the power in godliness

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

2 Timothy 3

What does it mean to deny the power of godliness? I used to wonder if this was people wanting to go to church but not willing to receive the Holy Spirit and the power in the spiritual gifts (prophecy, speaking in tongues, words of knowledge, etc.) But that’s not what Paul said. He said something very simple—that there’s power in godliness. There is something mystical, something uncontrollable but very much real and powerful about forgiveness. There is a power in generosity, in compassion, in mercy, in patience, in gentleness.

I looked at the list of vices given as a contrast to godliness and had to admit that the power he was talking about weren’t the power gifts (speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, etc.), but a different kind of power. The vices are:

1. lovers of self
2. lovers of money
3. boastful
4. haughty
5. railers
6. disobedient to parents
7. unthankful
8. unholy
9. without natural affection
10. implacable
11. slanderous
12. w/o self control
13. fierce
14. not lovers of good
15. traitors
16. headstrong
17. puffed up
18. lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God

And these are religious people, not “sinners”. Paul said that these people are like Jannes and Jambres (a topic for another day), opposing Moses. They oppose the truth. What truth? That there is power to change the world. Power to literally bring heaven to earth by simply:

1. dying to self
2. becoming poor
3. abasing yourself
4. humbling yourself
5. affirming others
6. obeying parents
7. being grateful
8. being holy (set apart)
9. being affectionate to all people
10. being peacable, repentant
11. speaking good
12. self-controlling
13. being kind and gentle
14. loving good
15. being loyal/faithful
16. being low-minded and not demanding
17. being deflated
18. loving God more than pleasure

But living this way requires a lot of trust. It requires me believing that acting like the God who created all this is the best way to live. It’s best for me, for God, and for everyone around me. It requires me to trust that somehow, sooner or later, godliness wins—love wins. Even though I don’t see it. Even though I live godly and get insulted, falsely accused, mocked, cheated, and abandoned, there is no better way to live in harmony with what is deepest and most real than godliness. Even though everything I see screams the folly of living this way, it is still better. It is better to go against the grain of the world, as well as against the grain of Christianity—and whatever the current wave of Christian teachings are on spiritual authority or spiritual warfare or demonology or success or faith or miracles—and just live a godly life. That’s where the true power is. Not the power to promote me. The power to promote others. Not the power to please me. The power to please God and to make the world a better place. The power to pull heaven to earth.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Would He really expect me to pray that way and not expect me to live that way?

I was taught in the school of hard knocks to arrange everything. And I think that denies the power in godliness. If I control my world, if I take charge, I don’t really leave room for heaven to fill in the space I left empty. I don’t really leave room for God to come through for me while I wait on Him. But there is power in godliness. God is all those 18 things now and He was all 18 in the person of Jesus.

The most disturbing thing in all this is that things are not how they seem. You can have a form of religion, even a form of Christianity, even a form of godliness and still deny the power therein. When that happens, well, take a look around.