Fight the good fight

I've been wondering lately, just how important are the things we fight for? If we could change everybody's views to match our own on whatever subject we discuss, would it make a difference 100 years from now? Or for eternity?

The Apostle Paul speaks of fighting the good fight. Toward the end of his life he reflects that he's fought the good fight, he's finished the course, and he’s kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7). So what is he referring to? Did he attain world peace, the world's respect, or even peace within the Church? What exactly is he referring to?

In 2 Tim 4:3-4, a description is given of people who are no longer content to hear the sound teaching of Paul ,but who are impelled to turn to many different teachers of novelty and untruth. It does seem that more and more of us go to church these days to be entertained rather than to serve, worship, and to learn what is the will of God (Rom 12:2). Are we no longer able to endure sound doctrine? Do we merely want our "ears tickled”?

It’s so easy to get distracted from fighting the good fight, and often times for seemingly good causes. For example, many of us appear to be fighting for world peace. Ironically, we picket, preach at, and even publicly scorn others in our efforts for world peace — as if it's really attainable (Eph 2:2).

Some of us, however, are fighting for recognition and respect from the world itself, compromising what we believe in order to make it fit in with the world's wisdom. We're not getting the results we desire, though; the world merely smirks (Jn 15:19).

And still others of us seem to be moving toward giving up the fight altogether. We're weary and looking for peace, perhaps not with the world, but within the Church itself. We’ve somehow become convinced that the conflict-inducing confusion in the Church can be overcome only by all of us getting together, minimizing our differences and emphasizing those doctrines on which we all agree. Consequently, some of the most important doctrines of Scripture are neither denied nor affirmed; they are ignored. But this doesn’t seem to matter, for our objective now isn't to be true to the written Word of God, but to see to it that the Church is unified at all costs (2 Tim 4:3). Some big questions remain, however: If we continue down this path, how will we ever grow and mature in Christ, and, what influences are we leaving ourselves wide open to because we aren't growing (Eph 4:11-15)?

Paul, however, never wavered. He fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith, and he did so in two senses: he was obedient to it (2 Tim 3:10-12), and he passed it on to others just as he received it. Paul didn’t get side-tracked by the world (2 Tim 2:3-4), nor did he give people only what they wanted to hear. Instead, he always spoke the truth from the Word of God alone, accurately handling* it at all times (2 Tim 2:15). And he exhorted Timothy to do the same (2 Tim 3:16-4:2, 4:5).

May we too fight the only fight worth fighting, the only one that will truly make a difference 100 years from now, and, for eternity — keep the faith!


*"accurately handling" means to correctly handle the Word of God, both in analysis and presentation — this is in contrast to the inane interpretations of false teachers