10
Dec

Fast Five: Hey, Jude…

Jude

Jude

Do you ever read a book of the Bible and think, “What acid were they on when they wrote this?” That was my first thought when reading the book of Jude.

First, it doesn’t seem to really belong in the New Testament. It’s full of harsh language more typical of the Old Testament in a good portion of it. And it took me aback for a moment by saying that Jesus killed the faithless Israelites that were sinning all over the desert for 40 years. I had to remind myself that Jesus is God, too.

There are references to Michael fighting with the Devil and fallen angels in chains in the darkness and Sodom and Gomorrah eternally in fire. Yowza. Where is the love, Jude? Where is the forgiveness? Where’s the grace? Exactly what am I supposed to learn here?

Thankfully, Jude does get around to telling us what we should still remember: that if you don’t live as Jesus did, that if you, as a self-professed Christian, flaunt with God’s rules time after time, there are eternal consequences. Why? Because flaunting with them time after time with no repentance (or at least trying to improve) indicates that Christ is no longer the Master of your life. He’s no longer the Guy in charge. And if so, then stating that you’re a Christian is not only a huge insult to your fellow Christians who are trying to live according to God’s purposes, but an insult to the One who died such a horrible death for you and for me.

Even worse it says to the rest of the non-believing world that we Christians have no reason to believe in a risen Lord and to trust Him. And such thoughts in the hearts of non-believers do not exactly encourage them to reconsider their own belief system. What God desires, more than anything else, is to spend time with us forever. If we are blatantly not following Christ and His earthly example, then we are diametrically opposed to that happening. And we just smack of hubris if we think that God isn’t going to be just a little angry about that.

Whether we like it or not, whether it’s easy or not, God still wants us to be “model citizens.” He wants us to give Christianity a good name, because He is completely good.

This Christmas, as we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, let’s remember to do our best to behave. Let’s apologize when we know we have screwed up. Let’s take responsibility for our less than wise moments and make amends as much as we can. Now, that would be one heck of a birthday gift to give to the Guy who gave us eternal life as a birthday gift to us.

Friday’s Post: My Favorite Things…

You Might Also Like: Fast Five: The Open Hand of 3rd John; Fast Five: No Con 2 John; Fast Five: Philemon Philosophy; and Fast Five: Oh, bad, Obadiah

 

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 at 10:50 am and is filed under God stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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  1. December 10th, 2014 | Pam Patterson says:

    Excellent! Thanks so much for bringing these books to light.

  2. December 12th, 2014 | maryann says:

    Thanks, Pam! Glad you enjoyed it! Hope to see you soon! –M.A.

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