Fighting the Good Fight

"This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child...(that) you may fight the good fight, by holding on to faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this (conscience), some have made shipwreck of their faith" (1 Timothy 1.19)

In my first church, where I served for a time as a youth pastor, we offered a college prep course to graduating high school seniors to prepare them for college. We taught classes in theology and apologetics to provide a solid foundation for their faith, knowing that it would soon be under attack. 

Lately, however, I've come to see that most young men and women do not lose their faith in college because they’re overwhelmed by the logic of unbelief. They do so because they drift into sin. 

Temptations to sin abound, especially temptations to sexual sin, and most young Christians, away from the influence of parents, church, community and friends, are unprepared for these assaults on moral constraint. Little by little they sever their moral mooring-lines, drift out to open sea, founder on the shoals and "make shipwreck of their faith.".

This is the argument of the text above: The "good fight of faith" is waged by holding on to one's faith (the truths we believe) but also by keeping a good conscience (obedience to the truths we believe). The clause "by rejecting this" is the crux. The relative pronoun, "this" is singular and refers to the noun "conscience." "By rejecting conscience some have made shipwreck of their faith."

The verb “rejecting" is a strong word and means "to refuse to listen." We know what God is asking us to do, but we turn away from it to delve into sin and thus set in motion a chain of events that culminate in radical unbelief. The Message paraphrases the text this way: "There are some, you know, who...thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith."

Our consciences cry "foul" when we think and act contrary to the truth. If we fail to listen it will become more shrill and we must then try to assuage it. One way to do so is to deny the truth that's plaguing us. That rids us of the dissonance between our set of beliefs and our behavior. 

Then, the arguments we hear in the classroom that disparage the faith begin to take on resonance, gather strength and become more persuasive. Traditional arguments against the Faith are singularly unpersuasive when viewed objectively. It's when I want these arguments be true that they gain force and win my approval.

[It’s worth noting that apologetics (rational arguments for the faith) have little value in persuading non-Christians. They are, as John Calvin said, “secondary aids to our imbecility”—have some usefulness to encourage and strengthen those who already believe.]

How then do we fight the good fight and "hold on to faith" when that faith is challenged? By listening to the conscience as it's directed and corrected by God's word and then doing what he's asked us to do. 

And, it's worth noting, we'll always know what he's asking us to do.

David Roper
3.6.22