The Uniform Series text for Sunday, February 25 is 1 Timothy 6:11-21. Here are some questions we might find it worth considering in class:
The text first addresses itself to someone described as a “man of God.” Do we identify with that description, and is the passage an instruction to us? Why, or why not? If we think of the passage as having been addressed to someone who is a pastor, do we ever see ourselves as having pastoral responsibilities? When, for whom? How do we carry those out?
What does it mean to “aim at” or “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:11)? How do we do that? What do we understand by those things? Do we see examples of them in our own lives? Where, or when? Do these strike us as goals that are hard to attain? Why, or why not?
What is “the good fight of faith”? What kind of “fight” is it, what is the fight for, what is it against? What would be an example of this in our own lives? The word used in the passage can refer to an athletic competition. Do we think of “the good fight of faith” as an individual event, or as a team sport? Why?
How does the author’s description of God in verse 16 compare with our own image or concept of God? In what ways is it similar, in what ways different? What effect does thinking of God in this way have on us? How does it influence the way we think about the instructions that went before (for instance, does it affect what we see as their purpose, their seriousness, what they include …)? Why, do we think?
Do we think we are among “those who in the present age are rich”? Why, or why not? What difference does it make to the way we read this passage if we include ourselves in that group, or not? Where does this passage address us most directly?
In verse 20, the author may be talking about some kind of “false teaching” that has become popular in the church at that time. Does the concern about “profane chatter and contradictions” (or arguments) seem relevant today? Why? Is it difficult to avoid, or easy? Why? How might this instruction be related to the instruction to “fight the good fight of faith”?
Does the fact that we are reading this passage during Lent have any special significance for us? How?
Matters of Interpretation 