2 Timothy 3:1-7 - Last Days Character

Tom Shrader teaches through 2 Timothy 3:1-5, where Paul warns Timothy about the difficult times and dangerous character traits that will mark the last days. He explains how people will be lovers of self and money, leading to boastfulness, arrogance, disobedience to parents, and a host of other destructive behaviors. Shrader emphasizes that these people will hold to a form of godliness while denying its power, contrasting true Christianity rooted in Christ's death and resurrection with false spirituality.

“Christianity is not about the teaching of Christ. It is about the death of Christ.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: How to Find Meaning in a Collapsing World (2000)

Recorded: 2000

Duration: 42 min

Themes: character, pride, selfishness, materialism, disobedience, godliness, deception, endtimes, parent, mentor, pastor, young adult, struggling with materialism, facing deception, new believer, spiritual leader

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:3, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 6:17-18, Philippians 2, Luke 5:7, Romans 1:16

Theological Themes: eschatology, last days, false religion, apostasy, spiritual warfare, biblical discernment, pastoral epistles, mentorship

Full Transcript

Today, we move into the final half of our six weeks looking at the book of 2 Timothy. What we've said is we are doing this as a verse-by-verse study. In reality, there are some sections that we've skipped over, but what we're trying to do is give you a sense of the value of expository verse-by-verse teaching. It's new to many of you, so it's something we try to do at least once a year.

We're in the book of 2 Timothy, and we are today in the third chapter. Paul the Apostle writes to his son in the faith, Timothy, his beloved son, his genuine son. It's not a biological father-son relationship, but a spiritual father-son relationship. It is also a mentor-protege relationship. Paul is writing to this young man who he will leave with the responsibility of pastoring Paul's favorite church, I believe, which is the church at Ephesus.

Paul's Final Letter

This letter is written against a backdrop where Paul understands that his life is about to come to an end. He tells us at the end of this book, "my life is about to be poured out as a drink offering," meaning he understands that this is probably the end. This is Paul's second imprisonment. Paul's first imprisonment in Rome, as you read through the introductory chapter of the book of Philippians, you see and hear a lot of optimism. "I'll see you soon. I'll be with you soon." But that's not at all the condition here.

What's fascinating to me is understanding this backdrop, understanding the context, understanding that Paul's writing to Timothy probably for the last time. He doesn't talk about the past. He doesn't talk about the present. He talks about the future.

So many people, as they head to the end of their life, their conversations are consumed with "remember when we went to Disneyland," "remember when we started that business," "remember when." Paul has a little bit of that in his introduction, where he says, "I long to see you again. I recall your tears." But what he's saying to Timothy is continue, keep it going, don't stop. As he talks about the faith, he says stand firm, guard the gospel. So that's the backdrop that he has as he begins to speak about the future.

Focus on Last Days Character

In chapter 3, he talks about the future in the context of speaking about the end times. I saw the other day where "The Late Great Planet Earth" is in its 180th printing. There are a lot of people, probably the vast majority of you in here, who are very interested in end times things. That whole novel series that LaHaye and his partner have out with basically end of the world and Left Behind and all those things. I've confessed, it's just me. It doesn't make it bad. I think it's probably pretty good. A lot of people intrigued by it. It's just not something that's ever been of real interest to me. That shows how out of step I am with everybody else. But it just doesn't catch my attention.

But the way Paul addresses end times here does. Because he doesn't talk about earthquakes and coming of earthquakes and rumors of war. He doesn't talk about the events surrounding the last days. He says, let me tell you what the people are going to be like. Let me tell you what people will be like in the last days.

The General Condition

First of all, in verse 1, he gives us a general condition and then some specific conditions. Let's read them. We're going to look at five verses today. And then we'll come back and break them apart.

"But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money." And if you're those two things, these next things start to fall like dominoes. "Boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they deny its power."

And then he says something that to me seems unnecessary. He says, "avoid men like this." It's not like most of us are saying, "Do you know any malicious gossip who's treacherous and reckless that I could have coffee with today?" I mean, we don't think that way, but Paul just seems to add here, "Make sure you watch out for these guys." It's in the context really here, ultimately, of teaching and false prophets. But we're going to spend our time on these first five verses.

Understanding the Times

So here's what he says: "But realize this." "But realize" means to understand fully, to examine with a critical spirit. But realize this, that in the last days—now the last days are a period of time that began with Christ's ascension into heaven that end with His return. So in this broad sense, we've been in these last days for almost 2,000 years. And so he says, I think we're in the last days. You can say confidently, we are.

"Difficult times will come." Difficult—that word means hard to bear, hard to withstand. In classical Greek literature, the word that's translated here "difficult" is used to describe a dangerous animal or a raging sea or a savage beast. So he said here, "understand this." He said, "Listen, Timothy, listen up. Make sure you get this now. Critically analyze it and understand that in the times that we live, they are going to be times filled with danger and rage and savage behavior."

Now, consequently, there's something else you need to understand. You as a result of that are going to suffer. Let me say to you what should be obvious to anyone who's living the Christian life, and that is, you're swimming upstream. You are counter-culture. There are times—now get this, very important here—there are times that what you believe and in some cases then ultimately how you behave are indeed similar to the

There are times when how you behave is similar and the things you do similar to the people who are in this world, non-Christians. But the majority of the time, you're going to find yourself swimming upstream. There should be frequently in your life those times when you're sitting in the office and you're having a conversation with three or four people and they walk out of the room and you have to say to yourself, am I nuts or what? Am I the only guy that sees this? How can you not see this? Well, the reason is God's given you eyes to see and He hasn't given those to everyone. In that environment, you're going to have difficult times.

Turn back to chapter 1 verse 8, Paul said this, "Therefore don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering." In chapter 2 verse 3, "suffer hardship with me." Chapter 3 verse 12, this is an all-inclusive verse, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 12. This is a promise. Some of you want to claim the promises of Jesus. Here's one for you to claim: "All who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted." That's a promise. There is going to be suffering and hardship and it's built around the fact that our faith is counterculture.

The Counterculture Nature of Faith

We think differently than the world. By that, we mean the world system. What you say is ultimately of value, the world says is ultimately folly. The only reason that you would be humble and serve somebody in the world system is to get something from them—cash, love, whatever it might be—to feather your own nest and promote your own agenda. God says, no, we serve because we're called to serve.

Jesus said, "I came to this world to serve, not to be served." And Jesus says, that's your role model. John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, "He must increase and I must decrease." The basic core values of the Christian life are based on understanding who God is, who His Son is, the power of the Spirit in our life, and that is counter to the world you live in. And we're going to see that as we break these down. But that's the backdrop.

So He says, in these last days, you're going to have difficult times. Now here's what I want you to see.

Lovers of Self

People will be first lovers of self. They'll be consumed with themselves. They'll even have a magazine like Self Magazine. They'll be part of a generation that would identify themselves as the me generation. Everything they do and everything they say and everything they think will be couched in the idea of, what does it mean to me? What about me?

It's very interesting, I go back, you have right now basically a group of people, meaning the people in this country, who are becoming more and more difficult to govern. And the charge is, we don't have any great leaders. Well here's the real problem: we don't have a lot of good followers anymore. That's the problem. We still have some people that are ready to lead. The problem is, you don't want to go where they want to go. And by the way, I think you almost, by definition, need crisis or difficult times to have great leaders and God's given us great times, most of us.

Jesus says this: don't be thinking about you, where the world says, look out for number one. Jesus says, "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." When the world says, you follow your agenda, what's best for you, even the United States Army that began with a slogan that says, "Uncle Sam wants you," meaning you have an obligation, you have a responsibility, you have a privilege, you have reaped the benefits of this country, now Uncle Sam needs you to serve—even the army understands the culture to turn it around and says, "be all you can be." Use us like you'd use anything else. Come and don't serve us, come and use us to accomplish everything you want in your life. That's wild, isn't it? But at least they understand the culture because in the last days, people are going to be lovers of self.

Lovers of Money

Here's the second thing. They're going to be lovers of money. They're going to want stuff, material things. Material things are going to be very important. You are in 2 Timothy, those of you that have your Bibles, flip back one page, maybe two in yours, to 1 Timothy, chapter 6, because Paul talks at length there about money.

Here's what He says in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 9: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge them into ruin and destruction." So He said there's this group of people and this group of people is very vulnerable to temptations. The temptations quickly become a snare. The snare fills them with foolish and harmful desires and the end result is they are plunged into ruin. The word "plunge" in the Greek is used only one other time in the New Testament. In Luke, chapter 5, verse 7, to describe a ship that's sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Now who is this group of people? There's a tendency to misread this. There's a tendency to say, oh, those who are rich fall into trap. That's not what it says, is it? It says "those who want to get rich." Some of the greediest, slimiest, materialistic people I know are making 15 or 17 or 18 grand a year. And boy, they want more and more and more and more. And you've got people who are making three and four hundred thousand dollars a year who want more and more and more and more. And the problem we need to understand here is that what He's saying is, what's the desire of your heart?

There's a fundamental principle about mankind and that is we will always do what we want most. It's just a rule. We'll always do what we want most. Who we want most, we'll do. Well, that's not true. Sure it is. Let me give you an example. I'm walking down the street, a guy sticks a gun in my ribs and says, "give me your money or give me your life." Well, at that moment, as much as you like that money, you want your life more. So although your will might be coerced in

that particular way, you ultimately do what you want most because the desires of your heart ultimately surface. That's what we say. That's what we mean when we say what you believe must affect how you behave.

So He says, if you want to get rich, you need to understand something. You're in real trouble. Because of that desire, you're going to do a lot of really stupid things and you're going to fall into traps and ruin.

Why? Verse 10, for the love of money, not money itself. Here's where I'm supposed to pull out a bill and say, this is not good, not bad, it's neutral. You know that. Money essentially is neutral. In fact, money can be used for some very good things.

Money Itself Is Not Evil

Money for us is very important. Priority living and what we do here would not function if it wasn't for the fact that some of you, I presume, and others send money in so that Sharon gets it and pays the bills. Money is very good, and I think it's a good thing. So there's an example of money being used in a very good way. Money can be used in a very bad way.

Paul's not saying money's bad. Here's what He's saying. The love of money, the person who desires to get rich, the person who loves money—the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. In other words, you'll do things for money that you never thought you'd ever do. You'll lie, you'll steal, you'll cheat, you'll risk your own health, you'll risk the well-being of your family because you love money. You want more and more and more and more and more. How much? I don't know. More and more and more.

Part of it is we can't even come to grips with what rich is. I learned this the first time I taught it because I'm teaching those who want to get rich and those who are rich, here's what you do. And I saw nothing happen. And then it occurred to me, why? No one thinks they're rich.

The Problem of Defining Rich

I'm talking to a guy one day, and I think he had six, seven, eight million dollar net worth, something like that. And we're talking about it, and he said, I'm not rich. I said, really? And I said, what do you think rich is? And he said, a net worth of 25 million and above is rich.

And my guess would be, if you talk to people with 25 million, they'd say 50 million and above. And 50 million and above would say 100 million and above. And pretty soon you get to a billion and above. Because everybody's going, I'm not rich, he's rich. I'm not rich, he's rich. I'm not rich, he's rich.

And then ultimately it gets to Gates, and Gates is screwed in this conversation because I don't know what he does. I said, oh, okay, I am rich. I am rich. But it doesn't apply to me. Somehow he would know it didn't apply to him. I don't know how. And see, that's how we think.

He goes on to talk about those of you that are rich in verse 17 and 18, and here's what you ought to do. He said there are two things not to do. Don't be conceited. If you're here today and you're pretty successful, you know, you just know it. Your industry tells you, your friends tell you, the sheet that comes out at the end of the month tells you.

Two Warnings for the Rich

You're successful. He said, two things not to do. So one, don't get conceited because the tendency is to think, man, I really created this. I created this. I came up with a system. I came up with a widget. I did something different. Listen, you didn't do anything that God didn't give you the insight to do.

Here's the second thing not to do. Don't trust in the uncertainty of riches. There's two sides to this. One is remembering that money is like a grease pig—boom, and it's gone. That's one. But I think it's deeper than that.

The uncertainty of riches, I think, in its deeper meaning, is to say there's a tendency on the part of human beings to think if I had a little bit of this financial stuff, I'd have everything else that I wanted in life. You see? How else can you explain who wants to marry a multimillionaire? What human being, what woman? If I'm a woman, where are the feminists? Well, they're busy with Al Gore, but other than that, where are these gals?

Why aren't they raising cane? Why aren't they boycotting this, saying this is an insult to women? You're going to go and marry this guy just because he has cash? But I'm sure that those 50 gals and everybody else who'd love to have been on that stage are saying, you know, I guess I can put up with almost anything if there's enough money.

Money Cannot Meet Our Deepest Needs

There's an idea that says if I dress right, look right, the things of the world will make me happy. And money's never going to do for you what you think it's going to do. It can't.

What at your very basic core, and this is so perfect, all of us through all time in all settings are created the same. We're created with basic needs, and the need is to be loved in an unconditional way. The need is to find some place to experience forgiveness for our sins. The need is to somehow eradicate the guilt in our life.

And nothing can do that but what was designed by God to do and accomplish that, and that's a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that can do that. So the uncertainty of riches is the idea that says, boy, I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled, I'll be accomplished through them. No, you won't.

Last Days Character Traits

Now, back to the text. People in the last days, verse 2, 2 Timothy 3, verse 2, people in the last days will be lovers of self and they will be lovers of money. Now the rest of these traits flow out of that.

If you're a lover of self and a lover of money, you will be boastful. You will be loud. Everybody needs to know that you're here, and they need to see it. And you are somebody, and it's important for everybody to see it.

Not only will they be boastful, they'll be arrogant. That's kind of the flip side of that. That's more of an attitude. I'm getting ready. I do this every year. I teach the junior high and the high schoolers at summer

camp. I go on summer camp with the kids, and I always thought it wasn't my target audience, but I do a pretty good job with them. A little harder with the junior highs.

Always the first night, here's what I tell the junior highs: "I want you to understand something. There are a whole bunch of senior high school kids here who can't wait to stuff you in a toilet. And all I got to do is say go, and they're going to do it. So knock it off." And then they knock it off. But they got an attitude. They just got an attitude. There's something there.

I would love to have film of me as a junior high and high schooler, because if anybody ever had it, I'm sure I had it. But these kids, they just - haven't you seen? You don't even know them, but you just kind of want to pop them, because they got an attitude. Well, that's what arrogance is. Boastfulness is loud. Arrogance is silent. You can be an arrogant person and give the illusion, even, that you're humble. But in your heart, you're defiant with everything and everyone. And you've got this giant attitude that somehow says, "I'm better than everybody else."

The Disease of Disobedience

They're lovers of self and they're lovers of money. They're boastful. They're arrogant. They're revilers - they speak this stuff, especially toward God. This is a transgenerational disease. They are disobedient to their parents.

Unlike most of you, I have a bit of a flex schedule, usually on Monday, and oftentimes on Friday afternoon. But for sure, Monday's my day off. And I've just reached a point where I don't even feel like doing anything. About once a month, I love to go to Fashion Square just because I just love to be in Fashion Square. I just can sit there and I just love that place. But most of the time, I just can't - I'm just too tired. I just don't want to go anywhere.

So I'll watch TV. The problem is, other than ads for Goldberg and whoever, there isn't much to watch during the day. What you watch during the day are a series of shows that are getting worse by the day. Sally Jesse Raphael does regularly, that I see, these things about parents and children. And you'll see these little obnoxious kids just right in the faces of their parents. And I'll ask this - this is going to be the ultimate question: "Who are you to tell me what to do?" And the answer is, "I'm your mom." That's the answer. "I'm your dad." There is disobedience of parents.

Breaking the Spirit, Not the Will

Now, we're going to take a little sidebar trip here for the sake of those of you that are parents of especially smaller children and those of you that are grandparents, so that I can tell you what you already know. And that is, that child is naturally rebellious and disobedient, so that you have to come in - now, get this - and break his spirit. Break her spirit, but not her will. Everybody wants to email me on this. Please don't do that.

This is just like you do a dog. Just like you do a puppy. It's not hard to understand. When you raise children, you need very, very definitive, tight boundaries. And then, for example, because I think Susan and I are pretty strict, by the time our kids were twelve, there were essentially no rules in our house, because everybody understood the game.

The children, especially the small ones, they're always going to test you. God instinctively somehow put in them this desire to test you and to do it in public. They're going to test you. They're going to test you in public.

That's why if you go to a Toys R Us, and I can't stand - I was behind just some lady at the counter at the grocery store the other day. And that kid must have had fifteen different candy bars out of the rack there. "Mom, I want this. Mom, I want this." And she said, "No, we're not getting anything. We have got - we're not getting you anything." And I thought, "I wonder how much you'll have by the end." And sure enough, away he went with a box of something. Well, what happened to "No, we aren't going to do it"? See, what you got to do, it's real simple. Let's say, "No, you aren't going to do it," and then don't do it.

A Public Test of Authority

I've got Haley and Sarah one day, and it happened to be a Sunday - this is about fifteen years ago - and I'm teaching by request on the issue of parenting. Stupid. I've got no business as a father of a five-year-old and a three-year-old teaching on parenting. You've got to be further down the line with this thing. But I had to do it. So I did it.

We're at Grace Community Church, and at Grace Community Church, like many large churches, there's kind of a path where everybody has to walk. So we're there after I've just spoken on parenting. And because I was teaching, we came in two cars. So I said, "Haley, you go with Mom. Sarah, you go with me." And Sarah said, "No."

That's all right. And I figured, well, she just didn't understand or hear what I said. I said, "Now, let me be clear. Haley, you go with Mom. Sarah, you come with me." "No."

Now you've picked a spot. You've picked a time. It's your Gettysburg, and what you need to understand is, you need to fully comprehend, you are Pickett in this charge. So I said, "Okay." And this violates my principles already, because delayed obedience is the same as disobedience. You know all these rules. But I'm in public, and I'm kind of a little tentative, and I said, "Sarah, you come with me." "No."

So I kind of moved just aside, and I gave her a spanking. It was a gentle spanking. It was not something they would call Child Protective Services. It was a spanking. So I said, "Now, Sarah, you come with me." "No."

Well, at this point, there's a group gathering that just heard me talk on parenting. So they want to say, "Well, he can talk about it. Let's see how he does it." So I said, "Sarah," and I'm down here, and I said, "You are going with me." And she looked - I mean, we're eye to eye - and she just said, "No." So I spun her around, and I spanked her again, and I spin her

back around. I said, "Now, Sarah," and this is—I don't want to be graphic here, but those of you who have parents, you can get this—this is a snot cry now. There's just stuff everywhere, and I'm not going to clean her up. And I said, "Sarah," and I can't believe this, I said, "Sarah, you're going with me." "No." And I'm thinking, she is so much like her mother. That's all I could think of.

And so I'm having all these thoughts at this time, and Susan's just—so I'll take Haley and go. Susan's gone at this point when I need her. So I said, "Okay, Sarah," and I spanked her again, and I gave her my hand, and I said, "Now, Sarah, you're going with me." And I mean, she just gave me her little hand, and her little hand was shaking, and we just walked through these people, kind of separating them out of the way, and away we went.

Now, here's what I want you to understand, at least in our experience: I never again in 15 years had a challenge in public. Most people would have caved in there, and when you do, you're dead, because you're going to fight that battle sometime. And every time that node dominates, it gets harder to win the battle the next time. See, I'm telling you, everybody talks this deal, but I'm telling you, the toughest job on the planet is this parenting thing.

The Challenge of Authority

I see it with guys. When I was a coal banker, every once in a while, because I was not particularly a "let's see how hard we can work" kind of guy, but every once in a while, I'd be in a project that would demand either I would go in way early or have to stay late. And I would look around and be astounded how many people were there late. And I always observed them not particularly doing any work, just kind of hanging around and shuffling papers and talking. Here's what I realized: they were there late because they didn't want to go home.

It's real easy to sit in the office and bark out orders, and people jump. You can get them on the phone and say, "Get in here right now. What do you guys think you're doing?" And people are moving all over. Now you go home to your 12-year-old and you say, "Hey, can you get that ring out of your nose?" And I've got to take an F from you. "I'm not taking that. Who do you think you are?"

After a while, what happens is when you think they have all the leverage. That's the moment where you've got to move and you've got to be decisive. And the longer you postpone it, the tougher it is. I've got a lot of friends that have 16, 17, 18-year-olds that are saying, "We've got our kids on tight curfews and everything else," and they'll say, "What time do your kids have to be home?" And I'll say, "Gee, we don't have any rules." "You mean they can stay out as late as they want?" I didn't say that.

But if they're going to a ballgame and the ballgame's over at 10 and there's nothing going on afterwards, then I want them home at 10:30. But if they're going to go have dinner and then they're going to go out to a movie, I'll let them stay out till 1:30. You know why? Because I trust them. You know why? Because God has given them an understanding of what we are trying to accomplish in their life, and that is to make them independent of us and dependent on Him.

Characteristics of Last Days People

So here you go. In these last days, people will be ungrateful. There's a sense of independence, so consequently, here's what they're saying: "I don't need to be thankful to anybody because I pulled myself up on my own bootstraps." Not only ungrateful, they'll be unholy, they'll be irreligious, they'll be unloving. That word "unloving" is an interesting word. It means they will not follow the natural affections of life.

Another perfect example: no more natural affection in life than a mother for a child. To me, that's the most natural affection. You've got 1.5 million mothers every year kill their babies. We pick up the paper every day, and we see instances where parents act contrary to this natural love.

They're irreconcilable. Here's what that means: not only will they not forgive, they don't even want to be forgiven. You've got neighbors talking to each other through their lawyers. These are malicious gossips. Not just gossip, and gossip is hideous. That's one of those things I hate as much, more as much as almost anything, gossip. But this isn't gossip like, "What did you hear, who's going with who?" This is malicious gossip.

The Nature of Malicious Gossip

The Greek word is diabolos, from which we get the English word "diabolical." It's used 34 times in the New Testament to describe Satan, the accuser himself. These are malicious gossips, without self-control. They've jettisoned any sort of control in their life. And not only are they not under control, they're going to do whatever they want, and here you go, and they couldn't care less what you think.

Not only that, they are brutal. See that in the gangs now, some of them, where you'll see somebody beaten almost to death, and all the jewelry, all the stereo, everything's there because the object's just to see how much pain you can inflict on somebody else. They're haters of good. See, they aren't neutral. They can't stand good. It's not just that they go, "Well, there's a good thing out there, and we'll let it go." No, they hate good.

Final Characteristics

Not only haters of good, they are treacherous. That means in the midst of all of this, in their treachery, they're against even ultimately family members, if need be. They're reckless, and that word means they're thoughtless, thinking only of themselves. You see that displayed all day as you drive, as you walk, as you just deal with public.

They're conceited. They are consumed. The word means literally to be enveloped with smoke. Now, remember, you know the phrase, "blowin' smoke at you"? Conceited, they're filled and enveloped. Now, here's the contrast. We got two points to make. We're out of here. Here's the contrast: they're lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

not say they love pleasure more than God. It doesn't say that. They love pleasure instead of God. Their whole life is consumed with making themselves feel good. All they care about is themselves instead of God.

Now, if you have that Bible in front of you, look closely at not the spelling, but the word. They're lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—capital G, the one true God. But verse 5, and how incredible is this, but they hold to a form of godliness, although they deny its power.

These are godless, godly people. They're spiritual people. They deny the power of godliness, the power in the gospel.

The Power Is in the Gospel

Paul says, Romans 1:16, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of salvation to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." That's where the power is. The power is understanding Christ and who He is, understanding that Christ died on the cross for our sin, understanding that Christ was buried, understanding that Christ rose again from the dead.

That's the exclamation point. That's the statement to the world that He's who He said He was. There's the power. Apart from that, there is no power. Frankly, apart from that, there's no godliness.

There is one true God. That one true God has a son, Jesus Christ. That one true God's son came and died on the cross for the sin of His people, was buried and rose again. Everything else is a false god.

The Need for Discernment

I have no idea where this article came from. It just appeared from last Saturday's paper. It was just on my desk. But it fits perfectly into this, and it addresses what I think is the great lack in our world today.

I hear lots of people talk about commitment. People lack commitment. Yeah, maybe. I'll tell you what the people I hang around with lack, and that's discernment. Not commitment, but discernment.

You live in a world that demands discernment, because the world will talk endlessly about spiritual things, about God. You can go to Borders bookstore today. There's a book, Conversations with God. And that book's been on the bestseller list for four, five, six, seven hundred weeks. I have never read the book. Obviously, I'm not going to buy it. I did take the advantage to read three or four pages here and some there. It's just awful. But people read it.

Creating God in Our Own Image

Why do they read it? The fact that that many people buy it should be a warning sign to you. Why do they buy it? Well, because they're lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. But they have a form of godliness, because we can't deny that there's something greater than us. But what we're going to do is create a God in our own image rather than the God that's there.

This is an article from the paper the other day. Former Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu joined several other prominent theologians Saturday to urge religious leaders to work together to find the new image of God for the 21st century. Here's what Tutu says: "No religion can claim to have the whole truth about the mystery of faith." He's addressing a group at the God at 2000 conference. Tutu urged Christians to embrace other faiths.

The Gandhi Illustration

Now here's a quote again. Those of you that have been around will know that this baby is right up my alley. This is a build-a-suit. God ordained this to happen and dropped this in my lap. Here's what Tutu said: "Gandhi was not a Christian. But if you say Gandhi was not a good man, you're not speaking my language."

All right, let's analyze the statement. Gandhi was not a Christian. I don't care. If you're not speaking my language, it doesn't matter. What's God say about Gandhi? The same thing He says about you. No one is good, no not one. Gandhi is the nicest man in hell. But he's in hell bigger than Dallas.

Here it is. Gandhi's not a Christian. Here's a guy sympathetic to him. He says he's not a Christian. Now, men and women, here's where the rubber meets the road. Either this stuff is true, or it isn't.

Gandhi said—and remember what we said, that sometimes arrogance can be couched in humility—the humble little man. I'm a Gandhi guy. I love Gandhi. Like many of you will watch It's a Wonderful Life every year, I watch Gandhi the movie every year. I've read in my life a lot of Gandhi stuff. Big Gandhi guy. He's as nice as you can be apart from Christ.

Christianity Is About the Death of Christ

The problem is, Gandhi said: "I embrace and read the Gospels every day. I follow the teachings of Christ. But I refuse to believe that Jesus Christ, or anyone else, died for my sin." He's in hell, because he rejects—here you go—Christianity is not about the teaching of Christ. It is about the death of Christ. That's the core of Christianity.

When Tutu says Gandhi's not a Christian, then we don't need to break into small groups and discuss whether Gandhi's in heaven or not. He's not. But to a world, this sounds good.

There's a guy that put this whole thing together, name is Marcus Borg. Borg challenges Christians to open themselves to other religions, to see God as the entire universe, and to reject supernatural theism, or reducing God to human dimensions as individual personality. I don't even know what it means. But I know it's wrong.

The Core Truth

Here's what I know: God spoke to us through His written Word, and through His Son Jesus Christ. Let me say it to you again. Jesus Christ is who He said He was, or He isn't, and that's all that we're about at Priority Living.

Everything that we do, as we give you practical instruction for life, everything we do—that behavior flows from a belief. You can change your life and embrace the teaching of Christ, but if you reject the death of Christ, you're lost forever.

Christ, and it will help you a lot in life, and you will live a better life, and we'll be a better culture as a result. But at the end of the day, when you die, you're going to hell. And that's the reality.

I'm talking to a guy, a friend the other day, and his mom died, and I'm talking to him right after his mom died. And the great tragedy is not that she died. The great tragedy is, he knows that she's in hell. See, that's reality. When somebody says to you, what is reality? That's reality right there.

The Path to Discernment

Well, how do I get discernment? How do I begin to see that? Next two weeks, we're going to talk about that.

We've got to go. Father, please, help us see this. God, let us be not lovers of self, but lovers of You. Not lovers of money, but lovers of Your Word. Not lovers of pleasure, but filled with Your Spirit, with a desire to serve, not be served.

God, we don't do that naturally. Naturally, we hate You and love ourselves. God, will You change our heart? To those that are here that are not Christians, will You put in them a desire to be born again? And to those of us that are Christians, Father, will You fill us with Your Spirit and put in us a desire to serve You? We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.