The Christian life is to be a simple and godly life lived out with personal piety in community.
In 1 Timothy 2, the apostle Paul continues his address to his ministry protégé, Timothy, and begins to give him some guidance regarding church meetings.
First and foremost, the apostle urged prayer for all, and specifically that they might pray for kings and those in high positions (1 Tim. 2:2). The reason being:
“that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2b).
We often think of first-century Christianity with the societal upheaval that happened in various places (see Acts 17:7) but overall, the Christian life was and is to be simple.
The everyday, average Christian is not tasked with changing the world in cataclysmic ways like we might often think. Paul advocates for a peaceful and quiet life (see also 1 Thess. 4:11). This does not mean that we will not impact others for the sake of God’s Kingdom—but it does mean that perhaps God has people for us to impact in our backyards through ordinary interaction because we serve an extraordinary God.
This concept of a peaceful and quiet life lived with holiness is, “good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:3).
With this framework, the apostle puts forth some guidelines or expectations for Christian worship gatherings of those who live these quiet and dignified lives.
For the men, Paul tasks them with prayer (1 Tim. 2:8). Specifically, men are to pray without anger or quarrelling and to lift holy hands to God.
While people can be prone to argumentation and division, a man’s concern should be first with himself. He should lift up “holy” hands. That is to be, “without fault relative to deity.”[1]
While there are certainly times for judgment to be executed in the household of God and unfortunately at times church discipline must occur, a man should be primarily focused on his own walk and piety than the walks of others.
Secondly, women are to be focused more on their good works than their good looks (1 Tim. 2:9-10) and to learn with a posture of humility that is rooted in creation (1 Tim. 2:11-13).
It is incredibly sad that this passage tends to lead to much debate, especially in our day. In the debate over roles, we can be quick to lose sight of the character of the worshipper that is expressed in these verses!
Scholars, Mangum and Twist, conclude,
“Throughout it all, the passage’s call for propriety, modesty, and self-control to promote God-honoring behavior is too often lost.”[2]
Perhaps then, we should focus on gathering with clean hands and a pure heart (see Ps. 24:4) and concern ourselves more with our own personal walk than the walks of others. Likewise, we must count the privilege of being able to live the peaceful and quiet life that we are told to pray for, and to gather in community with fellow believers as an embassy of heaven.
Let us start there, and as we gather in worship, we do our part, with our role, in a way that pleases God and brings Him glory in the earth.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 728.
[2] Douglas Mangum and E. Tod Twist, 1 Timothy, ed. Douglas Mangum and Derek R. Brown, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013), 1 Ti 2:11.