Usually in the late spring, my yard looks like the old slogan people used to describe a mullet: business in the front, party in the back. The front yard is relatively free of weeds, but the weeds are always the first plants to grow in the back. We will ensure that the yard looks better as the year progresses, but making sure that their roots are dead is a process and takes time. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul speaks of a growth far more dangerous than anything that could grow in a yard. He mentions a toxic root that grows in human hearts, and this sin is “the root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim. 6:10). The sin had a stronghold in the church of Ephesus, and Paul gives Timothy in this letter instructions on how to battle this sin.
Paul begins the chapter by continuing the theme of chapter 5. Slaves were to show honor to their masters. The topic of slavery in the New Testament would bring us far beyond the scope of this column, but one can accept the principle Paul teaches in these verses without believing that the New Testament condones the institution of slavery. Christian employees should treat employers with respect, especially if those employers are Christians.
At the end of verse 2, Paul moves to what appears to be the central concern of the passage: false teaching. This topic was one that he had already mentioned in chapter 1. In this chapter, however, he deals not with the false teaching itself, which was the topic of chapter 1, but with the underlying cause of the heresy: sin in the human heart. Paul mentions many sins that led the false teachers astray, but the core sin was greed. Greed led the false teachers to see Christianity as a way to profit financially (1 Tim. 6:5). That greed was promoting false teaching. If the false teaching is the leaves and flower of the weed, greed is the toxic root, which ultimately led professing Christians to walk away from the faith (6:10).
Paul instructs Timothy to flee the love of money along with pride, envy, and other sins that lead to false teaching (1 Tim. 6:11). He charges Timothy to guard the deposit, which is the gospel of Jesus (6:20), and God has entrusted churches today with the same deposit. Guarding that gospel requires a strong immune system. Churches need leaders and congregants who also flee these same temptations. Wealth should never be a higher pursuit than God or even an end in itself, and contentment is a vital Christian virtue (1 Tim. 6:6, 9). Wealth isn’t a sin, but God commands those who are rich to be generous (1 Tim. 6:18).
Paul’s instructions in this passage aren’t simply about avoiding sins; he also tells Timothy to cultivate six virtues (1 Tim. 6:11). Righteousness is God’s own standard for our behavior, and godliness is an appropriate reverence for and devotion to God. Faith is a steady trust in God, and love is a self-giving attitude toward God and our neighbors. Steadfastness is the ability to keep moving forward through trials, and gentleness is the meekness of those who keep their power under control for the sake of the weak. Pursuing these qualities is how we follow Paul’s example in fighting the good fight (6:12).
Church health is the same today as in Paul’s day. We must kill the toxic root and cultivate the virtues that please God.