Jude takes the gloves off

The more I read the less I understand. Let's push on to the end.

The last thing Jude says about these men is that they are "grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage."

So when I read this I see a picture of myself. I can't tell you how many times I've sat around complaining about one thing or another. That's why I always get sucked into politics--there's always something to criticize. And I think sometimes that I look actively for ways to talk about how great I am. I feel like David confronted by Nathan--"You are the man!"

And I think that's part of the point--Jude wants to say, don't give up the fight. There is in this world a persistent conflict between the City of God and the City of Man. between the church and the world. Between the kingdom and the earth. We are engaged, we are emissaries, we are the lampstand. So don't give up. Seek God, enter the fire again to refine yourself further. You aren't there yet.

And then he closes with encouragement--there will be evil men, you will face scoffers and men will try to divide you. But build yourselves up in holy faith and pray. Watch out for each other--Be merciful to those in Doubt, snatch others from the fire...

I don't know

Who reads Jude anyway

Not very many people. It's kind of wedged in with 2 and 3 John between the more popular 1 John and the more controversial Revelation. I mean, come on, its only 25 verses long. but I noticed today, that it has a pretty potent message-at least I think it does.

We are instructed to contend for the faith. To fight for truth and righteousness and to uphold the cause of Christ.

Part one is a description of a certain sort of person:

1. Who have slipped in among you--we're talking specifically about people in the church.
2. Who change the grace of God into a license for immorality.
3. and and deny Jesus Christ-our only sovereign and Lord.

Ok-so far so good. This should be easy. Just look for the dreamer who

4. pollute their own bodies, reject authority, and slander celestial beings

So far, I thought--I don't even know what you're talking about Jude. I mean--I don't know anyone who goes around saying, "celestial beings are sons of goats" So at about this point my eyes blink and I miss the rest of the book. Lots of people on the other hand pollute all sorts of things and reject God's authority.

Of course, that's when it gets interesting

5. these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand, and what things they do understand by instinct-like unreasoning animals-this is what destroys them

What if this is an indictment of much of the church today in the United States. I guess I've heard a fair amount of abusive language directed against all sorts of things by Christians. "What, you're a (you could really insert Republican or Democrat here)--well that's just not Christian." Or "you want to live in the city among the poor--well that's just trendy and exhibitionist." or "you live in the suburbs among the wealthy--well that's just selfish and uncaring." or "you think The Shack is better than Pilgrim's Progress--you clearly aren't studying the Word enough."

I don't know--It just seems to me like there's an awful lot of invective and vituperation (yes I know it's pretentious, but it's just a synonym of invective) out there. and a lot of it is coming from Christians. It seems like the church should be a place that people come to when they need love. A place that dispenses grace.

So It seems like Jude is saying "Hey guy's don't make it bad--take a sad world and make it better."

Grace takes what is evil and sinful and makes it whole in Christ. So maybe we have a responsibility to reveal the grace of Christ to the world. To reach out in love and peace rather than judgment and hatred. Look, the world is still going to reject Christ and his followers. But if we follow the example of Christ then we reverse the tide and respond to rejection with love. You know--turn the other cheek and all that other stuff.

On Brigands, toughs, and a band of thieves

I was reading today in 1 Samuel--you know, that book in the Bible. Anyway, I happened to be reading about David. He gets a lot of press, what with killing the giant and all. He also gets a lot of press for watching Bathsheeba take a bath. But the story between the whole "save people from goliath" episode, and the coronation is intriguing. So in the story he's on the run from Saul, the king. He's hanging out in the desert with his band of merry men, doing whatever it is guys with swords and no jobs do--namely kill threaten, steal and the like. He ends up a a hired gun(or sword) for the enemy of the Israelites (his peeps) and eventually volunteers to fight against his own people, the men he once commanded in the army. In between there's the incident with Nabal and Abigail. David sends messengers to Nabal asking for food and supplies. Nabal says, why should I give you help, you're just a brigand. So David decides he is going to kill Nabal and every male in his household. That is until in fear, Abigail sends out the supplies David asked for because she knows he's really a ruthless thief who will kill her husband to get some food. So then David decides not to kill Nabal, but Nabal dies anyway, then DAvid marries Abigail and carries her off to the desert with him.

So anyway, what's the point. As I was reading I was thinking, this is the same story you hear over and over again in history. Some upstart general gets too big for his britches and take his followers off on a wave of pillage and destruction, then tries to take over the throne. It happens anytime there are too many soldiers and not enough jobs.

So I guess the point I'm trying to make, is I always thought that David was this great guy--you know, a man after God's own heart. He was the king, the psalm writer. But he was also a thief, an armed robber, a thug, an adulterer. So where's the rub?

I think one thing that I draw out of this isn't that it's cool to kill some dude, and take his sheep and his wife.

Instead I see God using a regular guy--who is selfish, sinful, etc--to accomplish his ends. To bring his people together, to set the stage, and to encourage his people through the Psalms. And I also see a man who though he continually did things I wouldn't dream of doing, he feared God, and he continued to seek God's will, and he maintained a life of submission to God and his prophets. And I think hey if God can use somebody whose first thought (and action) in conflict resolution is to kill, and who went through wives like sets of clothes, then maybe he can use me somehow, someway

What does God know anyway?

" Misunderstanding what God says when it says 'God is love' they think God itends [a painfree life], and hence they conclude that anything [that brings pain] indicates either that Gods wisdom, or power, or both, have broken down...God's wisdom is not and never was, pledged to make a fallen world happy , or to make ungodliness uncomfortable." J.I. Packer, "Knowing God"


I struggled with this for years, and eventually came to the same conclusion, though I could never put it in words as elegant as this. Pain in my life is not just a symptom of sin. It is a part of the plan of God for my life. God uses struggle and pain as a tool to teach me the lessons I need to learn in order to serve him and to glorify him. God is clear in his message that the purpose of my creation is to praise him and to enter into relationship with him. But just as pain is often an integral part of lessons learned in how to deal with this life for children (children in the house have taught me that almost no lesson learned is completely painfree), so it is also often an integral part in learning the lessons God has to teach me about how to live with and interact with him.