14 These I write to you hoping to come to you quickly; 15 but if I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:14-15 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)
When Paul wrote his first epistle to Timothy which we call “1 Timothy,” Timothy was the pastor of the Ephesian church. Ephesus was home to the pagan temple to the goddess Diana or Artemis, which is considered on of the seven wonders of the ancient world. One of its features was its pillars. It contained 127 pillars, every one of them the gift of a king….
All were made of marble and some were studded with jewels and overlaid with gold. Not only did each pillar (στῦλος) act as a tribute to the king who donated it, all of them together, obviously, had the function of holding up the immense structure of the roof. Therefore, Timothy and his flock at Ephesus would have certainly grasped Paul’s analogy. What exactly was he telling the church about its true mission?
If you have been reading my last several posts then you know that God has me focused on that corruption or downgrade going on in evangelical Christianity in our time which some refer to as “Social Justice” or Critical Race Theory along with Intersectionality all of which focuses on identity within ones world view rather than the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many who are deluded by these corruptions refer to themselves and those like them as becoming “woke.” I prefer to refer to them as being deceived.