At Risk in the Community

May 30, 2010

Background Scripture: Jude
Lesson Passage: Jude 3 – 8, 19 – 25

Jude, like James, was one of the younger brothers of Jesus that was identified in the gospel accounts of Matthew and Mark. Although the letter he wrote was short, it is nevertheless very intense and to the point in warning the local churches about the false teachers that had already infiltrated some of those churches unnoticed. Their errant teaching was causing a serious falling away from the faith and perhaps also leading others to become members of the local churches without having had a spiritual rebirth. This was a threat to the very core principles of Christianity. Some were being taught that they could be Christians and still indulge in unrestrained pleasures because of the availability of God’s grace. To make matters worse, some even denied that Jesus is God. This was not in keeping with the apostles’ doctrine as delivered to them by the Lord Jesus himself. Jude was calling on Christians to fight for the faith. Even as many of the first century saints fled for their lives from persecution, they must now take a stand for the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. To allow such errant teaching to persist within the church was an even greater threat to Christianity than the physical persecution many believers had fled. Jude warned the churches that God had made an example out of many in Israel that were delivered out of Egypt. Many of them (almost all of the adults) were destroyed by God because of their unbelief or lack of faith. Also, the angels that followed Satan in rebellion are being reserved to judgment day when they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities were destroyed because they decided to live sinful lives in rebellion to God. These are all examples, both mankind and angels, of God’s impending judgment. How much more severe will be the punishment for those that would trample the name of God’s only begotten son, Jesus? Most of us can identify with reasons we fall short. But why would some even dare to teach others to do so en masse? Jude provides the answer to that question as well. These are people that have a problem with authority. They are using others to fight their personal battles by luring them to join with them in rebellion against God’s authority. These individuals reject all manner of authority. They don’t like civil authority unless they’re the ones in charge. They have evil things to say about those who God has placed in positions for his own purpose. These false teachers are not Christians gone awry. They are natural or unsaved people that act totally according to their feelings and emotions. They do not have the Spirit of Christ in them because that would require them to submit to authority. Finally, the Christians are told to depend on God to keep them strong. They were admonished to do what they could to help others. They were to have pity on some and yet others were to be helped even out of situations that the Christians would find disgusting. Again, God is the only one able to cause us to walk the Christian walk in this world and bring us to the appointed place that he has prepared for those who put their trust in him. Not only is Christian doctrine put at risk by false teachers, but there are unsaved individuals within the local churches that are at risk in the community of faith. We that are strong must bear the infirmities of the weak and honestly contend for the faith.

Robert C. Hudson
May 17, 2010

At Home in the Community

May 23, 2010

Background Scripture: Philemon
Lesson Passage: Philemon 4, 5, 8 – 21

In today’s lesson we examine a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to a Christian named Philemon. Philemon owned or legally had the rights to a servant named Onesimus. Onesimus had run away from Philemon and while on the run he met Paul. Apparently through Paul’s ministry, Onesimus had accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon along with this letter requesting that Philemon receive Onesimus even as he would receive Paul, as a brother in Christ rather than as a slave. Paul reminded Philemon in the letter that he owed his own life to Paul.

The Epistle to Philemon is a peculiar letter. It is a reminder that being a Christian does not take away the ills of society. Many professed Christians do more to contribute to and maintain social injustices in society than do some non-Christians. Just because a person has accepted Jesus as his savior does not necessarily mean that he has allowed Jesus to be Lord of his life. Accepting Jesus as savior changes a person’s spiritual standing or justification before God. Justification delivers us from the penalty or wages of sin. After we have been justified by God, our Christian walk and our lifestyle are forever undergoing changes until we die. We refer to this transformation as sanctification or the ongoing deliverance from the power of sin in our daily living. It is within this process that Christians often find themselves conflicted. Although we are Christians, we do not live in a Christian society. And if by chance we did live in a Christian society, we would discover that social problems would still exist in that society because they originate within the human heart. The bible teaches us that the issues of life flow out of our hearts. God noted that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Even after we are saved, the struggle goes on within us. At the height of racial unrest in America, it was noted that more could have been accomplished quicker if the Christians within the majority race would have stood up for the rights of the oppressed. If just the clergy of the majority race would have joined the oppressed, conditions might have changed drastically within a short time. We pray to the same God through the same Jesus but we do so out of very different circumstances. Those differences cause an estrangement among Christians. I believe we have an opportunity to learn from the Apostle Paul’s experience with Onesimus. First, Christians can ill afford to be neutral about matters that affect the well-being of others in our society. We must be concerned enough to take action. Some clergy did exactly that during the Civil Rights movement. Secondly, we must acknowledge that the problem is not about laws or contracts but the hearts of men. Like Paul, we must appeal to hearts for necessary changes rather than to man’s reasoning. Only when we are willing to extend beyond our own comfort zones and challenge fellow Christians to take a stand for right will we begin to feel at home in the community.

Robert C. Hudson
May 15, 2010

A Chosen Community

May 16, 2010

Background Scripture: Colossians 3
Lesson Passage: Colossians 3:1, 2, 8 – 17

Christians are the elect of God. The elect of God are those who were chosen by God in Christ before the foundation of the world. As such, we should conduct ourselves accordingly. We did not choose God but instead, he chose us. This fact was made plain to us through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we accepted Jesus, we merely accepted what God had already done through him on our behalf. We did not choose to allow Jesus to do something for us; instead, we accepted what he had already done for us—in spite of us. We were chosen before Calvary and Calvary took place before we were born so that the work of redemption could clearly be shown to be of God and not of those to whom redemption was provided. Our part as the elect of God then is to allow the love of God to be readily expressed through us, the redeemed. Love holds it all together. God first loved us and then we reflect the love of God into the world. This is who we are. Love is the mark of Christians. We walk in the love of God and do so by loving others. Christians walk in peace because God makes peace available to us. God calls us to peace through Jesus Christ. Christians have been chosen by God to be in Christ. Christ in us is the assurance of our calling. There is nothing greater one can possess than the indwelling presence of Jesus. Christ is above us all and yet in us all.

Christians are admonished to choose according to our calling or in other words, we should make decisions based on God’s expectation of us. This is one of the special gifts that all Christians have been given. It is the power of choice. We have been chosen by God and called to make right choices. Before we accepted Christ as our Savior, we lived and behaved according to our sinful nature. Being born again changed all of that. With salvation comes choice. We now have the privilege, the obligation, and the power to choose between the new nature of Christ in us or continue to be subject to or enslaved by our old nature which we are admonished to put to death. We now have a choice. It is often a difficult decision for us because we have misplaced affections. We continue to set our hearts on the wrong things. We can more readily exercise our power of choice by changing the object of our affection. We must learn to love the things of Christ which are not of this world. We can appreciate the things of this world without adoring them or setting our hearts on them. But we should set our hearts on the things that are above. The things above are those that our new spiritual nature is attuned with. In order to align our hearts with our spiritual nature, we need to renew our minds to bring about the fullness of our spiritual transformation. To be born again is to become a spiritual creature; however, we can’t walk in that newness without being transformed to become non-conformists with the world. This requires the renewing of our minds so that we can know and live out God’s perfect will for us in this world. Then we will demonstrate that we are a chosen community.

Robert C. Hudson
May 6, 2010

An Established Community

May 9, 2010

Background Scripture: Colossians 2:1 – 19
Lesson Passage: Colossians 2:1 – 12

Our lesson today presents a good example of the expectation for Christians to be well grounded in doctrinal understanding as well as doctrinal acceptance. Put another way, mature Christians should be well established in what they believe and practice as a matter of Christian teaching and preaching. Out of this mature spiritual nature will pour forth an abundance of thanksgiving to God for his gracious love and kindness. The warning that Paul gives to the Christians at Colosse and Laodicea is still valid for us today. We must not allow what we practice that is based on world standards to lead us into deception and vanity. There is always the danger in local churches that practice will become more revered than doctrine. The way we do things as a matter of tradition should not get in the way of us learning the word of God and putting it into practice so that we can grow spiritually. Where there is a conflict between how things are done and biblical teaching, biblical teaching should always be accepted as the outcome and, if necessary, new practice should follow new understanding of the word of God. This is a true mark of an established church in the faith. God’s word should not only come first, it should also be the final say on a matter. All that we do should flow from our knowledge and personal relationship with Christ. There is nothing outside of Christ that improves on our Christianity or standing with God. In fact, everything outside of Christ is destined for destruction. People are always susceptible to deception. We are easily fooled because we are often temporarily blinded by the lust of our flesh and the deception that we are about to receive fulfillment. Even in the church, we must be vigilant and watching always for anything that is not of the truth of God’s word. Everything in God is in Christ and he showed openly what God’s nature is like. Satan continues his attacks against Christians—especially local churches or assemblies of believers. Our foundation is in Christ and we are to strive to build on it through diligent learning and practice of God’s word. The valley where Colosse and Laodicea were located was a thriving region of economic progress and trade. As such, it would have attracted people of various cultures from all over the world and they would have come with their own customs and traditions. This can make for an explosive concoction because strange customs can often be appealing to us socially. Christians are not exempt from the struggles that come with cultural assimilation within a human melting pot. This will lead to situations or areas where the tendency will be to blend the “tried and true” with the new and mysterious. In the end, we have a compromised lifestyle that doesn’t really fit the world and it is not pleasing to God. Laodicea eventually yielded to this as can be found in reading Christ’s letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. The last church addressed was Laodicea. It had compromised to the point of becoming a lukewarm church and was thus warned that they would be spewed out of the Savior’s mouth. God requires a firm commitment on our parts even as he is firmly committed. When we understand and accept the fullness of all things in Christ and that we are complete in him, then the church today can be an established community.

Robert C. Hudson
April 30, 2010