Passage Read: 2 Timothy 3-4
Meditation Verses: 3:2-5
Thought
At first blush, Paul seems to be talking about the whole world, but he ends with the injunction to "have nothing to do with them." Actually, he didn't end with that, but goes on to describe what must be false teachers in the church, people who "serve" the church but have wrong teaching. Paul contrasts them with himself and urges Timothy to retain the standard of teaching he learned from Paul and other faithful believers, as well as pointing to Scripture as the ultimate authority on faith, life and doctrine. "Have nothing to do with them" is an instruction Paul usually gives in regard to disobedient believers and false teachers. For the disobedient, the hope is that they would be ashamed and repent. For false teachers, there usually is no hope. That would mean these words, the description of these people is actually a description of lawless people in the church or coming round to the church to try to lead people astray. They are false believers, whose lives and teaching promote rebellion and lawlessness. These words are true of unbelievers, certainly, but as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, unbelievers we're not to shun, but to evangelize. It is believers or self-proclaimed "believers" who behave in these ways that we should have nothing to do with.
Application
That means none of these things should be true of me. And none of these things should be allowed to persist in the church. Any believer who exhibits any of these behaviors needs to be rebuked so as to repent and put away all such things. Any "believer" who promotes, overlooks or denies these things are wrong, needs to be rebuked, and if they will not repent, they need to be driven out of the fellowship. None of these things are permissible for me or any other believer. They are destructive and corrupting and need to be rejected.