The Aim of our Charge

      “Ready! Fire! Aim!”

      Instinctively, we know something is wrong with that statement. We will not hit our target if we aim after we fire. However, many churches and teachers take this approach, firing without thought to their target. It seems it doesn’t matter if the target is hit so long as everyone is busy.

      I Timothy 1:5 says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (ESV). We are to aim. We have been entrusted with a charge whose aim is love. Everything we do should aim for this.

      Interestingly, this text does not describe the love for which we aim. Thus, we must examine other texts. Matthew 22:37-40 shows two aspects of this love. We are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind—a picture of total devotion. There is no part of our heart, soul or mind held back from God. We are totally devoted to Him. Second, we love our neighbors as ourselves. Thus, we treat others the way we want to be treated.

      I John 5:2-3 explains upon what this love is based. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” Loving God and loving others is demonstrated through obedience. The love which is our aim is an action, not a warm fuzzy.

      This love includes what is taught in II Thessalonians 2:10—the love of the truth, which saves us. If we are to effectively love God and our neighbors, we must love the truth. We must love truth more than popularity, money, prestige and acceptance. We must love truth above all things. Without truth, we cannot love God and our neighbor because we cannot obey God’s commands.

      Finally, this love must be our motivation behind all we do. I Corinthians 13:3 says I can give all my possessions to the poor, but do it without loving them. Further, I can be killed as a martyr, but do so without loving God. If I do these things without love, the actions themselves accomplish nothing. My actions must be motivated by my love, not by guilt or by your force.

      This brings us full circle to understanding our goal. Our goal is not just to instruct and teach. Our goal is not to force or shame anyone into any particular actions—baptism, prayer, Bible study. Our goal is to prompt love, motivating others to love the truth, thus loving God and our neighbor. If we aim for this with every lesson and every work, folks will be baptized, they will pray, they will study and all else we strive to motivate. They will not do these things because we said they must. They will do them because they love. Let’s aim for the goal.

Edwin L. Crozier