Let me throw 1 Timothy 1.5 back here…
"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"
This verse is directed at Timothy from Paul. Essentially the whole letter is instruction for Timothy on how to lead the church there. (Thank you ESV Study Bible!) But even reading this book through, this theme is pretty clear. The verse itself is in the middle of a section talking about false teachers. (vs. 3-7) The church in Ephesus was dealing with these false teachers and in turn started to wander, speculate, participate in vain discussions, and lack in understanding. With the church wandering in the midst of whatever false doctrine that was there, Paul's statement serves to remind us what true Biblical teaching produces.
Let's put this situation in an American context….
Often here in America, with all the communicative technology we possess (YouTube, Tangle, Digg, Facebook etc.) Christian emails, videos, and audio clips get passed around at the speed of light it seems. With all this Christian content flooding around, we tend to just say to ourselves "Well if it says Christian, it must be true" and then click the forward button. (Believe me, I am really guilty of this.) We give no thought to really look into each video we watch or facebook message we read. As long as it says "Christian" and gives us a good feeling inside, we throw it down the tunnel for the next Christian to pick up. With all this theology being thrown around, perhaps we subconsciously expose ourselves to teachings that are not Biblical. Satan won't always distract us with teachings that go completely against our faith, but rather hopes to ensnare us with essentially the same faith yet with small perversions riddled throughout, like a good, crisp apple, with a colony of maggots inside. (grossssss I know) The apple looks great on the outside, and it even may taste good for a few bites, but once you hit the lil vermin inside of it…it all goes sour. With all this false "Christian" information out there, is it any surprise that absolute truth doesn't exist anymore even in the church? How many times have you sat in a small group that just talks about "What this verse means to me"? Here we again confront the "Window Shopping" mentality. We enjoy being fed with every kind of teaching that claims to be Christian and if it gives us a warm feeling inside, we won't bother to confirm it with Scripture. Swaying even just a little from Biblical truth will lead us into vain discussions, doubts in our faith, and damaging the authority of the Word. Just like the church in Ephesus.
So how is the statement "the aim of our charge is love" livable?
While the church was wandering in speculation, Paul reminds church leadership to remember the aim of their original charge or mandate. While the church wanders, Paul is saying "Wait! Look! We have a goal! A mission! A specific purpose! Stop wandering!" The mandate Paul is taking about was given to apostles by Jesus Himself. We know it today as the Great Commission, the call to preach the gospel, baptize, and make disciples (lifelong followers of Christ). Paul reminds us that the final result of the gospel working in us is the love of Christ being displayed to all. In the notes of my study bible they summarize this statement as "proper apostolic teaching results in good behavior rooted in love." In light of all the videos, emails, and teachings that come our way throughout the course of the week, we need to remember that the ultimate result of any true Biblical instruction should produce an outpouring of love in our lives because of Christ. False Biblical instruction that causes us to participate in vain discussions needs to be avoided at all costs! Believe me, there are places to debate and to discuss controversial issues. However, we need to remember as Romans 13:10 tells us, that love is the fulfillment of all we are called to do as Christians. This means ACTION! This love can only come from experiencing the love demonstrated by Christ for us on the cross!
This kind of love will compel us to go across the street to minister; this kind of love will compel us to stay an extra hour with a hurting friend when we could be getting yard work done.
Instead of taking our fill of teaching that persuades us to be distracted, and causes us to wander in our charge as Christians, let's fill ourselves with teaching that brings us to actively displaying the love of Christ.
~Jared~
Next I want to go through the 3 sources that this love comes from!
