Men

          Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. (I Timothy 2:8)

          Oh, joy. In today’s passage, Paul is venturing into territory that may not have been too difficult in his day, but it’s a quagmire today. I did a few minutes reading on the genders as they are being defined today. One list consisted of 31 different “genders.” I didn’t note the number of different genders listed in another article, but something I found interesting in both is that it’s not just a matter of beliefs about their bodies, it’s also about their sexual preference, and it’s a matter of mere preference. For example, “Two Spirits” is a term used by Native Americans to designate those who play a “third gender” role in some of their rituals. I forget the term used but another term was the one used by some Africans to designate Lesbians. I’m fairly sure that cultural appropriation is permitted, so if a person of European descent wants to be called a “Two Spirited” person, neither traditional whites nor traditional Native Americans would be granted the right to object, even if there is another term which describes the same orientation that has a European lineage.

          I’m not going to suggest that none of these existed in Paul’s day. Among the wealthy Romans, as among wealthy Americans – and if you have time to worry about genders, you’re wealthy – there was and is time to explore any idea that catches one’s eye. But Paul rejects all that in favor of Biblical basics. God created us male and female, and in today’s verse, he deals with male behavior. He wants men to pray. Not only should they pray, but they should lift up holy hands and they should do all this without anger or disputing.

          Chances are that Paul doesn’t give these instructions because the men in Macedonia were already doing these things. Lack of prayer, lack of the lifting of holy hands, and the presence of anger and/or disputing are obvious guesses of what was going on. If these things weren’t going on in Macedonia at the time, they were going on elsewhere and were likely to happen there.

          One of the complaints we hear is a condemnation of the response that “our thoughts and prayers are with you” as a response to difficulty. Those who hate the phrase think we need to get off our knees and do something. This is a stereotypical male response, not a caring response. It’s “Let’s go to war!” with every difficulty that comes along.

          What Paul suggests instead is that men should first separate themselves from that automatic response to every claxon as a call for battle stations. Instead, men are to have holy hands – hands that are separate from bloodshed and sin. They are to lift those hands. Lifting of hands can convey a number of possibilities. One lifts hands in supplication, admitting neediness. One lifts hands to receive and to praise for having received. I’ll suggest also that holy hands can be lifted to volunteer and to vote (participate.) All of these are alternatives to lifting one’s hands in warfare.

Let’s add the “without arguing or disputing.” 

          There are circumstances. What are we going to do? As noted, some criticize prayer, but this group says, “Do this!” and that group says, “Do that!” Another group says, “Do the other!” Men can either join their favorite faction and argue, or they can go to God. Going to God probably doesn’t take any longer than the debate, but it tends to have a humbling effect. For those who follow Christ, it’s no longer “My way!” but “Thy way.” In the place of thirty minds who know fifty-seven percent of what is going on, each of those thirty seeks the wisdom of the One who knows one hundred percent. It gives time for the “Oh my God! We have to do something – anything – now!” to calm to a “What’s the most needed, best thing?” Prayer gives us time to move from knee jerk reactions that do more harm than good (but give us a chance to pat ourselves on the back) to considered responses.