/"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." /(I Timothy ??)
Whenever I have heard or used the passage above from the New Testament, the picture that has come to mind has been of someone faithfully poring over a textbook or memorising Bible verses. Never mind that the Bible as we now know it did not even exist at that time. But lately I have been enabled (with a little prodding from Cherry) to see it from a perspective that is more consistent with the circumstances under which it was first written; and the result has been a far more exciting picture of what it means. I will attempt to explain that in this article.
The two words that seem to jump out at us in the passage above are "study" and "word". Because of these two words, it seems quite reasonable to think that the passage is talking about studying a book of some sort. But when the Apostle Paul was writing that in a letter to young Timothy, the New Testament had not even been fully written, and even the Old Testament was not available to the average believer. Books as such rarely existed in the average home. So what could he have been talking about?
Because the passage talks about us needing to be "approved unto God", we get the idea that he was talking about something important. Tradition has said that studying the Bible is important, to the point where the Bible almost BECOMES God. But if it's not the Bible that Paul is encouraging Timothy to study, then what is it? If we really want to please God, the answer to this question should be worth searching for.
Another phrase suggests that it may have something to do with some kind of practical skills. Paul talks about a "workman who needeth not to be ashamed". Certainly in any type of work, whether painting a car, planting onions, filling in tax forms, or preaching a sermon, it is important for "workmen" to be able to do jobs for which they need not be ashamed. So it is possible that the "study" we are talking about here is as simple as doing a good job at school, in an apprenticeship, or when working for an employer... so that you become a "workman/workwoman who does not need to be ashamed" of the work you are doing.
But then there is the final phrase: "rightly dividing the word of truth". This suggests something more than a well designed bookcase or a well executed jump shot in basketball. There is something about the kind of studying that Paul is encouraging that will help someone to find truth, and more than that, to be able to divide or discern the truth from what is untruth. This phrase in itself should have told us years ago that the verse is probably not talking about the Bible.
My own feeling (now) is that this is talking about discernment, about wisdom, about counsel, about thinking. God wants us to think... to use our minds... to consider the issues that are put before us daily and try to discern the best way to apply them in our lives. Lately I have been saying a lot about "counselling" and the need for all of us to take an active part in decision-making. It means being able to debate the issues in our minds, to consider the pros and cons, to "trouble-shoot". Yet these seem to be some of the rarest traits in the world today. Everywhere you look there are people who are prepared to become puppets for the nearest puppet-master. They don't want to think; they just want someone else to make the decisions for them, so that they can take comfort in the fact that they are in safe hands.
This picture of mindless zombies is often presented with regard to new religious movements, and yet it is, in my opinion, far more prevalent in the workaday world. There are people who reach retirement and just can't handle the responsibility of having to decide for themselves when to get up in the morning, what to do, and when to change from one thing to another. Nevertheless, we do have this mental laziness in our own midst too, and just knowing that there are so many people ready to enlist as pawns from various power-brokers in the system should not excuse us from recognising the same thing amongst ourselves.
It's almost becoming legendary now that my oldest son, Kevin, has more or less dedicated his life to destroying me and what we are doing as Jesus Christians. However, Kevin flourished for almost 30 years within the community because of his ability to question things, and to argue his case well. True, he tended to disagree with me just for the sake of disagreeing, and you can see it in so much that he writes today. But even to fight me (both then and now) required/requires him to think. It meant that if he was left in charge of any situation, he would be pretty much able to handle it. And all because he had learned to think.
I never took debating in school, but it sounds like one of the best subjects one can take. Most people think, "Ugh! Arguments! I hate them. How depressing! How negative!" But, of course, what happens on a debating team is that they teach you to argue whichever side you are instructed to argue, and not just the one that you would prefer. In other words, overall, you are forced to consider both sides, all of the pros and cons. In short, you learn to think.
I wish that more of our members would participate more actively on our forum. And I don't mean the threads where you say what your favorite song is, or where you post your favorite saying (nice as those things may be). The controversial issues that seem to surround us every day are issues which have grown out of thinking outside the box, and questioning blind submission to tradition. But the alternatives themselves will become dead traditions if we don't know why we chose them, and if we are not continuing to keep the issues clear in our own minds and in the minds of others.
I was thinking about the word "rational" the other day. It comes from the same root word as "reason" and we often talk about "reasoning" as a form of arguing. But more than that, the word "reason" on its own is linked with the word "Why?" And that's the word we need to be asking ourselves constantly if we want to keep from losing our way. Why are we doing this? Why do we think it is important? Why does someone else oppose it? Why were we put here on this planet? If we are not questioning our motives and the motives of those around us, we are sooner or later going to start sounding pretty irrational.
I know that some of our members say that they shy away from arguments (especially on the forum) because they are NOT good arguers. Certainly there are some people out there who are frothing at the mouth in eager anticipation tearing apart whatever you say. But you don't become a good basketball player by only playing chess. It's practice that makes perfect, and if you know that you are inexperienced in arguing your point, then even that little piece of truth should help you to be more tentative and humble in the points you try to make. With practice, you will gain more confidence, and you will be prepared for the counter-arguments that you own statements are going to elicit, so that you don't put your foot in your mouth (or at least not so often)!
For example, I can see that one of the arguments against this article will be that I am trying to turn us all into yapping little dogs, who want to pick a fight with everyone on the street. So I have to think about that as I write the article. I have to present rational arguments in favour of making rational arguments. There are a hundred different pitfalls that could emerge virtually every time we open our mouths. But if we "study", or "think" about them, we will get better at becoming surgeons (instead of butchers) when it comes to "rightly dividing the word of truth" on each point that is raised. Virtually all it takes for an argumentative person to shoot down (at least in their own minds) a rational person is to exaggerate any point that is being made and then make some bizarre claim that distorts what is actually being said. It's not nice when this kind of twisting happens, but it's part of the bigger experience of finding the truth. And where this skill is most productive is whenever you, or a group that you are part of, needs to make a decision. By "arguing" (i.e. counselling) with others of like mind, you can easily arrive at a wise decision. The reason it can almost be guaranteed is because each of you wants to know the truth, and also because each of you is "studying" the issues, turning them over in your minds, looking for flaws, favouring strong points.
So, in closing, let me encourage all of our members to take practical steps to kick their brains into gear on any of the hundreds of issues that surround you every day. Think about what could go wrong. Think about what could work. Listen to what others are saying. Then move forward with confidence as well as humility, knowing that you are actively seeking to be "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."