They Won't Get Far

         having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (II Timothy 3:6-9)

          Returning to II Timothy, the topic returns also to the people in the last days and the people with whom Paul said Timothy was to have nothing to do. In another forum yesterday, I answered someone’s question about being a fan. What I told her is that being a fan is OK, if it means that you like something or someone, and would go to see that person perform rather than another if given a choice. Being a fan is not OK when your passion for that person or thing becomes a dominant force in your life. I know people who (perhaps jokingly, though it didn’t sound it) said more than once that they make it clear at home and online that nobody better interrupt them when __________________ is on TV. I know someone else who said that he and some friends had covered three-quarters of the TV screen with cardboard and played “Guess which episode” of their show was being aired.

              The people Paul wrote about in today’s passage are among even worse the latter sort of fan. It’s not that they bore everyone around them to tears with endless discussion of their pet topic. They have that level of enthusiasm or more, but they’re closet evangelists who specialize in manipulative grooming for their cause.

           I find Paul’s reference to Jannes and Jambres interesting and amusing. Supposedly, they are the court magicians to whom the Pharaoh turned when the first plagues fell on Egypt. Each time, their response to the crisis was to produce more: more blood, more frogs, more flies… They “proved” that there was nothing special or supernatural about what was going on, but they did nothing to solve the problem.

          Paul tells us to avoid such men, but apparently, we’re not to get overly excited about them. They won’t get very far. No indeed, the farthest it can get is Earth and Hell, at least so far. That doesn't mean we don't expose or correct them for what they are but that for all their secrecy, they're rather transparent to most folks.