“They will look like
they are religious but deny God’s power.”
2 Timothy 3:5 (Common English Bible)
Flu shots work by placing into the
body the flu virus in such a controlled manner that those inoculated experience
a mild form of the virus, yet become immune to the full force of the illness. Experienced
in its full force, the flu debilitates the body resulting in fever, dehydration,
general malaise, and the absence from productive work. For the very young,
those in general poor health, and those of advanced age, death remains a
present danger of the flu. Few people would disagree that the mild form of the
flu is preferable to the full force of flu symptoms. Mild symptoms can be
managed with little effort. A full-on assault of the flu virus is a
considerable struggle.
The second letter to Timothy wrestles
with a similar phenomenon in the Christian churches of his day. Quite simply,
it seems that many members of Timothy’s church have been inoculated with a mild
form of Christianity and, thus, have become immune to the genuine article: “They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power.” Present in the
church are those who are complacent toward the faith – they accept it, are
occasionally observant of its outward expression, but show no evidence of the
faith’s power in their lives. As Harry Emerson Fosdick once observed, they have
the form of religion but have nothing to do with it as a force.
Fosdick once shared with his New
York City congregation that the saddest failure of the church is not hypocrisy.
The saddest failure of the church is seen in men and women who have not
personally experienced power; people who have never gone down to the depths of their
faith where the power of God becomes a reliable resource in daily living.[i]
What the church has always required to be a vital, dynamic, and powerful
movement in the local community are church members who, through regular study
of the Bible, regular prayer, and intentional decisions each day to live in
obedience to what the Bible instructs, suddenly make a great discovery – it
works! There is considerable power in the Christian faith for daily living;
power that is unleashed when the faith is lived intentionally.
The Christian faith was never meant
to be simply a creed, a set of beliefs to be embraced. When applied to every
decision of life, the Christian faith becomes an inward source of power, overcoming
fear, fortifying courage, and equipping a life that endures the inevitable
storms that we all will face. Personally and socially we are up against
destructive forces. Discouragement is a force. Fear and disillusion is a force.
Failing marriages and deteriorating relationships with children are a force. So
is the fear of terrorism and gun violence. Each of these forces must be met
with an equal force – the power of a risen Christ that is present in a personal
faith that is deeply lived.
Joy,
[i]
Harry Emerson Fosdick, “Christianity Not a Form But a Force.” A Great Time To Be Alive: Sermons on Christianity in Wartime (New York And London:
Harper & Brothers, 1944), 92.
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