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Morning Meditation
October 17, 2025
Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
Paul’s writing to Timothy focuses much on how Timothy can recognize, fortify against, and respond to false prophets and teachers as Timothy led the fledgling church in Ephesus. This letter was a commendation for Timothy to persevere in faith despite the hardship he encountered. Paul, meanwhile, was soon to be martyred in prison. This context makes Paul’s letter more poignant.
Paul’s message to Timothy is especially apt in our culture and society today. The easy pickings today are to identify with whom we disagree. Regardless of the topic, we can label them “heretics to our cause,” whatever our cause might be. This is so prevalent for us today in everything from our church to economics to politics to sports that Paul’s letter to Timothy would become little more than an endorsement of how we are living, which, truth be told, many of us are at least concerned about if not dissatisfied by.
I can’t confidently speak to all that Paul may have wished to convey to Timothy, but I believe it’s a call for us to take time to reflect alone, to discern those in our midst who genuinely bring us closer to God, and to recognize that we are all vulnerable to becoming, however unwittingly, one of God’s false prophets. Paul’s letter is also a call to maturity – to understand how to be courageous in spreading God’s love and word while also being aware of the many pitfalls we will encounter in doing so.
In my own profession of teaching, I have seen, and indeed have been guilty of, seeking and enjoying students’ approval and then shaping not only my courses but even interactions with students to grow that approval. At one university where I taught there was a senior economics professor wore his Christianity on his sleeve – he ended his lectures with God’s blessing, on his web page under faculty interest he listed “Jesus,” his emails ended with a commendation that God be with the sender. This is a faith expression that is exceptional, especially at a large secular research university. This economist was incredibly popular among students of all faiths. As a new assistant professor, I emailed him and asked if we could meet for lunch to discuss faith. Three times he turned me down; he was busy consulting. I learned that this professor rarely met with students. He was very popular and I’m confident he gave outstanding lectures and was an effective teacher. But his faith expressions were for the masses and didn’t really involve his genuine presence, let alone any work.
I believe my colleague sincerely believed in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but it appeared he had little time for introspection. If I had understood Timothy’s challenge and Timothy’s responsibility for building God’s church in the first century, I think I would have recognized that I had no power to change my colleague, but I had and still have a responsibility to discern a meaningful pastorate as a teacher – to take the time to pray, & to be wary of my own desire for approval and popularity.
To discern our own authentic path to God’s church translates into a prayer that is an openness to God, a willingness to accept his invitation & not to write our own invitations. There will be false prophets and charlatans in our midst. Our first responsibility is to commit time to just listen to God in our prayers. Our second responsibility is to recognize that each of us is a gift from God to our communities. Nurturing God’s church requires connecting with individuals and creating for them the space in which they can share the gift God his imparted his gifts.
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