Hi all,
His
roommate tripped over him in the middle of the night, that's how I
heard about him. I was the Director of a Bible school that had student
housing. As it is with dormitories, strangers are teamed as roommates
and sometimes that fosters life long friendships, and other times 1 or
both demand another roommate. This was just such an occasion.
It
turned out the young man was sleeping on the floor, causing his
roommate to trip over him in the middle of the night. He said he was
called to the ministry of Elijah and John the Baptist, and because his
ministry was so exalted by heaven, yet so difficult on earth, he could
not partake in any of the luxuries of life - like a bed. So he chose the
floor with no cover, to purposely 'chastise' the flesh...
He
could not be convinced to sleep on the bed and fasted to the point of
near starvation, but if we could have rounded up a locust or two I'm
sure he would have gobbled them down - he was eventually handed over to a
Christian based mental hospital for evaluation, released, and left the
school for his 'ministry'.
Can function normally in life except for this one area...
Most
emotionally ill Christians still have the ability to function in life,
having the ability to put their illness in the background while they
interact with others at work, school, and with their spouse and family.
But like a computer program always running in the background no matter
what program you are actually working in at the time, their obsession is
always just below the surface, and all they need is an opening from
someone...
As
Paul stated in our text, I Timothy 6:1-6, these are people who in
private withdraw from healthy relationships in favor of their own ideas,
and pull away from other elements of spiritual health - they claim
godliness yet don't have a spiritual closeness with their spouse, often
don't go to church or any gathering of believers, and pick 'word
battles' with people, acting as their own evangelist for their
particular belief.
If
not obsessed with a particular doctrine of the faith twisted to their
off-balance view, it can be related to self-image or view in life. We
once had a young lady visit our home who was a daughter of an
internationally known pastor, and suddenly I saw my angel standing next
to her, and asked what message he might have.
He
said, "Since she was a child she believed the lie that she would die
early, never marrying or having children, and the Father wants her to
know it is not true and she needs to reject that lie in favor of the
truth. His plans for her are a long and full life, and it is hers if she
will believe it. Tell her that."
While
she lingered in the living room as the others headed for the kitchen,
the natural gathering place of college students I think, I told her what
the angel had told me. She looked wide-eyed at me: "I've never told
anyone that, but it is true, I've always believed no matter what people
said, no matter what was prophesied over me, that I would die in my
20's. Thank you (as the tears flowed), I'm so relieved, I'm going to
grow up and live a normal life!...(more tears)"
No
on knew she harbored those thoughts, no one knew she had believed the
lie. You'll recall last week I shared how Paul said these people hide
behind a swirl of smoke, a form of pride, and in this case her status
being a daughter of a famous pastor and all the activities of her life
were the smoke screen, hiding her true emotional
stronghold.
Envy,
strife,
'railings',suspicions...
In
verses 4 & 5 Paul continues describing how sensitive these
emotionally ill Christians are to their particular subject, saying their
condition leads to, in the King James Version, "...envy, strife,
railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings, corrupt minds, destitute
of the truth..." Let me put that into modern terms rather than English
from the year 1609 when the King James Version was published:
Envy is 'phthonos', which is a feeling of displeasure one feels when hearing of the good fortune of others. Strife is 'eris' meaning hard feelings toward another, contention.
Railings
is 'blasphemia', where we get the word 'blaspheme', meaning 'judging
another wrongly by evil speaking'. Interestingly enough it comes from
the Greek word 'blax/blapto' meaning 'stupid' or 'to injure' and 'pheme'
which means 'speech'. It means (stupid and injurious) words toward
someone or God - judgmental words abusive towards others, violating
basic social etiquette and insistence on one's own way.
The Greek word translated in the KJV as 'evil surmisings'
is 'hyponoiai' where we get 'hypnotize' and means 'suspicions', in this
use it means 'malicious suspicions as to the honesty of those who
disagree with them' - hypnotize means to focus so much on someone to be
deceived and submitted to them. These people are both 'hypnotized' by
their off-balance belief, and they want to 'hypnotize' others to that
belief by arguing their point without any ability to focus on any other
doctrine or thought, unable to let loose of it.
The next words to describe their behavior in the King James Version is 'perverse disputings, corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. 'Perverse
disputings' is 'diaparatribai', where we get 'diatribe', meaning
emphatic and obstinate insistence in a long and drawn out quarreling
over words.
The Greek word 'corrupt minds' is 'diaphtkeiro,
'dia' is emphatic, and the 'keiro' part means 'destroys'. The word
'corrupt' is incorrect in modern terms, for this word is strong,
indicating someone's mind and/or emotions in this area are being
destroyed. It is used in Luke 12:33 to describe the work of a moth eating garments and ruining them, and in II Cor 4:16
of the decaying human body. These are minds destroyed gradually, as the
work of a moth eating a bite here, a bite there...little by little they
have become off balanced, and then emotionally, mentally,
socially, sick/ill.
The Greek word translated as 'destitute of the truth'
is 'apostereo'. It is where we get 'apostate' and means 'to defraud,
deprive of, to leave the truth. In this area they've left sound and
healthy faith. It was used in Paul's time of those who misappropriate
trust funds. It means in this context they deprive themselves of
something they have a right to, or truth that was once theirs but they
took it away from themselves by misuse.
This next part has many applications, as Paul concluded in the KJV saying: "Supposing
that gain is godliness..." The word 'gain' is 'porismos' and means
'gainful trade', so it would be more accurate to translate it as:
"Thinking godliness is a trade in itself and a means to wealth."
In
modern terms we think of the 'prosperity gospel' and the marketing of
the gospel, but in context Paul is talking about emotionally ill people -
okay, that still fits many in the prosperity gospel group, lol - but in
his use these people think their doctrine, their belief, their area of
focus is the means by which they will gain closeness to God, or change
the world, or some other gain of some sort - rather than submit to true
godliness seen in a humble and transparent heart, they push what they
believe instead.
And Paul concludes: "From such withdraw yourself, for godliness with contentment is great gain."
As
Paul said at the start, these people, in this area, are proud, wrapping
themselves in a swirl of apparent godliness while eagerly arguing with
anyone about what they believe - from believing they aren't loved by God
to a genuine doctrine of God taken to an off-balance extreme, the proud
must humble themselves. There is only so far a truly godly person will
be willing to walk with them before it becomes evident this person would
rather lose the relationship with them, lose the job, lose their
Christian friends, lose their church family, and so they must stop
trying to help. The ill think if you will just believe what they do and
follow them, there will be great gain in all areas of life, there will
be peace between you and them at last - but they are blind, and
willingly so. From such Paul says, withdraw yourself.
We
pray for them - Paul's prayers of Ephesians 1:17-18 and 3:14-19 in
particular - but the person with this mental stronghold, this emotional
illness in this area, must recover themselves as no one can change their
heart but them. Often, while the Lord works on their heart, He will let
them also experience the consequences of their actions, meaning those
who love them are forced to take actions they really don't want to take -
ending a friendship, ending their employment, ending their church
membership, even ending their marriage. But they have become islands in a
sea of people by their own choice...Truly, true godliness with
contentment is great gain...and great peace to the emotionally health.
New subject next week, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
New CD/MP3 Series
This
series links the life of David with Psalms he wrote during three
periods in his life: Before being king, during his reign, and in exile.
Part 1 looks at the Psalms he wrote before becoming king, studying each
event that led him to pour out his emotions in the Psalm related to an
event or challenge, with the result being the listener will know David
much better, and be better able to walk through the pressures in their
life. You will be able to related to David's raw emotions and spiritual
struggles and how he found peace and safety in the Lord in the midst of
stressful and often life-threatening situations. A fascinating series
that will give greater understanding to the Old Testament and Psalms and
their place in history.
When
a child is born with an infirmity or condition, or develops one, or we
unexpectedly must provide long term care for a loved one, an
unanswerable question of faith arises from within: How can a loving God
let this happen? Our faith is shaken to the core and we hear teachings
on healing and the loving Father but we are dealing with long term, life
changing challenges that don't make sense. This series deals with those
questions from John & Barb's personal experience with their
physically and mentally handicapped oldest son. Having walked through it
from babyhood to adulthood with him, and having walk theologically
through all the standard answers, including having their faith largely
destroyed and rebuilt in the process, this will offer help and answers
to those struggling with these issues, or for those who know someone
struggling with these issues. You'll regain peace, have some answers,
and be able to put to trust the Father once again.
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