Godliness

Introduction

In 1968, the country of Tanzania selected John Stephen Akhwari to represent it in the Mexico City Olympics. As a child, Mary Groda did not learn to read and write. Experts labeled her retarded. As an adolescent she “earned” the label “incorrigible,” and was sentenced to two years in a reformatory. In the 1986 New York City Marathon, almost 20,000 runners entered. What is memorable is not who won but who finished last. The Jackson, TN Clarion-Ledger featured a story about a young woman named Kimberly Estes, an 18 year-old high school senior who had earned a 4.0 grade point average and received several academic awards. She planned to study biochemistry in college.

What do all of these stories have in common? We could say they are all related in some way to the idea of perseverance. We admire people who give themselves to a task and succeed. We like to read and hear of those who through their refusal to quit win the victory. Such stories inspire us and motivate us to try a little harder. And such stories are connected to the idea of godliness.

The Text

Look at the text. Paul uses the word “train” to convey his message about godliness. This word conveys the image of an athlete who removes all clothing so that nothing will impede his competing in the race. Paul is addressing Timothy specifically in his work as a minister. Timothy is to take off everything which will keep him from doing his work. Specifically he is to avoid godless myths and old wives’ tales. He is to avoid gossip and remain focused. But these words are not only for Timothy. According to verse 11, everyone is to learn about godliness.

So we must all enter the realm of the spiritual athlete when it comes to godliness. Godliness is learned. It does not come naturally. It does not come easily. Godliness only comes with spiritual sweat. It comes only with training. It comes with great perseverance and discipline. This is not a matter of trying to earn one’s relationship with God. There are two distinct but complementary traits of godliness. The first trait is God-centeredness which we might call Christian devotion. Godliness is first formed in us when we fall in love with God. When we have a biblical fear, reverence, and awe of the creator then we are in the process of forming godliness. True godliness is built when the intent of our heart is to know God.

The second aspect of godliness is being like God which we might call Christian character. True godliness goes beyond wanting to know God to being like him. It isn’t enough for us to know God but we long to be like him in our actions, words, and thoughts. The first is possible without changing action. Lots of folks want to know about God, but the godly person includes the idea of wanting to be like him. And this is where the training comes in.

Our track coach had a unique way to reduce the number of boys who wanted to participate on the track team. Too many guys would come out for track. Most came with visions of running a race and breaking the tape and hearing the applause of the crowd. So within the first week of training, he would have us run every event—on the same day. It would begin with the 100 yard dash (and after we had run it four or five times while being timed), he would then move us to the 220 yard dash. Again we would run it three or four times while being timed. Then on to the 440; then the half mile; then the mile.

He wanted guys who could stay focused. We were on the team. All we had to do was to train. I asked coach what he would do if too many guys stayed with the team. His reply, “It’ll never happen. Only a few can keep their focus.” So it is with godliness. Only those who can keep their focus will be godly. Why else would God tell Timothy to train himself to be godly?

Just as an athlete must train for a run, so must the Christian train for the life to come. Verse 8 tells us that the Christian trains for godliness and godliness is profitable for the present life and for the life to come. The victory is sweeter with the culmination of training. You don’t break the tape in a race without training. To be like Jesus requires discipline. We are not naturally given to be like him. So what does this training look like? How do we get into spiritual shape which will lead to godliness.

Means for Godliness

What we are prone to do is give a list of things that we are to possess in order to be godly. Some do’s and don’ts comprise the list. Be humble; don’t listen to gossip. Be patient; don’t be arrogant. We have a list. And the list may comprise what godliness looks like in character, but the question before us is how do we get to the list. Frankly, most of us know what the list is, the real struggle in getting to the list. So let me suggest three ways that train ourselves to be godly.

The first is to accept that you need help. Romans 8:29 tells us that God’s desire is for us to be like Jesus. But we cannot be like him on our own. We need divine help. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:23 that self-control or discipline is a direct product of the Spirit’s control in the life of the believer. But the Spirit does not overpower us. Instead, Paul says in verses 16-18 that we must give ourselves to the leading of the Spirit. There is nothing magical or charismatic about such. This is the choice a Christian makes. Upon our confession of faith and baptism God gives us his Spirit. But we choose each day if we will be led by that Spirit or by our sinful nature or our flesh. They are in conflict and the battle is continuous. To train ourselves to be godly means that we must be choosing the Spirit’s influence in our lives day by day.

So what does that look like? It looks like the person who gets up each day and says as their feet hit the floor, “Today, Lord, I choose you” or “Today belongs to you, Lord.” It looks like the person who reads Leviticus when he/she doesn’t want to because they are choosing the Spirit’s word rather than their own agenda.

Maybe the problem is that we want this to be easy. We don’t want to sweat; we don’t want to train. We just want to get out there and run. Godliness doesn’t come that way. We choose the Spirit and in that choice we recognize that we can’t train for godliness on our own.

Second, just as we need divine help to train ourselves to be godly, so we need human help. To train for godliness we need fellowship. Discipline is best practiced with other believers. But fellowship is often misunderstood. Fellowship is thought to include eating, recreating, socializing. But this isn’t biblical fellowship. These things may be a part of fellowship, but it is possible to socialize without fellowship. I am talking about sharing your spiritual life with another. We have allowed socializing to substitute for real fellowship. We are afraid to discuss what is truly important—our spiritual lives.

Notice the topics of our conversations—sports, news, weather, restaurants, vacations. All the while we are ignoring the weightier spiritual matters. This is not to say that we can’t discuss the other things, but to not take advantage to ask each other about our spiritual lives is to miss out on an important aspect of fellowship.

We can ask questions like “what is your greatest challenge as a Christian in your work?” “How is your walk with Jesus going these days?” “Are there things I need to be in prayer about for you?” True fellowship strengthens our resolve to move toward godliness. We must learn how to share our lives and to seek out people who will help us to remain focused. Training is easier when we share the journey.

Third, in order to train for godliness we have to keep our eyes on the prize—we keep our eyes on eternity. In light of eternity, everything pales. That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy life, we do. But it also means that there is a constant battle to alter our focus. Satan would have us see things in a short-sighted way. He wants us to be discouraged thinking that training for godliness is too difficult. But the training is for eternity. We are preparing for eternity. Isn’t that what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4? Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. We want to be like Jesus. We want to be molded and shaped into his image. But we must be in training.

Pete Maravich was the ideal basketball player in his day. Some think he may have been one of the greatest in his abilities to shoot, dribble, and pass. In his day, he opened the door for many of today’s ball players. He made behind the back passes and between the legs dribbling commonplace. After his basketball career he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. And he died suddenly of a massive heart attack in January of 1988 while playing basketball with James Dobson. A year before his death in an interview he said the following words: “The key to my ability was repetition. I practiced and practice and practiced again. I gave the sport my total commitment. I tried everything I could in every way I could to perfect my skills. It was like an obsession. It paid off for me as a player. I’m not so sure in life. If I had given that same devotion then to my faith, which is what I do now, I’d have been a better person in the long run.”

There is no shortcut. Training for godliness is hard work. It takes great discipline. It takes admitting that we need divine help through the Holy Spirit. It takes training with others. It takes a long term focus rather than on the immediate.

The 1986 Army-Navy game in Philadelphia Stadium was all that tradition had made it over the years of rivalry. We want to be like Jesus. We want to look like him, be like him, talk like him, have the relationship with God that he did. Are you willing to train yourself for godliness?

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