2 Timothy 3

I hope this chapter freaks you out as much as it does me. "...having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. " That opening list sounds really familiar. And not just with the America presented on TV. Also among the people who attend church. In fact, I keep reading studies that indicate that there is very little difference behaviorally and even in worldview between "us" and "them." So the sentence that comes next is rough. "Have nothing to do with them." I think the them in this case is not the lost we are trying to reach out to, but more the people who claim to be godly but there is no evidence of God's power working in and through their lives.

And what about those who are "always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth"? What about them? I think our Christian colleges, church staffs, and seminaries are full of them. Who know all the ins and outs of the Bible just as an English professor knows the complete works of Shakespeare. On an academic, literary, historic level. But minus the passionate obsession for God and a zeal to bring the good news of His love and grace to the world.

So in the wrap up paragraph Paul flat out says that "everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." To me that's almost a litmus test. If you aren't feeling any persecution, you aren't living a godly life. But the antidote is there in the final verses. God's Word. Scripture. We've all got to get crazy passionate about what it says and let it loose in our lives. There's a lot there that it says it will do in us. I want to see that happen. Not just in me, but in my church, and in the Church. It will change the world. We will change the world. Just like God intends.