May 18 - Dirty Work of the Spirit

May 18 - Dirty Work of the Spirit - 1 Timothy 6:11-16

Diane says:
In contrast with the 'some people' of 1 Timothy 6:10, Timothy was to pursue (chase after) personal virtues. This list can be compared to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 and the requirements for elders in 1 Timothy 3:1-13.

The confession that Timothy made in front of many witnesses was likely his baptism. Paul makes his most solemn charge to Timothy here - to keep the commandment - which is the entire body of teaching that Timothy has received from Jesus and from Paul.

Paul was aware that Jesus might not return immediately and encouraged Timothy to always be prepared. God would bring the Messiah back in His time. With these words he transitions to a glorious doxology, praising the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Rebecca says:
Growing up I was a fan of dolls. I loved them; every type, shape and size. At my mother's house, I had a set of porcelain collector dolls that sat on a shelf and wore beautiful satin dresses and carried parasols. At my father's house I had two baby dolls that I played with and carried and fed on a daily basis. Both were the same but I preferred the blond over the brunette only because her eyes closed when I laid her down to sleep and to a four year old that was a pretty big thing. Since I preferred her, she also tended to look like she was my favorite, she was worn around the edges, hair sticking straight up in every direction, pen marks on her face from where I tried to enhance her appearance, her skin was more brown than porcelain from long days out in the yard laying in the dirt as she took her naps, her clothes a little tattered from all my constant costume changes. She was at the very least grubby, but I loved her. She was a treasure to me and when my grandpa came to visit and sat down to play dolls with me I always let him play with her and I kept the 2nd rate brunette that looked brand new. I remember every time he would laugh at her hair and what a wreck she looked like, but he knew she meant a great deal to me and considered it a privilege that I entrusted him with her well being and always treated her that way.

I was thinking of those dolls as I read this section of Timothy. In this short little section of verses there are a lot of 'charges' Paul gives to Timothy. Action commands like 'pursue' and 'take hold' and 'fight the good fight.' In this little passage, Paul is basically telling Timothy to get down and dirty with the gospel, to use and reuse all of the ins and outs of it so that he can carry out all he is commanded to do in this area.

Sometimes I think we take the gospel and all its good parts, the righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness and we treasure it so much that it becomes like one of those porcelain dolls I had at my mother’s house sitting on a shelf. We value it to such a degree that we are almost afraid to get down and dirty with it day after day because we don’t want to mess it up. When I took those porcelain dolls down I attempted to play with them but they were stiff and rigid, and their clothes did not lend themselves to costume changes and their parasols were too delicate to play in the dirt with. Their hair always remained in the tidy bun it came packaged with because I would not dare take a brush to it and put my little strawberry shortcake barrettes in it. They had long dresses with huge petticoats that kept you from cradling them comfortably. In many ways the gospel is that same way to us. We put God and all His glory up on a shelf and we rarely take it down and just 'play' with Him daily. We dare not mess up His heavenly robes with this muckity muck life and so we don’t drag him into the bars, or out onto the streets and wade in the filth of this world. Instead we keep him in nice clean chapels with nice clean ladylike discussions because we don't want to taint or tarnish all that righteousness. If we begin to rub elbows with dirty filthy scallywags then we fear some of that dirt may rub off on us and get our porcelain perfection mussed up and undo that perfect little bun of hair.

But Paul reminds Timothy that what he holds in his hands, the righteousness, godliness, etc. was not made to sit on a shelf and look pretty but to be like my favorite baby doll and used day after day. It is durable because it was given life by God the "blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings, Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light." He has given us righteousness, godliness, faith, Love, endurance and gentleness; treasures that He himself has worked through to perfection. He lends it to us the same way I gave my favorite worn out doll to my grandfather because I loved him and wanted him to have the very pick of the litter.

God gives us these things to be utilized so that we can get down and dirty with them and fight the good fight of faith. He has blessed us with the very best parts of himself so that we can work them through. Fruits of the Spirit are not meant for a shelf, they are not the porcelain dolls of faith that are just there to give a shiny perfect appearancesto those of us that proclaim to be Christian. They are tools; the durable, strong, well worn, tried and true tools that He himself has handled and now lends to us so that we can dig in and do the work we are called to do.

Paul rarely had a porcelain doll of faith. Every story that you read about him involves some sort of action command. If his faith was personified in a doll I have no doubt that it would resemble my favorite little blond with the pen marks and frayed hair. And it is my hope that when it comes time for me to return my own little doll of faith, it too will be grubby and worn and tattered and a little frayed around the edges because I doubt there are shelves in heaven and I am certain there is no need for satin parasols!