Making The Right Point
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently. 1 Timothy 1:5-7
Have you ever been in the middle of a debate where both people were firmly convinced, they were right? Yes, I’m sure many of you can think of the last political debate, but while that could easily be used here, I will choose a much more personal example. What about a dispute between family? Once, a couple of family members were debating an issue that created a wedge in their relationship. Both sides had valid points and were right. When I say right, I mean there was nothing wrong with what either side had said, and they were both truthful. Yet, this wedge between the two would seem to be insurmountable to overcome because of it. So, I finally decided to go to one of the sides and discuss with them their points. My goal was not to convince them whether they were right or wrong. It was simply to point out what mattered most. As I agreed with their points, I ended the conversation saying, “You can continue to go your way about things, and no one would blame you. Is a lost relationship worth it?” Once that side extended the olive branch, my conversation with the other side was simple. “They reached out to you,” I said. “Even as you have been right about how things have gone, is it really worth keeping this wall up?” This was what ultimately broke the ice between the two of them. Sometimes being right is not what matters.
God wants our hearts more than He wants us to be right. As I am reading the beginning of 1 Timothy, the conversation about false teaching was one I missed something before now. The point Paul was making about false teaching was truly relevant to people who knew what they were talking about but really did not understand it. Well, that is not entirely accurate. The problem with them was not that they did not understand the word or its meaning. The issue was they did not take it to heart. When your heart is not truly into something, the meaning falls hollow. When writing a devotion, there are times that I will stop midway through it not because my points were not valid. It was because my heart and spirit simply were not into it. Many of us do things ‘going through the motions’ without truly feeling it. It’s like cleaning our garage. It is boring and it must be done. We go through the motions, but once we get to a certain point, we focus on doing an excellent job. A more relevant example was my early days of going to church just because that is what we did on Sunday rather than experiencing true worship and relationship with God. Paul’s goal here was not to just have Timothy be weary of false teaching. It was to ensure his motivations were in check. It was to emphasize “all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” If we are focused on being right, making our point heard, or not caring for others in what we say, we will “have missed this whole point.”
God loves us despite our flaws. No matter how much we love Him, we will still at times get it wrong. In Luke 6, Jesus healed a man with a deformed right hand on the Sabbath. Instead of celebrating the miracle, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:7) They focused on being right instead of being filled with the love Paul spoke of. Imagine if God took that stance with us. Where would we be? Therefore, Paul’s message to us here has a dual meaning. It is to help us not only see false teachings but also check our own pulse in our journey. Let us move forward with the love Paul speaks of in today’s verses. Where is your heart, conscience, and faith today? What changes might you make to ensure you are not missing the point? How will you turn meaningless discussions into discussions filled with love? My prayer is we realize that it is God’s love for others and not being right that makes the point. Amen.