Context, Context, Context

I remember very vividly my hermeneutics professor in Bible college.  One thing he used to tell us in almost every class was “context is king.”  I have also heard it said that “context is key;” either way, context is important.  We cannot allow ourselves to interpret a verse apart from the context!

This is why II Timothy 2:22 is such a big deal.  I grew up hearing this verse.  It was a “go to verse” for teaching about purity, specifically to young men.  We had this verse hammered into our brains—“flee youthful lusts.”  Just run away and do not give in.  I have no problem with teaching young men purity, nor do I have an issue with teaching anyone to stay away from lust.  Here is the problem I do have—I do have a problem with using II Timothy 2:22 to teach young people to stay morally pure and not give into sexual desire.

What Is The Problem?

Why might this be a problem?  The problem is one of context; this is not what this verse is talking about.  If you follow the flow of thought from the Apostle Paul, you will recognize that starting in verse 20 through verse 26 he is talking about difficult people in the church.  He opens verse 20 by talking about vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor.  In the church, some people are open and yielded to God and some are not.  Paul then tells Timothy to cleanse himself from the “vessels of dishonor” so that he himself can be a vessel of honor.  Following this discussion, Paul tells Timothy to flee youthful lusts.  While this verse may be able to apply to broad situations, perhaps even including the moral realm, this does not seem to be what Paul had in mind here—it just does not fit with the context.  I doubt Paul would have said “Timothy, cleanse yourself from the false teachers and vessels of dishonor in the church, oh and remember to flee sexual temptation.”  It does not seem to fit!

A Contextual Interpretation

When we interpret the Word of God, we need to make sure our application fits the context of the passage we are unpacking.  Our goal is to first understand what the text meant in the day it was written to the original audience, and then take timeless principles from the text for a timeless audience, and finally apply these principles to our context for our contemporary audience.  So with that in mind and given the context of II Timothy, where a young pastor was sent to set things right in a struggling church, what “youthful lusts” might Timothy have struggled with relating to his context in church ministry?  Let me give you several thoughts:

• Temptation to fight—if there were “fighters” in the church who were disputing about words as Paul describes in II Timothy 2:14-18, the temptation might be to fight with them.  For Timothy to do battle royal with his enemies and meet them toe to toe to show them that he was not going to go down without a fight.

• Temptation to hurt—it might be a youthful temptation for Timothy to hurt those who were hurting him. People were destroying the church he was called to save; perhaps he struggled with the temptation to defend himself and his reputation by hurting them back, saying things about them or destroying their reputation.

• Temptation for power—Timothy might have had the temptation to give in to power. To try to use his role and position as a pastor to strong arm people into following him—”well I speak for God so I must be right all the time.”  Or “I am the protege from the Apostle Paul; who was your mentor?”  Maybe even the temptation to get Paul involved and have Paul come and defend Timothy—use their relationship to his advantage.  Timothy likely experienced the temptation to use his position to strong arm people into following him rather than gently and humbly leading.

• Temptation to quit—there was likely also the temptation to quit.  Perhaps Timothy was ready to give up.  He had enough, he just wanted to stop in ministry and find a job without the pressure and stress of people who wanted to tear down everything he was trying to build.

These are all very real temptations that Timothy might have succumbed to.  But none of these have anything to do with purity or the moral realm, yet the all stem directly from the context of II Timothy chapter 2 and the type of people Paul was instructing Timothy in how to lead.

Final Thoughts

What does this mean when it comes to Bible interpretation?  First of all, we need to consider the context of a passage.  We cannot simply extract a verse from its context, or we may very well end up saying something God did not say.  Second, we need to be careful of accepting and repeating an interpretation of a passage that has been passed down as a matter of tradition.  Traditionally, II Timothy 2:22 has been used to teach the importance of moral purity.  As important as that concept may be, it does not stem from this text!  I think this is seen even more clearly if we finish the verse—Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  Timothy is to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with other believers who pursue them.  Paul is making a distinction for Timothy—”do not invest your time in people who have no interest in spiritual things and have made themselves unusable to God, rather invest in those who are committed to the cause of Christ and pursuing Him.”  Young pastor Timothy was to resist the urge to waste all of his time and energy on his opposition—those people whom Paul describes in verse 14-19 who just want to fight and argue.  Rather, Timothy was to do what Paul instructed him elsewhere in this book—invest in faithful men who could teach others also.  All of this comes from the immediate context of this text!  We need to make sure we consider the context of a passage as we do Bible interpretation, and we need to make sure that we do not value tradition over sound hermeneutical principles.  The Word of God is on the line, and we do not want to speak something God does not say!