If Bible teachers aren’t making the advancement of God’s work a conscientious goal, they might fail to promote the kind of atmosphere that’s conducive to the working of God in people’s lives.
In 1 Timothy 1 we find some understandings we need, such as what hinders His work from advancing.
Understand What Hinders the Advancement of God’s Work
The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to “command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies” (1 Tim. 1:3b-4a). The reason? “Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work – which is by faith.” (1 Tim. 1:4b)
He was addressing some specific diversions of certain people in the Church at Ephesus. But really …
- Anything not solidly based on the Word of God can be considered “false doctrines” (1 Tim. 1:3).
- Anything inconsequential made into a point of contention becomes “meaningless talk” (1 Tim. 1:6).
- Anything based on personal opinions rather than the Bible becomes mere “speculations” and often controversial at that (1 Tim. 1:4).
Discussions centered around false doctrine, meaningless talk, and mere speculations tend to divide rather than build up — hindering the advancement of God’s Work.
Why Hindering the Advancement of God’s Work Matters
To focus on that which isn’t true or that which is inconsequential gets our eyes off of what is most important and living the life of faith God calls us to (1 Tim. 1:4).
Without faith it’s impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Faith comes by hearing but not just listening to human speculations. Faith comes by hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17) — the unadulterated Word that “is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Debate for the sake of debate, arrogant airing of personal opinions, or disputes over controversial issues, pits one person or group against the other, tearing down rather than building up.
When people don’t sense the classroom to be a safe haven for expressing doubts and fine-tuning their belief-systems, they tend to shut down and the work of God is squelched in their lives.
Yes, hindering the advancement of God’s work matters so Bible teachers need to intentionally do that which promotes His working — the topic of the next post.