I want you think about two moments from your life. The two moments I’m asking you to think about are times in which you felt pressure, maybe tremendous pressure, to take the easy path, but not the best or wiser path. Think about that time that you gave into the pressure and think about that time that you stood up to and resisted the pressure. We could be talking about saying no to a donut. We could be talking about saying no to the late-night call from your ex.
Now, how differently do those two moments from your life feel? In the moment that we gave into pressure, maybe we would describe that as feeling stuck or trapped. And in the moment that we resisted the pressure, even if it was scary, I bet a lot of us would describe that as feeling like freedom.
If you were to evaluate the backstory of your life, I think you’ll discover that the times you felt most free were also times that you weren’t dictated to by your circumstances. Isn’t this true? The most free people you know are defined by something that transcends their circumstances. Yes, they feel pressure just like anyone else. No, they are not apathetic and cold. And yet, their identity and way of being allows them to be in all kinds of situations, but without losing their sense of self or integrity. What we’re talking about is resilience.
Isn’t that what we want for ourselves? Isn’t that what we want for our own kids and other young adults who want to help launch in life?
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-15
This a letter from an old, seasoned leader to a much younger leader. The Apostle Paul wanted Timothy to experience a full and free life. He wanted that for all the folks in the church at Ephesus. The problem was that the church experienced external and internal pressures to be something other, to be something lesser. Do you ever feel pressure to be a smaller, lesser version than the real you? As your finding 1 Timothy in your Bible or on your phone, I’m going to read what we’re treating as the theme verse of this letter.
1 TIMOTHY 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
This all about fully integrating the truth that we believe and teach with all of our lives. Our series thesis is a reminder of the relationship between what we know and teach with what we model.
SERIES THESIS: We teach WHAT we know but reproduce WHO we are.
Resilience happens when our knowledge of the truth and our conformity to the truth, or our alignment with the truth clicks in and doesn’t unravel, even when we feel pressure. Unfortunately, the church in Ephesus didn’t have that. And it’s the job of leaders to nurture and cultivate growth when it’s needed and where it’s needed.
This church was unraveling. There were cultural pressures on the outside. There were internal pressures from false teachers. The result was division, and fighting, and for some folks their faith was shipwrecked. That’s the backdrop. Let’s read chapter 2.
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-15 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
Verses 11-15 are famous for confusion and controversy. I think you can see why. We’re not going to tackle them today. That’s going to be next week. I promise you that we will address every word of it head on and we won’t flinch. This is what I’m asking of you. I want you to make a point to be a one of our services next weekend. It’s going to be huge for our church. I think it will be important for each of us individually—both men and women. If you have a friend who is convinced that churches have gone soft and are ignoring this—I want you to bring your friend. If you have a friend who is convinced a serious reading of the Bible is misogynistic—I want you to bring your friend with you. If you have a friend who feels just as confused about those verses as you do—I want you to bring that friend with you.
We’re going to host two church family meetings where we talk about this subject more and those meetings will include a Q&A. We’re going to do that on Sunday nights February 25th and March 10th. But if you just can’t wait till then, we host a live Q&A at the end of almost every Saturday night service. You can come to that next weekend.
Today we’re leaning into verses 1-10. What is the pathway to return to resilience and freedom and thriving, even with all this pressure squeezing the church?
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Prayer is our FIRST response, not a LAST resort.
This command, this call to prayer chips away at our bent toward tribalism. It chips away at our pride. And it cultivates submission in us. That’s where strength is found.
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Wherever there is conflict, and this church had conflict. Wherever there is conflict you will find unmet expectations and unfulfilled desires every time. This call to prayer gets our attention off ourselves. It gets our attention off our group. It reorients our thinking and our affections to align with what is in the best interest of the other. May we be a church like this. May we be people who treat prayer like a first response and never like a last resort.
Not only are we supposed to pray for all people, even the people we are in conflict with, we are to pray for kings and all those in authority. What I want to bring our attention to is this word, “thanksgiving.” When it comes to those people who have authority over you and me, whose power is greater than your power and my power, we are to pray for them and with gratitude.
- But what about those politicians and government leaders who use their power in ways we can’t endorse? Pray with thanksgiving for them too.
- But what about the people in office who I voted against or even campaigned against? Pray with thanksgiving for them too.
This is a call to radical, uncommon humility and submission. Who in here loves submission? Is it your favorite? How many of us want to change the wording just slightly? Where it says pray “for” let’s change that to pray “against.” Wouldn’t this be easier, maybe even more fun of a command, if it said pray against? But that isn’t the pathway to peace and goodness and holiness.
This is the way to live a life of peace and quiet and holiness. We pray for and we express gratitude for, and we trust God with the results, whatever they may be. This is the way to integrate what we know with who we are.
When we were in Ghana a couple of weeks ago, we were given audience with the Yaa Naa, monarch of the Dagbon Kingdom. He honored me with this gift. I think I might be a citizen of the kingdom now. This was a special moment. But I didn’t deserve it. This is really about what he’s experienced from Christians for many years.
This king was so incredibly grateful for the way that we are investing in his people. For years and years men like Pastor Otis and Muss, our partner there, have been investing in the people. And Muss has laid a foundation of honor and respect and godly submission. He has lived out the gospel in such a way that this king loves pastors, and Christians, and literally tried to get us to stay for a year. What you don’t know is that this king is a committed Muslim. And he loves it when we show up to plant churches!
There is no formula to this. I’m NOT suggesting that if you do the right Christian things, in the right way, at the right time, that this kind of result is guaranteed. Nope. That’s not it all. All I know is that this is the way of Jesus. He is calling us to humility, submission, gratitude, and prayer. This is the way of peace, quiet, goodness, and holiness.
I want to be crystal clear. This moment didn’t happen because of my example. It was the godly example of others. I don’t know what’s true for you, but I’m going to keep it real with you about me. The people I’m least likely to pray for are the people I’m mad at and the politicians I disagree with. As I’ve prepared for this series, I have felt convicted. It’s as if the Holy Spirit has said to me, “You need to start praying for people in authority, who have big leadership responsibility.” I know how hard and demanding leadership can be. I know how grateful I am of people who pray for me. So I’ve resolved that I’m going to grow in this. Maybe we can grow in it together.
It's my hope that your small group will rally around this. If you’re not exactly sure how to get started, I think Clement of Rome can help us. He was a church leader, in Rome, in the first century. This is how he taught believers, who were under persecution, to pray for those in authority.
Grant them, Lord, health, peace, harmony and stability, so that they may give no offense in administering the government you have given them. –Clement of Rome
I wonder what it would be like if locally, our elected officials were convinced that we gratefully and humbly desiring the best for them. I wonder what it would be like if statewide, our elected officials were convinced that we gratefully and humbly desiring the best for them. I wonder what it would be like if nationally, our elected officials were convinced that we gratefully and humbly desiring the best for them. I can’t control any of that and neither can you. What we can control is what we contribute. Let’s start here.
1 TIMOTHY 2:3-6 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.
Notice how he links our humility and submission to the mission. There is something bigger than ourselves at stake. God is invested in all people hearing the gospel. God is invested in all people being convinced of the trustworthiness of the gospel. God is inveted in and desiring for all people to receive new life, forgiveness, love, and acceptance in Christ.
This is stunning. Our humility and our submission is woven into God’s mission to save people. The Apostle Paul is doing the same thing we saw in chapter one. The solution to the problem at hand is not leadership tactics and techniques. The solution is to remember the gospel. This is gospel fluency.
GOSPEL FLUENCY
- Identify the CONTENT of the gospel.
God loves all people. God wants all people to be saved from shame and sin and death and moral brokenness. That’s why Jesus came. There is no other way to receive that expect by him and through him. In his own display of humble submission, he paid the price for our sin on the cross. This is good news.
- Understand the IMPLICATIONS of the gospel.
- Apply the MOTIVATIONS of the gospel.
We are motivated to not just proclaim it, but to model it with our very lives. What motivates us. We just love seeing people find freedom and new life in Christ. It’s awesome. We’ve got the content. We’ve got the motivation. So, what’s the implication of the gospel?
1 TIMOTHY 2:8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.
Alright men, this is for us. This an implication of the gospel. Because we are loved by God, because Jesus humbly and submissively gave his own life as a ransom, bringing us freedom and new life—we should be humble, submissive, peaceful men of prayer.
Weak churches have SELF-RELIANT men. Strong churches have SUBMITTED men.
I read something from Dallas Willard once. He said, we give our best, but we don’t trust our best. Men, we give our best. We don’t trust our best. The difference between those two is the difference between peace and chaos. Men, do you know we leverage our anger and fight? Some of us are too savvy to fight. Instead, we opt for tactics and strategies to oppose our brothers in Christ in an effort to get our way? That’s just a different form of fighting. Do you know why we do that?
We do that whenever we think achieving our way, achieving our agenda is the solution. We leverage our anger, we fight, dispute and divide in those moments that we trust our best. That’ll make a church weak, every time. Here’s the rub. The thing we want, our agenda, may be the right and wise thing to do. But as soon as rely on our best effort to make it a reality, we’ve mixed in something ugly.
Men, this is what makes a church strong. Men, this is what protects a church from ugliness, from fighting and from division. We always give our very best, but we trust in Jesus and follow the way of Jesus. We refuse to adopt an ends justifies the means attitude. We are so committed to Jesus and we trust him so much, we would not get our way than violate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
STORY: Prayer at KFPC
Weak churches have self-reliant men. Strong churches have submitted men. So, what’s the gospel implication for women?
1 TIMOTHY 2:9-10 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
I can completely understand why someone might feel like this is out of balance. On the face of it, it sounds like men are being told to do important stuff, like pray. And the ladies are told to sit there and look pretty, but not too pretty. Is this about women’s bodies and making sure that they don’t get too much attention?
We’re not going to be able to understand this verse if we don’t first understand the Cult of Artemis in Ephesus. In their belief, the goddess Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollos. But she was born first. She had the position of honor. She was referred described as lord, as god and as savior. She was not a fertility goddess. She was committed to life-long singleness and chastity. She was the protector of women in childbirth. Both men and women in Ephesus revered Artemis. There was an entire industry based on Artemis worship and it brough massive wealth to the people of Ephesus.
Women were the central figures in Artemis worship. Remember, it was not sexual. But power and status and wealth were woven in and mixed in with Artemis worship. Common cultural practice in Ephesus was to establish you dominance and influence with clothing, jewelry and elaborate hairstyles.
Modesty is not a command against flaunting sexuality. It’s a command against flaunting WEALTH and STATUS.
Believe it or not, the gospel implication given to women is the same as the one given to the men. Men are not to leverage anger and strength to impose their agenda. Women are not leverage wealth and status to impose their agenda. The way of Jesus is humble submission for both.
This is not about yoga pants. This is about refusing to use an advantage to take advantage over others. In the way of Jesus, we embrace humble submission because we are called to lives of peace and quietness. There’s an irony here. When we’re not used to peace, peace can feel disruptive.
Sometimes PEACE requires DISRUPTING the status quo.
Across the Roman Empire, including the city of Ephesus, people were used to peace through violence. The historian Tom Holland described the Roman Empire as having a monopoly on violence. The Pax Romana, which means Roman Peace, is better understood Roman Pacification. Might makes right. Use whatever advantage you have to take advantage of people and situations. That was a celebrated virtue.
- Men enjoyed advantages over women.
- Strong men enjoyed advantages over weaker men.
- The rich enjoyed advantages over the poor.
- The free enjoyed advantages over the slaves.
And if you’re on the wrong end of things, too bad. Can you imagine how weird and disruptive it must have seemed to encounter people who rejected violence and power as a way to peace and instead saw humility and mutual submission as the way to peace?
Sandra Glahn is a scholar and may be the leading expert on the impact of Artemis worship on the church in Ephesus. I want us to hear how she describes just how upside down this was. Talking about congregations meeting in house churches, she writes.
In such a gathering, ‘a slave could be an elder over a master, [and] clothing among men and women could subvert and reinscribe social demarcations of power, class, and worth. In such gatherings the poor or slaves would enter feeling welcome, as their appearance lacked the usual markings that revealed their rank in the social hierarchy.’ Indeed, in such a place a slave could become a bishop, and a paterfamilias [head of the family] would wash a slave’s feet. –Sandra Glahn
Do you think in a group like that it would be easier to see the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus?
If we were so compelled by the love of Jesus that we wanted him to do that in us to, it’s going to require that trust his way, not our way. This doesn’t come naturally. And that’s OK. It comes supernaturally. And we might find that following him into humility and submission creates some turbulence.
I’m up for that. I so convinced that Jesus’ way is better than my way, that I want to align with the truth. I don’t just regurgitate what’s true. Remember our series thesis.
SERIES THESIS: We teach WHAT we know but reproduce WHO we are.
Following Jesus creates a new culture. Living out the gospel cultivates a new way of being. It motivates me like crazy to know that God wants to use the example of our lives to draw people to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
We get to show off the goodness of Jesus by living lives that are unimpressed with power, privilege, wealth and status. We get to tell the truth and we get to show the truth. That’s powerful. I want to close with this thought.
To the extent that we refuse to play the game of status, privilege, and prestige, we will be curious and compellingambassadors for Jesus.