Week 1: Incarnation

Incarnation and Household Codes

Growing up in my house, everyone had jobs and chores. Some jobs were to take out the trash or mow the lawn. Others were sweeping the kitchen or cleaning the bathrooms. Initially, the plan was to rotate the chores among the four kids. This seemed like a great idea to all of us, but it didn’t take long to recognize the problem. We weren’t all good at the same things. Because of the age difference, some of us couldn’t even do each of the chores.

I still remember my baby brother trying to lift this massive bag of trash out of the trash can, which was nearly over his six-year-old head. The bag started ripping, and the can flipped over, spilling the watermelon rinds and discarded baked beans all over the kitchen floor.

It became evident quickly that we would each need our own list of jobs and chores based on our talents, skills, and abilities.

I thought about skipping the passage for today’s reading that deals with what scholars call the household codes because many of the things Paul says are hard for us to hear in our 21st-century context. There is so much hostility, especially regarding his teaching in this section on women’s roles. I won’t dare to enter into that debate for this daily devotional, but I don’t want to skip it because it teaches something significant about incarnation.

Yesterday, we explored the connection of incarnation, submission, and quiet godliness. The household codes in today’s text point to this connection being lived out in a specific 1st-century context. Incarnational living meant a father was to be centered in faithful prayer, and a mother was to quietly live out faith, love, and holiness. It meant a church leader was to strive after humble nobility for the goodness of the Christian community, and their wives were to serve in a temperate and trustworthy manner.

Our culture has changed a lot over the last two thousand years, and most of it is for the better. That’s why this passage is so difficult for us to study in our modern context without quarreling. Yet, lost in the debate over this text is the beautiful vision of a community of believers being mutually faithful to one another in each way God called them to serve. This is incarnational formation. God moves us from disheveled discontentment with our present circumstances into peaceful trust through mutual submission.

As you read this passage today, imagine the beauty of the Christian community Paul is describing to Timothy. Imagine being a part of this community.

What would you like about it?

What would be difficult about it?