Trip Lee - "I'm Gone" (Lyrics)
Our church has been in a series of teaching the past few weeks from the book of 1 Timothy, labelled "The Household of God." In this book Paul is instructing Timothy, one of the young church planters of the day. Paul starts his letter by first warning against much of the false teaching that had been persistent in the city of Ephesus, then in later chapters instructs Timothy and encourages him in being bold even though he was young, what the organization of his church should be, how church leaders are to function, and standing firm in doctrine.
This past week, we covered 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 6 through 16. In these verses Paul is reminding Timothy again of the "word of the faith and of the good doctrine" he had received, and encourages him to "Have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness." As Christians, we believe that this propensity to believe the "irreverent and silly myths" that Paul speaks of comes from the temptation of father of lies, Satan. We're tempted in many ways, and one of the main ways to battle these temptations and lies is through community.
As we "train ourselves for godliness", there will be obstacles. But, we can take rest in that this process, which is commonly referred to as sanctification by those within the church, is a work of God, which "demands the cooperative activity of the Christian." Basically, we aren't made holy by striving in isolation to be like Christ, but rather in community with one another (think of a rock tumbler!). We can encourage one another, and as Paul instructs Timothy later in his letter, to "keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." We need to keep watch out for one another, instructing one another in the truth, guiding each other to holiness.
As I work in my office, one of the albums that I have been listening to recently is Trip Lee's "Rise" album. One song in particular fits well within the discussion of last week's passage. In "I'm Gone" Trip talks about the bondage faced by dishonest lies believe. We try to free ourselves, but aren't qualified to do it. But, as Trip raps, we are made new creations in Christ, free from those lies.
When we practice what Paul instructs Timothy in those verses, we can be sure that we'll be saying "I'm gone" to our former selves, ready to be "good servants of Christ Jesus", and trained in good doctrine, having nothing to do with silly myths, but instead, growing and training ourselves in godliness.
