2 Timothy 3:4 - Reckless

 “Reckless”

(2 Timothy 3:4)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

4 treacherous, reckless, ...

reckless,

Our word tonight has a physical meaning and a spiritual idea that comes from that meaning. The physical meaning is “to fall forwards headlong.” The spiritual idea is to be rash, or as our translation says “reckless.”

Reckless behavior is associated with youth. Some people are more cautious than others. Others surprise us with the risks they take at every stage of life. We expect even those who are risk-takers by personality to learn. We expect that as they get older, they will gain the self-control to give up on reckless behavior

Many expect that the world has been getting better for thousands upon thousands of years, that the survival instinct within individuals and even cultures should lead us away from dangerous behavior. The enlightenment of mankind should bring about the self-improvement of peoples and nations, so that we might expect that these late days that we live in could never be characterized by people being reckless, but mature and sensible.

But Paul says that in the last days people will be reckless. And this is what we see. Despite our ability to pursue technological and artistic improvements of every kind, we find that even our best technology and artistry seem to be at war with our humanity. The problem is that we have not been able to improve our souls. This must come from God, in the form of new life by His recreation in us. For that reason, it should not surprise us that this old world, a world that should really know better, is very reckless.

Recklessness is not only associated with youth, but also with a mob mentality. The other use of this word in the New Testament is from the mouth of a civil official in Ephesus attempting to calm down a crowd that was ready to do something reckless: “Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.” See Acts 19:36. The world we live in will be like a an unruly, immature mob. But what about us?

Was Jesus reckless when He willingly went to the cross?

The church follows a Savior whose behavior may seem reckless. It was not. Jesus went to the cross according to an immortal plan of divine love. He did not kill Himself; that is always reckless. He gave Himself for our sake, knowing that His death was serving the eternal purpose of God, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

We follow Jesus. We do not throw our lives away. We give away our lives to God as a living sacrifice. We suffer with a sense of divine purpose. We are not reckless. We go where the Lord would have us go. We do what He wants us to do. We say what He teaches us to say. That is not recklessness, even if we face danger every day, or even die along the way. This is the life of a Christ-follower. It is sober-minded. It is self-controlled. It is faithful. It is joyful, even though, for a little while, we face various trials.