17.09 | Difficult Times
2 Timothy 3
‘But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.’
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Reword this passage:
The last days will be marked by difficulty. People will be narcissistic, consumeristic and materialistic. They will compulsively speak about themselves. They will be egotistical, critical, and will rebel against the ways of their parents. They will be entitled and warped, closing their eyes to the suffering of others. They will cancel those who disagree, struggle with anger, enslaved to their desires and addictions. Their words and actions will be violent, and they will lose an instinctive love of all things wholesome. They will betray each other, making foolish decisions with clouded judgement. They will be hedonistic, pursuing pleasure rather than pursuing God. They will superficially look like they’ve got it altogether, but will live lives devoid of the power that leads to actual transformation and life.
When we read the descriptions in the Scriptures of the last days before the return of Jesus, they ring unquestioningly true of our age—with a measure of chaos that only seems to increase. These things must reach a climax only in the return of history’s true King. Such predictions are not hype or delusion—they are the consistent testimony of the Scriptures. They should not lead us to foolish predictions of a date that not even Jesus said He knew,1 yet they should lead us to taking the signs of the times seriously, for, in Jesus’ own words, He is coming soon. The New Testament urges us to a state of continual readiness. The carnage we see should not lead us to panic, but to expectation.
For in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
Paul’s words, however, bring us a more incisive challenge. For his words give us a clue to what is in his mind here.
Avoid such people.
Elsewhere, when Paul talks about avoiding such people, he makes a distinction. He doesn’t mean those outside the church who do such things. He means those inside the church.2 This should ruffle our feathers, for the words of Paul here are not to do with avoiding a messy world. Rather, Paul is directing his words to the avoidance of church that mingles the name of Jesus with lives soaked in the secular. This is not a command to withdraw and hide from the world; this is a yearning for a church of depth and purity, of radical distinction from the chaotic norms of the world around.
Paul wants to build Timothy and this church he is leading into the things of strength in the midst of such chaos. Every critique of the above passage has an opposite in the characteristics of the holy.
He gives Timothy three things.
Copy me. Paul urges Timothy to follow Paul’s way of life, his teaching, his methodology, his ways. In this final age, he calls us to imitate the ways of apostles and disciples, learning from their patterns of prayer and courage, of learning the lead of the Spirit and letting their lives become all about the single pursuit of King and His Kingdom.
Endurance. Paul urges Timothy to endure through hardships, for they will surely come in this age. To win by standing, to not let discouragements and setbacks, sufferings and hardships, opposition and contradiction, discomfort and fear distract us from the basic act of keeping going.
Scripture. Paul urges Timothy back to the Scriptures, for the Scriptures are our guide through such times. God’s words, breathed out through the Spirit of God, training us in how to think and pray and stand and advance in such moments.
Who are we copying?
Are we enduring?
Are we allowing the Scriptures to permeate our very beings?
For amidst the chaos of our days, a frantic and desperate world has never been in greater need of a simple, steadfast, and truth-filled people, who will model the unflappable peace of the wonder that will undoubtedly arrive.
Reflect:
Who am I copying?
What does endurance look like right now?
Am I giving the Scriptures opportunity to change my thoughts towards this moment?
Pick one of these questions, and sit with it with the Spirit of God. Act in accord with what He shows you.
Pray:
Father,
The days feel desperate,
And they look dark.
I look at it all and I feel
Shaken.
I’m shaken by the responses
Of anger and critique,
Of cancelling and fear,
Of shouting and violence.
I’m shaken
When the noise of the world
And the fearsome mess of it all
Comes knocking at the door of my heart,
Leaving me anxious and overrun.
And yet, my Father,
As this world shakes,
Let me stand firm.
I lift my eyes.
For these days
Will surely pass,
And these sufferings
Will surely end—
For such pains
Will give way to
The unimaginable beauty
Of the Days Beyond,
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
1 Chronicles 3-5 | Proverbs 23:22-35
Matthew 24:36
1 Corinthians 5:9-10