is "pure" -- which turns out to be a pretty fluid category). The myth that all roads lead equally to God. Then there are the genealogies. In this election season, one of the most persistent and annoying ones is that "real" Christians must think and vote a certain way ... their political pedigree must be pure to be spiritually authentic. And speculation follows: what happens if the other guy wins? if the ideology I'm so passionate about (economic, political, social) doesn't carry the day?

The Apostle reminds Timothy to sweep aside, or rather to eschew in the first place, these tugs which tend to pull us off the road of discipleship and into the thicket of fruitless wanderings, arguings, and imaginings. They also tend to produce controversy which we don't need. He calls us instead to stick to the "stewardship" (or "good order") -- the right way of organizing our minds and actions which come to us from God by faith in Jesus Christ. To focus radically on what God has revealed and requires of us, rather than what we tend to substitute for it.

Lord, how easy it is for me to get sidetracked by the bright and shiny lures of pet ideas, partisan alliances, and idle speculations that glitter before me every day. Keep me single in my focus on you, and let me be an encourager of others for the same, to the end of good stewardship of your message of salvation. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)