“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)
If you were invited to dine in the official residence of a head of state, would you expect to be served with disposable plates, paper cups, and plastic forks? While those utensils might be suitable for a picnic, they would not be acceptable in the home of a King, a President, or a Prime Minister. In those residences, we would expect to be served with crystal glassware, fine china, genuine silverware, and other utensils that are suitable for the home of an important person.
In this analogy, the fine glassware, china, and silverware all represent the “vessels of honor” mentioned in the passage quoted above. The cheap and disposable utensils symbolize dishonorable vessels. One source expands upon this idea in a first-century context…
“In biblical days, people didn’t have plumbing, so pots were used for many different purposes. Certain pots were set aside for drinking water or for food. Other pots were used to collect the dirty water and the garbage and refuse. You wouldn’t want to confuse these different vessels, and you certainly wouldn’t mix their uses. Paul here exhorted Timothy to keep himself pure. Once a pot was used for refuse, it would be a vessel of dishonor, not fit for higher uses. We need to keep ourselves pure and fit for the Master’s use.” (1)
Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that God often sees fit to use the human equivalent of an earthenware vessel or wooden container to fulfill His objectives. We can illustrate this idea with a portion of Scripture from 2 Corinthians 4:7: “…we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves” (NLT).
Those who wish to be put to an honorable use must therefore seek God’s help in acting upon this directive from 2 Timothy 2:21: “If you stay away from sin you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold– the very best in the house– so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes” (TLB). This should lead us to ask an important question: “Do I want to be the spiritual equivalent of a trash container or a piece of fine china?”
(1) Chuck Smith, The Word For Today Bible, study note on 2 Timothy 2:20-21, pg. 1598