“Cultural Issues?”

Some things that we struggle with culturally are here and gone.  They are a big deal at the time but then they vanish.  Remember Y2K?  However, some things that we struggle with as a culture transcend time periods and are a part of the human condition.  It’s interesting to note this in Paul’s “pastoral epistles.”  For example, we don’t know what he meant by “disputations, wranglings, idle talk and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.”  Those matters were a big deal at the time but vanished.  However, there are some things that we continue to struggle with and the Holy Spirit addressed those matters, they’re timeless.  We’re still dealing with government issues, gender issues, character issues and social justice issues.  These issues are addressed in 1 Timothy 2-6.  What we’ll see is that they are more than cultural issues, they are actually theological issues.  They are part of the human condition that we can trace back to the big themes of creation, fall and redemption.  As one writer mentioned, “They are part of our mega-narrative.”  I had thought about skipping 1 Timothy chapter 2 or at least doing a fly-over but we’re going to dive in, with a little fear and trembling.  Hopefully I won’t be looking for a job on Monday.  Even if I am, these issues aren’t going away any time soon.  We better figure out how the gospel applies to these timeless struggles.  Let’s pray to that end.