A Workman

A workman who does not need to be ashamed

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 
                                                                              2 Timothy 2:15.
The Bible is a living book. The more you read it the more you get out of it. You may read a passage numerous times and get numerous insights. It all depends on how you’ve developed as a believer.
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy says,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 
                                                                              2 Timothy 2:15.
This is the call of the believer to present ourselves as a workman for Christ who correctly handles the word of truth.
We need to study the Bible earnestly and carefully. We need to read and study it in context.
Quite often Christians read only the Bible and have nothing to do with church history, archeology or sociology.
Few Christians sitting in the pews have ever read anything about a Sader, the meal that Jesus had with his disciples on the day of his arrest.
The last supper as Christians call it, is still celebrated today. It is the meal that starts Passover it’s various parts are very symbolic and explain about how God brought the Jews out of Egypt.
Few Christian even realize that every bit of symbolism in the Sader meal can be related to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
As I’ve studied Jewish culture over the years, especially from the time of Christ I’ve gained greater insight into my own faith as a Christian.
When the Bible was written the church was predominantly Jewish. The book of Matthew for example while meant to be read by everyone is directed at a Jewish audience and contains terminology that would mean something to Jewish believers. Such terminology is for the most part not explained.
Church history is another area few read about. By understanding church history through the centuries we can better understand where we are now.
Modern church history shows us where we went wrong and what we did right. Yet few study it and thus many churches repeat mistakes of the past.
On other area Christians can fall down in quite easily is modern culture. There was a term around when I was younger that went, “they are so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good.”
These are people who are into the bible studying the scriptures and doing their best to live up the God’s ideals, which is laudable, but they are unaware of the world around them. The culture of the day.
As a result they find it difficult to reach people outside the church simply because they can’t relate to them.
Many Christian such as these, I know don’t have cable television or for that matter over the air television which is free.
These Christians are not up to date quite frequently with the popular culture around them. I know one person who didn’t know who sponge bob square pants was.
Others I’ve talked to have no idea what people are watching in the media. They find it hard to relate to people who come off the street and want to know about Christ.
In order for we as Christians to better relate to people in the world and better understand our faith ourselves, I believe we need to have a balanced approached to studying our bible.
We need to study church history, archaeology and sociology. We need to keep up on the latest trends in the world around us. By doing this we will be better Christians. We will be better equipped to present the gospel message to anyone who wishes to listen to us.
Think about it.