THE DANGER FOUND IN GODLESS CHATTER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

2 Timothy 2:16-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been in church and found that people wanted to talk more about the things of the world than the things of the Lord, things that have nothing to do with the  One of whom we’re in the house of?

Frankly, it happens every single Sunday in almost every church and shows just how distracted we are from where our focus should be.

Now, I’m not talking about sharing life experiences like joys and sorrows in one’s personal circle. We were created for relationship and fellowship is one of the ways we can interrelate within the body of Christ and give thanks for the opportunity to support one another under the authority and in the presence of the One who can do all things.

What I am talking about are things like politics, sports, entertainment, or current events that have nothing to do with the Lord or the church. These topics show up in a majority of discussions that people have and sometimes these conversation pieces even show up in the pulpit, something that should be avoided unless used in a way to share the Word of God and educate others. Political commentaries or opinions void of teaching from the scriptures is nothing more than worshiping the world and men more than the Lord we are called to worship.

Well, as we turn to our scripture verses for today and continue our study of 2 Timothy, chapter 2, we find Paul addressing talk within the church that not only was inappropriate but even blasphemous. Look again at his words here:

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Vv. 16-18

Here we find the Apostle Paul attacking godless chatter in the church. Going back to the first letter written to Timothy, we find where this is a common theme addressing a specific issue plaguing the church in Ephesus, the church Timothy was pastoring. That “godless chatter” included “false doctrines” such as a devotion to talking about “myths and endless genealogies” which constituted “meaningless talk” or you could substitute the words “godless chatter”. Such matters only served to “promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work” (1 Timothy 1:3-4, 6). Specifically, we find Paul calling out two men, “Hymenaeus and Alexander” who were guilty parties in spreading the false teaching within the Ephesian congregation (v. 20).

Fast forwarding to our passage for today, we find Hymenaeus reappearing, this time mentioned with another perpetrator of godless chatter, Philetus. Both had “departed from the truth” because they asserted that the resurrection of Jesus had already taken place, this resurrection alluding to Jesus’ promised return. It was a lie of the highest possible magnitude as Christians in Ephesus would have seen themselves as passes over for the very salvation they thought they received when they accepted Jesus as Savior. This is why Paul states that the falsehoods shared by Hymenaeus and Philetus had destroyed “the faith of others”.

The bottom line in Paul’s exhortation was for Timothy to command his congregants to “avoid godless chatter” because anyone engaging in it would move from righteousness toward ungodliness and we could view any talk that isn’t somehow grounded in God as being ungodly in nature.

In the end translation, the church was created to worship God, growing into a deeper understanding of Him and developing a closer relationship with Him. As we come together in His name, let’s be conscientious about the topics we engage in and the words we speak, ensuring that we avoid the dangers found in godless chatter by putting our Lord at the center of the discussion. For He and He alone deserves to be at the center of our conversations as He should be at the center of our lives.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.