“Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 CJB).
This passage offers another distinguishing quality that should characterize the lives of God’s people: they work diligently to understand and apply the Biblical Scriptures. That commitment finds its clearest expression in the following Biblical paraphrase of 2 Timothy 2:15: “Work hard so God can say to you, ‘Well done.’ Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means” (TLB).
In addition to the impact of this commitment upon our relationship with God, this also affects our relationships with others as well. Remember that everyone leads and influences others by the example of their lives. Since non-Christians often get their impressions of Christianity from those who claim to follow Christ, this means that every self-professed Christian is responsible to accurately represent Jesus to others. This can be very difficult without a good working knowledge of His teachings from the Scriptures.
You see, a person who claims to be a Christian but does not know or follow Jesus’ teachings is ill-equipped to support that claim. (1) At best, he or she may fail to properly represent Christ in the choices and decisions of daily life. At worst, that person might become entangled in activities that bring the type of reprimand that God issued to Israel’s king David: “…by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme…” (2 Samuel 12:14).
In a world filled with idolatry, moral indifference, and religious apathy, the cost of spiritual negligence is very high. Therefore, it is important to make certain that we are “…accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth” (AMPC). As Jesus reminded His followers in the New Testament gospel of Matthew…
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:13-16 NLT).
(1) With the possible exception of those who are very young in the faith.