by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
Paul gives Timothy three steps to be honorably useful to the Lord in His house (II Timothy 2:22).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Let’s be useful to the Lord. Let’s do this together. What can we do to help you be useful to the Lord?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[642,1808],"class_list":["post-97429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christianity","tag-useful"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/vessels-unto-honor-and-vessels-unto-dishonor\/","url_meta":{"origin":97429,"position":0},"title":"Vessels Unto Honor and Vessels Unto Dishonor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by L.A. Stauffer via Son Rays, Vol. 30, No. 23, Sept. 7 2008 Paul writes to the young preacher, Timothy, and urges him to flee immorality so that he might be a \"vessel unto honor.\" His reference is to Timothy's person or body and how he should engage in honorable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86971,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fit-for-the-masters-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":97429,"position":1},"title":"Fit for the Master’s Use (Series)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif 1x, https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif 1.5x, https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif 2x, https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif 3x, https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/potter-scaled.avif 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":88343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-the-hands-of-the-potter\/","url_meta":{"origin":97429,"position":2},"title":"In the Hands of the Potter","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Cleve Stafford \"Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel\" (Jeremiah 18:6). If you have ever watched an artisan potter at work, I think you will agree that it is mesmerizing. Those hands are so powerful, and yet they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/potter2-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-secret-of-contentment\/","url_meta":{"origin":97429,"position":3},"title":"The Secret of Contentment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kenneth W. Ledbetter Sentry Magazine, March 2001 I want to take a moment to pass along a realization that has helped me in times of great distress and personal trials ... found in the words of the apostle Paul. 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Paul said, \"...Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.\" Wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47839,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/an-honorable-man-mordecai\/","url_meta":{"origin":97429,"position":5},"title":"An Honorable Man: Mordecai","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 13:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because of Paul\u2019s late arrival on the scene, his apostleship was at times questioned. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Corinth, though established by Paul, the church struggled with many sins. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were some among the Corinthians less inclined to correct their problems or to heed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}