anti-Christs

Anti-Christs    060212 B

Mmmmmmm?

1Jn 2:18-19  Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.  (19)  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Antichrist; The great booger-bear of the faith?  Maybe not!

Sure, we see THE antichrist in the Revelation to John and we get all clammy and scared.  BUT come on guys – we've got to accept that though there may well be a biggy – there are lots and lots of smaller antichrists – and there have always been!

What do we do about them?

First, we let them go. John says they do and will go out from us – they will not continue with us.  Why would that be?  He doesn't say we kick them out, rather they leave.

I wonder if what is happening is that things get just too uncomfortable for “them.” 

Today, in a lot of “churches,” there are no boundaries and no expectations.  Doctrine is fuzzy at best and an undefined state of  “loving Jesus,” seems to be the be all and end all.  Or, in some cases just an unqualified “believing (on or in) Jesus,” is enough.

However we must first ask whether or not this Jesus that is loved and/or believed in is the Jesus of scripture.  As David Smith once said to me, “There are a lot of guys named Jesus but just one Lord and Redeemer.”

To believe in the Jesus who is the Lord, one must believe in what He believed in.  One cannot claim to be His while at the same time contradicting not only what He taught but what He believed as well.

He believed in God, the Spirit and God's right to demand obedience and service from His creation.  He also believed that God's requirement for righteousness/holiness was legitimate.  He believed in the God of judgment, wrath, justice, mercy and grace.  He believed in a God who says what He means and means what He says.  He believed in a God who is sovereign, omnipresent, omnipotent, holy and righteous.

He believed that there was truth and only one truth.  He believed that right and wrong were never relative.  He believed that God deserved our submission and service right up to and including death.

Now, is that the Jesus we hear of and read about in popular “christian” literature?  I don't think so – not much at least.  Actually, most contemporary “christian” literature is more about us that it is about Him.  It is more about what we can expect from Him than what He demands of us.  It's more about our place in the grand scheme instead of our place at His feet.  It's six easy steps, one fantastic formula, a process, disciplines – but very little discipleship.  It's not about serving Him as much as it is about sucking as much out of Him as we can.

Whoa be it to the teacher who demands a slave attitude towards God.  And yet, Jesus not only believed in that, but lived it.

The God in whom Jesus believed is great and awesome and frightening.  The God we believe in is a great co-pilot, helper, designated runner, etc.  He's just not God anymore.

John and his folks were fortunate.  Their antichrists left.  Unfortunately, it seems that we will go to any length to keep ours.  We will soft-pedal, obfuscate, dally, waiver, waffle, concerning the biblical doctrines so that as few people as possible are offended and as little as possible is expected.

The cry, “You need a relationship with God,” is just dumb.  There has never been and never will be anyone or anything that does not have a relationship with God.  Whether it a relationship whose nature you want, is entirely another matter.  Redeemed or damned, everyone has a relationship with God.

Then there is, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”  That's probably one of the favorite taunts thrown out to those in hell.  Yes, God loves His creation and He has plans for every speck of it.  Some of those plans are great, some, not so much. 

Then again, His plans for me may parallel those He had for Job or Stephen or Peter.  Ooops!  Not such an exciting prospect. 

Let's face it, maybe we ought to want to see the antichrists leave.  Maybe we ought to pray that they are either converted or that they just go away.  Of course, as long as they're warm and safe and comfortable, they'll stay.  As long as the expectations are not too great and the boundaries aren't too clear, they'll stay. 

I have to wonder what it was that was getting those antichrists to leave in John's day.  What were they experiencing as the church that provoked the antichrists to hit the road? 

Was it sound doctrine?  Was it an expectation that they would mortify the flesh?  Was it a demand that they not compromise with culture?  Was a refusal to meet the desires of the flesh? 

Somehow they had a situation that was repellant to the antichrists.  Why can't we?  Why don’t we?