It is sobering to reflect that some things never change, from the first century AD to today, when it comes to the mindset of people. As I was teaching my students in NT survey today the first half of the book of 1 Timothy, I had the pleasure of reflecting upon the following passage, from 1 Timothy 1:3-11: “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia–remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which causes disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if used lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnapers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”

Let us note a few aspects of this passage. For one, it appears that part of the problem that Paul had to deal with in many congregations was that there were a lot of people who loved to seek after authority and power for the wrong reasons. Nothing has changed in the last 2000 years of mostly melancholy Christian history. There is a cruel irony in the way that wicked and ungodly leaders behave. For one, they are often eager to enforce the law on others, and view the law improperly, seeing it as a means to earn salvation (for they think themselves righteous), not seeing that the purpose of the law is to show our shared state of condemnation apart from the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Intriguingly enough, Paul makes a connection that those who wish to be teachers of the law without understanding the law or their own guilty state under the law (because they are self-deceived and think themselves righteous), are themselves unqualified. This connection is one that has bedeviled churches for a long time. Those who thrust themselves into positions of power, or those who angle themselves into the places where there is power, are often the least able to handle it correctly, because they look for it for the wrong reasons. They did this during Paul’s time and have been ever since then.

Why is it that organizations so easily fall into promoting those who are most eager for power without reflecting on the larger consequences, that those who want power and not service have ulterior motives and problems with power. Why don’t we ever learn? If Paul warned us this in the first century, you would think some of us would have the hint by now. But sadly, we never seem to realize it, and we just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. What is the point of having history to learn from if we ignore it and fail to take its lessons into account? Some things never change, but if we are wise we will change ourselves.