On Weakness and Strength

1 Timothy 2:1-6

Our reading from 1 Timothy this morning comes from a time when Christians were a decided minority of the total population. How should disciples of Jesus Christ live in such circumstances? “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1Timothy 2:1-2). Pray for those in positions of authority and seek a life of peace, the writer advises. Live according to God’s will and in such a way that the faith may be held in honor. These are wise words.

But what happens when the Christian faith is no longer a minority, when it becomes the single largest religious movement in the world? There is a significant difference between the godly and dignified efforts of a small minority on one hand and the power wielded by the modern church on the other. Indeed, the movement begun by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was rooted in the lives of common folks who had no earthly power to speak of. Today it has grown to encompass the world—praise be to God!—and operates from relative strength. But what do we do now? The writer of 1 Timothy, I believe, would call on us to continue to pray for those in authority and to lead peaceable lives with “all godliness and dignity” just as before. To do so in our present circumstances takes imagination and effort, however, and requires us to see things differently, as through the eyes of those who lack power, who are at the margins of our culture, who readily recognize their dependence upon the grace of God. In other words, as Christians we might use power in an attempt to compel acceptance by the wider culture, but this will never allow us to be known as people of “godliness and dignity” the way 1 Timothy challenges us to be.

The magnitude of the modern Christian movement requires us to constantly adjust our perspective and to remember “where we came from.” Otherwise we will find ourselves alienated from our own tradition, our own beginnings, the gospel that is our message.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember who we are and whose we are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.