Have you been watching “The Apprentice”? I found this on the website
‘Do you think you could be Sir Alan’s next apprentice? Sir Alan Sugar has started the hunt for his next Apprentice. As usual, he is looking for someone ‘drop dead shrewd’ – someone with some business experience and obvious real potential, a leader with a wide range of skills, who is creative, sparky and bright.’
I don’t watch the Apprentice – but I’ve seen snippets. My wife summarised it well. “It’s people doing whatever they can to build themselves up by putting others down”. Granted, that is not all there is to it – but much of it is exactly that – arguing, back-stabbing and making yourself look good. Ruthless, hard nosed leaders seem to be the order of the day.
And what is fascinating is a comparison with 1 Timothy 3.
The context
Paul writes this little letter to Timothy – the young, gifted ‘man of God’1 who he has left in Ephesus. His role – to seek to build up the church of God in the cultural hotchpotch of first century Ephesus.
Ephesus itself is a city best known for its plethora of temples for idol worship which was in the blood in Ephesus. And standing head and shoulders above the others was the temple of Artemis .
The pressure from outside the church, seeking to squeeze it and shape it was extreme.
But the pressure from within the church was just as extreme and much of Paul’s first letter to Timothy is addressing this pressure – the pressure coming from the false teachers within the church.
These people are teaching false doctrines, devoting themselves to myths and genealogies, encouraging controversy and argument and dispute within the church2. Paul goes as far as speaking of “deceiving spirits and things taught by demons”3
There is poison within the church in Ephesus, and it is poison that is so dangerous that the church is at stake.
So, as the young man with a responsibility to build up this church, what is Timothy’s role in this poisonous, predicament?
Firstly, it is imperative that he leads the stand against the false teachers. To ‘fight the good fight’4, to point out there distorting, corroding, venomous teaching for what it is.
But it is more than that. His second role is to get the people the Ephesians back in touch with and under the influence of the truth.
When I was 17, a friend of mine went out with a bunch of mates. She drank a whole bottle of Vodka in 30mins. She collapsed so her friends called an ambulance. When she got to hospital, the doctors had to do 2 things. Firstly, they pumped her stomach to get rid of as much of the alcohol that remained as possible. The second thing they had to do was deal with alcohol in her blood system. 8 units of fresh, un-poisoned blood, and a couple of days later she was released – thankful for her life and ashamed of her behaviour.
This is a grim story, but no grimmer than the situation in Ephesus. Timothy not only needed to vomit out of the church of Ephesus the false teaching that was like poison to them, but he needed to replace it with pure, godly, life-changing sincere truth.
The issue at stake here is nothing less than the integrity, the witness and the voice of the church.
I’m not great at remembering birthdays, and from experience I’ve learnt that if you forget one – the pressure is really on for the next year. When the next year arrives, I am more determined to get it right. Even if I’m seeing the person on their birthday, or a few days after, I will put a card or present in the post so that it definitely gets to them – in case I don’t manage it!
Look at 3:14-16 and you’ll find that Paul is doing the same thing.
Paul has something to tell Timothy – something so important that he says “I am writing these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth!”
In case I don’t make it to tell you in person – here is the life-saving information about “how people ought to conduct themselves” in the church.
But how people behave is tied in with the role of the church – so Paul uses 2 images to help us to grasp our role.
God's family
God’s household. God is Father; Christians are brothers and sisters, related to the Father. The church is God’s community, this living organism made up of relationships, families etc. This family community is important. As we will see, Paul tells us that church leaders are to have obedient and respectful children because “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?”5
What do you look for in a church? A place where you are taught well? Yes, that is important but it is only one facet of being a “family” – a community where it is clear that it is God’s household, you are loved well, and encouraged to love well.
The second image he uses is that of a building.
God's building
The church is God’s temple – in which he lives and we are the bricks and mortar – the bricks and stone. But this church – made up of people is and encapsulates the truth. “The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” It is what we believe, but the truth is Christ, and the church is the body of Christ. So the pillar and foundation of the truth is what we are, it is what has captures our hearts, what drives us, what possesses us.
Paul makes this clear by going on to expand on this truth in v16.
This is a notoriously tricky verse to understand, there being much discussion about how to understand each phrase clearly. Gordon Fee said of this verse “In view of so many difficulties and disagreements, one offers an interpretation with some reservation.”6
Most likely it is part of a song that encapsulates the truth with the first 3 lines paralleling the second 3 lines.
So, a quick overview
A He appeared in a body – in the world (Humiliation)
B Was vindicated (justified) by the Spirit – resurrection (Exaltation)
C Was seen by angels – in heaven (Glorification)
A1 Preached among the nations (Humiliation)
B1 Was believed on in the world (Exaltation in peoples hearts)
C1 Was taken up in glory (Emphasizing the triumph and glorification of Christ – that the church is included in) (Glorification)
In other words – Jesus physical ministry on earth and then his ongoing ministry through the church. This is the mystery of “The Godliness” - the truth, the pillar and foundation.
This is what has been entrusted to the church, and this is what makes the church worth fighting for. It is what makes Paul care so much that Timothy gets this message and acts upon it. This is the truth Timothy must bring the church back under the influence of – because the church is about the ministry of Christ on earth now – which leads to his exaltation and glorification.
And this is the ministry and role of the church today. We are the pillar and foundation of the truth in a society that has forgotten God.
We are increasingly in an environment where our nation seems to be balanced on a ledge – yet to decide which way to fall. Are we to be a country where faith communities and beliefs are considered legitimate, vital parts of the community or are we to be a secular state with our laws and culture effectively outlawing faith in the risen Christ?
The outward pressure is extreme. But how we respond that that inwardly is crucial. How do we deal witht the truths of the gospel in the wolrd we live in? How do we understand them, teach them and not compromise whilst communicating effectively?
This is the task – the church, as at all times since Paul wrote these words, is at stake. What is required for us to stand?Leadership. Which is why Paul tells us the type of leaders we need to continue to be the community of God’s household, the pillar and foundation of the truth!