Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Author, Author!
Who wrote these three theological gems? The name that appears right there in the first line is Paul of Tarsus. Apostle. Saint. All-around good guy. Pretty much an open and shut case, right?
Not quite.
For hundreds of years, no one really questioned whether or not Paul actually wrote these books. Then, around the 19th century, biblical scholars started to notice some stuff that made these three letters stand out from some of the others Paul wrote.
- Paul died around 60 CE, but these letters address a church that looks a whole lot like churches at the beginning of the 2nd century.
- Paul is talking to his closest disciples but going over really basic stuff.
- These three letters don't have to same passion as Paul's other ones.
- This Paul doesn't mention the cross of Jesus, the body of Christ, or God's covenant—a few of his favorite things.
- He doesn't talk about Jewish law (except when he says it's pretty cool).
- He also doesn't put a huge emphasis on the end of the world (source, 1220).
All this stuff together pointed to one big conclusion: Paul didn't write these letters. Instead, most scholars today believe that someone actually wrote these under Paul's name sometime in the late 1st or early 2nd century. This dude is kind of like Paul's ghost-writer.
This anonymous guy was probably a Christian who was a huge fan of Paul's work and wanted to use his name to address some of the issues his church was having. Because he's into the church, some folks calls him "the Pastor." He used some of Paul's ideas and then added a few of his own. Obviously, he did a pretty good job because he made it into the Bible.
Nice job, anonymous guy.
Jesus Is His Homeboy
Okay, so what kinds of stuff did the Pastor have to say? Well—surprise, surprise—there's a whole lot of stuff about Jesus. Whodathunk?
The Pastor goes into a lot of detail about one big idea: Jesus came to save the world.
- "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15)
- "God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
- "Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
- "We have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)
- "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all[…] He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own." (Titus 2:11, 14)
Yup, he's a regular Superman.
Notice that the Pastor isn't saying that God sent Jesus to save the Jewish people (they were God's chosen peeps after all). Or that God only wants to bring salvation to the folks who believe in him. He's saying that Jesus died to save everyone, everywhere.
Follow the Leaders
Okay, so the story goes that Jesus came to bring the truth to the whole wide world…and then he died. How do we know the truth? According to the pastor, by listening to the guys who are in charge.
Yup. The Pastor says that the leaders of the church have the answers you're seeking. He's big into establishing a chain of command and says there are certain people who know what they're talking about—Paul, for one—and there are people who don't. Anyone who's passing on "sound teaching" (1 Timothy 4:6) is also okay in the Pastor's book.
He just means that folks who agree with him are all right with God and the ones that don't…aren't. He slams his opponents over and over again for veering off the straight and narrow path and thinking their own crazy thoughts about Jesus. They're not just mistaken though—they're actually in league with the Devil on this one.
Yikes.
We might think a position like this is a little controlling, but the Pastor just sees it as practical. If everyone went around with their own spin on Jesus, Christianity would be chaos. You're also gonna have a pretty tough time getting folks to join the church if they can't even figure out what it stands for. If Christians want this new religion to take off, they're gonna need to fall in line.
Well-Respected Men About Town
But not just anyone can be in charge in the community. Not only do Christian leaders have to teach the correct things, they also have to act a certain way. The Pastor lists off all kind of qualities of good leaders, and almost all of them are tied to behavior. If a guy or gal is an upstanding citizen, then they're gonna make a good representative for the church.
Again, this is really just practical. If a bishop is a stand-up guy, it'll be way harder for either an outsider or an insider to find something wrong with what he's saying. If someone tells his neighbors that Jesus is Lord and he's a big drunk and a meanie, then that'll reflect pretty badly on the rest of the Christian community. The Pastor would really like to avoid this bad PR.
The same is true for rank-and-file Christians. The Pastor wants men, women, children, and slaves to behave in line with Greco-Roman norms. They shouldn't stand out or seem immoral and weird to their pagan neighbors. Hey, you catch more files with honey, right?
It's the End of the World as We Know It
Okay, so Jesus came to save everyone and folks need to be on their best behavior. Then what? Does the Pastor think Christianity has some kind of end-game here?
Yup.
Every so often, the Pastor mentions the impending end of the world. Cue dramatic music:
- "The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)
- "In the last days distressing times will come." (2 Timothy 3:1)
- "We wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
It may seem like he's really talking up the end times, but compared to other books of the Bible, this is pretty lightweight. Sure, the Pastor thinks the world is gonna end, but he's not gonna hold his breath. Paul, on the other hand, thought that Jesus might come back in his lifetime. Judgment Day wasn't just a subtitle for a Terminator sequel—it was a very real and very serious moment that was looming. So everyone needed to stay in line.
The Pastor is down with this, but he's also focused on the future. How's the church going to grow and adapt in the coming years? Not exactly something you would worry about if you thought God was gonna close up shop next week.