War Charge

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship1 from God that is by faith...This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
1 Timothy 1:3-4, 18-20

I mentioned this past Sunday night that church, especially church planting, is war; that there is a reality of wrestling that we must live with and that it is not against our fellow humans, flesh and blood. Rather, we have a spiritual enemy. And they're furious.

They do not like the fact that a church plant is invading the territory of Mobile. It's their domain. They've held our city hostage for years under the safe guise of religion and general conservatism. But no more. We are here to fight. We are here to win because our King Jesus already has dealt the decisive blow to this enemy as he put them "to open shame by triumphing over them in [his body]" on the cross (Col. 2.15).

Nevertheless, we are at war, taking the final strongholds since the dragon has already been cast down and bound (Rev. 12.9; 20:2). And here we find Paul writing to a young pastor, Timothy, charging him to not stray from good, sound doctrine, for in it is the secret to "[waging] the good warfare."

What then can we learn from this? Here are a few things:

1. There is a war going on. This much could be assumed, but it's worth running the risk of stating the obvious to make sure we know what we're talking about here. We are in a war and as such we must fight or die.
2. There is a "good" warfare that can be waged. This fact is true and good, but the implication it gives is just as crucial in our understanding of this war, namely that there is then such a thing as "bad" warfare. Bad warfare can be bad for all sorts of reasons. It can be a dishonor to the King we're fighting for by how we wage in it, it can cause unnecessary casualties of fellow soldiers or civilian bystanders, or it could end in our own demise. As such, we must make sure we are fighting well, the "good warfare" for the benefit and safety of all those around us and for the honor of the name of our King, at which point the two greatest commands fit quite well within our wartime schema.
3. Doctrine matters. In this war, the thing that Paul tells Timothy is the deal breaker between fighting well and fighting poorly (or not fighting at all) is doctrine. Thus, doctrine matters.It matters because it determines which type of warfare we are fighting, good or bad. No doctrine means we've surrendered or have gone to battle ill-clad and without weapons with which to fight. Bad doctrine (which Paul explains further as being speculative ideas and essentially mysticism) is, at best, a means to suicide missions. It is fighting with faulty armor, no strategy, no understanding of the enemy or the tools and victory that we posses as soldiers for Christ. In fact, the rejection of good doctrine can result in a shipwrecked faith and a handing over to the enemy (v. 20). This isn't mean-spirited hatred from Paul; rather, this is him being realistic, handing these people over to Satan because they are actually fighting for his side by the rejection of sound doctrine.

   So, again, doctrine matters. It helps others determine which side of this war you really are, despite whatever claims you may present to the contrary.

4. One of a pastor's main tasks is to make certain that doctrine is protected and proclaimed. I am to make certain that our body is not swept away with "every wind of doctrine...so that we may no longer be children" (Eph. 4.14). It is a charge tasked to the leaders of the church, particularly pastors, to make certain that false, flimsy, and flaky doctrine doesn't creep into the church to keep its members from reaching maturity in Christ. And herein was the climax of last week's text: "...that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

   This is the job, the hard task and grueling struggle, of pastoral ministry: to protect from false doctrine without while proclaiming pure doctrine within. Without this dual fidelity the church is left in immaturity, and no war is won by sending children into the battlefield.

So for these reasons, at least, I fight for the doctrinal purity of our church and its members. It is not spiritual one-up-manship or some egotistical venture of any sort. It is the Spirit inspired wartime strategy and battle plan. Our lives and the eternal lives of countless others in our city and throughout the nations depend on it.

May we fight well for our Christ and our King.