distracted

Geepers. Purpose purpose purpose. Maybe Rick Warren was on to something. How does one find anything different in the opening lines of 2 Timothy 2 though? The challenge is not to find the radical idea of purpose here. It's right there in plain sight smashing me in the face with a sledgehammer. The challenge is to convince myself that even though I "know" the words I'm reading, I don't really know them at all. The challenge is convince myself that this is the call of God on my life and not just another 2 minute blurb in the Daily Bread. It's not a motivational facebook post or an rustic anecdote in the Outdoorsmans Study Bible. It's the inspired call of my God and I fear that he is frustrated with having his cosmic calling minimized and ignored by his people.

"1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."

These words stand alone. They need no added weight from a poor follower of Jesus like me. This is supposed to be a record of my thoughts and discoveries in the Word though, so I need to flesh this out for myself. There are a ton of thoughts on PURPOSE in here. The first one is simple enough. My purpose isn't about me. "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."My purpose is the advancement of the kingdom. My purpose is to tell people who will tell people. Period. The primary reason for my existence and my reception of the grace of God is to introduce others to that same grace. How is it that the majority of people can sit in a pew Sunday after Sunday, hear this, and say "amen" when it has been YEARS since they have even attempted to talk about the truth of the Gospel to anyone, if they ever have at all? How is it possible that I can hear that said and not feel that my life is not lived according to the prescribed purpose of my God? If my job is to be a mechanic, and I haven't worked on a car in decades, am I still a mechanic? Even if the answer is yes, you'd be a fool to bring your ride to me. 

If only it stopped there. Since childhood I have had an intense interest in all things military. It led me to even get a four year degree in History (which I am discovering the hard way is of little or no use without the teaching certificate normally attached to it). Anyway, I love that kind of stuff, so while I have never served in the military, I like analogies from it, which is exactly what we get here. Soldiers don't get entangled in civilian affairs. I love that the word entangled is used here. That's exactly how I feel right now. Entangled. You get entangled when you think that a thing is just a small minor thing you can accomplish in your spare time and a week later it has consumed your every waking moment. You realize that there was this one little thing you were going to get done before you accomplished what mattered and then suddenly it's 2 months later and you're in the same place. You got entangled. What happens when 2 months becomes 2 years, or 20? It's a scary thought. I used to love to watch the show The Unit and the soldiers wives on that show constantly quoted a line that basically comes right out of this passage: "A distracted soldier is a dead soldier". They said this when they were having financial problems or some other personal problem but chose not to tell their husband about it while he was deployed. They knew that he needed to focus on being a soldier, not civilian affairs. According to the divinely inspired analogy found here, we're soldiers. Am I even recognizable as a soldier right now? I picture a soldier, engaged in battle with comrades, fighting his heart out. Then I picture a guy sitting home in his pjs eating cereal and watching old war movies. Which one is closer to me spiritually?

Verse 5 makes the scary jump from purpose to reward. Roughly translated, it says "Athletes only get a reward if they compete the way they are instructed to." Now you can read that as a fun little Christian cliche, and skip onto the next chapter in your One Year Bible read-thru, or you can slow down and perform the terrifying act of trying to figure out just what that means. It must mean that there is an intended way (purpose) for us as athletes (followers of Christ) to compete (live out our time on this earth). Okay, now only those who compete (live out our time on this earth) according to the intended way (as laid out by God in his word) will attain the crown (ouch) You tell me what the crown is and how in the world this analogy doesn't leave the whole of Christendom (and first of all me) shaking in fear.

The last analogy is like it. The hard-working farmer should have the first share of the crops. Those who do the work have the reward. This tiny passage lays out our purpose, warns those who don't fulfill it, and then promises a reward to those who do. Now in truth the alarm bells are going off in my head warning me about works and performance based religion as I read this but the last verse gives me all the answer I need. "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." That's exactly what I intend to do. Right now.