Flee
Right after addressing Timothy as “Man of God” Paul gives him a charge to flee from something. The verbage varies based on the translation of the Bible you use but the meaning is the same. The question though is what are these things. Thankfully this verse doesn’t exist on its own and we can look around it and see the things that Paul charges Timothy to flee.
If we jump up to the beginning of chapter 6 and read the first 10 verses we see a whole list of things that Paul is telling Timothy to flee. This list includes:
Advocates a different doctrine
Does not agree with sound words
Conceited
Morbidly interested in controversial questions and disputes about words
Envy
Strife
Abusive language
Evil suspicions
Foolish and harmful desires
Want to get rich
Love money
While I wouldn’t say this is an exhaustive list of sins it does cover quite a few things. Some of those are vague enough to cover a plethora of sinful actions. If we are being honest a lot of these things are extremely prevalent in the culture of the United States right now. We see people instigating fights over controversial questions not because they want to change the other person's mind but because they want to score political points. Abusive language is everywhere, we are suspicious of anyone who doesn’t automatically ascribe to our exact beliefs. Love of money is an ever present temptation in any culture. Conceit, envy and strife have been around forever.
I don’t think Paul intended for this to be an exhaustive list. I think Paul’s point is to flee the ways of the world. As men of God it is imperative that we do everything possible to not fall into the same traps that the world falls into. We are to act differently, we are to be a light in a dark world. Don’t get me wrong many of these things are seductive and sneaky but that is why as Christian men we need to be ever vigilant to insure that we are not being lured into these traps. In fact to go back to what Paul says we need to intentionally run away from these things. We need to watch out for them not so we can tiptoe around them but so we can run in the opposite direction.
I have heard it said that men don’t retreat. I think this is a stupid idea to hold on to. If you find yourself surrounded by temptations to sin. Get out of there. Retreat. Flee. Run away as far as you can. Not because you are a coward but because the Bible commands it.
So man of God, flee from worldly temptations. Run away as fast as you can. Don’t try to be brave and let the temptations surround you to the point that you get overwhelmed. Be smart and flee.
