Over the past few days, God has had me in the Book of Jude. Jude was written most likely by the half brother of Jesus; and the reason for writing, well Jude’s purpose in his letter was twofold: he wanted to expose the false teachers that had infiltrated the Christian community, and he wanted to encourage Christians to stand firm in the faith and fight for the truth.
The verse in the book of Jude that has stood out for me most lately is verse 23. It says "Save others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh."*
Last night, as I read this I kept thinking, what all does this mean? 2 Timothy 4:3 gives us a hint For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
As I watch Christians today, I realize that I have a really high set bar. I don't think my bar is set too high, in fact I fail reaching my bar daily, and it's definitely not one set by me. 1 Peter 1:16 sets the bar for us, "for it is written, "You shall be holy, because I am holy." and prior to Peter telling us to set that bar high, God set it for us in Leviticus 11:45 for I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy.
As I read Jude 23 and 2 Timothy 4:3, I began really thinking about what the world sees when it sees Christians. There are several things I think non-believers see when they see Christians. Two of them are pretty detrimental to our ministry. The first thing (I'll address the second at a later date) they look at is how we live our lives. Are we living like we are different? In John 17:15 Jesus is praying and He tells the Father "They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world." Yet every day, E-V-E-R-Y D-A-Y the world sees us as living just like them. Using their language, sleeping with people we are not married to, stringing hearts along, holding grudges, taking people to court over minor issues. The world sees us lying, stealing, cheating, doing all the things they do. So why should they change? What makes us different? Because of our sameness with the world, we have become irrelevant to the world.
Several years ago, a dear sister in faith did me wrong. So wrong in fact, that I was asked to leave a church. I was heart-broken. Instead of seeing all of the people who didn't want me to leave the church, all I could do was paint that church with a broad brush, all Christians in that church were just as vile as that one sister in faith who hurt me.
After about 6 months, when another friend was going welcome her first child into their family I was invited to the baby shower, and I had carried around a root of bitterness for so long that when her sister-in-law asked me where I went to church, I said "I don't." Her other sister-in-law had snacks with me, and got to know me a bit better and the first sister-in-law watched as her children ate their snacks with their aunt and I. Before I left, I commented to this sister-in-law that I noticed her watching and she said "Yeah, I can't be too careful who influences my children; but I do hope you find a welcoming church someday." About a month later, I went to a local UMC with the sister-in-law that I got to know that day.
Had I kept in my heart what I had experienced and thought I knew to be the truth about Christians, I would have missed out on a lot of new friends and beginnings. However, non-believers don't have the opportunity to look beyond the hurt, the hypocrisy that sits in the pew every Sunday. In fact, they don't know how to look past it.
When the pandemic started, I walked around my town and offered to pray with people. They didn't have to tell me their stories, they didn't have to say anything, just a "Hey, can I pray with you?" If they said "No." I would say "Okay, I hope you have a great day!" Other times they would see me and I would ask "How can I pray for you?" A lot of times that flipped a switch and I would hear story after story after story...and many of them would tell me how I could pray then they would thank me.
Church, it's time to get out of the pews, out of the building; stop treating church as a box to tick off on the weekend, and start living it. The rich man couldn't leave his worldliness behind and he lost out. No lives where changed by him giving up everything to follow Jesus. Nothing is being gained by living your life like the world either. It is time to stop seeing sin as something that we need to tip toe around, we don't need Sunday motivational speeches. we don't need Sunday box tickers, we don't need our souls fluffed like pillows, we need to strive daily to reach the bar that Christ as set for us. WE NEED TO BE THE CHURCH, we need to be relevant and we need to show the world that we are different!
*All verses in this article are from the New English Translation -NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
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