1 Timothy 6:2-4 English Standard Version

2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

Who is easy to quarrel with these days?

To follow up after yesterday’s post, let us address some important issues here.

Masters is a term we seldom use these days because it reminds us of slavery. Task masters come to mind. It is a harsh reminder that in Kingdom living we all have to submit to a higher authority.

Ephesians 4:11-12 English Standard Version

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[pastors] and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Our Lord has given us a set of specific gifts of service in order for all of us to be equipped to do the Kingdom work. Perhaps it would be more acceptable within this framework to think of masters as a degree of education. In Kingdom living one does not have to have a Masters in Psychology in order to be a pastor, but it wouldn’t hurt considering the amount of counseling pastors are asked to perform.

The issue comes down to submission. Have we submitted to the authorities of the churches in which we worship because the Lord has placed them there for the edification of everyone?

In every healthy church we will discover that a new season of service gifts will appear according to the will of He who gifts us all. Those gifts need to be encouraged to grow into the next generation of leaders. Ideally we are training up our replacements or we may see them branch out to form other churches. What must not happen is what happens in the world, a hostile takeover. 

Signs of a hostile takeover can be seen in 1 Timothy 6:4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

Ephesians 4:11-14 English Standard Version

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Until stands out in these verses because they are in large and bold print. Wouldn’t it be nice if God would show us what is important this way? There would be no mystery in a verse to show us what is important for us in the scriptures.

Until indicates that something is yet to happen. No matter how long we have been with the Lord and no matter what we have experienced there is more to come.

But more of what?

The subject at hand is the unity of faith and knowledge, maturity and stature.

What is going on that has kept us from having that unity of faith and knowledge of Christ?

Heavy waves make a boat unstable created by the winds of doctrine because of human cunning and deceitfulness.

The until part here is a clear indication that it continues even today. The only way to observe its effect is to search it out by the Spirit of Truth.

1 Timothy 6:2-4 English Standard Version

2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

Who is easy to quarrel with these days?