Judgment, Division and Contentions

We live in a highly polarised world where people are divided and divisive.  According to political, ethical, religious, and personal convictions we fashion a unique identity which welcomes people who agree with us and often excludes those who do not.  This "us and them" mentality is something which can colour and corrupt the perspectives of genuine Christians.  Our views of other churches or denominations primarily emphasises points of disagreement rather than Who unites us.  Based on hearsay we can write-off thousands of genuine believers as heretics because of a book or alleged quote from a pastor of a particular church.  Instead of following Jesus we can follow the divisive patterns of men or the virtual gossip of many modern-day watchmen.

The danger of division in the church is nothing new.  From early days the devil has sought to overthrow the church by persecution, undermine it by false doctrine, or subvert it through legalism.  This morning I read Paul's words written to the spiritually gifted yet divided Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13:  "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"  Paul wrote to a legitimate church of Jesus Christ--not an apostate or false church--that some today would have deem "hyper-Pentecostal" perhaps with disdain.  Yet Paul did not hold this negative view of them.  Having helped establish the church in Corinth, Paul called them brothers and urged them to put away divisions, the same divisions which continue to be an enemy of God's love, grace, and unity in Jesus today.  Judgment led to divisions and then contentions:  it was an environment where those who asserted they were factually right (and others were wrong) were exposed as carnal.

Paul called out the believers in Corinth for their sinful judgments, self-righteousness, and pride.  Did you notice what they were saying?  "I am of Paul; I am of Apollos; I am of Peter; I am of Christ."  The proclamation of their identify revealed pride in themselves.  There was pride in their boasts:  they boasted of their knowledge of the truth, how they discerned fault in others, and created divisions God never made.  It is hard for us to imagine some would follow Paul to the exclusion of Apollos or Peter, but this scripture shows it happened.  Some refused to humble themselves under the teaching or discipline of anyone because they only answered to Christ.  But Paul saw through their self-righteous spirituality and knew their hearts were not right before God.  Judging others as wrong allowed them to approve themselves and maintain an unassailable moral high ground--even when addressed by Paul who helped bring them to salvation.

We need not look beyond ourselves to know this self-righteousness is a real problem.  How many times have we thought or said out loud about another person or church, "I don't like the way their worship is like a show" or "I hate the Bible translation they use" or "I like that we teach through the Bible" (inferring others don't to our high standard).  It is perfectly fine for us to have preferences based upon our understanding of God and His Word, to have personal convictions we aim to uphold for the glory of God.  This does not mean we are justified to condemn other churches, ministries, or people, to judge ourselves right because others are wrong.  Paul wrote in Romans 14:10-13:  "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." ¹² So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way."  Judgment of others led to contempt for them, and Paul urged believers to avoid this pitfall.  Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God, so let us judge ourselves to determine we are walking in the way that pleases Him.

Paul asked the Corinthians, "Is Christ divided?"  The answer is obviously no.  Paul had not been crucified for believers so he had no desire or claim for followers.  Because believers are united under Jesus Christ our Head, we are to walk in humility and love towards one another so there is no hindrance to the fellowship of the saints.  Self-righteousness and pride work to isolate a person unto themselves, and Jesus demonstrated great humility and righteousness when He came to seek and save sinners.  He was not "holier than thou" when He alone was and is holy!  I believe God led me to these scriptures to realign my perspective with His, to cease creating divisions where He has not.  How blatant is my hypocrisy when I do not give more grace to those I perceive as without grace, to judge the judgmental!  By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit may all in the Body of Christ be joined together in the same mind and same judgment:  that we will demonstrate love for one another by ceasing to negatively judge or stumble others as we keep our eyes on Jesus.  Rather than condemnation, may edification of the Church by grace, love, and truth be Christ's enduring legacy through us.

The Always Faithful God

It amazes me how God works countless wonders and yet this does not always translate into faith.  God miraculously brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land after sustaining them for 40 years.  He caused water to flow from a rock and provided bread from heaven, yet they continued to lean on their own understanding, walking by sight instead of faith in Him.  This same tendency goes for me too, for none of us are immune to this short-sighted folly.

Yesterday I read 1 Kings 17 which provides an illustration of how slow people are to recognise God's miraculous provision.  During a severe drought and famine God directed the prophet Elijah to go to a widow woman.  When he found her she was gathering sticks to light a fire to bake her last meal for herself and her son.  All they had was a scant amount of flour and oil and once that was gone they were without hope of survival.  Elijah asked her to bake a cake for him first and promised in 1 Kings 17:14-16:  "For thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.'" ¹⁵ So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah."

In her desperate plight the woman did as Elijah asked because she had nothing to lose.  She exercised a degree of faith in God which was rewarded with enough flour and oil to live on.  One might imagine the woman cooked food daily in amazement and worship of God that food which could have only supplied a meal for her and her son could last for months while feeding a grown man too!  The poor woman who had already lost her husband eventually faced the death of her child from illness.  She confronted Elijah in grief, accusing him of bringing her sin to remembrance and killing her son!  Though God daily provided the food she ate, her resentment caused her faith to whither.  She was at one point resigned to the death of her son, but after his death she bristled with unbelief.  She questioned the motives and legitimacy of this freeloading prophet who had taken up residence with her.  Isn't this inconsistency strangely familiar in us?

Elijah took the child to the room the widow had provided for him and prayed for the child.  1 Kings 17:21-24 reads, "And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." ²² Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. ²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."  The woman could have known Elijah was a man of God and spoke truth because the flour and oil was divinely sustained, but it seems that miracle was lost on her:  it took the death and revival of her son to realise Elijah was indeed a prophet of the God of Israel.  I wonder:  how many miracles does God do for us which are lost on us?  He has blessed and saved us and yet we doubt Him and accuse those He sends to help us.

Praise the LORD not one of His miracles is wasted, for there is always more where that came from as our eternal, benevolent, gracious King.  His mercies are without end and His grace is sufficient for us day by day.  We will all go the way of the earth when our time comes, but praise the LORD our times are in the hands of the everlasting God who will never leave or forsake us.  We are not always faithful, but He is ever faithful and good.

Forsaking All to Follow

"So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him."

Luke 5:11

No matter how much study or effort goes into the process of preaching, there are countless ways to improve.  There are things I wish I had said which I neglected, topics or passages I wish I had handled differently, or words after saying them in retrospect I would have left unsaid.  After preaching it is a mixture of feeling blessed to learn from God and share from His Word coupled with the knowledge I didn't quite nail it.  Yesterday I taught on the first part of Luke 5 and afterwards was a bit disappointed I didn't expound this verse just a bit more.  Praise the LORD He is a Redeemer and the One who gives understanding of His Word so even man's poor attempts can be fruitful and practical.

After Jesus caused Simon and his partners to haul in a miraculous catch of fish, upon reaching the shore they "forsook all and followed Him."  This meant they left their boats, the fish they had caught, their nets, their families, and homes to follow Jesus.  Since Jesus was their LORD they were completely at His service.  The point I wished I had emphasised was because Jesus is LORD they could be assured their families would be cared and provided for should Jesus lead them away from home.  Following Jesus meant Peter leaving his wife and mother-in-law (perhaps some children as well) and James and John are described as leaving their father in the boat with the servants.

There would be a heavy personal cost to follow Jesus for Simon Peter, but he was not required to sin in divorcing his wife to follow Christ.  He was not required to spend all his money on "the ministry" to the neglect of his own family.  Jesus would lead Peter to places and to people which were outside his comfort zone, but Jesus would not lead Peter to shirk his responsibilities at home.  Just like the fruitfulness of Peter's fishing efforts were directly related to the guidance of Jesus being the captain of his ship, so Peter could trust Jesus to lead him in a godly and good way--even when it meant time away from home.  Separation from family and friends is a hard thing Jesus sometimes asks us to do and we can trust Him to supply the needs of a marriage, friendship, and family.

It is important for us to examine our motives and ensure we are actually following Jesus in our ministering, not just assuming He is in our boat when we left Him on the shore weeks ago.  There are seasons of life; there are seasons of ministry.  Doing things because we have always done them (or at one time felt led to do them) is not a good enough reason to keep doing them.  God is faithful, and may we also be faithful to forsake all our plans and ambitions so we might follow Him in His way.  Those who are married ought not to seek to be loosed, and those who are unmarried ought not be preoccupied to "settle down" in marriage.  Whether married or unmarried, whether our parents are elderly, our children are young, or the family business is booming, let us choose to follow Jesus.  He will always guide us in the right way and make our efforts in obedience to Him fruitful.

Praise God with Understanding

Over lunch yesterday I shared an engaging conversation about the nature and character of God.  It struck me that no matter how abundant the evidence or plain the facts, at some point faith is required.  God is eternal and infinite in love, wisdom, grace, and goodness.  We humans are finite, locked within time, and our perspective is shockingly limited.  In reaching for better understanding of God and how He operates (who does not share our thoughts, nor are His ways like ours) we cobble together examples which are woefully inadequate using words which cannot do justice to God's reality.  At a funeral or memorial service it is impossible to convey the impact of a single life of a brief span of time:  how can we explain eternity or He who inhabits it?

Because God has graciously revealed Himself through the Word and the person of Jesus Christ we can know Who we worship.  But let us not make the mistake that God is like us any more than a created thing resembles the maker.  He formed Adam from the dust of the ground yet God always has been!  Inventors design and manufacture tools and machines for particular purposes.  A mobile phone looks and behaves nothing like those who designed it, operating on electricity rather than being a living, breathing, thinking person.  A mop bucket, automobile, shoe, or building bear no resemblance to those who engineered or utilise them.  God confronted presumptuous people who assumed He was like them in Psalm 50:19-21:  "You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes."

It is good to recognise God is someone completely foreign and beyond this world.  This proves difficult when we use familiar allusions like saying "God the Father."  God is a Spirit and does not have a body, but when I think of our heavenly Father and a throne I logically envision something rather based on human anatomy with facial features obscured with white light.  Because God is completely beyond human form, this concrete frame of reference is the best we can do because we live in a concrete, physical world.  This world, relationships, and created living and non-living things can only hint at the order, glory, love, and wisdom of God.  The heavens declare the glory of God but they are not god nor is any created thing worthy of worship.

We cannot comprehend or appreciate the size (big or small) of all God has created, yet by faith we can worship and praise the One God who has created all.  Just like fuel for vehicles and battery power for tools or phones runs out, so our understanding has limitations and an end.  There are things we will never fully understand but we are enabled and called to worship God according to our level of understanding.  It would be silly to allow what we cannot know erode our faith in what and Who we do know.  I do not understand how bones form in the womb of a mother, but I know they can and do.  We are all walking miracles by the grace of God, the One we celebrate and worship with thanksgiving.  As our knowledge of God grows like a baby in the womb, may our praise and gratefulness increase for eternity.  God is nothing like us, but He has loved us enough to become one of us to save, transform, and redeem us forever.