Harmony #67: The First Shall Be Last (Luke 13:10-30)

Last week, we looked at the parable of a struggling fig tree assumed to be useless that was rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. Cue the story of Jesus healing a woman on whom society had given up.

 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and a woman was there who had been disabled by a crippling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Dear woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”

We are still talking about the hypocritical nature of the Pharisees, as we have been for several weeks. This is all variations on a theme.

• Chapter 12: they could read the physical/earthly seasons but not the spiritual/heavenly seasons.

• Chapter 13: they were worried about physical death but not about their own spiritual death.

• Now, they would loose their donkeys on the Sabbath to get water but not loose a ‘daughter of Abraham’ from the power of Satan.[1] (Look for Abraham to get a shout out again shortly.) The spiritual leaders of the people have not been giving their people the spiritual food or moral leadership they need.

When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.[2]

Being a follower of Jesus does not always mean trouble and persecution. It also includes the rejoicing of those around us as the goodness and provision of the Kingdom of God spills over into the world. Jesus, his disciples, and the early church experienced both of these realities. Generally speaking, the average person seems to have been attracted to this loving, generous, transformed new Kingdom community. It’s why the church grew at a near miraculous rate. Generally speaking,those in the halls of power hated them. The loving, generous provision of those with servant’s hearts committed to a spiritual Kingdom with God as their King undermined the power and coercion of the Empire. Something to watch for:

• When people in the halls of power love us followers of Jesus, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t spiritually subversive enough when we offer a biblical, counter-cultural way of life.

• When our neighbors hate us instead of rejoicing that we are near, we should consider that perhaps we aren’t being ‘the hands and feet of Jesus’ in a way that reveals the heart of Jesus.

It turns out that people like to know they are worth caring about. One thing that strikes me in Jesus’ ministry as how he led with care that matched the situation: practical, emotional, spiritual. Someone once gave me a sign to put up in my office that read, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Point taken. The Pharisees mockingly called Jesus a “friend of sinners” because He spent so much time with them - even having meals with them (which was a huge gesture of the honor and friendship). May we all earn the same label they gave Jesus.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

In both cases the beginning is small. The mustard seed was considered ‘the smallest seed you plant in the ground’ (Mark 4:31). The yeast is only a tiny part of the dough. Both of them grew: the seed developed into a tree in which birds could take refuge (the Gentiles? The citizens of the Kingdom?). The yeast will double the size of the dough. #justaguess

This is how the Kingdom works: small beginnings, a few disciples, one life changed at a time. But, as Zechariah 4:19 says,  “Who dares despise the day of small things?” From this has grown the global Kingdom of God of which millions and millions have participated.

Don’t despise the small prayer. Don’t despise the small act of service. Don’t despise small times of devotions. Don’t despise the small act of kindness. Don’t despise small steps forward. Don't despise small victories in yourself or others.

You want to get ripped? One day at a time. Even small workouts. Get smart? The small moments of each day are filled with opportunity. Play an instrument? The small moments of practice matter. Strengthen friendships? Small acts of connection. Go deeper in Scripture? Any act of study is good. Have a stronger prayer life? Small prayers are fine. Fix your eyes on what Paul calls the “prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus,” and then take one right step at a time.

Then Jesus traveled throughout towns and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

Okay, Jesus has just talked about the Kingdom of Heaven as small. This tracks with Jewish belief.[3]  Jewish people expected a banquet for the righteous few in the next age of God’s kingdom (Isaiah 25:6). Meanwhile, guess who that righteous few were? With a few exceptions, it was all the Jewish people. Jesus is about to upend this notion. The Gentiles will participate in the blessings of the kingdom even as some of the Jews do not.

So he said to them, “Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door (straight gate), because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, let us in!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from.’

Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know where you come from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.

Then people will come from east and west, and from north and south,[4] and take their places at the banquet table in the kingdom of God.  But indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

I think the first key to understanding this parable occurs here: “when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.” Jesus is talking specifically to the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, who assumed they would enter the kingdom. I suspect he is even more pointedly talking to the Pharisees, the ‘first’ part of group that was the ‘first’ (and perhaps the exclusive) recipients of the Kingdom.

Jesus shows them knocking at the door of the kingdom (they can see it: they are so close!) but they can’t access the Kingdom even though they (literally) ate and drank together with Jesus[5], and he literally talked in their streets.

It turns out that it will be those assumed to be unwanted or rejected who have really understood and responded to who Jesus is. #thewomanatthestartofthispassagewhopraisedGod

I think the second key is to ask when and where the Kingdom is. In just a couple chapters, Luke records Jesus making it very clear:

 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)

The Kingdom had already started. The feasting had already begun.[6] And…oof…the Pharisees are missing out.

* * * * *

There are three other passages in which Jesus uses some of the same language and imagery.

In Matthew 7, Jesus used a similar analogy about a narrow path/door; in the context, it’s the path of humility, repentance and grace filled with people who will “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (7:12)

In Matthew 8, after a Gentile Roman centurion’s profession of Jesus’ authority and power when Jesus healed his son, we see familiar language. Jesus remarks on the centurion’s faith and says,

Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.[7] But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12) 

Matthew 19:27-20:16 uses familiar language and includes a whole parable. After the Rich Young Ruler refuses to follow Jesus because he loved his money, Jesus gave a teaching to his disciples on the dangers of wealth. He assures them there is a reward for following God (eternal life!), and then warns them that wanting to be ‘first’ – the best, the most favored, the elite – is going to mean they will be the last to appreciate the good gifts of life in the Kingdom. At both the beginning and the end he reminds them, ”The last will be first, and the first will be last.[8]

• In Matthew 7, the narrow gate/road is something chosen now. Missing the Kingdom now means missing out on the riches of the kingdom: salvation, repentance (and forgiveness), grace, truth, real communion with God. Plus, a community of humble and generous people, who are committed to love, whose lives are defined by the Golden Rule. #lifemoreabundant  

• In Matthew 8, kingdom life is now (the faith of the centurion and the healing of his son) and later (“many will come”) - the “now and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom. In this situation, the frustration and anger felt by the religious leaders seems to be the fact that they can see people living in the Kingdom of God right in front of them, but they can’t seem to experience it themselves.

• In Matthew 19, it’s about something later, a future kingdom reality.

So, the “not yet” part of the Kingdom of Heaven is - obviously - yet to come, but the feasting had already begun. It’s happening now. Remember what Jesus told his disciples last week: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

After a short interlude in which Jesus is warned that Herod is looking for him, he gives what seems to be his closing thoughts on the previous several chapters of material.

(Luke 13:34-35; Matthew 23:37-39)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

Look, your house is forsaken and left to you desolate![9]  [The Shekinah – the glory of the Lord - has vanished from you now.[10]] For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “[11]

May I point out the hope in today’s passage? It’s not just for those of who are like the woman whose story opened this section. It’s for us Pharisees.

In the Matthew 19 parable, Jesus called them all ‘friends’ even as he warned the grumbling ‘firsts’ that they would be the last to enjoy the goodness of the Kingdom. Today’s parable didn’t say, “The first don’t stand a chance.” It implies they will enter, but they will be the last ones to enter, perhaps “as those saved through the fire.”[12] Pride, power and hypocrisy are a tough combination to give up and replace with humility, servanthood, and integrity.

But remember last week when we talked about the farming analogy of Israel being grafted back into the Kingdom even after it had been cut off? Romans 11 again:

“Branches… were removed because they did not believe… If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that...”

Hope remains. The people may be forsaken and desolate, but Jesus - the blessed one who comes in thename of the Lord -  will not leave them forsaken and desolate. Just because it’s their history doesn’t mean it’s their destiny. One day they will have the opportunity to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Some commentators suggest he’s just pointing toward the moment when he enters Jerusalem to the Jewish people saying that line. Maybe, but I agree with the commentators who suggest this is primarily about the moment when people genuinely see who Jesus is, and recognize the goodness of salvation and life in the Kingdom offered on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb.[13]

God intends for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It begins now with our repentance, God’s forgiveness, and the resulting salvation as we are delivered from spiritual death and from chains of sins and given the freedom of life in Jesus with the family of God, the community of the church.

How does God intend that to look? Love. Care. Provision. Hope. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Kindness. Self-control. (You might be recognizing the fruit of the Spirit.) Being in a community of brothers and sisters united by Jesus who are committed to loving each other.

I invite you today to enter the Kingdom of God if you haven’t. Give your heart, soul, mind and strength to Jesus, and embrace the Kingdom of God in its life-changing beauty.

It is here, now.

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[1] The verb for “set free” concerning the woman is the same word used for untying the donkey (luō). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament) 

[2] The next chapter in Luke has a very similar story. (Luke 14:1-6) “Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. There right in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “Which of you, if you have a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” But they could not reply to this.”

[3]  “The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few... . Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.” (2 Esdras  8:1–3) 

[4] “They shall come from the east, and from the west” points to Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 14:6.

[5] See my earlier footnote on Luke 14:1-6.

[6] “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:32

[7] Remember: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

[8] “That would be more similar to a saying found in the rabbinic literature: “Some obtain and enter the kingdom in an hour, while others reach it only after an lifetime” (b. ʻAbod. Zar. 17a).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[9] The language of being forsaken and desolate seems to refer Jeremiah 12.

[10] The Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges likes that as the translation.

[11] A quote from Psalm 118.

[12] 1 Corinthians 315

[13] “It is a most frivolous interpretation of these words to make them merely refer to the Hosannas of Palm Sunday (Luke 19:38)…They clearly refer to the future and final penitence of Israel. Hosea 3:4-5; Psalm 118:26 (Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges)

Bengel’s Gnomen sees his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem as “not the full and exhaustive fulfillment…the time is yet future when the Jews, according to Psalm 118:22; Psalm 118:26, Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 12:10, shall recognize Him...”

“The promise… can only refer to the far future, to the day of the penitence of Israel…when the people shall look on him whom they pierced, and shall mourn. But that mourning will be turned speedily into joy.” (Pulpit Commentary)

Harmony #44: The Yeast of the Pharisees (Mark 8:13-21; Matthew 16:5-12)

Then Jesus left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. And Jesus ordered them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod/Sadducees!” So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “Is it because we brought no bread.” When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand?

Have your hearts been hardened? Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Seven.”  

Then he said to them, “Do you still not understand? How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

“They they understood.” Ah hah! I love the disciples. They are so ordinary. Peter: “Guys, we forgot the bread. Again.” John: “It’s fine. I have some crumbs in my pocket he can multiply.” Andrew: “I was responsible for bread last time. This is on Thomas.” James: “I wonder if we should have brought unleavened bread if it's a yeast issue.”

Thank you, gospel writers, for giving us all permission to be ordinary. If this is where the bar is for following Jesus, I can clear it, and so can you. And if Jesus can put up with those kind of disciples, so can we.

Now, to the yeast.

* * * * *

Pharisees and Sadducees emerged when the Jews left their exile in Babylon. The Essenes and Zealots popped up later, but the Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main parties. Think Republicans and Democrats, but there is still the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, etc. There were key differences.

• Pharisees dominated the synagogue (spiritual community center), Sadducees the temple (rituals of worship).

• Pharisees acknowledged all the books we know as the Old Testament; the Sadducees highly favored the books of Moses (the Law) and basically ignored the prophets.

• Pharisees acknowledged an oral tradition passed down by the rabbis; Sadducees rejected the oral tradition.[1]

• The Pharisees believed in the supernatural; the Sadducees didn’t.

• Pharisees were the party of the people; the Sadducees of the elite.

• The Pharisees kept Rome away; the Sadducees collaborated.

The “yeast of the Pharisees” and the “yeast of Herod/Sadducees” is different.  In fact, they are so different they are each going to get our focus for a week. This week, let’s look at the Pharisees.

When Jesus called out the Pharisees, their hypocrisy was a common theme.[2] Here’s just a sample:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matt. 23:23-24)

 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Mark 7:6-7)

Notice that Jesus wasn’t calling out the yeast of Plato, or Simon the Sorcerer. I think he expected people to see that for what it was. Magic is bad. Rome’s Pax Romana (peace by the sword) is not a Kingdom value any more than the very immoral culture surrounding Roman temple worship. He’s calling out the ones who are supposed to be safeguarding truth and righteousness who had become “the blind leading the blind.” (Matthew 15:14)

These are the kinds of verses that keep me up at night.

Since people are the same everywhere, Jesus would call out the same thing in some of us that he called out in them. So, here we are J

I went online to see what people were saying about modern-day Pharisees. And let me tell you – people have a LOT to say about Pharisees. I was a little worried that if I come up with the list on my own, you might be thinking, “That felt really personal!” and wonder if I was crafting my sermon around you!  Heads up: I hope it feels as personal to you as it did to me.  So, let me welcome you to my holy discomfort.

 1. Pharisees Are All Talk And No Action

Jesus said the following concerning the Pharisees:

“So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matt 23:3-4).

We know how this works.

• The environmentalists who flies a private plane everywhere and leave a huge carbon footprint with their mansions.

• The free speech advocate who practices “cancel culture” with those who disagree.

• The person with the co-exist bumper sticker who attacks those who disagree with them on particular issues.

• The politician who campaigns on family values while having a year’s long affair or getting kicked out of a theater for public make-out session with someone not their spouse.[3]

• The new face of the fight against the sexual exploitation of children who is revealed to have sexually exploited the women who helped him do undercover stings.[4]

The Pharisees talked a good game, but they were not the real deal. They were all talk. This creates such cynicism and distrust in those around them. If they can’t or don’t live up to their own words, why should we? Either they are lying or they don’t care enough for it to change their lives. 

Being all talk and no actions is why…

2. Pharisees Major in the Minors

For the Pharisees, everything was a big deal except the things that really matter. They tithed herbs meticulously while ignoring justice and mercy. It’s so much easier to look good in minor things than it is in major things. Shockingly, the major things are harder J If we look at that too much, we might have to address weakness, flaws, and even sinful failure. And that will not be okay to a Pharisee.

I’m not quite sure what our modern equivalents are to tithing mint. All I know is that Pharisees make light things weighty and weighty things light. It’s like a football team spending all its time nailing down the color scheme on the uniform while neglecting working out.  

• You’ve spent years finding a version of the Bible and put it on a hill on which you will die while your family lives with your toxic attitude.

• You start every day reading Our Daily Bread before going to work and mistreating your employees.

• You never swear, so your constant gossip is PG.

• You tithe 10% while the love of money overpowers the kind of generosity you could be showing with what God has given you.

It’s not that the minors are bad. But Majoring on the Minors lets you keep a tally of how good you are doing while avoiding the rottenness in your heart. It makes it easy to do the following…

3. Pharisees Care More About Looking Good Than Being Good

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad (they carry more Scripture with them!) and their fringes long (they really remember the law!) and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (Matt 23:5-8).

 I’ve been in many different churches, and these phylacteries and fringes seem to creep in everywhere.

• The size of a head covering.

• The wornness and amount of highlighting in your Bible.

• How you dressed on a Sunday to honor God.

• How much of the Bible you had memorized.

• How expressively you worshipped.

• What gift of the Holy Spirit you appeared to have.

• How impressively you could pray.

It’s not that the things on the list are bad things. It’s that you could look good in all these areas and not be a good person. Your Bible can be falling apart from use, you can dress to the 9s, you can the entirety Scripture committed to memory, you can dance without fear, you can speak with the tongue of men and of angels, you can pray as people think a mighty river has rolled into the room, but… if you don’t have love, if you neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness, it’s just empty show.  

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matt 23:25-28)

Jesus is talking about integrity: the integration of our exterior and interior lives; the alignment of our heart and hands. We should be what we do. Since what looks good is so important to a Pharisee…

4. Pharisees convince themselves they don’t have any “serious” sin to repent of.

“The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector’.” (Luke 18:11)[5]

Pharisees have a reputation and status to maintain. Acknowledging sin issues would involve vulnerability and weakness, neither of which a Pharisee can afford to have. Repentance is for broken, unhealthy people, not for them. If they have to put on a facade of repentance to look good to others, they usually talk about things in the past, but never in the present. All their struggles are apparently behind them.

Once Pharisees have convinced themselves that they are not part of sick who need the Great Physician, they will be full of disdain and lack empathy for those around us who are struggling.“What is their problem? Why can’t they be as spiritually mature as I am?”

This is why…

5. If someone tries to correct Pharisees or point out flaws, they get angry and offended.Pharisees see any rebuke as a personal attack and circle the wagons. Pharisees will always have an excuse. It’s never their fault. They were pushed into some corner, or somebody pushed their buttons. They lack the self-awareness to see themselves as others see them; even if they did, they lack the humility to take it seriously. They will always turn the interrogation spotlight on others and never let the light that others shine on them do the work it’s meant to do. This is why…

6. A Pharisee’s friends primarily look, act and think alike.

Pharisees are exclusive. This makes sense, since everyone else is far less righteous and much more sick. These less righteous people might even be openly repenting – in front of others, mind you - and asking God to search their hearts.  Pharisees are really uncomfortable when they are around people who practice true honesty or humility, because who knows where that might lead?

If there are conversations about sin and its impact in the world and the importance of the transformation that happens on the other side of repentance, it’s always going to be about others who are ruining the church or our culture.

If Pharisees have a small group that does a book study, and they have to choose between one in which ‘judgment begins in the house of God’ vs. one in which looks to call down fiery judgment on the Samaritans around us, it will always be about the Samaritans.

The danger is always “out there” in another group. It’s never in their circle, and certainly not in them. Because they need their circles to be homogenous and safe…

7. Pharisees believe church outsiders should conform to a certain lifestyle before they are accepted as “Christian.” They can’t be “part of the group,” unless they meet your criterion: “Stop the drinking and smoking, don’t wear that Deadpool t-shirt to church (#trueevent), and those sleeve tats are making me nervous.” Pharisees insist that people follow their way of doing things. Fellowship with a Pharisee will always be on a Pharisee’s terms.  Maybe another way of saying it is this: You might be a Pharisee if you can’t accept those God accepts, on God’s terms.

So what’s the cure?[6]

Honesty

Practice self-evaluation.

1. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

2. 1 Corinthians 11 tells us to examine ourselves before we share communion: “If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged by God.” (27-32)

Embrace trustworthy feedback. "To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction." (Proverbs 12:1)

See ourselves as God sees us: image bearers in need of a Savior.

1. “And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:10)

2. “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Live Transparent Lives. Without a willingness to be transparent, we cannot bear each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2); comfort one another (2 Corinthians 1:4-7); encourage each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11); forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32); care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25); nor weep or rejoice with each other (Romans 12:15).[7]

Humility

Charles Spurgeon once said,

“If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few darker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth.”

This doesn’t mean we beat ourselves up constantly. Self-loathing is not a fruit of the Spirit. This doesn’t mean we should think more lowly of ourselves than we should, but we shouldn’t think more highly of ourselves than we should. We could simultaneously be worse than other people know, and more glorious than they realize. Humility simply means we are to do an honest assessment of both.

Repent.

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8)

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:5)

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:19)

Repentance involves turning around, going the opposite direction. It’s not just words; it’s a heart change demonstrated by a life change.

Ask forgiveness.

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

Aaron Lewis and Willie Nelson have a song called “Sinner.” One of the verses goes like this: My eyes are open; now I can see all of the damage brought on by me.” That’s why we ask forgiveness. We have done damage. We want others to know that we see what we have done and how it has landed on them, and we want to make it right if we can. In asking forgiveness, we validate the dignity and value of those we have wronged. They are not just something to damaged and forgotten – they are imago dei, and one does not vandalize that which bears the image of God. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are temples of the Holy Spirit, and one does not simply vandalize a temple and act as if nothing is wrong.

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[1] Interestingly, this makes the Sadducees theologically conservative (safeguarding the foundation and being very skeptical of anything new) and the Pharisees theologically progressive in their time.

[2] Because the Pharisees were so highly respected, Jesus labeling them “whitewashed tombs” (Matt. 23:27-28) would have gotten people’s attention.

[3] True stories breaking this past week L

[4] The man whose story was told in Sound of Freedom left O.U.R. under the cloud of 7 women accusing him of sexual exploitation while on undercover operations. His former organization has released this statement. "Tim Ballard resigned from O.U.R. on June 22, 2023… O.U.R. is dedicated to combatting sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organization.”

[5] E. Stanley Jones notes, “The measure of my spirit of criticism is the measure of my distance from Christ.”

[6] I got the lists of the problems and the cures from these websites: https://godtv.com/6-signs-modern-day-pharisee/, also https://firstcenturyfaithtoday.com/pharisees-5-signs/, as well as https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/warning-signs-of-a-pharisaical-heart.html, and https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/02/15/6-signs-that-you-might-be-a-pharisee/, oh and https://www.christianpost.com/news/5-signs-you-are-becoming-a-pharisee.html. Oh, and don’t forget https://outreachmagazine.com/features/22092-modern-day-pharisee.html

[7] Thanks for that handy list, smallgroups.com. https://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2010/benefits-of-transparency.html#:~:text=Without%20a%20willingness%20to%20be,(Romans%2012%3A15)

Harmony #25: Righteous and Unrighteous Judgment (Matthew 7:1-6; Luke 6:37-42)

“Do not judge [as if you knew who is wheat and who is chaff] and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. For by the standard you judge you will be judged. Give [forgiveness and hospitality from your heart], and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap.

What happens if a blind man leads a blind man? Won’t both of them fall into a pit? [You know the saying]: you can’t turn out better than your teacher; when you’re fully taught, you will resemble your teacher.[1] [Don’t be a blind teacher.]Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam in your own?

You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” [2] [But…not everybody is ready for that kind of corrective teaching.] Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample [your attempts to help] under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Jesus clearly said in this passage (and others), "Do not judge." But He also said, "Stop judging by appearance, but instead judge correctly." (John 7:24)  In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul tells the believers in Corinth that it’s actually their job to judge other believers (as opposed to judging those outside the church). In the section we just read, right after Jesus tells us not to judge, we are told to discern who those are who are might tear and trample us.

So there must be two kinds of judging: one that is wrong to do, and one that is right. I think the difference is this (these are my definitions; I’m sure there’s room for improvement):

·      Unrighteous Judgment: Arrogant and hypocritical attack that functions as an authoritative judgment on one’s identity, character and potential, done for the purpose of condemnation rather than restoration.

·      Righteous judgment (discernment): Humble intervention motivated by a loving desire to see the other person stop sinful and destructive behavior, grow in maturity and holiness, and be restored in reputation and community fellowship.

UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

Is self-prejudiced.  Note the advice in Romans 14:1-5:

“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.  The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”

We must not judge people’s progress. We cannot read the heart; we cannot truly know why people act as they do.  We also shouldn’t compare them to ourselves. We can easily be inclined to think, “I’ve got this figured out. If they could just be like me. Wait – in fact, they should be like me if they want to be truly spiritual!”

Is unmerciful. 

"God has told you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

"Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you"(Ephesians 4:32).

Unrighteous judgment is not exercised for the good of the other. It’s done for condemnation rather than restoration. Having someone walk away humiliated, ashamed and broken is a feature, not a bug. This kind of judgment finds satisfaction in making sure someone knows their place, which is going to be lower than you.

Is Uninformed. Sometimes a situation is too confusing to make a sound judgment without a lot of work. The writer of Proverbs gives us good advice:

“The person who tells one side of a story seems right, until someone else comes and asks questions.” (Proverbs 18:17)

For the past two summers, I have done teaching for an organization downstate that works with high school and college-age students. Two years ago they asked me to talk about COVID. Oh, boy. In one of my sessions, I offered this for discussion:

Person A has worn a mask all the time, social distanced, and sanitized because they did not want to get the coronavirus or spread it to others. Person B has been taking Vitamin D, some herbs, and essential oils, and they have been working on building their immune system naturally because they do not want to get the coronavirus or spread it to others. Do you think that:

1. A is living in fear.

2. B is living in fear.

3. A and B are both living in fear.

4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.

5. Maybe I shouldn’t rush to judgment.

Person A gets the vaccine because they do not want to get the coronavirus. They think that possible side effects from COVID-19 are worse than potential side effects from the vaccine, and they will take their chances. Person B does not get the vaccine because they think it will make them sick, create long term side-effects, or even kill them.

1. A is living in fear.

2. B is living in fear.

3. A and B are both living in fear.

4. Neither A nor B are living in fear.

5. Maybe I shouldn’t rush to judgment.

The answer is, of course #5. There could be lots of reasons people make decisions, and jumping to conclusions about what does or even should motivate people never ends well.

Lacks humility. Unrighteous judgment has a sort of, "This is the final answer" feeling. There is no room for, “I could be wrong, and I might need to reevaluate my perspective or opinion.”[3]When you lack humility concerning your perspective, that usually means a narrative has been created about what has happened and what the people involved were not only doing, but thinking and feeling. And when there is no humility, nothing will change the story you have in your head, fair or unfair.[4]

Judges the heart/motivations

In 2021 what’s being called ‘The Great Sort’ began.[5] When I do a puzzle, I sort through the pieces first and separate them by sameness. It was like that but with people and churches. What was once a local church box of followers of Jesus began to separate into piles. Those who study this movement usually cite three key reasons: COVID responses, the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter organization and movement, and the election of 2020. Here’s where we talk about judging the heart/motivations.

• During COVID, it was so easy for those who felt it was responsible and loving to follow the guidelines and recommendations to see those who didn’t as unloving, proud or rebellious. And how can you be in fellowship with them? For those who viewed the guidelines or restrictions as unnecessary, unhealthy or oppressive, it was so easy to see the others as fearful sheeple. And how can you be in fellowship with them?

• In response to the death of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, it was so easy for those joining their voices to support those causes to see those who didn’t do the same as harboring at least some degree of racism. And how can you be in fellowship with them? For those whose had concerns about the official BLM organization or felt like political correctness was distorting the issue, it was so easy to see the others as woke Marxist stooges. And how can you be in fellowship with them?

• And then there was an election. And how can you be in fellowship with them, when they voted the way they did? Their hearts must be hard if not wicked; they clearly have lost all common sense. There can be no plausible reason short of them being moral idiots. And how can I be in fellowship with moral idiots?

Judging hearts and motivations of those within the church kills the unity and the witness of the church. When I do puzzles, all those pieces come back together to create the picture the puzzle maker intended. It turns out all that diversity in the same box was not only a good thing, but a necessary thing. May God do the same in His church.

Is hypocritical. Jesus noted this in the Sermon on the Mount, but here’s Paul in Romans 2:1-3:

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.  Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”

The point is not that Christians should never identify sin or call out injustice until they are perfect. The point is that massive self-analysis needs to be part of the process, particularly in the area one wants to address in someone else.

It’s like riding in a car with someone who bolsters your prayer life when they are driving, only to have them criticize a small mistake in your driving and give you advice on how to better help people feel safe. It’s so absurd. It’s like me challenging someone’s fashion choices or hairstyle. “I’m not sure that’s the right outfit for you.” Really?

But when the stakes get higher, it’s not as amusing. Jesus’ main point here has to do with hypocrisy in believers.

Something I am currently grieving is how the broader American church is perceived to be ignoring the beams in our eyes while calling out the specks in the eyes of the world. Poll after poll and conversation after conversation reveal variations on the same theme: Christians in the United States are viewed as hypocritical judges.

• They hear the church call out the culture for not loving well (which is a fair assessment of the culture), and then see Christians adapt an “us vs. them” mentality and treat “them” with contempt and fear, creating demonic monsters where they should be seeing broken image bearers of God who need God’s people to represent the hope and redemption of Christ.

• They hear us judge the culture for forsaking truth (and rightly so – it has), then see us spread ridiculously false and at times slanderous rumors when they paint a picture of a person, organization or party that we don’t like.

• They see us judge the culture for coarseness, incivility and dishonesty (which is a well-deserved critique) while we follow and applaud people who are coarse, uncivil, and dishonest.

Notice in every example I gave, it wasn’t the claims that were the problem. They all offered something valid. It was the judgments and the hypocrisy that accompanied them.

RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT[6]

"Reproves, rebukes, and exhorts..." (2 Timothy 4:1-2). This is done to "turn a sinner from the error of his ways"(James 5:19-20). Galatians 6:1 notes: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.” In order to recognize that someone is caught in sin, we are exercising discernment based on the standard for righteous actions as outline in the Bible. To go back to my definition, this is when we use humble intervention motivated by a loving desire to see the other person stop sinful and destructive behavior, grow in maturity and holiness, and be restored in reputation and community.

Practices humility. Speaking of humble interventions, righteous judgment requires us to be aware that that our perspective may not be as closely aligned with reality as we think it is. And while this is subtle (and challenging to our ego), it is very important as it might change how we relate to a situation. Have you ever gone into a situation with a head of steam only to realize you entirely misunderstood? Yeah….

We don’t know everything. When it’s not a glaringly clear situation, we must consider that there are circumstances and context that to which we are not privy, and we might be about to render a thundering righteous judgment that’s going to leave us really embarrassed when all the details come out.[7] It’s a long and painful fall off that high horse we so excitedly saddled.

Protects victims. We are to "mark those who cause dissensions and stumbling" (Romans 16:17-18). I suspect the primary reason is to protect those impacted by sin. Note that it is a judgment of visible actions, of fruit we can see, by which the Bible says people will be known.[8] There are times when we must intercede for victims. The Bible is full of this admonition.

“Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:4)

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)

That doesn’t require us to weigh in on the motivations or the hearts of the people who do the things from which people need deliverance. It’s looking at how someone’s actions are landing in the world, then looking through the lenses of scripture to discern if it’s good or bad. The prophet Micah told God’s people that one thing God required of them was to do justice. This requires identifying what is just and what is not, and responding appropriately.

We do this with our children all the time: “Stop taking your brother’s snacks. Stop hitting him. Stop everything you are doing right now.” We can judge the action and do justice without judging the entirety of the child.  That principle does not go away just because people get older.

Settles arguments. Paul said a mediator should be appointed to "decide between his brethren" and settle a dispute (1Corinthians 6:1-5). Someone’s going to have a make a call. Sometimes, two parties can’t both be right. This is, once again, not a judgment on thoughts and intents of the heart, which only God knows fully and what His Word does in us.[9] This is about observable situations where God has given his image bearers the ability to discern truth from a lie.

Strengthens community. What I remember from the moments when friends exercised righteous judgment in my life is that I KNEW THEY LOVED ME. I knew they were for me. They wanted Anthony (and the people around him) to flourish. I knew they were not my enemy (and sometimes they used those exact words). I knew they came from a place of humility and love. It helped me mature, and it surely blessed those around me who have to put up with me.

WASTED RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT: Protecting Holy Things From Desecration

As odd as it sounds, Jesus’ comment about swine and dogs provides a caution: it’s not always wise to help others remove the speck from their eye. It’s a caution found elsewhere in Scripture.

“Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” (Proverbs 9:8)

“Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4-5)

Paul once said to an audience, "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:1-6)

When we put the beam/speck imagery together with the pearls/swine imagery, we see Jesus’ teaching in its entirety more clearly:

• Giving humble, gentle correction (righteous judgment) to someone in the church is like giving a valuable gift.

• First, check yourself to see what you need to deal with in order to approach them with integrity.

• Second, discern if someone will embrace what you offer or trample it, tearing you up in the process.

• If the former, offer it. If the latter, don’t. [10]

There are times when we don’t waste something of great value upon someone who is not willing to recognize that value. Sometimes, the wisest thing we can do is let a fool flounder in their foolishness until, like the Prodigal Son, they come to their senses.[11]

I imagine the disciples feeling overwhelmed at this point. “Okay, so, don’t judge unrighteously, but do judge righteously, but then not every time, and honestly I don’t think I'll ever not be hypocritical or a little prejudice, and I have no idea who the swine are.”

But Jesus isn’t done. The righteousness, sincerity, humility, and love to which the Sermon on the Mount calls us is beyond our abilities, but remember: when God calls us, he equips us. Jesus assures his followers that he provides the means for making the impossible possible.[12]

 “Ask [for the character to do this] and it will be given to you; seek [wisdom and discernment] and you will find; knock [at the Father’s house] and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] The parable speaks of being blind to one’s own faults while judging others (compare Rom. 2:19–21).(Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[2] Romans 2:19-21  “If you stand convinced that you are chosen to be a guide to the blind, a light to those who live in darkness,  a teacher of foolish wanderers and children, and have in the law what is essentially the form of knowledge and truth— then tell me, why don’t you practice what you preach? If you are going to sermonize against stealing, then stop stealing.”

[3] Great point from Amber Campion. http://www.ambercampion.com/blogpost/judging-vs-discerning

[4] Why might we fall into the trap of unrighteous judgment? I found a list somewhere and I can’t remember where. So, just know this is not original with me.

§  Low self-esteem | If you are terrible, I feel better about myself.

§  Deflection | Your sin is “worse” than mine. Whew.

§  Peer pressure | My tribe judges like this, so to fit in….

§  Bitterness | I got called out on this issue, so you are going down too!

§  Pride| As I see it from my pedestal…

[5] https://outreachmagazine.com/features/leadership/68856-3-trends-shaping-the-post-pandemic-church.html

[6] I got the basis for this list from Ron Graham at simplybible.com. I have modified it for my purposes.

[7] Another great point from Amber Campion.  http://www.ambercampion.com/blogpost/judging-vs-discerning.

[8] See Matthew 7:15-20 as an example of how this works.

[9] Hebrews 4:12

[10] I built on the insights found in “Matthew 7:6 Meaning.” This is not the only place that talks about it, of course, but it’s a good, clear explanation. https://thebiblesays.com/commentary/matt/matt-7/matthew-76/

[11] Luke 15:17

[12] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

Imitate What Is Good (3 John)

The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.[1] Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from those outside the church. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

The Middle East viewed hospitality as a key virtue. Because inns were usually of poor quality and often doubled as brothels, Christians who opened their homes to other Christians weren’t just saving people money; they were helping to guard their hearts.  

9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first,[2] will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us.[3] Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other [missionaries/evangelists]. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. 

Demetrius probably took the letter to Gaius. He stands in contrast to Diotrephes as good does to evil. He has three witnesses to his character (which is what was needed in Jewish law to establish truth): his brethren all give him a good report, the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit), and John. 

13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

Diotrephes and Demetrius

I grew up reading Goofus and Gallant, I think maybe in Highlights? They were a kid-level version of a contrast between what it looks like to be a decent human being vs. being a selfish jerk. Goofus loved to be first and often did malicious nonsense.  John offers here an an early version of that in which the stakes are much higher. 

Loves to serve vs. loves to be first. 

You know how the love of money is the root of all evil?[4] It’s not the money. It’s the love of it, craving it and getting it all cost, letting it control you, sacrificing others for it. This is the idea here. “Loves to be first” isn’t a slam on being first. Someone has to be first in a lot of situations. It’s not that. It’s craving it, getting it at all cost, letting it control you, sacrificing others for it.

•  It’s the difference between wanting your voice to be heard vs. demanding that your voice drown out all others.

• It’s the different between wanting to be seen vs. constantly bullying your way to the front.

•  It’s the difference between wanting to express a subjective opinion vs. shouting it until everyone else shuts up. 

• It’s the difference between leading as a servant vs. leading as a dictator. 

I think the antidote to this kind of narcissism[5] (I think that’s probably an assessment that’s at least in the ballpark of what I just described) is humility and empathy[6], which looks something like this:  

1.    Understanding Others (seeking to know and not just be known)

2.    Developing Others (helping others to flourish as God intends)

3.    Having a Service Orientation (having a heart to serve as Jesus served us)

4.    Reading The Room (working on sensing and responding to emotional and relational undercurrents so we can tailor our approach to the person(s) or situation. Confrontation or consolation? Just listen or solve the problem? What way does the scales tip in this moment as we balance truth and grace? Is it time to drop the topic or press in?).[7]

I don’t think it’s a bad idea to analyze ourselves and see if we are practicing to become the kind of person we are called to be –  one who is characterized by humility and righteous empathy

Inhospitable vs. hospitable 

The word is taken from two Greek words: philo (love) and xenia (strangers). Hospitality is specifically a friendship love for those whom we don’t know well.[8] (In this case, it is specifically referring to a church hospitality to traveling missionaries or evangelists which would include a kind of stated approval of their mission).  Other places in the Bible, beginning in the Old Testament, followers of God are commanded to be hospitable in a general, corporate sense. It is just part of being a decent human being.  

[Hospitality] is not something above and beyond the call of duty. It is a command; not to be hospitable is a sin. This is taught in the beautiful and telling parable of the Good Samaritan.. Christ taught that hospitality is a mark of the genuineness of our Christian confession. On the judgment day, Christ will say, “Come you who are blessed of my Father … For I was a stranger, and you invited me in,” or “Depart from me… for I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in” (Matthew 25).[9]

Inhospitality is, I think, a natural rotten fruit of narcissism or pride. If all you think about is yourself, you won’t even think of others. If you do, you consider them beneath you – which is probably their fault, right? Why would you serve the underserving? The inhospitable refuse to serve others with their actions, their words, their resources, and their power. They will not give; even worse, they are likely to take away.

 Yes, there are times helping/serving can become enabling. Let’s save that discussion for Message+. This message is focusing on the orientation of our heart in general.

The hospitable, on the other hand, love to find ways to serve others and make them feel welcome to whatever degree it is wise and appropriate to do so. This is not less than sharing resources and space, but it’s certainly more. It has to do with giving our lives so that others might flourish not just physically but spiritually.

“After looking at the examples we see in Scripture, the epistles from the Apostle John, and the implications from these examples we can formally define biblical hospitality as: The welcoming and fellowshipping with believers and non-believers out of truth and love for Jesus Christ so that they may see Christ more clearly and/or so they will join us as believers.”[10]

It’s probably no surprise that the arrogant person who is inhospitable talks malicious nonsense/evil slander/wicked words vs. speaks life-giving truth.

How do you keep all the attention if you are a narcissist? How can you keep all your stuff if you are inhospitable? Simple. Make sure you convince others that anyone who steals your spotlight or wants your stuff is a fool at best or evil at worst. 

I mean, if people are evil fools, you dare not give them the spotlight or “enable” them. The ‘righteous’ thing to do is neither help them nor hear them. You might even be thought of as discerning if you dedicate yourself to showing how everyone else – and I mean everyone - is wrong at best and dangerous at worst.  

That’s how cults start, by the way:[11] when only the self-appointed leader is right about everything, when only the gatekeeper has any idea how to set up the gates well, when everyone else is an idiot. If you look up characteristics of cults, this will show up in reference to how leaders operate with their authority.

• Questions, doubt, and dissent about the group or its leaders are discouraged or even punished. If you need clarification, you lack commitment.

• The group has a polarizing us-versus-them mentality in which everyone else is the enemy. There is a constant circling of the wagons amidst a growing number of enemies. (And as John shows, it’s not just a dynamic with those outside the church; it’s a dynamic that can happen inside the church).

• The leader is not accountable to any authority, and refuses to learn from others.

• Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends – anything that might compete for loyalty or puts them in a situation where they might find out the leader’s opinion might be wrong or that his reputation might not be above reproach. 

To have that kind of power, a leader (David Koresh and Jim Jones are probably the two most famous in the United States) must paint a never ending and overwhelming view of a monstrous world with monstrous people (both inside and outside the church) in which only a leader like Koresh or Jones is good enough and true enough to lead us to some type of Promised Land.

The first part of that claim is just false; all of us are fallen; all of us are flawed. The fault line between good and evil runs through every heart.  The second part is nonsense. There was and is and will be only one perfect human who can lead us to the true Promised Land, and that’s Jesus.

What is the antidote?  Speak life-giving truth with humble honesty. 

·      Build others up with our words 

·      Learn and teach the Scripture

·      Commit ourselves a true view of the world.

·      Take ourselves off of every pedestal

·      Learn from our church family no matter our position

·      Applaud those who speak life-giving truth with humble honesty.

·      Don’t be afraid of the monsters. God is bigger than the boogeyman! #veggietales

Hates competition vs. loves cooperation

This shouldn’t be a shock based on what we’ve covered so far. It’s one thing to exercise care over what voices are given access to a church. That’s a biblical responsibility. It’s another thing to refuse to play well with any other follower of Jesus.  

Surely – surely – there are a lot of God-fearing people outside our church. Dare I say millions? Tens of millions? Surely there are pastors, teachers, singers, theologians, philosophers, bloggers, writers, podcasters that have really good things to say about our faith. You are going to separate wheat from chaff in all of them, but that’s true here too. It’s just life on this side of heaven. 

I am not in competition with or set against those who plant wheat well albeit imperfectly. We are on the same team, with the same goal. Once again, Message+ is the place for us to talk more about those whose chaff drowns out their wheat, or who are actively planting tares (fake wheat).[12]

Now, I admit, I find myself cautious in terms of people and organizations with which I want to publicly align, and I find myself cautious about connecting our church with people and organizations with which we lack some kind of first hand knowledge. I don’t want to be stingy, but I also want to be wise. In today’s online world, we can end up aligning ourselves with a good thing that’s part of bigger not-so-good thing. It can be tricky and frustrating. 

I don’t want to send a message that everyone who cries “Lord, Lord,” is going to give us Kingdom gold.[13] That’s not biblical. There are charlatans and fools who use our faith as a mean of… charlatanry?… and foolishness; there are simply misguided people who have fallen into serious error not because their hearts were bad, but their formation was compromised.  

But I also don't want to send a message that everyone in the family of God who is not exactly like us is suspect. That’s just not biblical either. We are part of a church universal, a church with Holy-Spirit filled and biblically formed followers of Jesus who close their hands around the same cornerstones of theology and appropriately hold a lot of things in open hands. (See our Statement of Faith for reference to our church’s biblical foundations.)[i]

Revelation is a good example, btw. I posted some comments about Revelation and promptly started getting recommendations on what to read. It’s different from what I read. That’s okay. We all close our hand around the core message: “Life is hard. God is with us. Evil will not have the last word, as God will wrap up history on His triumphal terms.” Any discussion we have about numbers and symbols and dragons is informative and (hopefully) helpful in leading us toward better understanding of how Revelation points us toward the hope that we have in Christ, but God forbid it divide us. It’s not a competition to be right.

One day, we will be able to look back at how we all thought of end times stuff and say, “You nailed it!” or “That was a sketchy reading!” and we will all laugh and hug and move on because it won’t matter at that point. It’s not a competition on secondary things. It’s an opportunity for practice in cooperation as we walk together deeper into the truth of God’s word.  

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.

#practicerighteousness

Pray that God will :

·      strengthen our humility

·      enlarge our hospitality

·      guide our ability to speak life-giving truth vs. malicious talk

·      practice wise cooperation

Then, look for opportunities to put this into practice.

_____________________________________________________________________

[1] Either “whom I truly love” or a statement meaning “whom I love as one who, like me, remains faithful to the gospel.”

[2] Highest honor is not supposed to attach to power but to humility and servanthood (Matthew 18:3; 23:11). 

[3] The word used here occurs nowhere else in N.T. It means ‘to talk non-sense.’ It’s conversation that is both wicked and senseless.

[4] 1 Timothy 6:10

[5] https://www.compellingtruth.org/Bible-narcissism.html

[6] https://www.compellingtruth.org/Bible-empathy.html

[7] I am paraphrasing a list from David Goleman.

[8] Great article here: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/hospitality/

[9] Read the entire (really good) article from which the excerpt was taken here: https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/biblical-basis-hospitality

[10] http://www.doctrineanddevotion.com/blog/what-exactly-is-biblical-hospitality

[11] The following is from http://cultresearch.org/help/characteristics-associated-with-cults/

[12] Matthew 13:24-30

[13] Matthew 7

[i] STATEMENT OF FAITH

The Bible: We believe the Holy Bible to be the inspired Word of God, inerrant in its original manuscripts. It is our standard for faith and practice and the measure by which all of life and personal revelation is to be evaluated. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)

The Triune God: We believe that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 8:54-59). God is perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, and measureless in power.

God (The Father): He is Creator, Redeemer and the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. We believe that God is omnipotent (He can do anything that can be done), omniscient (He knows anything that can be known), omnipresent (there is no place or circumstance of which God is unaware or in which he is not active), and unchanging. He upholds all things by the Word of His power and grace, exercising sovereignty over all creation. He made all things for the praise of His glory and intends for people to live in fellowship with Himself. (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2, 102:27; John 3:16, 4:24; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; I Timothy 1:17; Titus 1:3).

God (The Son, Jesus Christ): We believe in the historical reality of Jesus Christ as the only incarnation of God. We believe in His deity, His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-23), His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22), His miracles (Acts 2:22; Acts 10:38), His substitutionary death (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21), His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4), His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3), His intercession for the sins of His people (1 Timothy 2:5-6), and His future personal return in power and glory (Acts 1:10-11).

God (the Holy Spirit): We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells believers (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), confirming their salvation (Romans 8:14-16) and enabling them to bear godly fruit (Galatians 5:22). We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit also empowers believers to have a bold and effective witness (i.e Luke 12:12), so He manifests His gifts in their daily lives for the edification of the church and as a testimony to the world. 

The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) is the result of a Spirit-filled life, and evidence of spiritual maturity. True followers of God will be known by their fruit (Matthew 7:16).

The gifts of the Spirit are different manifestations of the Spirit to build up the body (Isaiah 11:5; I Corinthians 12:1-11). They ought always directly point people toward God (John 15:26; John 16:13-14). We are instructed to diligently seek the gifts (I Corinthians 12:31, 14:1), but they must be exercised in an orderly and understandable way (I Corinthians 14:26-33) and used in the context of love (I Corinthians 13:1-13), lest our expression cause others to stumble (1 Corinthians 8). We have different gifts given as the Holy Spirit wills, and the gifts must be expressed in love, sincerity, and in a way which honors others above ourselves (Romans 12:1-10).

Sin: We believe that we sin (i.e, “hamartia,” in Romans 3:23, and “chata” in Judges 20:16 and Exodus 20:20) when we disobey the commands of God’s inspired Word and reject His authority All of us have sinned and are therefore, in our natural state, lost and separated from God. We believe men and women were created in the image of God (Genesis 2:26). However, by a voluntary act of the will, Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6). As a result, mankind began to die spiritually (Romans 5:12-19). Sin separated humankind from God (Ephesians 2:11-18) and left us in a fallen or sinful condition (Romans 3:23; Genesis 1:26,27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12-19).

Salvation: We believe that God the Father showed His love for all people by sending His Son to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. (Luke 18:27; John 3:16,17; Romans 11:33; 1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 4:7-10; Revelation 4:8) 

We believe Jesus’ death paid the penalty our sins warranted, and His resurrection grants us the life we could not attain – both of these being necessary to reconcile us to right-standing before God. (Matthew 16:16,17 and 25:31-46; Mark 14:61,62; Luke 1:34,35 and 2:7; John 1:1 and 1:14 and 5:22-30 and 10:30 and 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22-24.) It is not through our efforts (Acts 4:12; John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; 
Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7). When we admit our sin, confess that Jesus is Lord, and repent, we become a new creation and are gradually transformed into the image of Christ (Galatians 5:22, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18)

Eternal Destiny: We believe in the resurrection of the saved and the lost, and that both will stand before the judgment seat of Christ; the saved will enter into everlasting life in God’s presence, and the lost will be sent into everlasting death, devoid of the presence of God. (Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8).

The Church: We believe that the Church is Christ’s symbolic body in the earth (Colossians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 12:27), and that it should reveal His character, His message, and His love to the world. We believe that the Church is to go into all the world, preach the gospel, and make disciples. This will lead people to have fellowship with God (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15,16) and community with others (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Human Life: We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image (Genesis 1:27). Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Psalm 139)

Marriage and Sexuality: We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. Together they reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:5-6). It is intended to be a covenant by which they unite themselves for life in a single, exclusive union, ordered toward the well-being of the spouses and designed to be the environment for the procreation and upbringing of children.

Baptism: In New Testament times, baptism followed repentance and faith. (Acts 2:38; Acts 18:8) This public witness marked the believer as a follower of Christ. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Simply stated, it is an outward sign of an inward change. Baptism also symbolizes the believer’s union with Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27).