When I worked for the federal government, I participated in a leadership training program at the University of Notre Dame.  It is a 16-hour-a-day, 6-day program to expand the attendees' understanding of leadership and executive decision-making.   It was a good course.

            A man named Melvin opened the course.  He asked us to call him Mel.  Mel had written extensively about leadership, although I was never quite sure if he had been a leader himself.  Mel put forth the proposition that each person is defined by their strengths measured across five areas.  Mel said people have physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual strengths. He then went on to say that among these strengths, one determined a leader's overall success.  Mel said a person’s success was determined by their emotional strength.  Mel believed that an emotionally balanced leader could make sound executive decisions even if they lacked strengths in the other dimensions.  When Mel paused his presentation to take questions or comments, I told him I did not agree with his conclusion that emotional strength was the controlling dimension of success.  I told him I thought spiritual strength would ultimately determine a person’s success.  We exchanged our respective views, and Mel proceeded with his next point.  I would not be the last time Mel and I would differ.

            If Mel were here today, he would hate this sermon.  Why did I differ from Mel, and why do I still today?  I disagreed with Mel because he wanted to treat the five dimensions of a person as independent.  He wanted us to believe that people develop and exercise their physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual strengths separately.  Meaning, he thought of our emotional strength independent of our physical or spiritual condition.  My thought is that all these strengths are interrelated.  Many people report that their emotional well-being is much better when they exercise than when they do not, which suggests that physical and emotional health are interdependent rather than independent. If our strengths are interdependent rather than independent, one of those strengths would be the prime influencer over the others.  This was the point I made to Mel.  I believed then, and I believe now, that our spiritual strength most influences the overall strength of our being.

            I did not know at the time of my discussion with Mel that the Apostle Paul had concluded spiritual strength was the prime influencer over our lives.  Paul, in writing to his spiritual son, Timothy, said, “7b Train yourself to be godly.  8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).  Godliness, as we discussed last week, is a deep reverence and respect for God.  It is an attitude that we express and strengthen through worship, study of the scriptures, and prayers to God, both prayers of gratitude and of petition.  Paul’s point was that while physical training is good for our bodies and likely will improve our emotional wellness, it is our spiritual development that will influence all aspects of our life now and our life to come.

            Now, Paul’s comparison of physical training and spiritual training is not accidental.  Timothy was Paul’s spiritual son, not Paul’s biological son.  Timothy’s biological father was Greek.  The Greeks and the Romans put a premium on physical conditioning.  There were gymnasiums in most major cities, including Ephesus, where Timothy was called to attend.  Likely under the influence of his Greek father, Timothy would have engaged in extensive physical training.  Paul, now seeking to educate his spiritual son, encouraged Timothy to train himself to be godly, that is, to pursue spiritual training even more vigorously than he did with physical training.

            What does it mean to train yourself to be godly, and why did Paul consider it so necessary?  Let’s take the second part of that question first: why did Paul consider spiritual training for a devoted Christian so necessary? We see the necessity in the opening verse of Chapter 4: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1a).  Paul, Timothy, you, and I have a lot in common.  Our faith is always under continual assault.  The assault on the faith of our children and grandchildren is even more pronounced than on adults.  Every day, a barrage of weapons is hurled at Christians collectively and individually, looking to wound someone’s faith in any way possible. Marxists call Christianity an opium for its people, rendering faith as a comforting, illusory force that eases the pain of oppression.  Atheists, those who do not believe in God, believe Christianity is anti-intellectual. Some have gone so far as to claim Christianity is a childhood indoctrination system that prevents critical thinking, viewing faith as a "non-physical form of brain damage.” Even those within Christianity itself attack Christianity by making all sorts of claims against God, Jesus, and salvation.  Even some within Christianity believe that all religions are basically the same. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.  Paul said to Timothy, “1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2a Such teachings come through hypocritical liars” (1 Timothy 4:1-2a).  People abandon their faith because they listen to liars.

            Some people, like Mel, believe they can achieve their personal goals of success by working on other characteristics, such as physical, social, or intellectual strengths. Each one of these characteristics, while important, is not equal to spiritual strength.  People forego spiritual growth training to participate in sports and recreational activities.  They have well-toned bodies, which Paul called our physical bodies tents. Paul was skilled at making tents. All tents, Paul said, no matter how well-toned on earth, will be destroyed.  Then what?  Eternity. As some have said, eternity is like real estate.  It is all about three things: location, location, location!  Some people will be well-toned on earth and in misery for eternity.

            Others give their lives over to making social connections, whether in person or, increasingly, through virtual means such as social media platforms.  They develop powerful networks of friends but remain, as Paul said, an enemy of God.  Someday, those connections will go dark.  Then what? Same answer.  Eternity.  They will have foregone the opportunity to use the original wireless service, praying to God.  They will then ask, “Can you hear me now?”  And they will receive the reply, “Away from me, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:22-23).

            Paul counseled Timothy to be “6b nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God” (1 Timothy 4:6b-10a).  Train in the ways of spiritual growth in godliness because the more we do, the greater hope we have, no matter what else is occurring in our lives.  The more we train in godliness, the stronger we become emotionally, intellectually, and socially.  The more we train in godliness, the better able we are to understand that our body is but a tent, a temporary structure, that will need care and mending while on earth, but will be subject to changes and frailties we cannot prevent.

            Let me give you an example of what Paul was talking about.  Some years ago, I began providing pastoral counseling to an individual following the death of a loved one.  That counseling eventually expanded to helping with family relationships, employment, and emotional growth.  All through-out I encourage, above all, spiritual development.  The person made commitments to pursue spiritual development but never did so in any serious way.  Even though they were able to keep appointments with doctors, therapists, and businesses, there was always one reason after another for not attending church, Bible study, community meal, or ministry opportunity.  One day, I met with this individual at their request to talk about the latest set of emotional and social issues.  At this meeting, I said that I no longer saw the point in meeting because they refused to follow any of my advice toward spiritual growth, and that all their other issues in life were only getting worse as a result. I said either what I offer in counsel is not going to work, or I do not possess the skills this person needs.

We kept in touch, but the counseling ended.  Recently, I had to speak to this person on the phone.  Their life is more difficult in every regard than it was the last time we met in person.  And, yes, there was still no effort at spiritual growth.  They complained to me that I should not have dropped them as a counselor, and they found that it was very hurtful.  I did not want to argue with them about how they feel; there is no point in that.  But my counsel was the same, and now I can say more authoritatively and eloquently by quoting Paul, “7b train yourself to be godly…8b godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7b, 8b). 

I think the proof of God’s Word here was evident, as most dimensions of this person’s life are melting because they refuse to train in godliness.  We should not be confused into thinking that God is punishing this person for failing to pursue Him.  The punishment, if you will, is the self-inflicted consequence of refusing to pursue God.

Then what should our attitude toward training in godliness be, as Paul commended to Timothy?  For today, I only want to make one point.  We must set the right example for ourselves.  Paul told Timothy to set an example for his congregation, presumably because Paul had modeled it for him.  Paul once wrote, “8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).  Paul highlighted that training in godliness should show evidence of truth, nobility, righteousness, purity of motive, pleasant behavior, and conduct that is admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.  Paul said to his church, whenever you see this behavior in me, copy it. Why?  Because Paul would also say, “ 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).  Paul set Christ as the example to imitate in training for godliness, and so should we.

A few years ago, there was some popularity among Christians of wearing a wristband with the initials WWJD, “What Would Jesus Do.”  It was a reminder to Christians to guide their daily decisions and ethical behavior based on the life of Jesus.  This has some merit.  But.  But the problem with a WWJD wristband is that if you do not first pursue Jesus and what Jesus did, WDJD, “What Did Jesus Do,” you cannot possibly answer the question, “What Would Jesus Do.”  You cannot imitate what you do not know.  Training in godliness begins with Jesus and what He did, so that we know what to imitate.

Paul’s example to Timothy was expressed this way, “12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).  To know the fullness of Christ is about continually following Him. Our training never ends.  Our worship, our study of what Jesus did, and our reverence for Him should intensify with time, not slack off because of what we did in the past.

A major part of physical training is eating the right foods. In an analogous way, Jesus used food and drink to remind us of our pursuit of godliness.  He did so through the Lord’s Supper.  Today, we have the occasion to do some spiritual growing by remembering what Jesus did in giving of his body and his blood, His tent. Coming to Jesus has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  Amen and Amen.