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Hasty

     
     Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. (I Timothy 5:22-25)
          Paul seems to like miscellany. He often adds a few quick instructions, and today’s passage is a good example. The first is to not be hasty in giving others authority. I think it just as wise to not be hasty in taking on authority. This is part of my problem with some folks, They insist that the response to everything is for someone (often not them) to do something. Do something, even if the something you do is wrong. Do lots of things, in hopes that one of the will have a positive effect no matter how badly the rest of them turn out.
          Haste not only makes waste, but it doesn’t provide an opportunity for wisdom to speak.
          Paul’s next warning is to not share in the sins of others. When some people hear this, they’re likely to point at Mr. Trump and say, “Hm?” Equally, one could point at Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton with the same question. But Mr. Trump, Mrs. Warren, Mr. Biden, and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton don’t ask us to share in their personal sins, or to approve of or celebrate them. When it comes to public policy, technically all politicians ask us to share in their sins. The question is which political philosophy’s sins are greater.
          There’s another way that we tend to share in the sins of others. Every now and then, some new person shows up at church, or shows up as a pastor of a church, and wows the congregation. Think of those who lead mega-churches. Think of those who come with “new ideas” and who start movements, particularly those who then start talking about how bad the Church is.
          Granted, the Church is far from perfect, but what Paul says in today’s passage is that we shouldn’t be hasty in joining them, or in following every whim or trend of religious fashion. We need to make sure that they aren’t leading us and others astray. There are two common directions these follow. The first is legalism and the second is license, and both lead to sin.

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