I couldn’t feel more the opposite to Margaret on the 2 Tim 2:1-13 passage. But this should come as no surprise, I rarely agree with anyone on this blog fully. After all, that’s the purpose of this blog. I will credit Margaret with being a “good Methodist.”
What I feel the opposite of her discomfort. The words she lists aren’t hard for me, they are beautiful. This is some of the best poetry in the Bible. Paul is trying to express the all-encompassing nature of living a Christian life and he is trying to express it in as many different ways as possible in order that many more may understand.
And there couldn’t be truer words! Do you not, as a Christian, feel bound to the Gospel at times, just as Paul says? And yet, it is a Gospel that is freeing, as he also reminds us.
I think that Paul is really trying to address “shortcut” Christians. It seems there are those that would desire to have the Gospel without all that it entails. For some, this may mean salvation without then living it out. For others, it may mean salvation without the suffering that may come with it. Paul allows no one shortcuts.
This is the most deeply disturbing thing to me as I progress in my Christian life. I have realized there are no shortcuts. I used to think that if I prayed once in a while, read scripture once in a while and attended worship that I was a Christian. However, now I realize that I must engage in these acts every day, praying each moment, immersing myself in Scripture and continually worshipping our Maker.
Wesley encouraged the frequent use of means of grace (such as communion, scripture, prayer, etc.) not because it’s good for a Christian, but because there is no other way to be a Christian. There are no shortcuts.
This is the only reason I find these most beautiful words of Scripture disturbing. They call me to be a fully-in-Christ Christian, not a shortcut Christian. Just because we do not like war imagery doesn’t mean we aren’t in a constant battle to allow God to make us the best Christian we can be. By His grace, may we stop looking for shortcuts.