6/2/13 2 Timothy 2:22-24 Serenity Now

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1 & 2 Timothy: Growing Up In The Faith

Week 3: Serenity Now

June 2, 2013

 

GETTING THINGS STARTED

  • Do you prefer when people treat you rudely or kindly? Why?
  • How do people respond to how they are being treated? For instance, if you treat someone with kindness, how do they usually respond? Is the same true for treating someone with hostility?
  • Why are we prone to respond this way?

 

Friendships are at the heart of being a teenager.  And with friendships come good and bad times.  No matter how good of friends you are with someone, arguments will happen.  How we respond to those arguments reveals what’s really in our hearts.  If we react with hostility, we almost guarantee we’ll provoke a hostile response in them.  Or we can respond with kindness and peacefulness.

 

Read 2 Timothy 2:22-24 (nlt)

22Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

 

23Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 24A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.

 

 

Paul is writing 2 Timothy from a prison in Rome.  Most scholars date this letter to Paul’s second imprisonment, which would have been after the imprisonment recorded at the end of Acts.  Paul’s purpose in 2 Timothy is to encourage and embolden his friend, a young pastor.  At a time when persecution of Christians had begun in earnest, Paul was being the spiritual leader he had grown into, challenging the younger Timothy to keep the faith.

 

Paul was warning Timothy of false teachers and was encouraging him to live differently. Paul echoes some of the same language from the passages already studied in this series, driving home the importance of living a God-honoring life.  But in this passage, Paul adds a new element, one that is extremely important for Timothy and for us.

 

Paul challenges Timothy to be a peacemaker.  In the specific context of this passage, Paul is probably speaking about false teaching that leads to quarrels.  But the concept is certainly applicable to any situation where Christians find themselves in the midst of a disagreement. Wherever possible, as Christ-followers we ought to live at peace with all people.  More than that, we should seek to help foster peace between others.  It’s a distinguishing characteristic of those who love Jesus.

 

 

Let’s take a deeper look at Paul’s words to Timothy about what to avoid and what to pursue, especially when it comes to relationships.

 

 

1. Pursue peace instead of drama

 

  • Why do the teenage years seem to be filled with so much drama?  Do you think life becomes less dramatic as you get older?  Why or why not?

 

Answers given: hormones, pre-frontal cortex misfires during early teenage years.

 

  • How can pursuing things that stimulate youthful lusts, as verse 22 warns against, create drama in your life?

 

During today’s discussion, the group mentioned that guys usually struggle with lust after women, especially when exposed to advertisements from Victoria Secrets or Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, but you never see a girl lust after boys’ topless bodies off the Abercrombie and Fitch shopping bags.  They just want the shirts they were wearing.  Common lust is food, clothing (shoes, etc) for women.  In fact, two girls during a recent prom got angry when they ended up in public wearing the same dress.  This unspoken rule that a woman’s outfit must be unique fuels People’s magazine articles on “who wore it better” among celebrities who were caught wearing the same attire in usually different settings.

 

  • Paul’s words to Timothy echo the passage we studied in our first lesson, when he encouraged Timothy to be a person who set a God-honoring example.  Why was Paul so concerned about Timothy, a young leader, being a person of love and faith?
  • Paul also tells Timothy to pursue peace.  Where do you see a lack of peace in your life and relationships?  Which relationships are peaceful ones for you?

 

Paul says that we are to pursue peace.  This word pursue is an action verb.  It doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to sit back and not participate in the drama.  It means we’re supposed to seek out the best in our relationships with our friends and family, and be part of the solution of bringing peace and harmony to them.  We are to be people who want love and faith and peace to be a significant part of our lives.

 

 

2. Avoid the “small stuff”

 

  • In the context of this letter to Timothy, Paul is probably first talking about disagreements and arguments regarding different teachings about God.  How often are you aware of disagreements between people who believe in God?  Is it something you encounter?  If so, what kinds of things have you heard people disagree on?

 

Roman catholic and Orthodox church in the first millenium.

 

King of England’s (Henry VIII) separation from Catholic church (English Reformation) when he wanted to annul his marriage and marry another woman.  This king’s reign in the early 1500s was also marked by six different wives, including Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.  They are now known as the Episcopalian church.

 

Martin Luther, a German monk, was part of the Protestant Reformation when he confronted the indulgences of the Catholic church in his 95-Theses.  He translated the Bible into vernacular (instead of Latin) and made the Bible more personally available to the individual Christian.  He also allowed protestant priests to marry and set the example by his marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun.  They probably had 1 Timothy 4:1-3 in mind when they took issue with the Catholic church’s stance on forbidding priests and nuns to marry.

One can only count the number of different denominations in our own city.  Korean churches here are known for church splits.  One Pentecostal church in town even split when they disagreed on the length of skirt women were supposed to wear—ankle high or knee high.

 

In the past few years, there is a growing dissention about same-sex marriages in churches.  People say they believe in God but do not believe the parts in the Bible that talks about homosexuality.  Kirk of the Hills recently left their denomination over the ordination of gay clergy in the PCUSA.  Just this past week, ESPN dedicated an entire magazine on gay athletes like former female Baylor basketball NCAA champion Brittney Griner, NBA’s Jason Collins, and NFL’s Offensive Lineman Kwame Harris that stirred up conversation among believers.

 

We are blessed that our church was not the result of a split.  We were formed independently and have stuck to the original vision, despite other members departing and forming their own church.

 

  • Are there major issues surrounding God and his ways that are worth taking a stand for, even if it results in a disagreement? If so, what would those be?
  • If we expand Paul’s definition to include any argument that is minor or doesn’t have any real merit, what is Paul really saying to us?

 

“Don’t major on the minors”, ….

 

  • Why is it so easy to get wrapped up in an argument?

 

 

In God’s kingdom, there is room for a difference of opinion between Christians.  Scripture allows for some gray areas.  However, Scripture is also black and white about many things. And in these areas, it’s important not to get distracted by arguments.  But from a broader perspective, avoiding arguments over life’s “small stuff” is great advice.  Many conflicts can be traced back to arguments over issues with ultimately little significance.

 

 

3. Imitate God’s kindness and patience

 

  • What are some of the possible results of arguments with or between friends?

 

Have you known youth groups who had members who dated each other and then broke up?  How did that affect other members and the dynamic of the youth group?  What about in your school?

 

  • How is kindness, which Paul mentions in verse 24, an argument killer?

 

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

On the other hand,

Proverbs 25:21-22 and Romans 12:20 says “If your enemy is hungry, given him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”  Seems like being nice can make some people more angry.  Maybe they failed in luring you down to their debased position of bad attitude and shouting match which may reflect embarrassingly on their own childishness and lack of presence and proper behavior.

 

  • What will kindness ultimately do for your relationships with others?

 

Kindness is so hard sometimes!  Especially when the object of our kindness is not doing anything to earn it.  But this truth actually separates a kindness motivated by Christ from the kindness of just being a nice person.  The love and kindness of Christ shows itself regardless of whether or not the other person or people deserve it.  In fact, in many cases, it is a kindness that is displayed in the face of hostility.  If we demonstrate a kindness that is born out of Christ in our lives, we stand a better chance of uplifting peace in our interactions with others.

 

 

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

1 Corinthians 1:10 (nlt)

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other.  Let there be no divisions in the church.  Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

 

  • Read 1 Corinthians 1:10.  Unity is an interesting concept.  What does it mean to have unity among those who believe in and follow Christ?

 

  • Does this mean all Christ-followers ought to think the same on every issue?  Why or why not?

 

  • If everyone who followed Jesus made more of an effort to be united with other Christians, how might our culture view the church differently?

 

 

APPLICATION

  • What role can you play in resolving conflict, instead of allowing disagreements to continue or grow?

 

  • How can you avoid drama-filled relationships and pursue peace-filled relationships? What situations or groups of people might you choose to avoid if you want to make better choices of friends?

 

  • What are some specific ways you can demonstrate kindness this next week—especially to people who don’t deserve kindness?

 

 

SUMMARY

Conflict among friends is a byproduct of teenagers’ relationship-driven world.  With students naturally volatile due to the physiological flux that defines the teenage years, drama happens; it’s unavoidable. The great thing is that the Bible speaks to this issue.  This lesson challenged us to be peacemakers and to approach arguments with a reasonable, kind, and patient spirit.

 

 

For Keeps [Memory Verse]

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts (2 Timothy 2:22 NLT).

 

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