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“The Goal of Our Instruction”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford
In 1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul distinguishes between bad teaching and good teaching. The former category is much larger than we might expect. It includes false doctrine, but it also involves empty speculation, fruitless discussion, and opinionated ignorance. As a rule, brethren are alive to the dangers of the first of these, but we often don’t pay as much attention as we should to the problems that come with the other three.
As Paul describes it, empty speculation arises from paying attention to myths and endless genealogies. In essence, this is spiritual reasoning without a solid Scriptural foundation. It is speculative because it relates tangentially at best to the word of God, and it is empty because it does not help the hearers inherit eternal life.
Such speculation is rife across the religious spectrum. It arises from progressives who want to overturn divine commandments based on what they think they know about life in the first century as well as from conservatives who want to speak clearly where the Bible does not. We may find its conclusions congenial, but it represents a trap for those who wish to follow Christ.
Second, we come to fruitless discussion. Such discussion is fruitless because it does not achieve the good goals Paul sets out in v. 5. It does not produce love from a pure heart, a good conscience, or a sincere faith.
To put things another way, it does not transform our hearts to be like God’s heart, it does not instruct us in God’s commandments and how to obey them, and it does not show us that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. These discussions often arise from nonbiblical sources (beware of studies on marriage and the family that do not cite Scripture!) or take the Bible and turn it irrelevant. A discussion of the minutiae of ancient life 2000 years ago without any connection to anything is not spiritually beneficial!
Finally, we come to opinionated ignorance. In this case, the problem isn’t the topic. It’s the teacher. He’s talking about a worthwhile subject, but he’s not doing so in a worthwhile way. He doesn’t understand the word properly, but that doesn’t keep him from insisting on his conclusions obstinately.
As teachers, we solve this problem not by avoiding the area of study entirely, but by making sure that our understanding of it is good. We must know both what we believe and why we believe it. For instance, it’s not enough to cite 1 Corinthians 16:1-3 as an explicit authorization of a weekly collection for the continuing needs of the church. It isn’t. Instead, we must know how to use 1 Corinthians 16:1-3, along with passages such as Acts 4:34-35, 1 Corinthians 9:14 and Hebrews 10:25, to reach the conclusion that a continuing collection is authorized. If we can’t work through the reasoning necessary to arrive at a conclusion, we shouldn’t be teaching the conclusion.
All of this makes preaching and teaching sound like a challenging work, and it is. If we want to be useful in the kingdom, there are many pitfalls we must avoid. Nonetheless, sound preaching and teaching is vital to the spiritual health of the Lord’s people, and if we carry out this great work with care and diligence, we will gain an everlasting reward.
