2 Ways to Shipwreck Your Faith
By Jennifer Waddle
"This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." - (1 Timothy 1:18-19 NKJV)
To experience an actual shipwreck would be one of the scariest experiences a person could go through. When we hear of cruise ships being stranded at sea, starting to sink, or having mechanical issues, we hold our breaths until people are safely rescued.
The apostle Paul knew the experience of shipwreck probably better than anyone.
"Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea…" (2 Corinthians 11:25 NIV)
Three times he was shipwrecked! And yet, he survived to tell the story.
While most of us can only imagine such an ordeal, I'm afraid others of us may end up going through something just as terrible—the shipwreck of faith.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. - (Hebrews 6:4-6 NKJV)
Drifting away from our relationship with Jesus is a serious situation that requires serious action. We are in danger of reaching a place, in the open sea of life, where we completely abandon our faith and outright reject the Lord.
There is an interesting line, in 1 Timothy 1:20, that mentions a couple of men by the names of Hymenaeus and Alexander—men to whom Paul "handed over to Satan." Now, I don't know about you, but I never want to be "handed over" to Satan! The context of the passage is that Paul recognized two grave things that these men had allowed to happen—two things that basically shipwrecked their faith. When Paul warned Timothy to "fight the good fight with faith and a good conscience," he was outlining two necessary things for the Christian walk. Unfortunately, Hymenaeus and Alexander had rejected these and been expelled from Paul's leadership in order that they would learn a hard lesson. |
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