Sermonette: An appearance of Godliness

Check out this gem of a verse I noticed the other day. In his 2nd letter to Timothy, Paul warns Timothy of how people will be in the last days. There’s a lot to this verse, but focus on the penultimate phrase in the list.

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

– 2 Timothy 2:2-5

After talking about all sorts of horrible people, Paul ends by warning Timothy away from people who “have the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” This strikes me, because I’m gradually becoming convinced that this describes a majority of people in New Rockford in 2024. Let me turn up the heat even more: I believe this describes a majority of church-attenders in New Rockford in 2024.

In my 14 years here, I’ve struggled with what I’ve seen. This community is filled with people who will give you the shirt off their back. People who will harvest your grain for you when you’re injured, will come with chainsaws when your trees blow down, will donate enormous amounts of money when kids get sick or when youths qualify for national tournaments across the country. These big and outward expressions of care are both frequent and consistent in New Rockford.

But what else is frequent and consistent in New Rockford? Gossip. Slander. Excessive drinking – underage and adult. Suicide. Dwindling church participation. Our town shows all the signs of a community trying to be godly, but doing so based upon our own strength, rather than because the power of Jesus has changed us.

See, the message of Jesus isn’t “Christians need to act like good people.” The Gospel is “Jesus is powerful. Choosing to submit to him and inviting the Holy Spirit will change you.” Look at the disciples. See their cowardice, foolishness and callous nature before Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, “Sons of Thunder” become "the apostle of love.” Bumbling, fearful Peter becomes the articulate and courageous preacher of Acts 2. Saul the killer becomes Paul the missionary. It’s not that they decided to do good things, it’s that the Gospel changed them from within. They didn’t act differently, they were different. In other words, once they were grafted into Jesus, they couldn’t help but begin to produce fruit. The fruit of the Spirit as it indwelt them. External evidence of the deep change within.

“Having the appearance of Godliness, but denying its power.” I’m truly glad I live in a community where people look out for each other. Both my wife and I have ties to the East Coast and we don’t miss it. But I challenge each and every one of you (and myself): Don’t be the people in Paul’s warning. I’m glad people do nice things here. But more important is that people interact with Jesus and are changed, rather than merely acting nice. You want to be a good person? Step one is to realize that a car can’t fix itself. It needs a mechanic. We need Jesus. Discipline yourself to pray outside of church. Read your Bible, again, not just at church. Spend time with people who are already displaying fruit of the Spirit. Submit yourself to and welcome the power that wants to truly change you and not just the way you act. Jesus