Three Steps to Usefulness
by Edwin Crozier
We’ve been told Christ’s church is God’s household (I Timothy 3:15). Usually, when we read that metaphor, we think of the people involved in a household. But in II Timothy 2:20-26, Paul thinks about dishes. The fine China versus the Tupperware.
In every great house, Paul says, some of the dishes are for honorable use. The gold and silver vessels aren’t used to slop the hogs or feed the dogs. Then there are the vessels for dishonorable use. We don’t set the wood and clay bowls before the visiting dignitaries.
We each need to view ourselves as a vessel in God’s house. Will we be set apart for honorable use? Or are we satisfied as dishonorable? Do we want to be ready for every good work? Or are we satisfied being passed over because we aren’t useful?
Paul gives Timothy three steps to be honorably useful to the Lord in His house (II Timothy 2:22).
- Flee youthful passions.
- Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
- Along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Don’t just hinder the immature passions; flee them. Run from them as hard as you can. I’ve often wondered why he called them youthful passions instead of sinful passions. I don’t fully know. But my best guess is not that only young people want these passions. Plenty of old people struggle with sinful passions. Rather, in youth and immaturity, we impulsively pursue passions without thinking through the consequences. We need to flee that impulsive behavior.
Don’t just dabble in the character of the Lord; pursue it. Chase it down. Make it yours. In this passage, Paul specifies righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Read this as “part for the whole.” He’s not giving an exhaustive list, but a representative one. Chase things like these. Don’t just think about them. Chase them.
Finally, and this is perhaps the most important step, don’t try to do either alone. Find others who are fleeing and pursuing. Flee and pursue with them. Our friends matter. Fleeing and pursuing is exhausting work. No matter how disciplined and diligent we are, we all get tired at times. We need others around us to encourage us and lift us up when we fall. We won’t become useful to the Lord on our own.
Let’s be useful to the Lord. Let’s do this together. What can we do to help you be useful to the Lord?
