Been reading through I Timothy lately & there's a lot in there about fighting the good fight & contending for the faith. Interestingly, tho, the primary threat seems to be... yourself.
Paul seems very concerned that Timothy wage the good warfare against his own sinfulness & lack of faith. Learning to train himself in godliness is how he would lead others to godliness.
This is really important frame of reference b/c Scripture does describe Xian life as warfare & struggle. Too often, tho, we co-opt this language as cover for hating our ideological enemies.
It also clarifies that we can't expect to lead others toward goodness & godliness if we aren't fighting for it in our own hearts.
And believe me, it will be a war. It will require sacrifice and work and putting to death all sorts of evil. It might even keep you so busy that you don't have too much time to worry about judging your neighbor.
But know this, if you cultivate a heart of godliness, if you surrender to the Holy Spirit's work, faith will well up inside of you like a spring of living water & overflow in life for those around you.
Your life will lead others to faithfulness b/c it will argue for the truth of what you claim.
But know this: There's no substitute for it. No shortcut. No way to faithfulness except through faith. No way to godliness except by God himself.
All that to say, if you're not waging war w/ your own worst tendencies, I'm not interested in your calls for me to join you in fighting another enemy.
B/c those who excuse their own lack of virtue as necessary for the fight against evil have already surrendered to it.
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