Last Words – almost part 16
We’ve taken a whirlwind tour of this passage in 2 Peter and I
pray you have been provoked by it. The
reason for the series is my love for those who follow the Great Shepherd.
Much is being written about the church and her ills and
errors – and I have to agree that they are mighty and plenty. The history of the Body of Christ is filled
with examples of how easy it is to stray from the way (Acts 24:14) He called us
to walk in.
I have prayed and thought and read much about this and have
come to the conclusion that if we are to lay responsibility anywhere, it has to
be at the feet of those He has called to lead His flock. Huh?
OK – let me put it this way.
If you are attending a church where the priority of the leadership is
not the following – you have a problem!
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to
equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until
we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ, so that we may no longer be
children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of
doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we
are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom
the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is
equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it
builds itself up in love. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles
do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding,
alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to
their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up
to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as
the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former
manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in
the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the
likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:11-24) ESV
You see, it is not about programs, worship style, missions or
ministries. It is not about your preferences
and proclivities. It is not about
numbers in the pews or in the bank. It
is not about buildings or furnishings.
It is about not being conformed to the world (i.e., being “seeker
sensitive”); it is about being
conformed to the likeness of the Christ.
And that’s pretty much all it’s about.
Read Acts 2:42-47 – read it again!!!!!
Do you “get it?” Do
you see the simple sanctified Body of Christ?
Yeah, I guess I am being hard on those who in the name of
Christ have built great structures to their own flesh. Those who have erroneously decided, “if you
build it, do it, say it, etc., they will come.”
Oh, come they do – but who are they?
They are rarely the called – the elect.
But they are those who having a form of godliness – well, Paul says it
best….
But understand this, that in the last days there will come
times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,
arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, having the appearance of
godliness, but denying its power (authority
& ability). Avoid such people. For among them are those
who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led
astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a
knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:1-7)
It is not the truth that each individual believer is solely
responsible for their growth. How could
it be when God has provided “ministers” or “officers” or “designates,” to equip
believers to live as believers? Yes, it
is the responsibility of the individual to seek out sound biblical teachers and
to learn and to grow beyond them if possible.
But as Bonheoffer wrote in Nazi Germany, we prefer cheap grace – which
is a grace without the cross – a grace without a Christ.
Of those who come to the Body simply to have their ears
scratched Paul goes on:
But they will not
get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two
men. You, however, have followed my
teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my
steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at
Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the
Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to
worse, deceiving and being deceived. But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been
acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good
work. (2Ti 3:9-17) ESV
We are engaged in a great conflict. No, it is not a conflict over culture or
national interests, or morality or even competing belief systems. None of that is OUR fight. Our fight is against the (actually OUR)
flesh. Oh but it is soooooo much easier
to take on the ACLU or the President or whatever – than it is to take on, “Be
holy as I am holy. It is soooo much more
fun to do neat marketing projects to get people in the door than it is to live
the life that shines in the darkness. It
is sooooo much easier to lift up self-esteem, prosperity, even Israel’s safety
than it is to lift up a crucified Messiah.
It is soooo much easier to say, “god loves you and has a wonderful plan
for your life,” than is it to cry “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
The church has become a place where gimmicks, gadgets and
graffiti have replaced the gospel. The
unredeemed are enticed to come and to worship the God who their every breath
offends. They come and sing praises to
the God whose wrath is looming over their heads. They come – and if they stay long enough,
contribute enough and shine enough they can even become elders.
There was writing over the gate to the temple which warned
Gentiles that to pass beneath the arch into the Temple would mean their
death. There is an important point
here. To intentionally create an
environment where the unredeemed are comfortable in the presence and worship of
the God they do not acknowledge – the God they rejected and replaced - makes it
possible for them to come to believe that they are in good stead with Him. That, my brothers and sisters, is, at least
to me, a cruelty beyond bearing.
Faith is NOT a virus; one does not “catch” it. “Doing,” does not make believers. God does.
Remember where we started?
I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you
up by way of reminder, since I know that
the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made
clear to me. And I will make every
effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these
things. (2Pe 1:13-15) ESV
Peter gives us his motivation for this letter. It’s what he believes is his last shot. Will we heed it or not?
